Radar Detector Education - Owners and Prespecitve Buyers Please Read
Hi all,
I've got a little time on my hands today, so I decided to educate people on the actual usefullness of radar detectors. I used to own one (ESCORT Passport 8500). I received 2 tickets, both from Lidar, and both while my radar detector was in use. This prompted me to do further extensive research of my own and talk to several of Calgary's finest. It pains me to see how many Calgarians have these things in their windows, when in reality in our city they do next to nothing. The following will explain why, in Calgary, radar detectors are in my opinion a bad investment, and other things you can use:
1) First of all, it is a high-theft item. For those who do not remove them from their windows when they park, it is increasing your chances of a break-in.
2) 99% of the speed traps in Calgary are LASER RADAR (Lidar). I was informed by a friend in the Police service that there are maybe 2 or 3 active traditional radar guns in use, and only the older fashioned officers use them. Also, I personally have never seen a traditional radar gun setup, and virtually all of the officers that "hide" behind a post, hill, or bush are all using Lidar. They can use it from a tripod, free-hand or from their cruiser. The better radar detectors do a fantastic job of detecting older RADER guns, unfortunately you will likely never encounter them. Many of the newer radar detectors have "Laser Detection"; some of them front and rear. It is important to understand that all your "laser detector" can do, is tell you WHEN YOU HAVE ALREADY been hit, and under virtually no circumstances can warn you of an impending hit.
Keep in mind on the highway, for example from Calgary to Edmonton, traditional radar is still used and a radar detector may prove useful. I am primarily refering to city use in this post.
At 500ft, the laser beam is no more than 8 or 9 inches wide (traditional radar being about 150ft). This beam is also moving at the speed of light (299,792,458 meters/second) and goes away as fast as it comes - it does not hang around to be detected. In a matter of seconds it does a distance/time calculation several thousand times as it bounces off your car and back to the Lidar gun and averages the results, producing an extremely accurate reading. Additionally, the officer will aim at your headlights, as they are the most reflective surface and every vehicle has them. If your car is equipped with pop-up headlights, all they need is a side marker light or anything with reflective tendencies (even a non-black paint job will do wonderfully) There is no way, with a detector sitting in your window or even lower dash, that the detector will even see this beam of light unless the officer is a very poor shot. Again, if the detector does pick it up, it will only tell you that you have already been hit. It might as well be a "prepare to pull over" warning.
3) Radar detectors, from my experience, are generally annoying. They have an uncanny ability to warn you of automatic doors (X-band), microwaves in fast food restraunts and other things that emit radio frequences.
Now that you understand how Lidar and radar detectors work you can now make an informed decision to trade it in for an effective counter measure, get rid of it, or still keep it.
LASER COUNTER MEASURES
1) First off, dark colors absorb Laser "beams". If you have a black car with pop-down headlights you will be harder to hit at long range but by no means immune. All this does is reduce the effective range of the Lidar gun.
2) Laser Jammers. These are your only very effective counter measure. They essentially stop you from being hit by laser. The only one that really works, and that frequently wins Speed Measurement Laboritories tests is the BLINDER M20 Extreme. SML, by the way, is a company hired by police officers so that they can become aware of the countermeasures available to the public that they will be up against. The company purchases all test units from stores, so that manufacturers cannot send them "juiced up" units to make them look better. Anyways, this jammer consists of 2 long, skinny modules that mount between your headlights - right around where the officer will aim. It then projects a virtual wall infront of your vehicle. When the "wall" sees a laser, it first determins what frequency it is and then determins the best jamming frequency to suit the laser. Then, the officer will then see, on the back of his Lidar gun, either a JTG (jam to gun), no reading whatsoever, or ERR (error) reading. The beauty of this is that several things, including intense sunlight, can product a JTG reading.
Now that you know how they work, you need to use them properly too. When you get hit by Lidar with a jammer installed, it will alert you. You then slow down and TURN OFF the jammer. This way, when the officer shoots you again because of the strange reading he got the first time, you will not be speeding and he will likely dismiss suspicion of any sort of "funny business".
3) There is a product called VEIL on the market. This product works exactly as advertised. Please note it only claims to REDUCE the effective range of a Lidar gun, and by no means claims to make you immune to them like the Blinder Laser Jammer. It is a solution that you "paint" into you headlights, that absorbs Laser, substantially reducing the effective range of a Lidar gun - from about 30-60%, depending on the color of the vehicle. Speed Measurement Laborotories also tested this product and confirmed it's claims. Their website, including all test results, is:
www.speedzones.com
I'm sure there will be those who disagree with me or think they have been "saved" by radar detectors and that is fine. The facts are available to anyone who wishes to read them on a variety of informative websites.
P.S. Radar detectors are programmed to tell you what kind of radar you are detecting by the frequency. If something that isn't law enforcement is producing a similar frequency, it will show up on your detector as such because it doesn't know the difference.
I hope this has been helpful, thanks for reading,
Mark
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everyone once in a while I'll get some confused ass person looking at me going all "Wtf?" 
