Hey everyone! I'm looking for a dependable radar detector that I will get my moneys worth for. I don't need the absolute best one on the market but I do need one that won't miss a radar and end up getting me a ticket. I will be doing a lot of driving back and forth from Miami to Orlando. I can't spend a small fortune on one either. With this said, any recommendations? Thanks. -Matt

Hey everyone! I'm looking for a dependable radar detector that I will get my moneys worth for. I don't need the absolute best one on the market but I do need one that won't miss a radar and end up getting me a ticket. I will be doing a lot of driving back and forth from Miami to Orlando. I can't spend a small fortune on one either. With this said, any recommendations? Thanks. -Matt

well, i got a whistler, i paid 80 bucks for it, it does the job, but u still need to be alert! works great on the highway, it has saved me a couple of times... good luck on ur search!

unless u wanna spend big on an escort, passport or bell...

When it comes down to radar detectors, you gotta pay to play. I've had a Passport Escort 8500 for atleast four years now, and not once have I been attacked by "Johnny Law" while I had it plugged in. I had a friend who had a Valentine 1, and he would pick up radar a split second before me. V1 is nice because it tells you the direction in which the radar is coming from. Because the new Escort 9500 is out, you may be able to find one like mine for a reasonable price.

Valentine 1 is the only one i would put in my car.... Or pay a mexican from home depot to sit on the roof with binoculars!:D




Josh

Valentine 1 is the only one i would put in my car.... Or pay a mexican from home depot to sit on the roof with binoculars!:D




Josh

Dude,LMFAO!!!!!!!!:D

Seriously though great thread cause I would like to get one and I am clueless on that!

It's V1 or Passport. There is no other way to go. The V1 one will probably set you back an extra $100 over the 8500 Passport, and will run you around $400 or so. Now the New 9500 Passport runs around $600-$700, but it is sick!

Check out radarbusters.com, Radar Roy gives some good advice and comparisons. I have a Bel Rx65 with a Blinder M45 (all 4 heads up front).

Just like to say, if "Johnny Law" wants you, he's gonna get you. RADAR dectectors are nice and can save you if there's other traffic on the road, but if there is limited traffic, you're had. As for LASER, if "Johnny Law's" beam doesn't hit the detector and just hits the front of your vehicle, the detector won't even go off and he's got you.

what he says is true as long as u got traffic in front ur good but rolling 90 out in front and no one at least a mile in front for ole johnny 2 clock and yo ass is grass take it from me i run radar and there is no way 2 defeat it if ur rolling alone and laser is almost impossible 2 defeat but in my opinion bel is one of the better but any one from radio shack or wally world is gonna have same results. my advice blend in with other speeders dont be the front door man

what he says is true as long as u got traffic in front ur good but rolling 90 out in front and no one at least a mile in front for ole johnny 2 clock and yo ass is grass take it from me i run radar and there is no way 2 defeat it if ur rolling alone and laser is almost impossible 2 defeat but in my opinion bel is one of the better but any one from radio shack or wally world is gonna have same results. my advice blend in with other speeders dont be the front door man

trust him! he is a part time officer!
but he is a cool guy! :D

I just got a Passport 9500ix at Best Buy for $500, then got home and found my 10% off coupon. I intend to get my discount tomorrow. I hope I don't have to bring it back. Usually you can bring in the receipt to recoup a sale price within the return period. I hope that's the case with Best Buy.

i have an old whistler that i bought yearsss ago and that thing saved me a bunch of times..but also didnt make 1 noise when i get pulled over lol..so it was hit and miss..i guess you get what you pay for..i would like to get one as well but our dashes are so damn big that i hate seeing all that cable hanging there...and the wireless ones are way out of my league money wise :)

i have an old whistler that i bought yearsss ago and that thing saved me a bunch of times..but also didnt make 1 noise when i get pulled over lol..so it was hit and miss..i guess you get what you pay for..i would like to get one as well but our dashes are so damn big that i hate seeing all that cable hanging there...and the wireless ones are way out of my league money wise :)

you should try hardwiring it like i did!
its easy...

you should try hardwiring it like i did!
its easy...

oh ok i've heard of that but i never looked into that..hmm..sounds good..if i ever get another radar ill bring the beer! :D

oh ok i've heard of that but i never looked into that..hmm..sounds good..if i ever get another radar ill bring the beer! :D

ooh im glad u remember the beer! u better get a new one then... lol

I have the Whistler XTR-695 and for about 200 beans it works like the higher end detectors for the lower price, works real well

Got a V1 and Passport 9500. Prefer the bogeys and arrows on the V1 bigtime!

Traded in mrs bigsnake's Passport 9500 for a passport 9500ix and it has some nice features.

https://www.escortradar.com/store/passport-9500ix.html

Cobra, many friends also, saved me numerous, but like others have said, if ur first in line on Lasar, ur doomed!

I have the 8500 and it works great.the 9500 is even cooler.both are can hook up to the radar jammer but I am not sure how well it works.yes if the law is on the trigger you can pick him up.if you are out by yourself then you have a greater chance of getting popped.lazer is short range and if he hits with it you've been had!not mention when my 8500 picks up lazer and goes off it scares the crap out of me because its louder than when it picks up radar.it is worth the money.

This is an older thread but I thought I would drop my two cents in....

I would HIGHLY recommend the Passport 9500 in either version. There have been two. The main reason is the GPS and the benefits it brings. For me those are two.

For one, the registration of the automatic doors on my typical drives. The GPS records the band and location of the radar signals I chose to block. If I roll through the same area again the detector will ignore the false signal from the auto door. If there is a police officer with a speed gun in the same area and it is active, the radar detector will go off because the signal does not match that of the door. This works as I have had it happen.

Second, the GPS gives the device the ability to track speed. Hence if you are driving less than 15 miles per hour, the radar detector will not go off. Makes sense. I don't get many tickets for going 15 MPH in a parking lot. Again, cuts down on needless alarms.

The range is impecable. Miles in advance of the car. It never fails. If it goes off there is an active Radar in the area..... no doubt.

A word on the Lasers. Yes it is much tougher to detect than radar. However, it is not impossible. The reason for the difficulty is the signature or area the laser puts out vs. the radar gun. The laser puts out a pattern about 2 feet by 2 feet or an area that is 4 feet square. The radar spread is huge and bounces off everything in sight.

The main reason most people don't pick up the laser signal is because of where the detector is physically mounted in the car. Many people mount the detector on the visor. Since the spread of the laser is only 2 feet then, most of the time, the visor mounted detector is too high to sense it. The best way around this is to mount the detector as low as you can get it so that it has a clear line of sight out over the hood. This is typically low enough to catch the laser.

Here is where I mount mine. (Crappy shot - mind you. It was shot with a cell camera) I run power using the Passport Remote wire option. Awesome.

http://www.photographybyluis.com/images/forum_ex/Radar_Position.jpg

Now.... if you get hit with a laser, hit the brakes and changes lanes if it is safe. You might luck out and mess up the reading if the officer has to move the gun too far. However, I stress, at best, you are 50/50 on that one, if not worse.

I have had a radar/laser detector in my cars for 8 years or so. I have yet to get a speeding ticket. I have been hit with lasers and radar... In the end though, nothing is going to assure you 100% that you won't get a ticket, but I can tell you that more than once I evaded the ticket while the idiot that blew by me got it. Better to be safe than sorry.

Dude,LMFAO!!!!!!!!:D

Seriously though great thread cause I would like to get one and I am clueless on that!

X2 :smileup:

This is an older thread but I thought I would drop my two cents in....

I would HIGHLY recommend the Passport 9500 in either version. There have been two. The main reason is the GPS and the benefits it brings. For me those are two.

For one, the registration of the automatic doors on my typical drives. The GPS records the band and location of the radar signals I chose to block. If I roll through the same area again the detector will ignore the false signal from the auto door. If there is a police officer with a speed gun in the same area and it is active, the radar detector will go off because the signal does not match that of the door. This works as I have had it happen.

Second, the GPS gives the device the ability to track speed. Hence if you are driving less than 15 miles per hour, the radar detector will not go off. Makes sense. I don't get many tickets for going 15 MPH in a parking lot. Again, cuts down on needless alarms.

The range is impecable. Miles in advance of the car. It never fails. If it goes off there is an active Radar in the area..... no doubt.

A word on the Lasers. Yes it is much tougher to detect than radar. However, it is not impossible. The reason for the difficulty is the signature or area the laser puts out vs. the radar gun. The laser puts out a pattern about 2 feet by 2 feet or an area that is 4 feet square. The radar spread is huge and bounces off everything in sight.

The main reason most people don't pick up the laser signal is because of where the detector is physically mounted in the car. Many people mount the detector on the visor. Since the spread of the laser is only 2 feet then, most of the time, the visor mounted detector is too high to sense it. The best way around this is to mount the detector as low as you can get it so that it has a clear line of sight out over the hood. This is typically low enough to catch the laser.

Here is where I mount mine. (Crappy shot - mind you. It was shot with a cell camera) I run power using the Passport Remote wire option. Awesome.

http://www.photographybyluis.com/images/forum_ex/Radar_Position.jpg

Now.... if you get hit with a laser, hit the brakes and changes lanes if it is safe. You might luck out and mess up the reading if the officer has to move the gun too far. However, I stress, at best, you are 50/50 on that one, if not worse.

I have had a radar/laser detector in my cars for 8 years or so. I have yet to get a speeding ticket. I have been hit with lasers and radar... In the end though, nothing is going to assure you 100% that you won't get a ticket, but I can tell you that more than once I evaded the ticket while the idiot that blew by me got it. Better to be safe than sorry.
Great read and very helpful,now I am a fan of the Passport 9500.Thanks Luis for the info and helping me out,cause I was lost without real world results to go by.

I have the Escort Passport 9500ix. Hard wired and mounted to the stem of the rear view mirror.
Great unit, love the GPS feature. It has saved me lots of $$$ on traffic tickets!:smileup:

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg37/midnightblue300c/1122121.jpg

I have the Escort Passport 9500ix. Hard wired and mounted to the stem of the rear view mirror.
Great unit, love the GPS feature. It has saved me lots of $$$ on traffic tickets!:smileup:

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg37/midnightblue300c/1122121.jpg

Now I like that set up....SWEET!!!!!

Thanks Shane. :smileup:

i have the beltronics 955 which is very good.... also made by passport aleast they used to be ...they run u about 250 bucks ...... but know this...... if the popo puts laser on u ur dead... no radar detector can pick that up fast enough..... by the time the best RD warns u of laser its to late.....ever thought about CB radio???........ just turn to channel 19 and listen to the truckers..... they will tell u where the bears (aka state police) are sitting sometime 5 miles before u get to where their at...... when i first move from NY to GA would drive down back and forth every month .......and the CB save my a$$ more than the RD did..... good luck



Vince

I love my V1! I swear that thing can "see" over the hills and thru the woods. One day it starts going ballistic while I am driving on a country road all by myself. As I look up at it I lifted my foot off the throttle, seems to be a normal reaction now, and sure enough about 1/8 mile up the road at an intersection there sits a squad car with his radar gun out the window. Strange thing was when the V1 started going nuts there was a hill and alot of trees between me and the squad car. This was in my 67 Jeepster Commando with a big V-8 and 37 inch tires and 5:13 gears, he probably heard me coming and poked his radar out the window, thank God I lifted off the throttle. I smiled and just cruised past him, he fliped a wave back like "on another day dude I'll get you".

No matter which detector you end up with you need to drive right. My wife had on in her Caravan and got 2 tickets, relied on the detector without slowing down. I took out the detector and no more tickets in the last 7 years.....go figure

Here is the mount I made for the V1 in the Challenger. I used a short piece of phone cord for the power cable and spliced into the rear view mirror power and ground.

As a retired traffic cop and police RADAR instructor I cant keep quiet on this one. I wont try to teach ya’ll all there is to know, but I’ll hit the important points. First off, a RADAR detector is simply a radio receiver like your car stereo, it’s tuned to the frequencies used by the law that are transmitted from their RADAR guns such as X (no longer used unless it’s an poor agency) K, Ka, etc. A targets speed is determined by the change (shift) in the frequency transmitted by the police RADAR, reflected back to the RADAR gun from the target and the shift in frequency is calculated from when it was first transmitted to when it returned to the police RADAR. If the returned frequency is higher, the target is approaching the RADAR, and if the frequency is lower, it’s going away. The shift in frequency, plus or minus, determines the calculated speed. Today’s RADAR is so sophisticated that they actually talk, via speaker, to the radar operator, as to what RADAR antenna, front or rear, is being used and if the target is approaching or going away. The officer still has to select which antenna, front or back, to transmit on, the talking feature just keeps them straight when verifying what target he’s reading. An officer can set their RADAR to display only approaching or departing targets, as well as target fastest. So, it is not entirely safe to hang back behind the speeder in front of you to avoid a ticket, unless you are still traveling slower than them. I really don’t understand the significance of a violator wanting to know whether the officer is to front, rear or side, such as the Valentine. Most officers will not transmit their RADAR until they have visually determined a speeding target, by then the target is in range to obtain a reading, and it’s too late for the violator to adjust their speed once their RADAR detector activates. The best way to avoid a speeding ticket is not speed (knew I had to say that!). Otherwise stay in the middle of the pack and hope to not get a cracked windshield. If I had to endorse a detector, I’d go with the Passport 9500 as luisv said.

I think part of the reason for the directional awareness is for if you are coming up on a bend and there is a cop around the corner shooting the guy in front of you, or to let you know if the radar it is picking up is on a parallel road and not much of a threat.

I don't use one though, I've learned where most of the cops post up on the roads I drive and how to read the traffic for cops ahead. Surprisingly enough I normally drive the slowest when there are now cars around at all, which seems to be a decent trait.

why cant we all just drive slow and obey the law?... oh wait cuz thats no fun. lol

Rigt now we have a Valentine1, a passport 9500ix and a passport redline.


The best range (distance) is the redline at 13 miles, 2nd would be the 9500ix because of GPS and redlight camera and speed trap detection capabilities plus updates weekly by connecting to the computer. We've had the V1 the longest and still like the bogeys and arrows it provides.
If you buy a radar detector don't get a cheap one, they don't really work (do a little homework by googling radar sites).
My advice, save your money up and get something that works correctly, you will save in the long run one ticket for speeding can cost more than a good RD.

My .02:

I had a Bell several years ago on my 96 Formula. All that thing did was make me paranoid or, on two occasions, let me know I was about to get a ticket. Never did me any good.

So I talked to a cop once about he goes about nabbing speeders in traffic. Because I mentioned "traffic speed" and "going with the flow". He told me it didn't matter to him if someone he pulls over was keeping up with traffic or not. He simply asked, "Do you fish?" I said yeah. He said, "When you hit a school, do you catch every fish or just a few?" I said just a few. He said, "So do I."

Point is, doesn't matter (at least to that guy) how fast traffic speed is. If you are over the limit, and John Q. Law wants you, he's going to get you.

After that, I gave up on radar detectors and just keep my eyes open and only punch it when I'm below LOS.

As a retired traffic cop and police RADAR instructor I cant keep quiet on this one. I wont try to teach ya’ll all there is to know, but I’ll hit the important points. First off, a RADAR detector is simply a radio receiver like your car stereo, it’s tuned to the frequencies used by the law that are transmitted from their RADAR guns such as X (no longer used unless it’s an poor agency) K, Ka, etc. A targets speed is determined by the change (shift) in the frequency transmitted by the police RADAR, reflected back to the RADAR gun from the target and the shift in frequency is calculated from when it was first transmitted to when it returned to the police RADAR. If the returned frequency is higher, the target is approaching the RADAR, and if the frequency is lower, it’s going away. The shift in frequency, plus or minus, determines the calculated speed. Today’s RADAR is so sophisticated that they actually talk, via speaker, to the radar operator, as to what RADAR antenna, front or rear, is being used and if the target is approaching or going away. The officer still has to select which antenna, front or back, to transmit on, the talking feature just keeps them straight when verifying what target he’s reading. An officer can set their RADAR to display only approaching or departing targets, as well as target fastest. So, it is not entirely safe to hang back behind the speeder in front of you to avoid a ticket, unless you are still traveling slower than them. I really don’t understand the significance of a violator wanting to know whether the officer is to front, rear or side, such as the Valentine. Most officers will not transmit their RADAR until they have visually determined a speeding target, by then the target is in range to obtain a reading, and it’s too late for the violator to adjust their speed once their RADAR detector activates. The best way to avoid a speeding ticket is not speed (knew I had to say that!). Otherwise stay in the middle of the pack and hope to not get a cracked windshield. If I had to endorse a detector, I’d go with the Passport 9500 as luisv said.
Agree with all except cars that I wouldn't endorse any of them. Stopped and ticketed too many that had expensive ones that had no clue I was there until it was too late. By the time you realize we are there, by detector or visually, it's too late. we allready have your speed or the car's we intend to stop. Besides, we started using lasers. Laser detectors aren't all that good either. The manufacturers forget to tell you that the laser has to be pointed in the area that you mounted the detector. I don't know any officers that pointed their lasers at the winshield. headlights and the bumper areas were better and idn't set off the detectors. I am also a retired traffic cop as of jun 30, 2010.

I've been saved more than once with the new Escort Redline being hit with K, KA and laser so I'll stick with my statements.

Here's a review:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-ClGtKmckM

if your speeding on a road by yourself and there is a smart cop you will get caught... no way to fight it.

on a side note, your parking break does not turn on your brake lights if one happens to sneek in traffic behind you and you don't want to "look obvious" slowing down. It is very sensitive and not a rookie move. But can save you a ticket.


Josh

Some very interesting info here. I had thought about a radar detector a while back, but I, too, use the CB to moitor as the truckers will let you know where the locals/LE are, but I also know the roads I drive and where to look, certain speed zones for example where I know to slow down a bit, especially on holiday weekends like this one. It is good to have real world reviews and especially the input of officers/former officers. One thing I know not to do is hit the brake, that's just obvious, but the e-brake, now that's a good tip! I tend to stay somewhere in the middle of the pack and not stick out like a sore thumb, lol, but this thread makes for very informative reading, thanks for the info guys! :)

- Cajun