# radar detector



## Nissan200sxSER (Dec 20, 2002)

I thought it would be benifitial to everyone if we started a thread about radar detectors. I know there are some really shitty ones out there, so give advise to those wishing to get a nice one.

On that note...
I just bought my first one and i got a whistler. Even though i was told not to get it, the price was good and i thought i would give it a try. AND HOLY SHIT. I have passed atleast 15 cops and not once has it gone off. I would recommend everyone staying away from any series whistlers.


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## holy200sx (Jan 8, 2003)

well.. alot of radar detectors dont detect cops unless there clocking gun is on.. iff they are just driving.. you wont know they are there...it doesnt like scan for any crown vic/impalla.


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## Katana200sx (May 13, 2002)

i have a whistler and it works fine...like stated above the reason your radar detector didnt go off is bc cops rarely ride around w/their radar on or so i have noticed. most of the time u dont have a chance to slow down anyway bc ive noticed that they wait till they get right up on u to switch it on.


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## Nissan200sxSER (Dec 20, 2002)

Can you detect it when they use it on other ppl, and if so how far away does it warn you.


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## 99.se.ltd (Jun 21, 2002)

that's why you need to shell out for a radar and/or laser scrambler


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## Nissan200sxSER (Dec 20, 2002)

Some cops DO drive around with the radar gun on BTW.


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## faithandfame (Jan 25, 2003)

I have been saved many times by my radar detector, but I sure wouldn't depend on it. There have been many times where I have passed cops and it wouldn't go off. Cops are trained to know how fast you are going without their radar guns. A radar detector may keep you safe for a few times but you will eventually get caught one day. And, when you do you should unplug your radar detector real quick. A cop told me that he is more likely to give you a ticket if you have a detector because you think you can speed with it.


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## Katana200sx (May 13, 2002)

i never said cops dont ride around w/their radar on...just most dont. i know the small town cops around where i work always have theirs on bc well..theres nothin better for them to do. i only got my detector bc when i preorder gta:vice city, buy.com had it for like 50% off. speaking of gta...anyone wanna buy an unopened copy of vice city from me?=D


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## Nissan200sxSER (Dec 20, 2002)

This kinda went off topic...i was just hoping we could compile a list of good / bad radar detectors to get...


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## Blu200SX (Jul 22, 2002)

a guy i used to hang out with had a special order with some kind of chip and it goes off when the cop is using his computer. I witnessed first hand of it when a cop was just driving around..so if you know how to get the hook up on that then...thats the only closest way. too bad i dont know what brand it was.


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## Nissan200sxSER (Dec 20, 2002)

I was just reading some reveiws and the Valentine V1 is rated very high. It makes different sounds to tell which type of gun is being used. It also gives the direction the cop is in. It also has 3 different modes for: City, Highway, and something else.


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## Smahatma (Oct 15, 2002)

Nissan200sxSER said:


> *I was just reading some reveiws and the Valentine V1 is rated very high. It makes different sounds to tell which type of gun is being used. It also gives the direction the cop is in. It also has 3 different modes for: City, Highway, and something else. *


sure does, IMO its the best you can buy
got mine last november and its saved me a few times
if you live in a pretty suburban area (like i do) then you might want to be pretty weary even with a radar detecter because they might be using instant-on radar, which is why i dont really speed anymore


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## Ninety-Nine SE-L (May 5, 2002)

isn't there some kind of detector that will detect a cop car, their equipment has to emit some kind of frequency. The only time the detector helps is when the cop is using the k/ka/x band radar, a cop can always track you from behind, or use a laser. (laser reacts only when it's too late)


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## p10driver (Apr 30, 2002)

But it's easy to scrable a laser. You just need the right IR-LED's in your grill. Are detectors/scramblers legal in US?


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## Smahatma (Oct 15, 2002)

scramblers/jammers are illegal in every state in the United States
Detectors are illegal only in West Virginia and Maryland


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## sethwas (Apr 30, 2002)

And,
Don't even think about it in Canada.

Seth


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## Ninety-Nine SE-L (May 5, 2002)

I'm thinking about getting a laser scrambler from radioshack

would it be possible to make your own laser scrambler? I could prolly mount IR leds around my car.


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## Nissan200sxSER (Dec 20, 2002)

You can pick up the laser signal if it is being shot at a car close to you right?


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## Ninety-Nine SE-L (May 5, 2002)

maybe, but if you're alone on the highway (when they like to use it) it's a little too late to do anything. if you hear your detector go off (not a false alarm) and you were speeding, you can bet that cop will be chasing you soon.

I was on the highway a few weeks ago going 80+. All of a sudden, the laser detector went off and when I looked to my left, there were 2 state troopers hiding in the grass. 2 second later, one was on my ass and I ended up with a yellow sheet of carbon copy worth $173. if your detector goes off, it's alrady too late to save your ass (unless you have 300+hp and a place to run b/c I got pulled over by a Z28).


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## fastpakr (Sep 18, 2002)

Smahatma said:


> *Detectors are illegal only in West Virginia and Maryland *


Virginia also, unless the law has changed recently.


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## zakezuke (Mar 22, 2003)

Radar Scramblers are a violation of FCC regs, typicaly speaking. They can easily be detected, and are designed to interfear with radio recievers, in particular, the ones the cops use. 

Laser on the otherhand, is a bit diffrent, as we don't have the regs on light like we do on radio, and the only auto regs I know of deal with the visiable light spectrium, as in red brake lights, no blue lights, that sorta thing. The invisiable light spectrium does not have the same restrictions that radio does. Not to speak of the fact that one would need some means of detecting invisable jamming light. 

I did see something interesting in the local schucks. A light defuser(sp) for your license place, that in theory prevents photographs of the entire plate if taken dead on. These too are very likely to be illegal sometime in the future, and from what I can tell, only prevent photo-radar from taking an image of the entire plate. I wouldn't use one my self cause with a partical plate, let's say 3 out of 6 digits, is enough infomration to narrow down the culprit down to 999 if the numbers are missing, or 17,576 if the letters are missing. Given also that with a photo, you can often identify color, make / model of an auto, as well as year / month tabs are due, it might be worth it to chace down these people with plate filters, not to speak of the fact that cops can see you have somthing obscuring your plate from view if they are not directly behind you. Not something i'd bother with as atleast in the state of washington, you can argue a photo-ticket and get it dismissed easily, and near as I can tell, only a couple cities here use them, and only for school zones.


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## Guest (Mar 25, 2003)

*DETECTORS*

 WELL I HAVE A WHISLER AND IT HAS SAVED MY A$$ SEVERAL TIMES. ONE TIME I WAS DOING 120 IN A 55 AND HAD I NOT PURCHASED THE DETECTOR I WOULD BE IN JAIL RIGHT NOW, OR PICKING UP TRASH ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD FOR THE COUNTY JAIL!


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## Felonious Cat Stalker (May 1, 2002)

sethwas said:


> *And,
> Don't even think about it in Canada.
> 
> Seth *


I think they're legal in Alberta. Can anybody from out west confirm that?


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## El_Presidente (Oct 22, 2002)

> isn't there some kind of detector that will detect a cop car, their equipment has to emit some kind of frequency.


Yeah I'm sure that could be set up, but it would be really hard to do it where it would only detect cops and not be set off by everything else.
I have a whistler radar dector that i have used for a couple years now, it picks up X, K, and KA, i've noticed that every time it picks up X, its usually not a cop, but just some other kind of interference, cops only seem to use the K or KA. It also VG2 protection, which and tells you and blocks when cops try to use a radar detector detector, if that makes sense.
But I've stopped using my radar detector, cause I got tired of the wire dangling down my dash and everything, it always gets in the way when i close my indash TV screen. But I keep it with me if going to be going on a long trip or know that i'm going to be racing or something.
Thats another thing though, cops are supposed to be trained to estimate speed, like when i had my detector i got pulled over, i was actually racing, but the cop never clocked me. I took it to court and everything that i wasnt actually speeding, just accelerating quickly, but the cop saying i was going approx 60 in a 35 was good enough for the judge.
wow, that was long, sorry.


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## Ninety-Nine SE-L (May 5, 2002)

I wired my radar detector into the dash. instead of plugging it into my cigerette lighter, I tapped the detector into the wires coming from BEHIND the lighter. This may help if you have some basic wiring skills and don't mind cutting a $3.99 adaptor cord in half.
pics:
http://1997ga16de.nissanpower.com/cgi-bin/i/images/dsc02480.jpg
http://1997ga16de.nissanpower.com/cgi-bin/i/images/dsc02482.jpg


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## El_Presidente (Oct 22, 2002)

yeah i was wanting to do something like that, I was thinking more of routing the wire into the vents where the windsheild meets the dash. I think that would look a lot better, I'm not totally sure how I would do that though, I'd probably have to take the whole dash apart.


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## tsi200sx (Nov 8, 2002)

Smahatma said:


> *scramblers/jammers are illegal in every state in the United States
> Detectors are illegal only in West Virginia and Maryland *


Not sure where you got that info, but radar detectors are legal in both West Virginia and Maryland. The only Eastern state where they are illegal is Virginia, and also within the District of Columbia. I think there's another state to the west, Minnesota maybe, where they are illegal, and also in the province of Ontario. I'm not sure about the rest of Canada.

If you're on the highway a lot, the best protection you can get is a good old-fashioned CB Radio. I installed mine last summer and it is awesome on the Interstate. The truckers on Channel 19 send the word up and down the road every time they pass a speed trap or see a patrol car "rolling"..if you listen you can know the exact location of every cop for a hundred miles in either direction, right down to the mile marker if they're sitting.
I also run a Uniden RD that I got as a gift like eight years ago, it works okay and has saved me more times than I can count over the years. It's not as sensitive as it used to be, and I'm planning on replacing it soon. I have it mounted above the rear view mirror, the power cord runs up under the trim around the windshield and down to the fusebox.


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## Guest (Apr 5, 2003)

First of all by the time a cop targets you, he's already got you, your detector just basically lets you know you're screwed, the only way it would be useful is if you are driving around a busy street and he gets someone else before you, but who drives that fast of busy streets anyway?


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## Ninety-Nine SE-L (May 5, 2002)

not exactly, a radar can be detected for up to a mile a cop isn't going to turn on his radar and target you all in a split second, it's almost impossible for him to target you on an x, k, or ka band w/o some kind of advance warning. 

Only on laser is that statement true b/c laser is instant and doesn't transmit any stray light or waves.


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## Guest (Apr 6, 2003)

very true, but in my area almost all the cops have switched to laser. i think they make laser detectors too, but im very skeptical.


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## Guest (Apr 6, 2003)

hey noticed you say that you have a sr20det your going to be swapping in. where exactly can you find that or a sr20ve online? been looking forever.


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## Ninety-Nine SE-L (May 5, 2002)

you can try calling SR20DEvelopment (sr20development.com). I'm going to JGY in Virginia.


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## Nissan200sxSER (Dec 20, 2002)

Hey man, quit f**k'n stealin my thread!!


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## Nissan200sxSER (Dec 20, 2002)

That CB sounds like a great idea for me. Are there good and bad CB's, or are they pretty much all the same?

Costco is selling a prety nice radar detector for $100. It is actually rated almost as good as the V1.


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## Ninety-Nine SE-L (May 5, 2002)

YUP, I PLAN ON ADDING AN INCON BB37 TURBO, GTI-R MANIFOLD, JWT ECU, WALBRO FUELPUMP, S1 CAMS, GREDDY BOOST CONTROLER.....

LOL, J/K...you can have your thread back.


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## tsi200sx (Nov 8, 2002)

No, most CB's are pretty much the same...mine's a Uniden.....the antenna is the most important part....I didn't want the antenna to look ugly so I sacrificed some range on the CB and mounted a relatively short, glass-mount antenna on my back window (my car is a hatchback) and angled it back like a VW antenna....if you go to my website and click on "my SE Gallery" there's a picture in there that shows the antenna.


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## El_Presidente (Oct 22, 2002)

> i think they make laser detectors too, but im very skeptical.


Most radar detectors should pick up laser too, i know mine does.


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## Ninety-Nine SE-L (May 5, 2002)

yes, mine does too. Laser is a bit different than radar. Radar and laser devices have 2 basic detecting components. 1 part transmits a ray or beam into a particular direction and the other part reads the waves that have bounced off the vehicle. Real simple. The differences between the 2 is the source. Radar uses sound waves in the GHz range to be transmitted from the device. Since sound waves cannot be directed into a linear beam, it tends to transmit it's signal into many directions besides the intended target. These stray beams can transmit pretty clearly for more than a mile if the conditions are right and this is what makes your radar detector go of and give you plenty of advance warning before you reach the cop. 

as for laser, we all know that a laser beam is no more than a thin beam of light. The light is an invisible infrared @ about 700+mn (where red light is around 630nm). Since the beam is so thin, it does not transmit stray signals and therefore no advance warning. Unless your laser detector detects infrared light from a different source, you will not be warned about the cop's presence until you have passed through the beam.

I heard someone saying that you may not detect the radar if the cop turns it on last minute and tags you. As far as I know, these devices are not point and shoot. If they did it that way, they might end up missing the car. Most police will keep the device pointed in a fixed location and wait for the victim to pass through the trap.

Hope this clears some things up for some and I hope my little brainstorm is for the most part accurate.


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## FletchSpecV (Nov 26, 2002)

First of all, radar scramblers are a scam. They don't work. As for radar detectors, there is only one that I would buy: Escort Passport 8500. I just bought one and it is absolutely amazing. I had a whistler for a few years and it worked alright but this thing is amazing. It has a range of 2-3 miles and is super smart and sensitive. Any ways, like others have said though, they aren't cop proof. The best advice I could give is just to be alert. I've avoided more tickets by watching my mirrors than a radar detector has ever helped me avoid.


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## Smahatma (Oct 15, 2002)

FletchSpecV said:


> *First of all, radar scramblers are a scam. They don't work. As for radar detectors, there is only one that I would buy: Escort Passport 8500. I just bought one and it is absolutely amazing. I had a whistler for a few years and it worked alright but this thing is amazing. It has a range of 2-3 miles and is super smart and sensitive. Any ways, like others have said though, they aren't cop proof. The best advice I could give is just to be alert. I've avoided more tickets by watching my mirrors than a radar detector has ever helped me avoid. *


Passive radar jammers are a scam. Active laser/radar jammers DO work, and rather well at that. However, active jammers are always much more expensive and 50 state illegal.


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## Ninety-Nine SE-L (May 5, 2002)

where might I go about getting one of these illegal active jammers? (theoretically speaking of course)


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## Smahatma (Oct 15, 2002)

search for 'active radar jammer' on google
keep in mind that these are usually pretty expensive (600$-1000$ and sometimes more) and they also usually require that you mount transmitters on the exterior of your car on the front and back bumpers for example


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## FletchSpecV (Nov 26, 2002)

Smahatma said:


> *Passive radar jammers are a scam. Active laser/radar jammers DO work, and rather well at that. However, active jammers are always much more expensive and 50 state illegal. *


The only thing that a jammer has been proven to do is possibly shorten the distance at which you will be picked up. Here are a couple of links that I picked up doing research of my own to see if a jammer was worth it. My recommendation would be a radio scanner, a radar detector, and watching your mirrors. Plus, it's way cheaper than buying something that hasn't been proven "cop-proof" by any means.

http://www.radar-detectors.com/products/jammers/default.asp

http://www.escortradar.com/jammer.htm

Check out these links if you want. I just went to yahoo and searched for radar jammers. Hope it helps!


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## Smahatma (Oct 15, 2002)

that first link says "Page 6 : Buyer Beware: Passive radar doesn't work! " which i already told you, passive is crap. The 2nd link only has 2 models, and both those models would not be considered by any means 'good' in comparison to other jammers, and also the link is to ESCORT which is extremely biased towards their products.

P.S. dont use yahoo


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## FletchSpecV (Nov 26, 2002)

Smahatma said:


> *that first link says "Page 6 : Buyer Beware: Passive radar doesn't work! " which i already told you, passive is crap. The 2nd link only has 2 models, and both those models would not be considered by any means 'good' in comparison to other jammers, and also the link is to ESCORT which is extremely biased towards their products.
> 
> P.S. dont use yahoo *


First of all at the bottom of the page in the first link it says that even active jammers don't work against all bands, which is useless unless all cops in your area use the bands which it works against. Secondly, at the escort site, they talk about the two active radar detectors and say that they do not jam KA. Also, why would they be biased against jammers? Most people who buy jammers buy radar detectors too. If they were so effective that they were going to put escort out of business why wouldn't they just come up with their own jammer? They already build some of the best radar detectors on the market, why not make a killing making jammers as well, if they worked. Secondly, the two that were reviewed there were 600 and the second one (that only worked part of the time) was 200. This post was asking for people's opinions so I'm just giving mine that based on some research that I've done, they don't seem to be worth the high cost. Lastly, what does it matter which search engine I used? They all bring up webpages, go to google and escort and radar-detectors.com will still come up there.


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## sethwas (Apr 30, 2002)

Haha,
COunt how many times the phrase 'first of all' is mentioned in this thread.

seth


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## Smahatma (Oct 15, 2002)

i count 3 times


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## FletchSpecV (Nov 26, 2002)

sethwas said:


> *Haha,
> COunt how many times the phrase 'first of all' is mentioned in this thread.
> 
> seth *


Haha, too many,  .


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## tsi200sx (Nov 8, 2002)

IMHO, the ultimate setup for high-speed roadtrips would be a good radar detector (Escort or Valentine), short-range police radio scanner (the chatter would be distracting if it was a longer-range unit), a good CB Radio, and good knowledge of the tactics of high-speed travel, including watching the mirrors, keeping a good eye on the road ahead including the shoulder and median, being aware of hiding places like U-turns and overpasses, and finding a patsy when you can. It would also help to NOT run a front license plate, and to have a dark-colored, curvy car, which makes it a bit more difficult to get a good hit on you with a laser.

Uniden also has a very interesting new radar detector out which contains a GPS, and an uplink to a satellite which carries a database of known speed traps, so the RD alerts you when you are approaching a known trap area, whether radar is detected or not. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before you will be able to buy a GPS navigation system with integrated RD so the position of the radar source will be displayed right on your navigation system......hella cool.


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## jrembold (Sep 27, 2006)

Smahatma said:


> scramblers/jammers are illegal in every state in the United States
> Detectors are illegal only in West Virginia and Maryland


They are legal in Maryland and ILLEGAL in Virginia. I lived and DC and turned it off while I was riding in VA.


jrembold


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## TeKKiE (Aug 8, 2006)

jrembold said:


> They are legal in Maryland and ILLEGAL in Virginia. I lived and DC and turned it off while I was riding in VA.
> 
> 
> jrembold


Holy hell batman! Talk about the rise of posts from the dead! :woowoo:


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## Jeff (Oct 17, 2002)

TeKKiE said:


> Holy hell batman! Talk about the rise of posts from the dead! :woowoo:


You're right...closed.

Next time, jrembold, just create a new thread instead of beating a horse 3 years later.


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