Radar detectors: what do you like, and why?

Now that my home state is increasingly using speed cameras and some (apparently hyper-sensitive) stop light cameras, my wife is actually thinking we need radar detectors. I've heard good things about Valentine One detectors, but I'm wondering what else is out there and can provide reliable notifications not only for speed radar/laser, etc. but also for cameras, and that have good reputations as not sending too many "false positive" signals. What do you use, why did you choose that, and if you were in the market, what would you buy? FWIW, I'm also looking into dash cams but I'm not ready to pull that trigger.

There might be something useful in this thread: https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...-detector.html

I have a Uniden R7, it does detect a lot and some far off stuff. However last year on a trip back from Pinedale to Casper, middle of nowhere, was going 80 in 65. all of a sudden it lit up. No warning no nothing until he had me... so since then ive come to learn not to put too much faith into them. Maybe there are better units out there, but I think cops have learned how to use them more effectively.

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It�s important to know what your city�s agencies use because even with a good detector, if they�re using Laser or Lidar, it�s not going to help.

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Yea, COPS have better training and better radar technology. What you probably encountered was more modern narrow beam radar. Unlike the old stuff that drifted for miles, the newer technology uses a more concentrated narrow beam. I'm not talking about LIDAR, which as most know uses laser to calculate a person's speed almost instantaneous, but requires the officer to be stationary unlike traditional RADAR that allows the officer to calculate multiple speed points while driving. Pro and cons to both. Best thing to do is to use the detection technology as one counter measurement tool not the sole counter measurement tool. WAZE is another tool for example.

Waze is a very useful tool.

I have the Uniden R3, I've had it a couple of years and like it. It's warned me of hidden police vehicles in the distance many times, however you also get quite a few false alarms. I'm sure the newer models are better at both detection and avoiding false triggers. Overall I like that it reminds me to slow down for potential cops and even if it was a false alarm, well at least I'm driving safer more often 😁

I’m also up in Evergreen! I’ve been a fan of Escort products for years and I have owned several of their products. I highly recommend them. The major highways around the Denver area use Traffic Sensing Radar or TSR and it can cause multiple, annoying false alarms. Escort has a TSR filter setting that works very well to eliminate these false alarms.

I live in SoCal and got the Valentine One about a year and a half ago. I usually leave it out when tooling around town and put it in for the long trips like driving to Vegas. I hadn't had a radar detector since around 1990 and I don't get a lot of false positives with it like I did back then. Funny thing is it uses the exact same tones that my cheap detector did 30 years ago. It's supposed to detect laser but by the time it's detected they have your speed. I don't think I've ever gotten a legit laser warning with it yet. What I do get are warnings from the signs that show your speed in neighborhoods and construction zones. I'd say 90% of the time it goes off it's one of those. They use the same tech so they're not exactly false. The good thing is that you can mute the warning (my 1980s detector didn't do that). It has alerted me to a few cops but I actually think Waze does a better job of that. So for long drives I use a combination of Waze and the radar detector.

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agree- R3 is best bang for the buck. Low profile too.

Uniden r8 , run Waze and r8 companion app over Bluetooth. The app takes map, Waze, user plus other police and driver data in to it and maps and correlates to your detector and gps location. Very effective. For lidar protection you are looking at a few grand to do it properly. Best bet is the tools above and keen awareness. - scrh1

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Same thing happened to me twice with an Escort 360 max. I've done a lot of research and called Escort. I'm pretty convinced that radar detectors are now literally worse than worthless. They give you a false sense of security, but they cannot detect radar or laser fast enough. Sure, if there is thick traffic and they fire at cars in front of you first, your detector may save you. But how do you drive fast in thick traffic? I certainly do not. When the roads are clear (as they typically are around here) I drive fast. That's when I need a trustworthy detector, but they don't work in those conditions anymore.

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Most of the radar tests you see on YouTube (i.e. Vortex radar channel) have the radar guns pointed directly at on-coming traffic. However, if the officer is parked perpendicular to traffic and running newer narrow beam radar, then it's highly probable that your detector will NOT sound off until it's right up on the source. This is why running WAZE is important for those traveling on long trips in areas that you're unfamiliar with. For me, I use it as a tool for situation awareness. The best part of the Escort Radar detectors is connecting to the Drive Smarter network to alert you when you're over the speed limit or approaching a threat (e.g. speed cameras).

I haven't used a radar detector in over 10 years; moved exclusively to Waze. /X3

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thank you very much for the tip, I live where there is a LOT of wide open space but I will defiantly try the Waze app.

Good discussion here. I “think” I have good situational awareness as I haven’t (knocks on wood) had so much as a warning in over a decade and I confess that it isn’t for a lack of trying. Many years ago I read an article about trying to be invisible. It included helpful tips like not driving like a d1ck, not being the fastest car on the road, having a well maintained vehicle, driving something inconspicuous… I’m generally good about all those (admittedly not 100% of the time) with the exception of the conspicuous car. I used Waze years ago but got out of the habit. Maybe that’s the answer. I totally get the argument that having a detector can lead to complacency and a false sense of security so perhaps I just remain vigilant. Thanks for the conversation. In real life I’d buy us a round. 🍻