Originally Posted by
TPS_Radar_Instructor
I’m trying to find a good used Bel Radar Detector that won’t cost me over a $100 to use to test Safety Warning System messages. I know a Bel STi can give the voice warning but it is still out of my price range after already investing at least $1,000 on this project and the school at least $32,000. This money is for our radar warning receiver class and lab.
It appears the Vector series above V965 might do this or a 916 will at least give you the category of the hazard with a voice alert.
However, I’m a bit confused by the manual for the V965.
From the V965 manual:
Voice Alerts
The V965 provides digital voice announcements of radar and laser bands detected. If Safety Radar (SWS) is turned on, a safety radar message will also be announced. See the Programming section for details.
If you prefer, you can turn Voice Alerts off. See Programming section for details.
How Safety Radar Works
Safety Warning System, or SWS, uses a modified K-band radar signal. The SWS safety radar system has 64 possible messages (60 currently allocated). The SWS messages your V965 can display are listed on the facing page.
From the factory, your V965 is programmed with SWS decoding OFF. If SWS is used in your area, your V965 will display the safety messages associated with the signal. If you wish to detect this system, use the Programming feature to turn V965’s SWS decoding ON.
NOTE: Some of the safety messages have been condensed, so that each message can be displayed on one or two screens on V965’s eight-character display.
Short list of the messages:
SWS Text Messages
Highway Construction or Maintenance
1 Work Zone Ahead
2 Road Closed Ahead/Follow Detour
3 Bridge Closed Ahead/Follow Detour
4 Highway Work Crews Ahead
5 Utility Work Crews Ahead
6 All Traffic Follow Detour Ahead
The reason I’m confused by the manual is that on the one page it says “If Safety Radar (SWS) is turned on, a safety radar message will also be announced.” But on the other page it states “If SWS is used in your area, your V965 will display the safety messages associated with the signal.”
So my question is does anyone have Vector 965 or higher and ever heard any SWS voice messages or is just a tone heard and text messages displayed?
I have 5 SWS radar detectors right now and they all tend to work different. The best ones are text message only and are made by Whistler. I figured I’d give Bel a try since that is what Georgia Tech used to test their SWS. I want a voice system so that everyone in the class can hear the message rather than strain their eyes to see the text message scrolling from the back of the room.
We have two SWS transmitters that can transmit 16 different messages each for testing.
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