v1 1st day report.

so i got my v1 on Monday. put in on yesterday for my commute. pretty much as i expected, v1 picked up a lot of "X" band signals around super market, highway entance. etc. the funny part is, on my way back home, i was doing ~100, a state-troop car came from behind and passed me. my v1 didn't make any sound, so i guess his radar was off. i slowed down to follow the traffic, the cop paced me for 2~3 miles, he might be running checks on my plate, and finally he took off. v1 is a keeper. only problem, wife doesn't like, she said it's "lic. to speeding", dangurous, and asked me to return it. how can i convence her? i know the board members know all!

There isn't a radar detector in the world that's going to help you when you're being paced.

thank god i saw him and slowed down, he finally took off, guess he had something more importent.

Well I've always just said it's insurance for me in case the officer is in a bad mood. I'm not a big speeder (usually maybe 5-7 over on normal roads and 10 over on something like a highway) but I'd like to have the option to slow down to speed limit if there's a cop around. I mean, "technically" they can pull you over for 5mph over even though that's a norm... I don't know of how many instances they have pulled someone over for 5 over but I guess it could happen See if your wife agrees with that...

I swear by the V1.. .With regards to the X band, what setting are you on... i am using the lower case "l" mode, which I believe is logic, and I dont get too many X band pickups. I am locatedd in NYC (where I just turn the sound off), and travel often up to Mass and Washington FYI.

i am using the All-Bogeys mode to pick everything, just to be on the safe side for the first day...

As soon as she sees the V1 go off, watches you slow down, and then sees the cop pull someone over who you had been pacing, or she sees the cop up ahead nabbing passing cars, and realizes but for the V1 they'd be nabbing you, too, she'll be a believer

What mode are you using? I keep mine in Big-L ("L") mode.

the problem is if my wife is in the car, she will ask me to slow down before anything else! in fact, i am thinking about returning the v1 myself. i am not a very self-control peason. this v1 may give me a false sense to speed up any way i want. maybe dangurous.....

Where is the best place to buy the v1?

I think the best place is direct from Valentine ( www.valentine1.com ). There are some people who sell them "new and direct from the company" on eBay but charge more than Valentine does! Marc

You can turnt he X band off if you wish. The Valentine website has instructions. I wish I had known about that a long time ago. Your post does not indicate where you live. In the Atlanta area, ALL traffic moves at 20-25 over the limit if conditions permit. I generally move along with the mob, and count on the V-1 to keep becoming a victim when the ever present, radar wielding police from thinking, "well, we need to pick one or two out of that group to set an example .... how about the black Porsche"?

I keep mine at All-Bogeys mode ("A"). i know i can switch to Logic mode or adv. logic mode. i live in NJ. where the speed limit is 55, most guys do 75 to 80. no problem.

Don't you guys think that the radar detectors just give you a false sense of security? I mean, face it, you're toast with instant-on or laser unless you're pacing someone in front of you. Instead, I just try to drive warily and always keep an eye out for speed traps?

i feel that V1 made me a *stupid* driver. pushing the car to 100Mile on public highway is not really that great. if i face non-sense law enforcement, ie. giving tkt for doing 5 over limit. then i will consider V1, but luckly NJ (at least where i travel most of the time) is not like that.

The V1 won't make you smart or stupid. It will merely give you a heads-up that cops are gunning for you. However, if he is not using radar, but is instead pacing you, you are toast. It is a tool, not a magic shield - use it - and your Porsche - responsibly or take the bus.

Unless one believes that a radar detector makes them bullet proof ... then he is not operating under a false sense of security. The laser devices, although in use in the ATL area, are not nearly so prevalent as the old standby radar. If I avoid tickets in the same ratio as the radar to laser ration in ATL, I'm happy. The instant-on type, while also relatively rare, is still going to give a warning as the police try it on cars ahead of you in the traffic flow. Its only extra threat to the V-1 user is in the unlikely situation that the operator has been sitting in his car, gun in his lap, until he decides to hit you, the Porsche driver. That might happen if the P-car is alone and flying .... not usually the case here in Atlanta.

Anyone "stupid" (your term, not mine) enough to push his car beyond safe operating limits (public highway or otherwise) .... did not become that way with the purchase of the V-1 .... or anything else. I would say its a congenital condition not explainable by external circumstances. A radar detector is a tool, just like anything else .... one used by most of the drivers I know to prevent their becoming a victim .... not to serve as the magic key to unsafe driving with impunity.

I tend to agree... to say "my radar detector did it to me" just lacks a sense of self-control and responsibility for one's actions. The V1 is not a crutch or a 'license to kill", which BTW, irresponsible driving is equivalent to. If you're speeding it's because you generally speed, not because of the V1. Use the V1 as a tool to help you stay ahead of the tickets when you're following the traffic flow. A radar detector is a poor substitute for a good pair of eyes and a brain.

I hear you, but if I'm going to have to 'as' alert for cops even with the radar, then what's the point of it. I generally try to slow up ahead of ideal speed traps anyhow. I guess what I'm really hoping for is the ability for a detecetor to allow me to stop scanning the road, hills, bridges, and what not viciously while looking for cops and to focus on the road more directly around me. I guess the alternative is try drive 55, but as Sammy Hagar once said....

Here's the thing, a radar detector will give you more notice than not having a radar detector, but it's not fail safe. If you're driving in a way that attracts the attention of the police, then nothing will save you. There is no way to detect a car that's pacing you, other than having a good pair of eyes. If you switch off your main police detectors (eyes and brain), then there's no hope. I have a radar detector, but I'm still vigilant, because police cars do pace you for speed, and also because here in PA only state police are allowed to use radar - local police are limited to stopwatches (seriously, we have white lines painted in the roads for this purpose). As you said, if you drive the speed limit, then you don't need a radar detector. If you choose to drive over the limit, then the detector is only going to help you so much. If you're driving within 15 mph of the speed limit, then a RD will give you plenty of notice to slow down. If you're above that, then you'll get a ticket and you'll deserve it. Hopefully it would be accepted with the spirit of "yup, you caught me, fair-cop".

i'm definitely not one of those on the v1 bandwagon just yet. i picked one up in March. -got pulled over by laser driving around 75mph (same as traffic around me). v1 buzzed, but not soon enough. received a warning. -got pulled over on the ground via an aircraft reading. v1 can't pick that one up of course. so i got a ticket anyways. and everywhere i go it's all the usual falsies. i have yet to have the V1 save me from a cop. just a bunch of beeps. will i sell it? too lazy to. but the whole must have a V1 thing is BS.

I have a Beltronics RX65. They claim that is has fewer false alarms than the V1. I have been very happy with it.