Radar Detectors
Post Fiend
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 6,940
Likes: 2
From: Eastern WA
How fast do you really need to go? Where I'm at, the freeway speed limit is 70 and the cops tolerate 75 so that's not really too bad. Most other places they will accept about 7 over. Cops also like to write speeding tickets to people with radar detectors, they think it's great fun. BTW, for the way off base speeders, I'm more than happy to pick up my cell phone and report them as a reckless driver; I'm not the only person out there doing this. It's fun seeing them pulled over down the road
Tuned
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 374
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From: Sandy Springs, GA
Originally posted by BigFordMan
They are illegal in Virginia.
They are illegal in Virginia.
Posting Guru
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 1,006
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From: Coastal North Carolina
I have a whistler that really does work. Through WV i was going up one sde of the mountain and it started beeping. I got to the top and it was going crazy. As i started heading down i saw the cop at the bottom. It was working THROUGH the mountain! After i got my second ticket (im only 17) i got a lawyer to handle it. I was doing 60 in a 45. I got off with nothing. He told me that insurance companies actually GIVE radar and laser detctors to cops. Insurance is a scam and should be revised or outlawed.... But thats a different post.
Senior User
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 323
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From: Groveland, MA
This topic always generates some hot discussion on CrownVic.net because we have a good mix of LEOs and "scofflaws." Naysayers will always say radar detectors are a waste of money. A radar detector is only useful when you use it along with your brain. If you aren't smart enough to use a radar detector effectively, then don't bother buying one. I am very happy with mine.
Thread Starter
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Posting Guru
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 2,498
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From: Raleigh, NC
Yeah the Cobra my mother got for Christmas is effective for a mile away, so it lets you know before you got there and before you get trapped. But the bad thing about them is that they are so sensitive that they will pick up stray signals from store and home security systems, and from radio towers as well.
Posting Guru
Joined: Dec 2003
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From: Coastal North Carolina
Yeah thats the only problem with mine too. But if it prevents you from getting just one ticket it is worth it. I dont drive faster now that i have one, but when it oes off i slow down quick. Even if im doing the speed limit its a reaction to lift my foot. IMO they work.
Senior User
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 372
Likes: 0
From: Colorado
I'm not sure if thisa has anyuthing to do with the price of tea in China, but it may be a bit of trivia that will save you a major embarrassment some day. This is from a FMC techy of my acquaintence.
Do you have an electricaly heated windshield? If so your radar detector won't work.
It seems the mico-film in which the heating wires are bedded and is sandwiched between the glass in your windshield reflects or blocks out the penitration of police radar signals to the extent your detector can't recieve them to trigger the alert.
"Nay!" you say? "Mine works OK and I have a heated winshield." Well, the probability is the radar that got to the detector most likely came in through a side window and was reflected around inside your vehicle. By the time you can pick up side radar the cop has had you by a mile. Think about it.
Do you have an electricaly heated windshield? If so your radar detector won't work.
It seems the mico-film in which the heating wires are bedded and is sandwiched between the glass in your windshield reflects or blocks out the penitration of police radar signals to the extent your detector can't recieve them to trigger the alert.
"Nay!" you say? "Mine works OK and I have a heated winshield." Well, the probability is the radar that got to the detector most likely came in through a side window and was reflected around inside your vehicle. By the time you can pick up side radar the cop has had you by a mile. Think about it.
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Posting Guru
Joined: Dec 2003
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From: Coastal North Carolina
Yeah but the ones im worried about are the ones in front of me. They dont have heated front windows. (none of mine are heated anyways) But good point for someone interested in buying a detector.
Junior User
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 90
Likes: 0
From: Idaho
I have a Cobra and it's paid for itself many times over. I drive 78 miles 1 way to work every day. I do push the speed limit but I don't do it excessivly. Maybe 7 or 8 miles an hour over. The reason I got the detector is for the speed traps...you know the ones where the cops wait in the bushes in the spped change zones. In the 8 years I have been doing the 78 mile drive I've been "trapped" about 12 times. I've been ticketed about 4 times. Most times they let me off due to me being in uniform. since getting the detector I've not been pulled over once! Best money I've spent!!
Senior User
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 214
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From: Hephzibah Georgia
who has any sayings for the whistler 1610. i came across one in a scrap car at work. i cleaned it up and pluged it in and it works. the thing is it has diffent led's to indicate the type of radar i guess. what do they mean. does anybody happen to know?
Senior User
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 392
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From: Lower Rainland British Columbia, Canada
I have a Uniden that's used mostly for a reminder. When it goes off I check my speed if I'm way high I slow down. Pretty simple really, I haven't had a speeding ticket in years and I don't want one either. About speed trap States I always thought Oregon was the worst. The Troopers seem to sit at the bottom of every hill and at the end of every passing lane. But maybe that's my imagination.
JK
JK
Posting Guru
Joined: Dec 2003
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From: Coastal North Carolina
I have a whistler with all the different LED's too. The only thing i know about them is when it beebs slow down. And when it beeps fast lock em' up. Mine syas what they are (k-band VG2, ect.) , but whats the difference?