What radar detector do you recommend?

I'm not advocating speeding or reckless driveing. It just seems that since the economy went to crap I am seeing more and more speed traps, ticket cameras, and zero tolerance policies every day. I don't have any desire to contribute to these revenue collectors and luckily I haven't yet. I have a TomTom GPS that does a pretty good job of allerting me to the cameras but I am starting to feel a need for more, especially at night.
I am looking at the Valentine and the Escort Passport 9500ix. Both seem really expensive but I would think you get what you pay for. The last time I had a detector was back in the eighties when I was going to college in West Texas and I would come home to Bedford on the weekends. It was a cheap 40 dollar Cobra that I ended up ignoring all the time because of all the false alerts and got dinged plenty of times by the local ticketmasters along 287 when the 55 went down to 35 at a little wide spot in the road or I had the cruise set at 60. You really don't know what a slow agonizing death feels like until you drive straight from Fort Worth to Amarillo along 287 at 55 mph for 9 hours in a Ford Courier pick up with no AC in August.
Do any of you guys use a detector regularly? What is your current experience and attitude with one? Have they become obsolete due to all the new techniques and counter measures Barney Fife is using these days?

I have four of the Valentines and won't have anything else (one for each DD)

love the number of signal counter and the front - rear

and the phone cord power cord instead of some special/expensive deal -- especially if moving between cars

when they get older, you can check the serial # on line to see if upgrades are available

if so, mail them in and you get state of the art back altho not real cheap

I had two of them have problems over the years, and sent them back for repair

since the housings were pristine shape (not dropped, abused), no charge for repairs

Watch for lit up tail lights way up ahead, that's the best cop detector.

FWIW, I got all of my speeding tickets when I had a radar detector, it was a cheap one. It might have been vehicle (civic) or age/maturity, or false sense of security, maybe the officers saw it and wanted to prove a point, I don't know. Either way I threw it away after the last ticket I got and *knock on wood* I haven't gotten one since then, 4 or 5 years or so. I still drive the same, 10 - 25 over depending.

I have gotten many regisration and inspection tickets since then though, haha.

V1

http://www.guysoflidar.com/museum/fuzzbusterii_b_2.jpg

I have the 9500i and love the GPS filtering. I travel the same roads and have programmed all of the false alarms out to where my detector only goes off when there is a cop around.

As for laser. If you hear the laser detector go off, you have been caught. There are a lot of lasers in the DFW area and you can tell it by the cops with their windows down pointing the gun out the window. Go to RadarRoy.com for the lastest testing.

V1

V1, hands down. I don't use one daily (probably should), but I sure love it on road trips.

IMO, Passport went to shit at the end of the Cincinnati Microwave (Mike Valentine) era.

nothing is foolproof

you have to watch for unusual behavior from in front (brake lights etc) and if a cop is well hidden and you are the first to encounter him, you are toast

but if a cop is doing the hidden and instant on thing and there is traffic in front of you, you will get hits -- don't ignore them

slow down for a few minutes till you are sure you are clear or you see him

can't be silly and do a bunch faster than normal flow

I watch for a rabbit (someone being silly) and trail them at a long distance, quarter mile or so

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Originally Posted by nealb

I have four of the Valentines and won't have anything else (one for each DD)

love the number of signal counter and the front - rear

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+1. I've bought a number of them for myself and friends.

The Valentine does not have GPS for warning about static speed/redlight cameras. The Passport escort 9500xi has GPS. The TomTom I have to connect to a PC and update the traffic function often as it does not do it while connected in the car. The Passport looks as though it does it's updates on the move.

Will using the TomTom with a Valentine be as effective as the Passport?

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Originally Posted by trickyrix

IMO, Passport went to shit at the end of the Cincinnati Microwave (Mike Valentine) era.

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I am leaning towards the Passport. Can you say more about your opinion?

Another V1 vote

I have read the Valentine manual and it repeatedly makes statements such as "X-band [is] most common for moving and stationary [radar]." . Xband as far as I know has been all but abandoned except in Ohio and New Jersey. The Valentine although it looks like it continues to test out as one of the top more sensitve units it seems to lack sophistication and features of the more modern offerings from Passport. I read several reviews and comparisons that indicate that the V1 is very "chatty" with false alarms due to its sensitivity and lack of filters or GPS memory. I worry that I would start to ignore the warnings as i did my Cobra during President Reagan's terms. Has this been your experience?

One reveiwer mentioned that there is no auto mute of alarms after the threat has passed. It was said the operator has to reach over and manually turn off every alarm. Is that accurate?

The Passport does not appear to be upgradeable only replaced. The valentine offers upgrades but they appear to be very expensive but not as much as a replacement unit. Is upgradeability important enough to be considered? Is the technology advancing fast enough that 18 months or shorter would obselete a unit?

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Originally Posted by nealb

I watch for a rabbit (someone being silly) and trail them at a long distance, quarter mile or so

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I like to do this on read trips, too.

Does the Escort offer a count on radar detected or front and rear? What if a cop is shooting radar in the same area as a know GPS radar will it ignore it?

I set my V1 in little logic mod.

I had set my Escort 8500 (which I've sold since the Miata is so incredibly slow lol) into "expert" mode which showed a little bar graph of each signal seen. It doesn't have directional display though.

Advanced mode (middle):
http://images.amazon.com/images/G/01...00_display.jpg

If you get the 8500 x50, 9500 or V1 you've got basically the best on the market, but none of them will help you if you drive like a jackass. The LEOs around here are mostly using K, Ka, and Lidar (aka you're f'ed). I found that the radar going off in the Evo just made me be the only guy slowing down when passing the trooper on the tollway.

I did find LEOs with X out in the sticks (OK, LA, MS, FL), so don't disable X if you're leaving the big city. For road trips a rabbit is essential. Coming back from San Antonio there are cutouts in the center wall divider on 35 and the LEOs hang out there. My rabbit got popped but I didn't and that would have been a big one. OK uses airplanes. My uncle found that one out in his 3000GT VR4 lol.

Breaker 1-9...CB's are still the bomb-diggity on the interstate. :)

https://www.beltronics.com/store/gx-65.html

I'm in the market too. I've had a BEL980 for almost 10 years now, it still works great, but all the accesories like the mount and cords are shot. I've been shopping the Escort 9500, the V1 and the BEL GX-65. I really like the arrows and counter on the V1, but have never really been bit by not having it on previous radars. Falses are a big problem with V1s (even with X-band turned off) and I've heard that the addition of POP radar software/firmware updates on the V1 have lessened their Ka/K non-POP performance.

The price of the top of the line 9500 is a good bit more than the GX-95, the BEL and Escort use essentially the same guts, but there are a few packaging differences and the BEL doesn't have the autolearn feature that KenO was worried about. With the BEL you can press a quick sequence of buttons and mark a location if you want though.

http://www.radartest.com/article_2.asp?articleid=100593

BTW, BEL has a $80 trade in program right now for any old radar you have laying around.

None. The revenuers have the edge so practice driving the speed limit. It took me a while to figure this one out but now I drive from point A to point B without the worry that comes with speeding. I'm no saint but a day at the track is a lot cheaper than a day in court.

I do not use one, either. I use my cruise control to keep me at about 68 on the highway or 8 over, whichever is faster. So far, so good.

Most people get their tickets when using their radar detectors becuase they ignore short little beeps thinking that it's a false alarm. I slow down for nearly EVERY hit unless it's X band radar or a common spot where a door opener is at that I've passed a few times before. It's kept me good so far. My Cobra unit in my Saturn is starting to act like it has a mental condition giving me a max signal strength Ka or K hit when there is nothing for miles around me.

I just picked up a used Beltronics 995 off of fleabay. Sopoused to be a pretty good unit according to Radar Roy.

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Originally Posted by bnordin

None. The revenuers have the edge so practice driving the speed limit. It took me a while to figure this one out but now I drive from point A to point B without the worry that comes with speeding. I'm no saint but a day at the track is a lot cheaper than a day in court.

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This is what I was thinking.

I use the one in the car that's a half mile ahead going 90 to nothing. His brake lights go on, so do mine. Usually he gets the ticket and I drive by doing the speed limit, lol.

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Originally Posted by POS Racing

http://www.guysoflidar.com/museum/fuzzbusterii_b_2.jpg

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My dad had one of those back in the late 70's, lol

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Originally Posted by bnordin

None. The revenuers have the edge so practice driving the speed limit. It took me a while to figure this one out but now I drive from point A to point B without the worry that comes with speeding. I'm no saint but a day at the track is a lot cheaper than a day in court.

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Or just get rid of the Miata with the exposed roll bar, fancy race wheels, sparkly bright paint and get a 1993 Lincoln Towncar or some Buick.
As I stated in the first post I am not advocating speeding or reckless driving or driving like a douche but the reality is we drive sports cars and on occaision I am positive everybody likes to make their little car go zoomzoom for second or two. The locals up here are practicing zero tolerance and cameras are issueing tickets for as little as 5 over, the yellows on the traffic lights in Marshall resemble strobe lights in how quick they change now. I can not sit at one intersection in Marshall and not see somebody get their picture taken for a ticket. Even if you are not speeding you will get pulled over and be envited along on a fishing expedition with Barney Fife. When the economy went bad people stopped spending as freely and the city lost that sales tax revenue. A plague of traffic cameras appeared not because Marshall suddenly got to be a dangerous place to drive but because money was wanted. As the drivers adapted and the camera revenue dipped in Marshall more cameras were purchased and the yellow interval was shortened to bring the revenue back up. The last time I went throgh marshall I counted no less than 10 DPS,Sheriffs,Police along my route alone. Most had somebody pulled over. I understand and appreciate a town needs some revenue to operate but I can not agree to it being collected like this. I can't see the difference between that and somebody with a gun robbing a convience store other than the blessing of a mayor. I go out of my way to avoid Marshall on my daily commute, I do not buy gas, snacks, groceries or shop any of the merchants or restraunts there now because I refuse to contribute any tax money to their government. rant over

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Originally Posted by nealb

I watch for a rabbit (someone being silly) and trail them at a long distance, quarter mile or so

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That is my TCB radar detector too on long road trips. I know all the usual spots on my daily commute route and also in heavy traffic there is no use for such thing. Hate to say the last few tickets were NOT speed related! :-(

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Originally Posted by ken o

Does the Escort offer a count on radar detected or front and rear? What if a cop is shooting radar in the same area as a know GPS radar will it ignore it?

I set my V1 in little logic mod.

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Ken, Yes it still will alert you with new threats. No there is no fancy arows to tell you which direction it is coming from. But it's very quite around town when you have programmed it..
It will only block out a small frequeny on the Escort 9500i. I still get allerts on the unit when there is a new radar active, no mater what the band. Usually X band is obsolete. Ka band is what I see police in dallas using most of. There is a X and K band radar on the overpass aroun Marsh lane while driving down 635. I do not hear the alarm, but there is an icon that spins letting me know that it has seen it and is blocking it out. I have no complaints on my radar detector.

Programming false alarms requires hitting the mute button on the smart cord 3 times.(once to mute, second to let it know that you want to lock it out and the thirs to confirm). If you want to unlock the signal, just hit the mute button on the smart cord 2 times. It will ask you if you want to unlock that signal the first time and confirm it the second.

I would love to get my hands on a Blinder M27 laser jammer. That or the ZR4 shifter laser jammer so that I can direct connect it into my detector. Too bad I don't have the extra $400 for one.

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Originally Posted by CarCar

The locals up here are practicing zero tolerance and cameras are issueing tickets for as little as 5 over, the yellows on the traffic lights in Marshall resemble strobe lights in how quick they change now. I refuse to contribute any tax money to their government. rant over

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Check the state laws. About three years ago, Rome TX was setting up a speed camera and collecting revenue. About the same time, a town outside of Austin started setting up speed cameras. The Texas legislature ruled that the speed cameras were unconstitutional and forced them to take them out.
Linkie:

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SENATE VOTES TO BAN SPEED CAMERAS


Senator Judith Zaffirini of Laredo smiles at passage of HB 2235 during Monday's session.
(AUSTIN) -- Texas cities will no longer be able to use cameras to enforce speed limits under a bill passed by the Senate Monday. Senator John Carona, who sponsored HB 922, said he was concerned that these cameras served only to increase revenue rather than protect public safety. Though only two cities in Texas, Marble Falls and Rome, use traffic cameras to catch speeders, Carona said he thought the Legislature should intervene before they become more widespread.

Though HB 922 didn't address the controversial topic of red light cameras, another bill, HB 1052, sponsored by Carona and passed Monday did. That bill would require cities to post signs along roads leading to an intersection that is monitored by red light cameras, informing motorists of that fact. Should such signs not be posted, the city would not be able to issue a valid ticket.

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http://www.guysoflidar.com/radar-det...ctor-test.html

This is the most comprehensive testing that exists.

V1, but it stays in my kitchen drawer most of the time unless I go on a trip or long drive.

I love my V1 and switched after a fancy Bel and most recently a Passport X50. Nothing comes close to the V1. What the others may offer in extended range or GPS, the V1 gives peace of mind and enough information to take-up the slack. I don't really speed considering I've had a rash of tickets for crap like 4mph so I'm utilizing the radar to alert me when I'm being monitored.

Maybe I am the old man of the group, but you could just make sure to not speed. I hear that is a sure-fire way to sneak out of speeding tickets. I would even argue that obeying the speed limit is positively correlated with driver safety.

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Originally Posted by boisking

Maybe I am the old man of the group, but you could just make sure to not speed. I hear that is a sure-fire way to sneak out of speeding tickets. I would even argue that obeying the speed limit is positively correlated with driver safety.

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A lot of those stats are generated from entities that make money from ticket revenues or recieve money from govt agencies that do. I could aruge that enforcement of limits could actually cause accidnets. You're tooling down the road at a speed that is safe for conditions but is over the posted limit. You see a trooper and slam on brakes to avoid a ticket which results in a traffic accident from someone following behind you.

I wouldn't have a big problem with speed laws IF it was about safety. No matter what govt person says what it is always about revenue generation which in my mind just isn't right one bit. What's wrong with me going down the highway at 80 when traffic is low or non-existant??

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Originally Posted by boisking

Maybe I am the old man of the group, but you could just make sure to not speed. I hear that is a sure-fire way to sneak out of speeding tickets. I would even argue that obeying the speed limit is positively correlated with driver safety.

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Dream on. I've been cited for "unsafe speed" because I was traveling 2mph under the 20mph limit and the cop wanted to make a bust. No other reason. Not in a flashy car ('78 Dodge Van in good shape).

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Originally Posted by modernbeat

No other reason. Not in a flashy car ('78 Dodge Van in good shape).

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Might have had something to do with the "Free Candy" sign on the side...

i recommend the one in which you don't speed