Finally got some proof on radar test ...

As some of you know, I replaced my Passport 8500 at Christmas with a V1. Each time I have done side-by-side tests, I could not could get any solid evidence one way or another re: which one was truly best. Today, I finally got some evidence. I have been out of town on a business trip so my wife and I decided to take our vehicles out and stretch their legs a little bit and test out our new walkie-talkies. Approaching a small town, infamous for it's speed traps, I was following several car lengths behind when I started getting a K-band alert. I quickly radioed her and said K-band, she asked me to repeat what I said (she thought I had asked her to switch bands ), I repeated my warning and she started receiving her K-band alert as well. The policeman, upon seeing the two of us, did a U-turn and slowly approached me and then her from behind. Although he didn't get a read on us, I assume he wanted us to know he was going to escort us through town.... slowly. We enjoyed some spirted driving after he finally turned off and left us alone. So the V1 got the earlier warning (probably close to a 1/4 mile sooner based on my math) than her 8500. Now there is one small variable. She just got the 8500 back (she dropped it) so Passport had to replace the speaker and antenna so hopefully it's truly up to spec (it's supposed to be according to the manufacturer). Just thought you should know. Any other good stories out there that someone would like to share?

Well, I have a story that sucks (from my perspective anyway). I purchased a V1 several months ago, and about 6 weeks back it was acting strangely; locking onto signals and not releasing them when the threat had passed, and not providing any alert at all when I passed by active speed traps (at least three dozen patrol cars and several traffic stops in process). So I resolved to send it back to Valentine for repair/replacement, which they readily agreed to take care of. Then I dicked around for several weeks and didn't return it. Finally this past Thursday I put it in the mail and was promised that I should have it back in my sweaty little hands very quickly. All good, so far...... Friday I'm driving through BFE (otherwise known as Tavares, Florida), enjoying a leisurely backwoods cruise between appointments, and my Nav system tells me to take a right, which I do as I had never been in this particular area before. Immediately I sense that this is not correct, as I had been on a 55 mph primary road and now I was on a secondary street headed into a more towny area. So, as I started to try to figure out what was up w/ the Nav system, I failed to notice the 30 mph sign at the outlet of the curve from the primary road, and wasn't carefully scanning ahead for potential issues. In this case, the issue turned out to be three of BFE's finest set up in a speed trap. John Law steps out into the road ahead of me and motions for me to pull over. It wasn't quite "You in a heapa trouble now, boy", and the officer was quite polite. But not so polite that he didn't write me up for 50 in a 30 (49 in a 30 would've been a lot more congenial). What a crappy way to get a ticket. I'll take the traffic school, so no points, but I would've rather had that card to play for something a bit more boisterous. Oh well ...... Moral of this stupid (and long) story, don't leave home without your V1 (or any other detector for that matter), 'cause Man, you are naked out there! Oh yeah, also DON"T PROCRASTINATE!!! fwiw Jeff

I feel naked driving without my V1, but you still need to be carefull out there. For long distance... high speed interstate driving I have a Uniden Bearcat BCT7 hardwired into my car. It gives me a police car proximity warning, plus I usually leave it tuned to Channel 19 on the CB radio to track what the trucks are saying. Between it and my V1, I often speed pretty much indescriminately, because I usually know at least a couple of miles ahead of time where the cops are. My V1 is more of the last resort warning, but it's saved me quite a bit. This is a great website for you guys to check out that does a very informative comparisons of radar detectors. Check out.... www.speedzones.com