Radar detector questions

[Cloudland]

got clocked doing 65 in a 50 zone, $80. nearly 2 hours of on call job wasted. first ticket in 5 years (from a cop; got shot by a fixed camera twice before on a road, come n go).

thus, i'm thinking about a radar detector. i did some research and it seems valentine 1 and escort passport 8500 x50 are most recommended, the problem is, they are both designed to LHD - the screen is facing to the left hand side seat, which can be annoying.

some compromised design like beltronics 995 (screen facing to the middle) are not mentioned by a lot of people.

so, anyone had some experience with any above mentioned radar detectors?

thanks.

[twilightprotege]

another problem is that the radars used in america might be different to what's used in NZ. first of all find out what types and brands of radars are used in NZ then work out what can detect them.

[woofy]

OZ moved to laser ones a while back which i thought can't be picked up by the old style detectors....its been about 15yrs since I last saw one in Australia

[Nate]

LEGAL NOTE



radar detectors are illegal
radar detectors can be easily modified to make a garage door open
garage door openers arnt illegal


:D

i looked into buying a garage door opener, the realised that a good one is about $1500, cause anything over 2 years old the cops can pick up, cheap to buy, but not worth it if they get you in more trouble.

but if you do go ahead with it let me know how you go ... i am sick of getting out of my car to open the garage!

'ah hem' private road 'ah hem' * looks at twiggy :p *

[woofy]

my Dads company used to install them in all their cars until they became illegal..the stupid things always went off near fruit/vege shops for some reason.

[Nate]

the automatic doors?

maybe its those pork crackles they sell at the counter

its only illegal if you get caught :p

[shaggy 1800]

In NZ they are legal :-)
they go off at banks as well. Which is quite annoying but the one we have puts out a differnt "beep" and shows a differnt colour for each sort of signal which is handy.

[Cloudland]

yeah right it's leagl here in NZ

American detectors have all band except Ku as in Europe. NZ doesn't use X band. So buy a American detector then turn off X band would work a charm here.

Hi shaggy did U get one?

[crazy_bunny]

Ill be damned it wont let my log out. Anyway its mazda_guy01 not crazy_bunny.

I think I can be of use on this one. I had a radar detector for about 3 months till I crashed and it went who knows where. They are totally legal to have and to sell but to have one fitted to a motor vehicle is not. You get 3 bands k, ka, and x with x been laser.

I used the beltronics units and they worked wonders not only warning you of the radar but shutting down once a strong singnal was detected, this was to avoid you been caught using one. They are a nightmare through the city etc as shopping centre doors and servos will set off k and ka band. But switch it to x only and your fine. I mean any hand held radar is x band these days anyway.

Now it depends where you buy. I managed to find a dealer in Qld that had a shop front. He sold me one real unit and one dead unit. Why the dead one??? Well they normally just take the unit off you and dont issue a fine. But these days who knows. So if pulled over I would give the cop the dead unit and problem solved. I would be talking to the service manager of your chossen brand and seeing if you can score a dead one. They are about $50 normally.

Have fun

[shaggy 1800]

Look at the state of my car Cloudland. LOL im a poor student
Dads the one with all of the toys. I works great i guess his one is about six years old if not more, it's a uniden one. Ill find the the details on it and the model number i bet they dont make it any more but im sure that they will have a replacement. Just out of intrest where are you in the land of the long white cloud??

[shaggy 1800]

hey ive had a look it's a Uniden LRD2000 it picks up 4 bands x, k, L and something else (carn't read my writing and carn't be assed going down satirs again). Oh and it also tells you the strength of the signal. One set of leds shows the signal and the other the strength.
Sweet

[Cloudland]

thanks shaggy

i just broke my piggy bank and got a beltronics rx65 (bel has been bought by escort and they use same antenna and circuit) from a local, the price is better than RRP in the states, although some guy on ebay could save U some US$50 but i'd rather have a peace of mind.

http://www.radarbusters.com/support/product-tests/radar-detector-recommendations.asp

[shaggy 1800]

Shot man looks pretty sweet. where did you get it from?? Just had a look at trade me buy now of $525. bets the us price by $50. same as your ebay guy

[platypus]

i think they are legal in WA too??

someone please tell me if i'm wrong!!!

[Cloudland]

Shot man looks pretty sweet. where did you get it from?? Just had a look at trade me buy now of $525. bets the us price by $50. same as your ebay guy
the user Radar2go

i got the email address from whois record of radar2go.com

they got maybe 1 or two RX65 left and plenty of 8500 red. but they won't offer me price better than $430. i didn't find any serial number on the detector though, but it sure works. caught two police patrol car in the last 3 days. still a few false alarm on K band after i turned off X band.

[andrewgrazier]

the thing actually does detect radar? or is it a GPS thing with the fixed camera locations on it?

[shaggy 1800]

No it detects the radar. I think the guns that the cops use sends a beam out to a car the car reflects the beam so they can tell the speed (please correct if im wrong) and i think a radar detector "see's" these beams and beeps at the driver to tell him/her there is a cop/fixed camera a head.

Sweet cloudland have fun with it where is that place based?? i had a look on there web site but couldn't find an address

[Cloudland]

hey shaggy, the company is based at mt wellington, i'll pm U their email address.

just remember that, pole mounted camera can't be detected, but remember those rubber strips on road? it calculate the time between U hit two strips and nail U if U overspeed.

[shaggy 1800]

oh yeah we had a "person" (some one in the know) come into work and say that if you drive a nail into the rubber strips it gives off wrong readings and they carn't fine any one. But that would be naughty of cause.

[Cosmo Dude]

Most tapes these days are used to count traffic so that roads can be planned.
Amphometer tapes are much more expensive than counter tapes and need to be replaced more often. As plod use radar/lidar/amphometer to generate revenue it makes little sence for them to use tapes.

[Cloudland]

Most tapes these days are used to count traffic so that roads can be planned.
that's what i thought too, because i've seen those strips layed nowhere near a pole camera

there were rumors that NZ pole fixed camera use underground loop (like those used by traffic lights) to detect speed, but it turns out more likely to be using those rubber strips

NZ has about 70 pole camera positions but only 14 or so cameras rotating between them.

[Cosmo Dude]

The counters need to be close to a pole so they can be locked up. Believe it or not some people would steal them. Have a look next time I'm sure that the wires won't be connected into the pole.

Yes I'm sure that even NZ has its own idiot fringe.

[skippy]

FYI,
I recall hearing somewhere that if you caught with in NSW, you lose 12 points = instant liceanse disqualification.

This why I do not have one.

Do you install anything outside the car, or is it just a little hand held thang??

[Nate]

usually something that just sits on your dash. i know in queensland there is a $1000 fine, plus the cops will destory the unit on site (using a big chunk of bridgestone, usually connected to the rear axle of the patrol car)

[Cloudland]

The counters need to be close to a pole so they can be locked up. Believe it or not some people would steal them. Have a look next time I'm sure that the wires won't be connected into the pole.
Yes I'm sure that even NZ has its own idiot fringe.

this is from a local website:

http://www.flashcards.co.nz/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=333

Latest New Zealand wide Speed Enforcement Equipment Statistics (valid as at 17-03-05):
1) 1210 Mobile Radar units in patrol cars. Total patrol cars on the road: 3100, so over 1/3 have radar on board! ALL of these are Ka @ 35GHz
2) 175 Laser Guns, these are stationary units.
3) 32 Mobile Speed Cameras (Vans or Cars). ALL of these are Ka @ 35GHz
4) 13 Static Pole Mounted Speed Cameras rotated between 55 sites. These use piezo electric strips in the road - NOT radar.
All equipment is leased on a 3 year rotating cycle so they have the 'latest and greatest'. NO K band units are used in NZ any longer, all has been standardised on Ka.
**All information kindly provided by the New Zealand Police

[Cloudland]

Do you install anything outside the car, or is it just a little hand held thang??
most radar detectors are dash mounted, 1 in 5 got stolen every year in NZ.

there are also remote radar detectors, mounted somewhere inside the grill maybe? they can not be seen from outside the car, there is a only small panel with display and control knob in the car.

and some new detectors can not be "seen" by "radar detector detectors"...

it reminds me of something in a cheap movie, "my phone tracer buster tracer buster has busted your phone tracer buster tracer..."