Radar Detector

[Steve Cassani]

I'm giving thought to mounting a cordless unit to the roll bar. Has anyone gone this route? Is there a commercial unit for mounting the detector? Or is there a better place?

I've run across some fairly sophisticated designs for mounting a video camera on the roll bar and I'm guessing something along this line could work. I belive the radar detector would be smaller and lighter...

[LURK]

Hmm... I'm not sure I would mount one THERE of all places... sort of a "Hey! Look at me! I've got a radar detector on the rollbar of my really fast car!" look.

Personally I would go for more of a stealth approach.

I have sifted though the forum for radar advice- and everyone has their favorites for one reason or another. Also some discussion here as to whether you are more likely to get a ticket when the cop sees you have one.

The two brands that seem to stick out are Valentine and Escort.

Do a search, do some reading, go the speed limit (yeah right ) and good luck!

-John

[Alex Evonosky]

Lurk,

I have had a Bell then an Escort for a while then purchased a Valentine. That is the BEST I have found. I have had it for several years and no problems.
I like the way it shows direction of the signal and it has very few false echos.
One thing you learn, when IT goes off--- look out.

Just my .02 worth on radar detectors...

Cobracer

[Karl Bebout]

Steve, Are your ears that good or is your car that quiet that you'd be able to hear an audible alarm from a radar detector mounted out of your line of sight? I can never hear mine, I have to rely on seeing the pretty flashing lights, hopefully before seeing the Policeman's lights.

[lovehamr]

Steve, check out the Valentine 1. I have one and having the ability see where the alert is coming from cannot be overstated. You also mentioned a cordless type strapped to your rollbar, all I can say about that is everytime an independant does a test of the cordless units they get pounded. You may want to look into the remote mount option for the V1. All the coverage but with stealth. http://www.valentine1.com/

[Steve Cassani]

Thanks, guys. I have a lot more to think about. I never considered the consequences of a highly visible detector. I didn't realize that having the unit on the roll bar for maximum 'view' of any signal also made the unit easy to spot by a cop who would resent its presence and act on his emotion.

There's some good information on this site concenring brands, models and performance. A cordless unit is attractive because I avoid the need to tap into the SPF's electrical system to run it. I'll have to give more thought to the need to protect myself from one consequence of my enthusiasm. I can't seem to keep my foot out of it...

[Bumpster]

I second he Valentine One. Some say that it is too sensitive and gives a lot of meaningless alerts, like automatic door openers from every store you pass by. Personally, I'd rather have too many alerts than too few. You learn to live with that. The Valentine has saved me from at least two tickets in the past year, which makes it priceless for me.

Bumpster

[relaxinrob]

Buy the Rocky Mountain Radar/Laser detector and scrambler....it works great!!! Keeps me out of trouble. They guarantee no tickets for one year and will pay it if you do get one.

[Rick Parker]

Steve:



Might work?

Mount it inside your baseball hat, then if you get pulled over you remove your hat as the officer approaches the car. He might think your being respectfull????


Rick

[Cobra 29]

There is simply no other good selections than the Valentine One. The owners were originally with Escort before they cheapened the Escort to complete with low price ($100) detectors. As mentioned before the Valentine One has a remote display option that permits the detector to mounted more out of sight and you can place the remote display in your field of vision. Battery powered detectors score poorly. The V1 is powered from a 12 volt cord.

[lovehamr]

"Buy the Rocky Mountain Radar/Laser detector and scrambler....it works great!!! Keeps me out of trouble. They guarantee no tickets for one year and will pay it if you do get one."

Can't really say anything about Rob's particular unit, but every time something from RMR gets tested by a known independent it gets hammered.

[STG]

Originally posted by Cobra 29


There is simply no other good selections than the Valentine One. The owners were originally with Escort before they cheapened the Escort to complete with low price ($100) detectors. As mentioned before the Valentine One has a remote display option that permits the detector to mounted more out of sight and you can place the remote display in your field of vision. Battery powered detectors score poorly. The V1 is powered from a 12 volt cord.

First, Mike Valentine WAS Escort and sold his company. Mr. Valentine has chosen not to improve the V1 in recent years and quotes an years old Car and Driver test in his current advertising. The current Escort 8500 X50 and its Beltronics twin have outperformed the V1 in most if not all recent tests.

The Escort 8500 X50 comes with a remote display as standard equipment and it detects the latest radar gun's POP mode, which the V1 DOES NOT. In POP mode, the radar gun emits a very short burst that's undetectable by most radar detectors including the V1. Mike Valentine claims that POP dectection is not important as POP mode is not to be used in writing tickets. Valentine is not being realistic as officers could use POP mode to nail you and claim to have used their guns in the approved way.

I used a new V1 for three weeks and compared it with an Escort 8500 X50. A drive through Malibu on Pacific Coast Highway any evening will prove how much POP dectection is worth. After getting six POP hits in three miles, I stopped at the local Shell station to talk with the Sheriff's Deputies who confirmed using POP mode in writing tickets!

The Escort 8500 X50 is less expensive and performed better than the V1 during my own side-by-side testing. The range was similar, but the V1 falsed considerably more.

Here's something for Cobra owners to think about before buying a V1:

The Valentine uses identical vertically stacked red LEDs to indicate X, K, Ka and laser. Since you won't hear the different tone for each in the Cobra, you'll have to rely on your eyesight to read the tiny inscriptions next to each LED. Good luck!

Valentine needs to update the V1.

[DougD]

I recently replaced my beloved Passport with a Valentine One. Advances in radar technology and the use of lasers in my area prompted the change.

I don't agree that the Valentine gives more false readings. I use the most sensitive setting all the time, and the two units act nearly identically in this respect. I have memorized the locations where it detects non-police radar sources, and they're the same ones as when I was using the Passport. They are both very sensitive, and in my opinion, each is heads above ANY OTHER BRAND. I have read the tests, and I don't think it's terribly important whether you get a tone 1.2 miles or 1.3 miles ahead of a radar threat. Either is sensitiive enough to allow plenty of time for you to make speed corrections. They both do such a good job at detecting radar that I believe you are just splitting hairs on sensitivity alone. As far a laser detection, I think it's kind of silly to argue one over the other, since if it goes off, you have already been zapped, and there's little you can do about it at that point.

The reason I chose to try the Valentine is for the directional display. After using it for over a year, I can't say enough about this feature. When it detects a radar unit, you instantly know from where the signal is coming. Instead of reducing speed and scanning for the cop every time it goes off, you can breathe a sigh of relief if it's from behind.

I don't think you can go wrong with an Escort (any model) or a Valentine One. In my experience, both are superb. I wouldn't spend my money on any brand but one of these two. But after using it daily on my commute to work, I feel that directional display is worth the extra money for the Valenine.