Radar detectors worth it?/Recommendations?

Billy1 · Mar 7, 2017

choate said:
I bought the Valentine One about 6 months ago. It does go off a lot more than just for radar detectors but what i've found is that if it starts going more than a couple times you better be watching out. Usually it'll be going completely crazy before I even see the cop. But yes, if you are doing 100 in the left lane they'll see you coming then BAM turn it on and you're caught. A little sense goes a long way too

That's strange as I was thinking of trying the Valentine. See:
http://www.valentine1.com/v1info/junk_k_fighter/ about the false alarms l am referring to. Valentine claims they about solved the problem.

SJulian10mm · Mar 7, 2017

jstump2490 said:
Please don't go around recommending this. You might as well just take $50 and put it in the trash or light it on fire for warmth, at least you would get some heat in return. Cobras will tell you when you are GETTING a ticket, Escorts and Valentines will tell you BEFORE you get a ticket.

This^

Mike02z · Mar 7, 2017

V1 for me. I've had the same V1 shell since ~1998. I have had it updated 4-5 times and it is like a getting a new detector at every update. I also use the V1 Connect. Allows me to program it and the YaV1 Android app is great. I know the V1 does not have GPS but I use Waze so that feature is not needed by me.

Mike02z · Mar 7, 2017

HISSMAN said:
I've never used one and I have zero tickets. I also drive like a maniac. Must be luck, or a sixth sense for the fuzz. Though I have been pulled over, let me not leave that out. But every time I am courteous and thankful the the officer and I've never had anything above a warning. One time I was busted drifting my 2014 GT500 and still ended up with a warning to slow down...

^^ is great!

I left my detector in my other car then went blasting through a local interstate tunnel at ~4:00 AM. When the officer pulled me over, let's just say he was within his rights to lock me up. I pulled right over as far right as possible. I put my hazards on and lowered both my windows. I kept my hands at 10-2 and was very polite. He ran my information and came back to the car. He said the car was amazing but that he didn't want to be scooping me up one day. He then told me to slow it down and gave me a warning.

He then asked me about the car. We must have talked for 30 minutes. At the end of the conversation I thanked him for his service and he shook my hand.

BTW, the car is tinted at 15% and all the markers are tinted. The resonators were removed and the car is crazy loud.

choate · Mar 8, 2017

Billy1 said:
That's strange as I was thinking of trying the Valentine. See:
http://www.valentine1.com/v1info/junk_k_fighter/ about the false alarms l am referring to. Valentine claims they about solved the problem.

It doesn't go off at other cars, just mainly gas stations and retail buildings that have alarms. You can turn off the "all alerts" feature but it doesn't go off that much so I leave it on just to be safer. If it beeps once, I don't think anything of it. Sometimes a gas station will make it go off a couple times in a row but if it's not a known spot where it starts getting more and more and more frequent, you best start slowing down. That's how I use it but to repeat it very rarely goes off faster and faster and faster when it's a false alarm. It only does that if you are like right next to a gas station or Best Buy or something but not on the highway. When you are on the highway and it reads a Best Buy or Gas Station, Just a beep, pause. beep. pause. then it goes to normal mode when it's a false alarm. hope that helps. I like my V1 and even swap it over to use in my Cobra. I bought two mirror mounts. One for the 5.0 and one for the Cobra. It just slides right out if you want to swap it to another vehicle

FranzVonHoffer · Mar 8, 2017

pgonza2723 said:
Go to:

rdforum.org

It's the single best source of information in regards to Radar Detectors I have found. As passionate as we are about our cars, those guys are with their radars, testing, and evaluating. One of the forum members runs the youtube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgLr7xoTU3XgAeLrEYp51sw

which has more information than you would be willing to go through. Personally, I was going to get the V1 as it was the standard back in the day. From what I've found out there are tons of capable RD's, but the one that seems to hit the sweet spot between cost and detection is the Radenso line:

https://radenso.com/product-category/radenso

Radenso XP is a great all around RD that will be sensitive enough for all bands while eliminating most all false k-band. You can go as so far (and it's recommended actually) to configure the radar to ignore the commonly used K-band frequencies BLIS operates at.

The Radenso Pro SE is their top of the line model that competes directly against the Redline RD.

You can read a little more here:

http://www.vortexradar.com/2015/09/sept-2015-rd-testing-stinger-vip-cobra-dsp-radenso-pro-se-etc/

I currently run a RX65 mainly cause got it off Groupon for $80, but that thing is chirpy. Going off most all the time to the point I turn it off in the city more often than use it which defeats the purpose of having a RD. Whenever I stop buying mods for the car, I'll grab either a Radenso XP or Pro SE

Single best source for info on detectors. Frankly, I've gone a bit overboard on this hobby.

My speeding is done on the interstate not in the city so K band falses aren't a big deal for me.

Right now Waze is my single best defense. It has so many saves I don't even count them anymore. But I still use a Valentine One along with an Escort Redline with K and X disabled, so I get crazy long Ka detection and the Valentine will orient me to the alert when it gets in range. I also use the Bluetooth connection on the Valentine One with YaV1 app on a Motorola smartphone to quiet up the false alerts on K band.

Outside of that I recently replaced my old Laser Interceptors with a five head AntiLaser system to jam Lidar but frankly with Waze it's off before I ever reach a cop shooting. Lidar is most common in the city where I don't speed so it hasn't seen much action.

Billy1 · Mar 8, 2017

Does anyone know for sure cops use only Ka and never K anymore in their area? I know school speed zones permanent/fixed radar(the ones on poles before a school) still uses K band.

pgonza2723 · Mar 9, 2017

RD forum members have it broken down by state what's commonly used and what is not. Last I checked it's a spreadsheet format.

FranzVonHoffer · Mar 9, 2017

pgonza2723 said:
RD forum members have it broken down by state what's commonly used and what is not. Last I checked it's a spreadsheet format.

RDFGS is being overhauled right now.

Billy1 said:
Does anyone know for sure cops use only Ka and never K anymore in their area? I know school speed zones permanent/fixed radar(the ones on poles before a school) still uses K band.

K band is alive and well. I'd be leery of turning it off.

Mike02z · Mar 10, 2017

FranzVonHoffer said:
K band is alive and well. I'd be leery of turning it off.

Very true. I had K turned off and passed a few police cars and the detector never went off. Now I only turn X and Laser off. The don't use Laser in my state. Once you get painted with Laser, a detector is only good for telling you your're about to get pulled over.

FranzVonHoffer · Mar 10, 2017

Mike02z said:
Very true. I had K turned off and passed a few police cars and the detector never went off. Now I only turn X and Laser off. The don't use Laser in my state. Once you get painted with Laser, a detector is only good for telling you your're about to get pulled over.

When I had the Laser Interceptors I would leave laser on with the Valentine so I could figure out where the shot was coming from.

The new ALPs give audible alerts which include direction but I'm so trained to look at the V1 when I'm shot after 15 years of using it I still leave laser on.

jstump2490 · Mar 10, 2017

FranzVonHoffer said:
When I had the Laser Interceptors I would leave laser on with the Valentine so I could figure out where the shot was coming from.

The new ALPs give audible alerts which include direction but I'm so trained to look at the V1 when I'm shot after 15 years of using it I still leave laser on.

Where did you mount your front jammers? I just got a 3rd head and currently my 2 existing heads are just stuck right on the top of the bumper since I knew I would be moving them in the spring. I have an idea where I want to put them, which is in the bottom grille attached to the top edge but I am curious where you have yours.

FranzVonHoffer · Mar 10, 2017

jstump2490 said:
Where did you mount your front jammers? I just got a 3rd head and currently my 2 existing heads are just stuck right on the top of the bumper since I knew I would be moving them in the spring. I have an idea where I want to put them, which is in the bottom grille attached to the top edge but I am curious where you have yours.

At first I put the center head up by the pony but some of of the consultants at RDF.org said a three head system fires in a particular sequence so they suggested I put them in line 24" apart which meant below the bumper

By the way, since your adding a third head to an existing system like I did. I found out you reset the factory settings after you plug in the third head so the CPU can inventory the location of each head and apply the program for the firing order.

Yeah, these ALPs are not exactly plug and play compared to the Li's. All this hassle to get protected against just one gun, the Stalker XLR. But TxDPS uses that exclusively so had to do it.

ad23tzj · Mar 10, 2017

I am using the V1 right now in combination with Waze. I got it because I got a ticket and didn't want another one. The V1 does go off quite a bit but it doesn't really bother me as I'll just mute it. I notice the cops tend to like to camp in stretches of road where the speed limit drops to a lower number. When that happens, I usually slow down to the speed limit and pick up speed when the speed limit gets higher. Having a detector doesn't really give me absolute peace of mind though. As many have said, it might be too late if the cop has a laser gun. When driving on the freeway, I try not to be the "hero" and tend to stay behind other cars. There was one time though I was heading home after midnight. I joined the highway and let's just say, wanted to get home as quickly as possible. For some reason, I did not WOT as soon as I got on. Then, I noticed someone kept tailing me. I switched from the 1st to the middle and then to the 3rd lane and this car kept following me. I decided to drop my speed even more to allow it to pass and it did. It was a cop and his radar was not on!

FranzVonHoffer · Mar 10, 2017

ad23tzj said:
I am using the V1 right now in combination with Waze. I got it because I got a ticket and didn't want another one. The V1 does go off quite a bit but it doesn't really bother me as I'll just mute it. I notice the cops tend to like to camp in stretches of road where the speed limit drops to a lower number. When that happens, I usually slow down to the speed limit and pick up speed when the speed limit gets higher. Having a detector doesn't really give me absolute peace of mind though. As many have said, it might be too late if the cop has a laser gun. When driving on the freeway, I try not to be the "hero" and tend to stay behind other cars. There was one time though I was heading home after midnight. I joined the highway and let's just say, wanted to get home as quickly as possible. For some reason, I did not WOT as soon as I got on. Then, I noticed someone kept tailing me. I switched from the 1st to the middle and then to the 3rd lane and this car kept following me. I decided to drop my speed even more to allow it to pass and it did. It was a cop and his radar was not on!

Waze is my number 1 defense. I've got business in Dallas and Austin so ever since I quit flying for distances less than 300 miles I'm driving up there all the time. Waze is nails on the way to Austin on I75 which is where I make most of my best time.

Radar detectors worth it?/Recommendations?

Billy1

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SJulian10mm

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Mike02z

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Mike02z

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choate

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FranzVonHoffer

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Billy1

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pgonza2723

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FranzVonHoffer

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Mike02z

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FranzVonHoffer

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jstump2490

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FranzVonHoffer

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ad23tzj

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FranzVonHoffer

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