radar detectors

does anybody have experience with K40 radar systems...invisible system imbedded in front/back of car...or any other radar system useful in Cayman

For starters, take a look at the links at the bottom of this page - you'll find several threads with more than 100 responses/opinions on radar detectors - one of the most-often subjects discussed in these forums. I'm sure more people will weigh-in on your topic as well. I know there's been discussion on the K40 in many different threads... Myself, I use a Valentine 1 and couldn''t be happier with its performance brad

Beez, or anyone else, are you still happy with the V-1? I'm getting ready to order one

Before you buy anything, I would check this out: http://www.planet-9.com/showthread.php?t=11002 Haven't heard any recent updates, but worth the wait I would think.

Guys, I contacted Escort again yesterday and am waiting to hear back from them. They seem pretty interested and I hope to have more info soon. In my experience, the K-40 is a profit maker, not a ticket preventer. It's technology (I mean Radar detection and Laser jamming technology) is very dated. You are not likely to find any favorable reviews on the net about it's performance. By design, the K-40 is destined to be a poor performer. It uses two radar heads, one in the front, one in the rear, to tell you which direction the radar is coming from. Having two radar heads presents challenges because they will set each other off. K-40 overcomes this by duty cycling the LOCs (local oscillator circuits). Front on for 20 ms, back on for 20 ms, front on for 20 ms, back on for 20 ms. When you do this, that duty cycle limits your sensitivity to 50%. Do more research, and you will find that Ka band is turned off all together in the rear antenna because even duty cycling couldn't solve the problem. And Ka is the most used radar band these days. As for Laser jamming, the K-40 was the first on the scene and their technology has never changed (accept for the addition of 'Blue Tooth' wireless technology which makes it easier to install, but does nothing to improve it's performance). Again, a net search will show no real favorable reviews, but you will find a few that suggest it's effectiveness is very limited in comparison to the others. K-40 does offer to pay for your tickets, as a way to ensure you that it must be good. But read the fine print. Also, you will find that this guarantee does not help with the 3-5 years of inflated insurance premiums a ticket will result in. Valentine 1 is known to be a great performing detector, but it's technology is also getting a bit long in the tooth. Especially now that Escort has kicked it up a notch by adding a GPS sensor to it's latest detector, the 9500i, to help it remember and ignore false signals. The V1 does have the unique feature of being able to point an arrow toward the radar source. In the beginning this was touted as a way to help you determine if its a false signal. If the arrow points to the right, and there is a store there, you can ignore it. That's a good thing because if you read the reviews, most all of which are favorable, you will also find that the V1 delivers the most false signals of any detector. In regard to the arrows, some people do like to know if the radar is in front or behind them. Truthfully, what's the difference? Either way the response should be the same. Slow down. And now that the Escort 9500i will remember the exact frequency and location of a false signal, the arrows are starting to look a bit old. Don't tell me it's a false signal, ignore it..... Have a look at this thread. Lots of good info there: http://www.planet-9.com/showthread.php?t=6473

Still love it - got a workout the last few weeks - drove from LV to Fruita Colorado (500 miles in I-15 and I-70) and From LV to Provo Utah (400 miles) and it worked great - not a lot of troopers out there, but the ones that were, I had plenty of warning. I was driving my bimmer 5 series sport wagon on both trips. In both instances I averaged over 90 mph, and was into 3 digit space quite a bit. In once instance, a guy in a Mini Cooper S was staying with me, and I could see he had a detector, too... he was behind me and as we were approaching Cedar City Utah, I was getting slow Ka blips on the V1 so I slowed down and he passed me, as we came up over a rise, there was the trooper in the center divider, he was on the binders big-time. No tickets issued, and he dropped back in behind me as we sped up. About 5 minutes later, I pulled off to get gas in Cedar City, and he pulled off and came to the same gas station. We talked and he wanted to know how I knew about the trooper, and I pointed to the V1 - and told him I was picking up blips long before we got over the rise - he said his Escort had not gone off until we got over the rise and saw the trooper - he was completely taken by surprise... Not sure what this proves, but I've had the V1 for three years, and I like it. It seems to have great range, I like that I can move it between cars when I need to, which is why I don't have it built-in or hard-wired (I don't really care about seeing the coil-cord)... and I really do prefer the arrows - I like to know what direction to be looking for the troopers when they're out there. there have been times where I've had radar from in front and behind simultaneously - the CHP works in teams quite often on I-15 between LV and Barstow, and the arrows can tell me quickly what's going on, and what direction(s) it's all coming from. I'm sure the Escort is a fine product, and the added feature of being able to mark the false alarms using GPS is probably helpful to those who use them in city driving - but I only use the V1 out on the open road, and rarely get false alarms. brad

I still use The Force, works in both City and Highway modes. This is not the yellow car you are looking for... move along...

thanks a lot guys, my buddy and I have looked into both, and I'm pulling the trigger on the V1, especially since it is upgradeable, and has a more sensitive radar detector (even though it produces more false alarms) BTW K-Man...what yellow car...I don't see a yellow car!!

I;ve always been happy with my V1. I actually haven't used it at all in a couple years since I live in Va (where they are illegal) but I am starting to think about wiring it up again. I contacted them about an upgrade and they said mine should still be up-to-date enough. I keep hearing that 'they' can detect your radar detector but being an engineer it seems impossible to me that they can detect a passive device????? My guess is that their 'detection' is watching your break lights go on. I only started thinking about this because I have driven to PA to get some time on the back country switch back roads in the mountains using my new ultimately maneuverable CS! (and still averaging 21mpg since new!)

tme110, No, they do in fact have radar detector detectors in VA. They look for harmonic low level transmissions that are emitted from the super-heterodyne receivers local oscillator, and they work. I know two people who have been bagged in VA for using a detector, and the fine was pretty hefty. In VA, your best bet is a custom installed unit and be prepared to turn it off quickly if you see a trooper. The RDDs are not real good at pinpointing the source and are suseptible to false signals, so the police will follow you a bit to be sure, then they will pull you over and ask if you have a detector. Turn it off and the signal disappears. Check this out: http://www.radarbusters.com/support/spectre/Default.asp

Another vote for V1 here. Assuming they still offer it, I plan to send it back to swap for a new model. Having said that, anyone notice that certain cell phones will produce false alarms? I frequently drive where there is no cell service, thus my cell phone is constantly in "Search for Service" mode. When that happens, it does tend to make the V1 report continuous low-level alarms. I had this occur with a Sprint phone, and now with Verizon. I once sent the V1 back to address an issue with false laser alarms when in the presence of microwave towers. They said that there were some areas of the casework that could let in these signals and trigger the laser alerts. They sealed it up somehow, and the problem was solved. I wonder if there is any sort of upgrade regarding the cell phone issue I have seen? Brian

The Escort 8500 and 9500 models are upgradeable as well, so that isn't a reason to pick the V1 over either. How much sensitivity do you need? There have been published reports that the Escort 8500 picked up radar signals from over 7 MILES away. I would think that would be more than enough distance for you to slow down. Regardless, having an overly sensitive detector is more annoying than anything else. I had a V1 before switching to an 8500 (and then an 8500x50), and I wanted to throw the thing out the window, it falsed so much. I don't deny that Valentine's detectors perform well, but I can't STAND their advertising. Their products lose to Escort in the majority of magazine and Internet detector comparisons, so they resort to "don't listen to articles, listen to what our customers have to say" blurbs despite the fact that customer comments are completely anecdotal and non-scientific. Yet, they choose to push a 5 year old Car & Driver shootout article (from 2002) merely because the V1 scored higher than the 8500. Lame, lame, lame.

interpol, i think both V1 and escort are killing each other.. i always sees both ad on same magazines... fun fact: V1 founder use to work for escort, but he went to make V1 by himself.

Yes, V1 and Escort both make good stuff. The difference I see between their ads are: - Escort quotes from various websites and magazines, and even publishes quotes from magazines that ranked it #2 compared to the V1. Full disclosure. - Valentine quotes ONLY from Car & Driver, and from various no-name customers raving over their V1s. Hardly credible. IMO, the ONLY thing you're paying your extra $100 for the V1 over the Escort is the directional arrows. If that's worth it to you, great. To me, it's not. I don't need to know where my radar is coming from to respond. Which says nothing about the quality or performance of his products.

I drive with an Escort SRX and I've never been surprised by radar. Been surprised by laser traps a couple of times, because they are instant on and surprising by nature. Laser (lidar) guns are heavily used by Connecticut state troopers. One time I was screaming up route 8 North, headed to upstate NY for a business trip. I was the first car in the pack and doing about 85 mph in a 55. In CT, that's enough to cost you your license. Anyway, I come over the crest of a long hill and way off in the distance I see a dodge charger on the side of the road with tinted windows. Suddenly my detector goes crazy. I hit the brakes hard out of instinct, but I don't see any police car and the signal stops so I get back on the loud pedal. Then it goes off again, and this time I'm coming up on that Charger and I don't even let up. As I approach it, I see the trooper inside pointing the gun out of a slightly opened door. My heart dropped because I went screaming by him at no less than 80. I totally dismissed it because I had never seen a Charger being used by CT State Police. A few moments later, in my mirror, I see that darn Charger light up like a Christmas tree and come barreling out onto the road. I instantly reach for my wallet. I am definitely in trouble. He jets out into the left lane and is gaining on me real fast. Then he yanks right behind a Toyota pickup that was about 100 yards behind me and pulls him over. Holy cow..... That SRX totally masked me from that lidar gun, just the way it's meant to. No V1 in the world could have done that for me. The V1 may be a very sensitive radar detector, but against lidar it stands little to no chance of saving you.

Totally agree, Gator Bite. In fact, I'd venture to say that NO lidar detector (V1, 8500, 9500, BEL, etc.) is going to help you if you get hit by one - once your detector goes off, it's too late - better find a place to pull over and have your license and registration ready. You've already been clocked. UNLESS you happen to catch some scattering of the signal from another car, which given the coherent nature of laser (IR or visible), is not very common. Active lidar jamming is the ONLY thing that will protect you from lidar, currently. Lidar is becoming more and more of a threat nowadays as well. Even the police in my smallish local community of Torrance, CA now uses lidar. And companies like Geico are helping subsidize police departments with purchases of this new equipment (which is one reason why I will NEVER use Geico as my insurance company, regardless of how low their rates are).