Radar Detectors
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9,891 Posts
I used to have several brands of them..
if you are out front or alone on the road.. they are useless...
they can lock on you faster then you can press on the brakes
my opinion.
Cobra, several Cincinnati Microwave, B n k.
if you are out front or alone on the road.. they are useless...
they can lock on you faster then you can press on the brakes
my opinion.
Cobra, several Cincinnati Microwave, B n k.
Trying not to speed on the X, has about as much chance of seeing a hooker in church.
I use one in the truck, just wondering if display is effective when riding. Your right if your the solo,lone eagle out front ...your nabbed.
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26,217 Posts
Your life ,your rulz,your money....LMAO....
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64,215 Posts
Never rode with one. But as said, it's not like the 1980"s any more. Cops don't have them on constant these days so you don't get a warning. They pull a trigger and boom it's on and by then it's too late for you to react.
Don't get wrong, my right wrist is not always twisted to the max. The X likes to settle around 70, but I can known to see 80/85 on the needle ever once and awhile. Tickets start at around $100.00 and go up from there,along with your insurance. There is a no tolerance standard around were I live. The cities/towns are back to back and the Leo's have a pen/ticket book almost around ever curve in the road......just trying to get the playing field tipped just a little.
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9,902 Posts
Some states' laws are different too. Places like Virginia, NC, the LEO's had radar detector detectors. If they caught you using one, they'd make YOU take it out, put it under your wheel, and then have you drive over it. Then you likely got the ticket. Probably for littering too.
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2,553 Posts
If a police officer is doing their job correctly in regards to traffic enforcement with radar, they have already visually estimated your speed. The radar is a confirmation. In Arkansas the regulations state the radar indicated speed must be within 5+/- of the visual estimation. A clean Doppler tone should be audibly heard which rules out outside interference such as RFI, fan motors, etc.
After enough years, it is seldom that I’m more than 2 off the actual speed of the target vehicle. A couple of things to realize concerning radar is that if 2 vehicles are similar in size and design, the fastest will return the speed. If 2 vehicles are very different (I.e. semi truck vs moped) the largest will return the speed reading. Lidar is a different story since it is very specific and aimed much like a firearm would be at a specific spot like a license plate.
After enough years, it is seldom that I’m more than 2 off the actual speed of the target vehicle. A couple of things to realize concerning radar is that if 2 vehicles are similar in size and design, the fastest will return the speed. If 2 vehicles are very different (I.e. semi truck vs moped) the largest will return the speed reading. Lidar is a different story since it is very specific and aimed much like a firearm would be at a specific spot like a license plate.
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1,028 Posts
I use my radar detector in my car and it works 95% of the time (I live in NY, so there always are other cars on the road). Around here, they rarely use laser (laser wont even set the detector off unless they point it right at the sensor). On my motorcycle, I just open Waze and have it running in the background. The audio warnings play via bluetooth over my stereo in my batwing. I hear "police reported ahead." This crowd sourcing is far more effective during the day than my radar detector.
If you are all alone (as stated above), radar or crowd sourcing isn't going to help you much.
If you are all alone (as stated above), radar or crowd sourcing isn't going to help you much.
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3,239 Posts
Did I just read between the lines and concluded that you are a police officer?
If so, thank you for your service to this beautiful country of ours.
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8,669 Posts
I tried riding with a Whistler once, but it wasn't audible and the display too dim in the sunlight. It's really the beeps that first alert you. I have an Escort in both of my vehicles, and it will not guarantee anything. What it does is keep me honest. I rarely intentionally speed, but it often gets me paying attention to the speedo. I don't know how effective one could be on a bike.
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1,954 Posts
Okay, now I am intrigued. How do radar detector detectors work? Not being a snarky azzhat, I am truly curious. I like knowing how things work. It's a curse.
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1,954 Posts
I did not mean to make you google it for me (while I was too lazy to do it myself). I was just looking for an excuse to strike up an interesting conversation.
Thank you for the link, interesting read and as I expected, this is a thing of the past since modern detectors have proper shielding, minimizing their chances of detection.
While I do not own a radar detector (and actually never have), I just cannot stop laughing at this whole idea of some oppressors declaring them illegal. Love the greedy hypocrisy. A detector warns you of a speed trap, you slow down and follow the speed limit. They hate that. They'd rather you not slow down so that they can punish you monetarily.
OTOH, your phone can inform you of police presence in real time and that is perfectly legal. They won't harass you about it, they won't steal it (sorry, "confiscate") and they won't punish you for having one.
Thank you for the link, interesting read and as I expected, this is a thing of the past since modern detectors have proper shielding, minimizing their chances of detection.
While I do not own a radar detector (and actually never have), I just cannot stop laughing at this whole idea of some oppressors declaring them illegal. Love the greedy hypocrisy. A detector warns you of a speed trap, you slow down and follow the speed limit. They hate that. They'd rather you not slow down so that they can punish you monetarily.
OTOH, your phone can inform you of police presence in real time and that is perfectly legal. They won't harass you about it, they won't steal it (sorry, "confiscate") and they won't punish you for having one.
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9,902 Posts
Thanks for asking, but I really didn't know, other than some cases I heard of where the owners got stopped while using them, and what I said before happened, and the results.I did not mean to make you google it for me (while I was too lazy to do it myself). I was just looking for an excuse to strike up an interesting conversation.
Thank you for the link, interesting read and as I expected, this is a thing of the past since modern detectors have proper shielding, minimizing their chances of detection.
While I do not own a radar detector (and actually never have), I just cannot stop laughing at this whole idea of some oppressors declaring them illegal. Love the greedy hypocrisy. A detector warns you of a speed trap, you slow down and follow the speed limit. They hate that. They'd rather you not slow down so that they can punish you monetarily.
OTOH, your phone can inform you of police presence in real time and that is perfectly legal. They won't harass you about it, they won't steal it (sorry, "confiscate") and they won't punish you for having one.
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8,669 Posts
It is a long and involved discussion. For instance, satellite TV signals are in the air all around us. Why is it illegal to put up an antenna and receive these signals. A wire hanging in the air receives some of that signal, so if I'm smart enough to decode those signals, why should that be illegal. Companies make DRM music and movies available online. These are freely downloadable, ie. public domain, yet it is illegal do decode this and make it DRM free. So if you are recording a family outing on your phone, and someone drives by with their music loud, that should, under those rules, be illegal recording.
No one put a gun to someone's head and said, you use satellites or else! The choice was made, and it was full of security holes. Their own fault, and a bad direction to bank on. Yet, they convinced government to create legislation that protected their own mistakes. Same holds for music and videos.
What does this all have to do with radar detectors? Well, if you fart, you can't expect I won't smell it. If you speak loudly enough, you can't expect I won't hear it. If you put it in the air, I have every right to sense it, or not as i choose. Yet, if one has enough power and money, you can legally forbid someone from smellin' what the Rock is cookin'.
So now it's illegal to create a superheterodyne receiver for a radio frequency of a specific frequency. It is controversial legislation, to be sure, but like most of such legislation, it protects the wealthy and powerful, with no regard for the average Joe.
IT'S WRONG!!
No one put a gun to someone's head and said, you use satellites or else! The choice was made, and it was full of security holes. Their own fault, and a bad direction to bank on. Yet, they convinced government to create legislation that protected their own mistakes. Same holds for music and videos.
What does this all have to do with radar detectors? Well, if you fart, you can't expect I won't smell it. If you speak loudly enough, you can't expect I won't hear it. If you put it in the air, I have every right to sense it, or not as i choose. Yet, if one has enough power and money, you can legally forbid someone from smellin' what the Rock is cookin'.
So now it's illegal to create a superheterodyne receiver for a radio frequency of a specific frequency. It is controversial legislation, to be sure, but like most of such legislation, it protects the wealthy and powerful, with no regard for the average Joe.
IT'S WRONG!!
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970 Posts
I had a Cobra radar detector in the 90's used it till it was outdated. I never got a newer one. What I found out asking people most times, not all, cops look to give speeding tickets 10mph and over the speed limit. I've tried to make it a habit not to speed more that 5mph over the limit. I've seen cops too late that were hiding and knew I was slightly above the speed limit and didn't get pulled over. The few tickets I did get in the past I was speeding 10mph over the limit. Most people when they see a cop car in the distance their instincts are to slow down, sometimes it's late, the cop's radar gun got you. By just being slightly above the speed limit it gives you more time to react to make an adjustment and most times cops will let you past by.
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9,902 Posts
In Pa., you're usually OK up to 10 over. Beyond that you're on your own. When I was working, delivering nuclear injections to the hospitals, time was of the essence dealing with radioactive isotopes and half-lifes. We routinely ran 72-73 in 65 zones, passed speed traps countless times.
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