First of
all, there are 3 top of the line radar detectors on the market now, the Bel
985, the valentine 1, and the passport 8500. Lets talk about radar in general
first. I hope all of you know, it doesn't matter what kind of detector you have,
THERE IS NO DEFENSE TO INSTANT ON RADAR!!!
Example: You are the only car on the highway doing 100 mph. A cop hiding on
the side of the road waits for you to come in range, when you are in range, he
turns on his radar for 1 second to clock you, your radar detector goes off, but
it's too late.....your busted. Its called instant on, his radar is not on,
so your detector does not go off. The FCC allows 3 bands for traffic radar.
X-band (10.52GHz) K-band (24.15GHz) K is the most used, and the super wide Ka-band
(33.40 thru 36.00GHz). X-band is fading fast, it is mostly used by your local
police department in the city. Ka-band
is the most dangerous, and is now starting to be used more than X & K.
Now let's talk about the detectors. The Valentine, a great detector no doubt,
but for about $120 less you can get EQUAL protection from the Bel or
Passport. The Valentine is EXCELLENT at sniffing out X-band; it has by far the
longest range I have ever seen on any detector. But since hardly anyone uses
X-band radar anymore, this doesn't even matter. It also sniffs out all 3 bands
from the rear about 1/2 mile sooner than the other 2. All 3 detectors can sniff
out K-band at about the same distance, but the super wide Ka-band is a problem
for the Valentine. While the other 2 detectors saw it at about 40,000 feet, the
Valentine saw it at less than 25,000 feet. NOT GOOD!! (keep in mind this was a
straightaway/hill test for max range). All 3 are invisible to the VG-2 radar
detector/detector, but neither of these is invisible to the new Spectre
detector/detector.
LASER
The best defense for laser is your eyes. If paying attention, most likely you
will see the officer pointing the laser at you before your detector goes off.
Don't let anyone fool you, dash mounted detectors do a poor job of detecting
laser. Because the laser beam is so narrow & it doesn't scatter, a detector
has a hard time seeing it. 3 strikes against officers who use lasers......An
officer has to hit you with his laser in the front or rear of your vehicle for
it to work. (he can't get you from the side nor while moving) .......He can't
shoot the laser through his windshield to clock you (currently laser guns in
use won't work through windshields, this is changing though, laser manufactures
are making them so they will work through glass)...&...if he obeys the laws
governing the use of traffic laser, you must be within 1,000 feet of him before
he can use it.
MORE ABOUT Ka-band
Ka-band is very wide. In the instant on mode, a cheap detector may not even
pick it up. Currently, radar guns in use operate on 3 frequencies of the
Ka-band, 34.7, 33.8, & 35.5GHz. The best defense to Ka-band is the Bel 985.
It has a mode called accusweep in which it will ONLY scan these 3
frequencies, not the whole band, making it much faster. Other detectors scan
the whole band (33.40 to 36.00GHz, much slower) MPH Industries introduced a
radar gun called the Bee 3 that NO detector can pick up in the pop mode.
It's only on for 67ms. The Bel & the passport take about 150ms to scan the
entire Ka-band, the Valentine takes longer than that, therefore decreasing it's
sensitivity to that band. Officers are not supposed to use this gun in the pop
mode to issue citations.
After using the pop mode they are supposed to switch to instant on mode for an
accurate reading.
JAMMERS
Radar is
controlled by the FCC, so in most states it is a federal felony to jam police
radar. Be careful, if you are convicted, you could get a year in jail and/or a
$75,000 dollar fine. Since lasers are controlled by the FDA, (U.S. food &
drug administration) you can jam them all day.