Whistler 1733 radar dectector

[glenn9171]

[perfdrug]

I speed, especially the 200 miles to school or home, and so i invested in a Valentine One. It's nice.

[brandiwine]

it's only my opinion, but i wouldn't trust whistler brand.  the only 2 brands i would trust are bel and valentine.  both are expensive, but very worth it.

i'll see if i can find the link i had on study's and comparisons i used when researching mine.  the more expensive ones give less false alarms and have better range.  i've had a whistler before and it fried from the sun in less than a year.

.....looking for the link.....

[glenn9171]

In a car I used to have, I had a Whistler brand, though an older one.  No problems.  Hell, for $27, I could always resell it on Ebay and come out even.  I just don't have the money for an expensive one right now.  I'll see how it works and decide then.

[crash]

i got a couple of Qs...

first, does having the radar detector exposed to the wind cause problems?  seems like  they are not designed for that kind of exposure

and second, i'm assuming you're hooking your radar datectors to the gs's batery through some sort of a mod... does that cause problems?

[proudlom]

Does anyone know how laser radar works? Do radar detectors always work?

[ifonline]

Does anyone know how laser radar works? Do radar detectors always work?

There are two types of detectors out there... RADAR detectors and LASER detectors. RADAR detectors come in several frequency ranges, as well, such as K band, Ka band, X band. Most modern detectors will recognize all three RADAR detector bands. Additionally, as you know, most modern detectors come with both multi-RADAR detection and LASER detection together.

Now for the honest truth that most aren't going to want to hear. Generally speaking, nether the RADAR detector nor the LASER detector work reliably, with the LASER detector being worse than the RADAR. Why?

Start with the RADAR. Most, if not all, modern law enforcement RADAR have an instant-on feature, which means that as I sit on the side of the road, you don't know I'm running RADAR until I push a button. In that split-second, two things happen:

   1- your RADAR detector goes berzerk
   2- I know how fast you are travelling

Understand that we're talking a fraction of a second here. You won't be able to react quick enough. Not that people don't try, of course, but as I continue to operate the RADAR, I can watch your speed drop quickly from 90 to 65 (or whatever the speed limit is). It's over before you know it.

What if I'm targeting a different vehicle than yours, and that vehicle is closer to me than you are. Would you know that I'm running RADAR and be able to react? Sure. That's one reason why RADAR detectors are better than LASER detectors.

Now for LASER. Forget LASER detectors. For your detector to reliably determine that I am running LASER and that I'm targeting your vehicle, I would have to hit directly (or a very near proximity) on your detector, which isn't going to happen. I have specific targets on vehicles that I aim for, and the windshield or dashboard (or windscreen on a motorcycle) aren't one of them. Additionally, you don't know that I'm running LASER even if I target the vehicle next to you. That's one advantage of LASER. Another advantage is that I can target a vehicle as far as a mile (if not more) away, and it will be accurate. Couple that with instant speed detection results, and, once again, it's over before you know it.

As a matter of fact, with LASER I can target you so far away that I will have time to put the LASER unit down in the passenger seat, move my vehicle into a position to merge into traffic, and sit and wait for you to pass. There's no rush on my part.

Plenty will tell you that both work just fine, but they don't. I'm trying to pass on some friendly advice concerning detectors, but it's ultimately up to you on whether you buy one or not. I promise you, however, that if you rely on a detector to keep you from getting a ticket, you will be dissapointed.

Hope this helps.

Ian

[proudlom]

So, Ian, besides driving slowly, what are the best ways to keep from getting a ticket?  


Btw, when someone gets pulled over, does the officer know how many driving offenses like speeding tickets they've had or anything other than criminal charges?

[ifonline]

So, Ian, besides driving slowly, what are the best ways to keep from getting a ticket?  

Um, those are industry secrets that I can not divulge at this time...  

Btw, when someone gets pulled over, does the officer know how many driving offenses like speeding tickets they've had or anything other than criminal charges?

Simple answer... no. That's one of the more disturbing issues with my job. When I stop a vehicle for some traffic offense (or deal with the public in any official capacity, for that matter), I have no idea what I'm getting into. To keep it simple, I'll confine my answer to traffic stops. When I stop a vehicle for something, I don't know who the driver is or whether or not he just robbed a bank, for example. It has happened more often than I care to think about that an officer stopped a driver for running a red light or some other "minor" traffic violation, only to find out (after the gun fight ensued), that the driver was wanted for a more serious, dangerous crime.

Ian

[glenn9171]

i got a couple of Qs...

first, does having the radar detector exposed to the wind cause problems?  seems like  they are not designed for that kind of exposure

and second, i'm assuming you're hooking your radar datectors to the gs's batery through some sort of a mod... does that cause problems?

Nope, it's for my truck as I have been bikeless since Novamber.  Though I do know some people with detectors on Goldwings.  As long as you don't get it wet, they work well on bikes.  There are even motorcycle-specific brackets for a lot of models of detectors.

[bigdaub]

one thing to add to the info from ifonline is that rear detection is essentially useless.

check out speedzones.com and radartest.com to find which model might work the best.

i've done extensive research and there is no motorcycle specific detector out there.  bel cordless has a motorcycle adaptor, but you need to have a front pocket on your jacket to use, and you can buy very costly adaptors for valentine units.

[wasabi_peas]

Kind of goes along with what ifonline said, but my experience with radar detectors:

I found a decent one when the local K-Mart shutdown for something like 80% off (I'm not making that up....the place practically looked as if it had been looted by that point)  

I thought it was interesting, and definitely helped keep me alert.  But I really don't tend to rock the speed limit by much more than 10-15mph at a given time.  I ended up driving past a lot of police without ever hearing it alarm (or hearing it alarm well past where I could have slowed down without them noticing.  In those cases, I think I was just not going fast enough for them to bother slowing me down.  Hell, 10-15 over is usually the faster end of the flow of traffic, but at that speed there's plenty of "bait" driving by even faster.

The only really useful thing it did was make me aware, generally, of where more cops were (I probably wouldn't have noticed them) and so on future passes through the same area, I drove slower.  That's probably what I'd call the one great benefit.

On the motorcycle, the only places where I really exceed the speed limit significantly are on the twisty roads, and I'm quite sure I don't want to be distracted by a detector (and probably react by grabbing brakes at an inappropriate moment).  I'd rather ride out the corner safely and take responsibility for my behavior than dump the bike (and probably still get a ticket.... :x )

[Steve-C]

I agree with ifonline that the detectors can be largely useless when dealing with a human operated speed trap.  However in the UK (maybe the US & Canada I'm not sure) we have an increasing number of GATSO speed camera's that take a picture of you speeding past them and are unmanned.  

I that situation, the detectors are great for warning you that your approaching one and gives you time to slow down before you pass, since it takes the picture of the back end of the vehicle after you pass it.

Note, I don't condone speeding, but how often have you realised your doing 35 in a 30 zone?  Also in the UK, these camera's are meant to be placed at accident black-spots, so it warns you that your in an area where a risk of an accident is higher.  (But if you believe that bit of propaganda you'll believe anything! The only area in the UK not covered in camera's, actually has no camera's and 30% fewer accidents than anywhere else in the UK!)

[proudlom]

However in the UK (maybe the US & Canada I'm not sure) we have an increasing number of GATSO speed camera's that take a picture of you speeding past them and are unmanned.

Here in Canada we don't have any unmanned radar yet... (at least where I'm from).  The only thing we have unmanned are redlight cameras and they even have to post a sign before the intersection to state that there is one. :lol:

[perfdrug]

i definatly believe that my V1 has saved me. On the way to work i know where there are radar spots and where there aren't. If i get even a small blip of radar where i shouldn't be, i can generally figure out pretty quickly if someone ahead of me just got instant-onned. and with my V1 it'll detect close to a mile away. I know that, because our city put one of those "your speed is" signs on a road once, and I detected it a full intersection early, 1 mile away (country road).

if i don't know where the radar spots are tho, if i slowed down for every blip my detector got, i'd be so slow.

oh, another scenario. When i drove out to Jersey last summer, i quickly noticed that all of the big construction information signs in some of the states gave off radar. strong radar. as strong as when a cop radar hits me. so one time, there was a cop hiding behind one of these signs clocking people. The idea being, that anyone wiht a detector will see the construction sign and speed back up. My V1 showed that there were 2 sources of radar ahead of me, instead of the usual one when i passed those signs. i slowed down, and sure enough, there was johnny law. I travelled 1000 miles in one day, so needless to say i was doing just a bit above the speed limit when there was no detection, because i didn't want to be in the car a minute longer than i had to.

[ifonline]

My V1 showed that there were 2 sources of radar ahead of me, instead of the usual one when i passed those signs.

Okay, now I have to give it to you... that's pretty cool. I haven't heard of a detector that will identify more than one RADAR source at the same time.

On unmanned RADAR, such as intersection RADAR or intersection cameras and the like... my personal opinion is that they are crap. If I enter an intersection and run a red light (for the intersection cameras, obviously), then I get a ticket by mail. I don't feel comfortable with this at all.

The burden of proof lies with the State, and I don't believe the burdon of proof is being met. What's the proof that we're talking about? A photograph of my vehicle (and my tag) committing the offense? Is the State charging my vehicle or me with a traffic offense?

The burden of proof would seem to me to not only require showing that an offense had occurred (which it clearly does with a photograph), but also that I was the offender, which it does not. The State can not reasonably argue that I was the driver. Any lawyers out there with an opinion on this?

Oh... and I wonder how many of you would actually expect me to be in favor of the driver? See... I'm not all bad.    

[Steve-C]

This has been such a hot topic in the UK!

I think a few cases even made it to the European Court of Human Rights since you have to admit a postal offence and it was argued that you are not legally obliged to incriminate yourself.

A few cases were tried on the obstruction of justice thing, but now they just get you on being the registered keeper.  The only possible option now is if there is more than 1 insured driver on the insurance and you were both in the car at the same time.  Neither can remember who was driving so there is the loop hole.

Still, not impressed with unmanned camera's.  On one of our major roads (M25, a freeway style road surrounding our capital) there are loads of camera's in the overhead signs.  People just kangaroo down the road accelerating and breaking.  Does wonders for safety and the environment!  :dunno:

Nice to see there is a good LEO on the site!   Would be interesting to have the US legal view on this!