spirited driving and Radar Detectors

Ok - I have a friend in the DC area looking for a Radar Detector. I am a long time Valentine 1 user and love it but apparently they are plagued with photo speed enforcement. This Escort (Escort Passport 9500ix) has come highly recommended but I have no experience with it. Who has insights?

Take a look at the Valentine, it is probably the best in terms of sensitivity. Also it has receiving antennas front and rear, so it shows you where the radar source is....ahead, behind, to the side.

I got mine about 2 weeks ago and so far so good. No issues on our spirited ride from vancouver to kelowna via the hope princeton on the long weekend (passed by 5 cops with their guns out). The gps coordinates for the red light camera warning is rather annoying. But other than that it seems to pick up the right signals at the right time.

Just got the Passport a few months ago and can't imagine driving without it. It picks up most cops from a good distance and has speed traps and cameras around the country preloaded. I would certainly reccomend it.

Doesn't guarantee that won't see this at your rear view mirror. At the bottom of the picture is a V1.

Using your eyes and mirrors and watching traffic flow and a decent detector help ward off tickets.

Quotes source post: 9677472

FIFY

The escort or bel equivalent is best for this area.

Washington DC Porsche - can you elaborate on why you think the Escort / Bel are best for the area? Is it the photo speed traps? We don't have those in CA. For the rest of the posters - I drive with a Valentine and have since I got my first Porsche - before that I used a Passport. I have gotten my share of tickets with both (only laser on the V1) - but also have been saved from some nasty ones. I know how to play the game - I am just looking for regional advice for a friend.

The good news is you have it narrowed down to the 2 detectors you should be thinking about; the escort/beltronics 9500 and the V1. To answer your question it really boils down to what kind of person you are. If you are an engineer/likes-to-fiddle kind of person the V1 is absolutely THE BEST no question about it. The escort on the other hand will give you roughly the same detection capability as the V1 with far less "drama". I personally could not live without the V1 multi-bogey capability and the direction arrows provide endless amusement but if you want something that just sits on the dash and beeps when its supposed to then the escort is the way to go.

I've got a BEL RX-65 Driver and I love it. Where I live, traffic flow is monitored by K-band radar. Becaue of this, the V1 is useless as it constantly sets off false alarms. The Escort and BEL products have a software feature called "TSR" that eliminates these false alarms.

Quotes source post: 9678562

The Escort/Bel detectors with the camera/photo radar features. I'm sure they have more than one model so I didn't want to be too specific. The only thing I don't like is having to pay continuously for camera updates, however you can enter your own locations as you pass the traps. I personally have neither and do pass speed cameras daily (1 in MD and 2 in DC on my daily commute in each direction) and 2 red light cameras to and from work(I don't run red lights so I don't worry about those). BUT there are times I go into areas I don't frequent in DC and have to rely on spotting the orange "photo camera" signs attached to speed limit signs and my old built in K40 detector. The orange sign is usually 100 to 1000 feet away from the radar camera.

OP, You should get the Beltronic STi or Escort Redline if you are going to be in Maryland area, these two are invisible to radar detector detectors so you have a better chance not get picked up.

Have 9500. Pretty happy with it. FM

another very happy owner here of the Passport 9500ix......lost count how many times it has saved my azz

In my STI i had it fitted with the Passport 9500CI. It is a fair bit more expensive and a lot more to install, but is has a few key things that I like. 1st it picks up Ku band radar which no other detector on the market currently does and this band is slowly moving over from Europe, in Canada at least. 2nd it comes with a laser jammer, the problem with laser is that it is a very narrow beam spread, you will not catch it like radar, once it is detected means the cop is already reading you and it is too late. the jammer jams the signal giving the laser gun an error message so the worst they can do is give you an estimated speed ticket which is easy to fight. 3rd it is a built in unit mount it wherever you want in your car, nothing hanging off your windshield, no dangling chords etc a very clean finish, it also talks to you and wont light up if you want. This is very helpful in the states and provinces where laser jammers and radar detectors are illegal. I had this paired up with a modified active radar jammer, CB radio, and Police scanner with access to the proper encrypted frequencies and never got a ticket. Since then I have become quite a bit more responsible driving and dont feel the need to run any sort of detection or jamming equipment, I leave speeding for the track

Quotes source post: 9680194

I'd love to upgrade from my ancient K40 ASAP. PM'd..

I have the K40 with front and rear license plate area jammers. 3 leds are on my console and the switches are under dash mounted, It works very well. I did however manage to get written up several Sunday mornings ago. I was accelerating up a long curvy freeway on ramp, top down, radio up and not paying attention or thinking at all about speeding or not. Next thing I see was a trooper aside and under the next overpass. Busted and clocked at 97mph. Written up at 70 in a 65, nice guy! If you can hear the detector beeping you have to at least watch the for the flashing leds.

Quotes source post: 9680628

That is because the K40 is crap!! Get a V1 or Escort plug it in and watch which one alerts you fast. My V1 kills my K40 by 4-5 seconds every time. The K40 came with the car and it is 100% crap!!

Quotes source post: 9680985

Yeah, basically. I do like that the K40 has a rear radar receiver in the bumper but other than that, I agree. Mine barely picks up KA band especially the narrow beam used in DC's radar cameras.

I have V1 in California. CHP around here cruises with their radar always on - in which case you can pick them up 1 to 5 miles ahead depending on the terrain (last SUnday there were 2 cops on local freeway - first one I detected about a mile ahead - when I got there he had pulled over a BMW ! ..then a few miles later, second warning went off - he had pulled over one of our air-cooled buddies Sometimes they use instant on mode - if there is other traffic - you normally pick this up. Local cops use lidar in my city - looks like CHP may be switching over to that now too ? V1 picks up some false alarms from LED brake lights - but at least one time picked up the Lidar scatter from the car in front of me - so I think works OK if you are close - but not if you have some distance between you and the car in front. I would never go back to detector without direction indicators. Bottom line is that it is not foolproof - but helps - but not a license to drive like an idiot ...need to keep eyes open too - and works best if someone is speeding in front of you in their BMW .....

I picked up a Passport 9500ix about 6 months ago and love it. I got a beanbag mount for it - I use it in my beater too. I have been very happy with it. I went through the V1 vs. Escort debate in my own mind, and decided I like the red light and speed camera alerts, and since I am in IT it appealed to me more than the V1 from a pure geek (non microwave engineer geek) perspective. It figures that ever since I bought it there haven't been a lot of speedtraps to test it against! I guess that is a good thing. One bad thing is there was a local police officer on a highway onramp today with his cruiser hidden behind some highway lawn mowing equipment, and he was outside of his car with a handheld gun (laser I persume) - my detector never went off, and he wasn't actively doing car checks when I went by, so I could not what type of warning I would have got. Good thing there were some cars on the on ramp with me, because this is the first time in 10 years I have ever seen an officer doing radar/laser at this particular spot - that is where laser and the human mind can outsmart you even with a $400 detector.

Quotes source post: 9682103

That is why you should pair is with a Z4 Laser Jammer

9500ix. The traffic light and speed camera feature is excellent, and I like that it learns the location of false signals and automatically filters them. It also has excellent range. It also seems to pick up the scatter from a laser detector. I have gotten laser warnings before I took took a direct hit and had time to slow down. I like the arrows on the v1, but the 9500 does so much more it's a small price to pay.

I have a Cobra. Free net downloads on latest traps. Touch screen changes from city to highway alerts and plugs into my cig lighter. Alerts at 360 degrees K.......KA....X........ plus pop alerts. I dont know where from but I slow up anyway as soon as I hear it alerting. Seems like its working OK and not really expensive. Can tell you if you are over the speed limit for that area if you want it that way plus other settings. Forgot them all right now but so far, well satisfied with my purchase.

V1 here....

Interesting that you're picking up Ku signals. I've got Ku and X disabled on my BEL right now. Maybe I should turn Ku back on...

Targa996 - be careful in Cali - both the Sheriff and the CHP are switching to laser. I got picked out of traffic by a motorcycle CHP in my Subaru - with my V1. Having cop bait in front of you doesn't work so well anymore if they decide you are the one you want. Anyone in CA using jammers? I have been thinking about it.

laser warnings prior to direct hit are usually the gun being aimed at someone else first. V1 picks them up as well.

Here in NorCal, we have a lot of laser. And the CHP are pretty tricky about it, sitting on the side of the road, behind a guardrail so it cuts their profile, and shooting the radar over the guardrail. I've got a V1, and there have been several times that I've been going 80 mph (in a 55 or 65 zone) and received a hit, I nailed the brakes (no one behind me) and the cop doesn't pull out after me after I pass him and notice him on the side of the road. I don't have front plates, so I'm thinking on our profile cars, without those plates, getting an accurate reading takes a little more time, so by the time he gets a read on me, I'm back down to 70 or 60. Thoughts?

You sure he is aiming at you and not someone else? Does the V1 go off multiple times? Usually if they cant get a lock they fire a few times in a row till they get one. If its just one hit - and you slow down - and he doesn't pull you over - its more likely he was aiming at someone else.

Quotes source post: 9683747

I know that that the US Government has allowed for the use of Ku radar band for traffic enforcement purposes. I am not sure if any US law enforcement offices have bought or are using and Ku band devices. I noticed it a couple times up here in Canada.

Hopefully this is the right thread for this question. Anyway, anyone know whether K40 front and rear sensors are interchangable amongst models? Near as i can tell mine is a K40 2000 circa 2005. I think the rear sensor is bad (two bells every few seconds). Several eBay sellers have K40 Calibres (DL and SL) for sale, as well as one labeled a K40 Superwide. All have the same FCC ID No. (QL4 G4M2), but unless this is the part number, no other distinguishing numbers. Not sure what the number on mine is (forgot to write it down when I had the bumper off), but I'll bet its the same. Likely all to work interchangeably? Thanks.

Has anyone tried the Escort Live, Smart Cord with their iPhone or Android?

Quotes source post: 9684904

The FCC number signifies the transmission characterstics have been tested by FCC and found to meet the FCC regulations, it does not one way or the other signify the parts are the same, can you not inquire with the manufacturers? They would be in the best position to provide you with a conclusive answer.

I though all LEO use laser here in CA. I know for a fact local and LASD use it, unknown about CHP but what I know from experience is mostly laser. Maybe bacause they are a huge department, they are slowly phasing in the new. I haven't even thought about getting a detector or jammer. Maybe I should bite the bullet.

CHP and LASD both have laser but they use them mostly for mostly for motorcyle units - the cars with the mounted radar systems are also still in use. I watched a pick up get pulled over by a LASD Cruiser in front of me today - before the beep from the V1 - I was in front of him....

Quotes source post: 9685082

I thought about this myself, but in the end decided it wasn't worth the money. Just my honest opinion. It offers some value, but should probably come default with the 9500.

Quotes source post: 9685438

Good to know...always easier to avoid the stop than to try to talk my way out of a ticket.

Quotes source post: 9684082

It's a speed yellow 911 convertible, typically with the top down, and I'm usually the fastest traveling car at the time. He's got to be aiming at me. I'm the easiest target, for sure. As for whether the V1 goes off multiple times, it's really tough for me to distinguish whether it does or not -- there's an adrenaline dump, and frantic action on my part to a) check behind me, b) hit the brakes hard enough to slow down but not hard enough to make the car dive (and/or leave tire marks with the PCCBs' :-). But next time, I'll try really hard to listen for multiple hits. I'm sure that I'll get a chance very soon.

laser jammers are prohibited in CA. Depends where the CHP is, but on my commute, they're using both Ka and Laser. Laser if they're sitting on the side of the road, with the doors open, aiming the gun. Motorcycle CHP is using laser as well. LAPD motorcycle is probably using radar, but LAPD cruisers, in general are too busy harrasing people for other stuff.

Quotes source post: 9684904

If you get a chirp every few seconds, that might mean the connection is loose -- but I'm not sure. I would call K40. Their technical department is very helpful.

I swore that I would NEVER get a radar in my car. Then after about 6 months when I found that I liked to be over the speed limit I purchased one. A Cobra which plugs into a double socket coming from my cig lighter on the dash. I have radar stuck at the bottom of my front window. It saved my bacon again yesterday. The alert said ''radar speed trap area". I kind of kept the speed down because of the alert which I have heard regularly on this road. Up the road a mile was a parked Police jeep in the central reservation. I did not get a warning of this jeep but saw it early enough to dodge in behind other vehicles in the right lane of a double lane highway. Then another mile or so I saw two large trucks parked up in the hard shoulder with a flashing Poilce car behind each one. I have had the cobra about 7 months now and i am glad I made the purchase. Had I not known that this was a speed trap area, I would certainly have been done.

I've had an Escort 9500ix for several years now. I commute 100 miles a day and drive to golf tournaments almost every weekend. In over 3 years of this I have never gotten a ticket for speeding, (keeping fingers crossed, the disregarding a traffic signal one doesn't count), and I see lots of radar and laser equipped police cars. But, just this morning, I noticed the yellow light on the SmartCord is staying lit all the time. I got Escort customer service via on-line chat, and they think the cord has gone bad. So I'm thinking of upgrading to the SmartCord Live!, but I will also need a smartphone. Anybody have preferences for iPhone vs. Android? I think I'm about 4 generations behind in the technology wars. I currently use a Nokia 6205 on Verizon.

I drive 1500 miles a week and have tried a bunch of them and like the V1 the best.

I got 4 laser alerts in my 9500ix this mornng on the way to work, all of them out in the country. Never saw a police car. WTF? I rarely get a laser alert and then it's always the MCG po-po in town. Is my 9500ix getting ready to go **** up?