I am the KING of radar!~ LOL
Let me clear up a few "not quite right" impressions;
- Radar (microwave bandwidth) easily penetrates our tupperware, so burying the detector behind plastics won't hurt its performance. Other stuff in there might, but not the fiberglass.
- Radar uses Doppler reflections measuring the relative movement of an echo towards/away from the device. It does NOT measure movement across the beam- so a target can be going 90 miles an hour left to right; and as long as it was on an arch that stayed a consistent distance, it would not register.
- LIDAR uses laser (infrared light), so plastics will block the beam from the detector. It uses timed pulses of reflected light; how long did it take the beam to go out and hit the target and the reflection of that beam to return (at the speed of light). Some simple math and boom- there's the target speed Towards or Away. Ditto on left to right movement as above.
- Most all the top three/top models work sufficiently well, personal preference/feature is about the only thing to worry about
- Plenty of states allow detectors, some do not.
- LEO MUST visually see you and first form a Visual Estimation to issue a valid speeding ticket, they can not legally rely on the device (be it radar or LIDAR) alone. Speed estimation is very easy for most people to do with only a modest amount of training and practice. In a couple hours, you could estimate to within 5 mph towards or away. Simply put; its the same as learning when its ok to cross the road with approaching cars as little kids. Just fine tuned and real speeds determined instead of Go/No go. More practice and you can get it down to a couple miles an hour error. Some folks are freaks of nature and can estimate spot-on every time. With a LIDAR in my hand for proof; I've observed several of them do so and it is utterly amazing.
- A radar beam is about 285' wide at 1000 feet from the gun, LIDAR is about a 3' dot- virtually target specific (this is bad, very bad.).
The best practice with any detector (or otherwise speeding) is you still never want to be the fastest dumbass on the road. Cops have a high "prey drive" and it is uber easy to visually pick out the fastest vehicle and have it command all of their attention- not a good thing for successful speeding. So let the OTHER guy be the fastest, don't get greedy. Be patient, there will soon be a rabbit that comes along- let them tow you for a few miles, trailing a couple miles an hour slower- they will get painted first. Once they are too far ahead, slow on down and let 'em go, another rabbit ("prey") will be along shortly. Rinse/repeat.
Any detector won't do you a damn bit of good if you are the big, fat, stupid duck out in front. Your hope is the cop is painting OTHER vehicles and your detector picks up the beam's "overspray"- with sufficient notice to haul your speed down to legal before you get into sight and painted yourself. As you can imagine, there is little overspray from a LIDAR- keep that in mind; if you are painted with LIDAR, every device gives you just enough warning to get stopped and have your license and papers ready to present. Most radar on the market has two or three displays- Strongest; which is essentially the largest "profile"- a combination of; closest to the center of the beam, largest relative mass/profile/best reflectivity. Second is Fastest- this is the fastest target anywhere in the beam. Third, present in moving radar, is Patrol Speed- measures the speed of the patrol car over the ground (using a Low Doppler beam)- its needed to calculate a target speed when the radar is moving. (Total speed-Patrol speed=Target speed)
For best detecting, its quite helpful to filter out the radar bands that aren't used. In Kalifornia, Ka is the beam of choice, so I filter out everything but that and LIDAR- all the door opener bogey signals are ignored. What is key is CHP uses nothing but Ka band for radar, same for most (but not all) Sheriff and City agencies. As there is little value/little gain and a very high risk (accident or ticket) by speeding around town; I simply don't do it. It's on rural, twisty roads that I can get caught- so I want my detector focused on those agencies (CHP) that patrol those type of roads. Your mileage may vary- but knowing what radar bands are used where you ride is very helpful to set up those filters/unhelpful alerts. BTW- they aren't "false" alerts, indeed they are accurately reporting bona-fide detected energy in microwave bands- you can take the time (which will get you locked on) to sort it out or use the filters built in to do it immediately for you.
I'm a big fan of the H.A.R.D. remote indicator- integrated with Valentine 1 and others- it mounts to your helmet and has a little LED on a flex spaghetti arm thingie that you put where you like, in front of your eye(s), inside the helmet. You quickly get used to it and, as it is not in your focal plane, you soon don't even see it until it goes off- indicating detection. No ridiculous or irritatingly loud sounds, no muss, no fuss- love it. A guy in Texas sells them online, www.LegalSpeeding.com.
What else do ya want to know?
Let me clear up a few "not quite right" impressions;
- Radar (microwave bandwidth) easily penetrates our tupperware, so burying the detector behind plastics won't hurt its performance. Other stuff in there might, but not the fiberglass.
- Radar uses Doppler reflections measuring the relative movement of an echo towards/away from the device. It does NOT measure movement across the beam- so a target can be going 90 miles an hour left to right; and as long as it was on an arch that stayed a consistent distance, it would not register.
- LIDAR uses laser (infrared light), so plastics will block the beam from the detector. It uses timed pulses of reflected light; how long did it take the beam to go out and hit the target and the reflection of that beam to return (at the speed of light). Some simple math and boom- there's the target speed Towards or Away. Ditto on left to right movement as above.
- Most all the top three/top models work sufficiently well, personal preference/feature is about the only thing to worry about
- Plenty of states allow detectors, some do not.
- LEO MUST visually see you and first form a Visual Estimation to issue a valid speeding ticket, they can not legally rely on the device (be it radar or LIDAR) alone. Speed estimation is very easy for most people to do with only a modest amount of training and practice. In a couple hours, you could estimate to within 5 mph towards or away. Simply put; its the same as learning when its ok to cross the road with approaching cars as little kids. Just fine tuned and real speeds determined instead of Go/No go. More practice and you can get it down to a couple miles an hour error. Some folks are freaks of nature and can estimate spot-on every time. With a LIDAR in my hand for proof; I've observed several of them do so and it is utterly amazing.
- A radar beam is about 285' wide at 1000 feet from the gun, LIDAR is about a 3' dot- virtually target specific (this is bad, very bad.).
The best practice with any detector (or otherwise speeding) is you still never want to be the fastest dumbass on the road. Cops have a high "prey drive" and it is uber easy to visually pick out the fastest vehicle and have it command all of their attention- not a good thing for successful speeding. So let the OTHER guy be the fastest, don't get greedy. Be patient, there will soon be a rabbit that comes along- let them tow you for a few miles, trailing a couple miles an hour slower- they will get painted first. Once they are too far ahead, slow on down and let 'em go, another rabbit ("prey") will be along shortly. Rinse/repeat.
Any detector won't do you a damn bit of good if you are the big, fat, stupid duck out in front. Your hope is the cop is painting OTHER vehicles and your detector picks up the beam's "overspray"- with sufficient notice to haul your speed down to legal before you get into sight and painted yourself. As you can imagine, there is little overspray from a LIDAR- keep that in mind; if you are painted with LIDAR, every device gives you just enough warning to get stopped and have your license and papers ready to present. Most radar on the market has two or three displays- Strongest; which is essentially the largest "profile"- a combination of; closest to the center of the beam, largest relative mass/profile/best reflectivity. Second is Fastest- this is the fastest target anywhere in the beam. Third, present in moving radar, is Patrol Speed- measures the speed of the patrol car over the ground (using a Low Doppler beam)- its needed to calculate a target speed when the radar is moving. (Total speed-Patrol speed=Target speed)
For best detecting, its quite helpful to filter out the radar bands that aren't used. In Kalifornia, Ka is the beam of choice, so I filter out everything but that and LIDAR- all the door opener bogey signals are ignored. What is key is CHP uses nothing but Ka band for radar, same for most (but not all) Sheriff and City agencies. As there is little value/little gain and a very high risk (accident or ticket) by speeding around town; I simply don't do it. It's on rural, twisty roads that I can get caught- so I want my detector focused on those agencies (CHP) that patrol those type of roads. Your mileage may vary- but knowing what radar bands are used where you ride is very helpful to set up those filters/unhelpful alerts. BTW- they aren't "false" alerts, indeed they are accurately reporting bona-fide detected energy in microwave bands- you can take the time (which will get you locked on) to sort it out or use the filters built in to do it immediately for you.
I'm a big fan of the H.A.R.D. remote indicator- integrated with Valentine 1 and others- it mounts to your helmet and has a little LED on a flex spaghetti arm thingie that you put where you like, in front of your eye(s), inside the helmet. You quickly get used to it and, as it is not in your focal plane, you soon don't even see it until it goes off- indicating detection. No ridiculous or irritatingly loud sounds, no muss, no fuss- love it. A guy in Texas sells them online, www.LegalSpeeding.com.
What else do ya want to know?