what is the best laser/radar detector?

[bill11012]

I have been running a cheap whistler detector for 1.5 years, and it has been great. Until now. The local cops are running something new that I can have pointed right at me and not have it go off. I got caught going 88 in a 70 with a loaded trailer. DPS officer I know said it is a new set up called " POP" radar. Who has a higher end valentine or escort and how it does do? Any other brands that are good? 1 ticket will pay for a nice one. I cant really complain, my cheap one has saved me from at least 30 tickets, if not more.

[ford2go]

Maybe you could drive a little slower......

[bill11012]

haha, I would rather go fast and just not get caught.

[powerstroke72]

Originally Posted by bill11012

haha, I would rather go fast and just not get caught.

Come to VA and I'll introduce you to my new radar.

[Old93junk]

C'mon, Bill!...............88mph towing a loaded trailer?.........Are you trying out for Kamikaze pilot?........Best step it down about 3 notches.

[shorebird]

Here you go make up your own mind.
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[bill11012]

Originally Posted by Old93junk

C'mon, Bill!...............88mph towing a loaded trailer?.........Are you trying out for Kamikaze pilot?........Best step it down about 3 notches.

Ok, how much is a notch?

[bill11012]

Originally Posted by powerstroke72

Come to VA and I'll introduce you to my new radar.

Your an officer?

[powerstroke72]

Originally Posted by bill11012

You an officer?

Yes sir....Have been for almost 20 years now.

[Bdox]

So John, do you have an opinion on which radar detector is best?

[powerstroke72]

I like all of them.....they all get a ticket.

Seriously though, I really don't study up on them much at all. I see the advertisements in magazines and read a little of what they say but that's about it. Our department uses Kustom Signals Directional Golden Eagle II radar. It's Ka band radar and, as the name suggests, it is directional. I can check speed of traffic in traditional form or I can use moving same directional mode to track vehicles traveling the same direction as me while I'm moving. They can be moving away from me, approaching from the rear, etc. The vehicles can be moving faster or slower than I am but there has to be at least a 3 MPH difference in our speeds before I can get an accurate reading. It is reliable and accurate.

The State Police and the Sheriff's Office use laser. We haven't moved to it yet although I wish we would. I would guess we'll have it within the next year or so. Right now, it's a matter of budget constraints and the inavailability of local training that are keeping us from implementing it. The VSP also uses VASCAR mounted in fixed wing aircraft for speed enforcement here. Radar detectors will not alert to it because there's no radio frequency of any kind emitted. There are wide white lines painted across the interstates here in "strategic" locations. The trooper in the air starts the timer when a vehicle crosses the first line and stops it when they cross the second. It's a time / distance measurement formula used to calculate the speed. The ground troopers get the vehicle description from the bird and they stop the vehicle in question. Of course, this is only utilized during daylight hours for obvious reasons.

[Bdox]

The Nevada police use the aircraft too. I always check the air whenever I see those white stripes but they don't often appear because it is so windy it's hard to fly a plane slowly enough to track a car/truck.

I do think that a lot of agencies have gone to laser, so any detector that does not include laser technology is not going to provide much peace of mind.

It's been a long time since I had paid much attention to the comparison tests. The last one that I read they gave the Valentine I the thumbs up.

[powerstroke72]

Funny thing around here is that there are a lot of places where folks get false signals. As a result, they tend to disregard the alarms a lot of the time. Even with the detector on, they still end up getting caught speeding.....and ticketed for the detector.

[Bdox]

One of the virtues of the Valentine I is that it is supposedly able to sort out automatic doors and junk signals like that, and it indicates what direction the signal is coming from.

I didn't realize you had outlawed detectors. Other states have had those laws struck down. I remember one case that went to the supreme court. The majority opinion said something like: "If the state chooses to use clandestine means to observe the movements of the citizens, the citizens have an equal right to observe the state's methods." (Or words close to that.) But I guess every state's law would have to be tested at that level since they are not exactly the same law.

[powerstroke72]

Yeah, they've been illegal here at least since the early 80s that I know of. Really though, what is the justification for having one? If a law abiding citizen is driving responsibly and legally, what is the need for it? I've never really heard any answer in the form of an actual reason rather than an excuse. They are also illegal in Washington D.C. and on military bases. I was thinking that they were at one time in Connecticut or Delaware also but not sure.