BEL Service - BS explanation of problem with RX65???

[slikrik]

I bought an RX65 direct from Bel end of October and sent it back about two weeks later for service due to what I felt was very poor/intermittent k sensitivity. I was getting almost no k band readings compared to my 980. Tested it out at the mall, etc - even with it set on HWY pointed right at the mall entrances I was getting 1 or 2 bars, or no reading at all on the RX65 - but my 980 was blaring away at full strength.

Called Bel and got a bunch of blah, blah, "better filtering" talk from the first customer service rep, so I went and did some more testing. Same results - and yes, I made sure to not run with both detectors on at the same time. Called them again and they had me send it back. They replaced the antenna, updated to the newest firmware, and re-calibrated it.

Seemed to work better; but just this Saturday I was going down a road where I know there's a speed cam, and was very surprised when the RX didn't pick it up til I was almost on top of it (still running in HWY mode). Then on the return trip it didn't pick it up at all. The 980 used to pick it at least a 1/4 mile out, and picked it up even coming up behind it, and from the rear.

I drove back & forth about 6 times with mixed results all the way from no reading at all on some drive by's - to almost full strength on others. I even took a picture of the sign flashing away with a speed displayed of a passing car by with me parked about 300ft directly in front of the camera - and the detector showing NO reading at all. On another pass I stopped in front of the sign sitting in the same area with no signal, and then about ten second later it started ramping up in signal til it was full signal and stayed there. My experience with this sign is that it has always been a pretty strong C/O signal.

I called BEL when I got home and the Cust Svc rep tried telling me that the sign was probably calibrated wrong and that maybe it was fading in and out of the wrong frequency..... WHAT??? I also mentioned that the detector has flashed "SELF CAL" about 4 or 5 times in the past week, which it never did before. He told me that was normal and it was just calibrating itself for optimum preformance, and tried telling me that if it was reading in some places, and not in others, that there was nothing wrong with the detector.

Is this guy full of BS or what?

[languy99]

if it flashes self cal often it means there is trouble, when the components are new (like they said they are) there is no reason they have drifted, so self cal is not needed. I bet soon you will get a service required message.

Also, it is possible but the speed sign to be out of spec, but because of the self cal message it leads me to believe your detector is still defective. I have heard a lot of crap being put out of the belscort repair department, my buddy had to send his 8500 back in 3 times before it got fixed right.

[chris]

I had an rx65 fixed 5 times for bad antennas under the first year , last week the cpu went in it and i just trashed it. ... I bought a bel sti from crutchfield last week to replace it and it is a bigger piece of ****. my escort 8500 x 50 works better then the bel ..... Nothing seems to top the v1 for radar sensitivity . I set up my own tests

[zerbey]

That RX65 is broken, send it back for repair.

[slikrik]

Another call to BEL tonight - it's on it's way back to service tomorrow. I hate having a new detector that I can't count on working right. I had the utmost faith in my 980 til the audio died after 6 yrs.

[djrams80]

Another call to BEL tonight - it's on it's way back to service tomorrow. I hate having a new detector that I can't count on working right. I had the utmost faith in my 980 til the audio died after 6 yrs.

You might want to try a refurbished Escort 8500 directly from Escort's Ebay page. It's $150 and uses the same S7 platform your 980 did.

[slikrik]

You might want to try a refurbished Escort 8500 directly from Escort's Ebay page. It's $150 and uses the same S7 platform your 980 did.

Sounds very tempting for that price. Whats the major difference between the 8500 and the X50 as I see they've got that too for $199?

[djrams80]

Sounds very tempting for that price. Whats the major difference between the 8500 and the X50 as I see they've got that too for $199?

The X50 is supposed to be pop-capable.

[GTO_04]

Another call to BEL tonight - it's on it's way back to service tomorrow. I hate having a new detector that I can't count on working right. I had the utmost faith in my 980 til the audio died after 6 yrs.

A speaker repair probably would have fixed the 980. If you're handy with a soldering iron that is a repair you could do. The 980 and 985 were very good RDs. My 985 could hang with my V1 (1.7) on K band. I tried a 995 and it was not nearly as good as the 985 on K band.

GTO_04

[slikrik]

A speaker repair probably would have fixed the 980. If you're handy with a soldering iron that is a repair you could do. The 980 and 985 were very good RDs. My 985 could hang with my V1 (1.7) on K band. I tried a 995 and it was not nearly as good as the 985 on K band.

GTO_04

I thought the same thing.

Audio also went out on my previous BEL that I had before the 980 (I don't remember what model it was), so I got a replacement speaker from BEL and soldered it in - still no audio.

Figured I'd test the 980 before going down that route again. I opened it up and hooked up an old ipod headphone speaker to it - still no audio, so I figured I'd trade it in towards the RX65 figuring that 6yrs newer = better technology & performance. At $219 after trade in for the RX65, it seemed to make sense over spending $90 to get a 6yr detector fixed.

Is the POP capability worth the extra $50. From what I've read on here it seems like a lot of people shut it off anyway.