I'm in the wifes Subaru with the 9500i. I use Spec mode because I'm a geek and fascinated by technical details. Unfortunately, in Spec Mode, signal-strength awareness is limited to the audio alert. Being nose-to-nose with a cruiser while getting a Ka alert tends to indicate that I did get a full-strength hit, so I'll make that assumption.
4-lane Highway with a Lane-and-a-half-wide center divider (double-yellow lines).
Approx 6:00am on a sunny Sunday headed east, right into the sun. It's a curvy road so the glare-factor is constantly changing. I'm in the left lane at 10-15 over, quarter-mile ahead the road arcs to the right. Out of the glare I get a fullstrength I/O hit, tag the brakes to scrape off the extra speed, glance at the 9500 (still in sAlert mode) and then back to the road. Exiting the arc of the curve, I'm watching as the cruiser aligns to head-on, towards me. Little, if any, change in audio intensity.
I know I was at least 10 over, when the 9500 went off. No warning, no nuttin. Just a full-strength (I think) Ka hit. I should have been toast. The 9500 finally showed the frequency just as the cruiser passed. 33.7xx
Which begs the question(s)
Did he get a speed-reading before I slowed ? If so, was this reading affected by CoSine error. (I'd think so)
OR
Did he trigger too soon, so the target was not yet in the kill zone (angle, not distance)
The entire event took less than 5 seconds (probably 4 seconds, but I try not to exaggerate)
Either way, chat with COP avoided. I'd count this as a save . .
I've driven this stretch thousands of times, hundreds of Speed Radar ecnounters, with my trusty V-1. This event stands out, and is my closest to getting tagged. I'm inclined to think that the annoying off-axis sensitivity of the V-1 would have provided me a more typical advanced warning (of the previous transmission) but, of course, I'll never really know.