Bel/Escort TrueLock - Excessive lockout radius due to X-band

[ClarkKent51]

Why is there such a large (half mile) - even excessive - radius lockout for marked false alert locations with the Beltronics STiR / Beltronics XRC Plus / Escort 9500ci? I think it's due to the existence of X-band radar in the USA. K-band transmissions from door openers do not travel very far. However, I can recall extremely long duration alerts from X-band motion sensors (here in Oz), back in the eighties.

It looks like a "one size fits all" approach from the Bel/Escort engineers. I am speculating that without X-band to contend with, the lockout radius (just K-band) could be reduced substantially.

The half-mile (750 meters) "radius" for locked out "locations" is way too excessive for the Beltronics XRC PLUS sold in AU and NZ.

When photo radars are positioned near false-alert locations (probably inadvertently), sometimes the K-band frequency block (door-opener) that is locked out may coincide with the police-radar frequency. Result? Spinning satellite icon and no audible alert when passing the photo-radar speed trap.

I realize that the lockout radius may be less than 750 meters in practice - if lockouts are done manually. However it is definitely excessive for Oz and NZ circumstances. There are nil K-band mobile radars in NZ and very few in Oz.

There would seem to be several software modifications that Belscort could initiate to reduce the very real danger of actual speed-radar being locked out.

(1) Rewrite the software to create a smaller lockout radius for K-band.

(2) Rewrite the software to provide several levels of lockout radius that can be accessed in the user menu. Say "Ra1", "Ra2", "Ra3"?

(3) Rewrite the software to offer a choice of "alert" patterns when "locked-out" locations are passed.

- - - (a.) Complete audio-mute and no visual alert (as is now extant)

- - - (b.) Triple "beeps" (sharp pip please) followed by audio-mute with visual alert.

- - - (c.) Single "pip" followed by "soft-click" with visual alert. The "clicking" would reprise the superb audio-mute sound that was used in the 1980's Vector series.

This is the best solution to the "missed alert" situation that is a problem in areas where low-power (K-band) slant-radar is used. Right now it is Oz and NZ. Increasingly it may be states of the USA.

When Belscort make these desirable (and needed) modifications, users can upgrade their devices through the Internet. Perfect solution. Go to it "Belscort".

[barryswanson]

x2!!!!!
It gives me the $hits when I drive past photo radar vans with no alert.

What I have done to sort of overcome this problem is work backwards. But requires you to obey the speed limit for quite some time.

1.Let Autolock learn all of your false alerts in your town.

2.When it has everything locked out turn Autolock off and keep it off for good.

3.Now whenever you pass a photo radar van unlock that signal.

It will take quite a while to do this and because the vans tend to use the same spots you will get to know where they are.

So eventually you'll have the places they sit unlocked. You will still get falses from near by automatic doors within the same 30Mhz frequency block.

A major pain in the arse but it works for me.

Try to avoid manually locking out signals because I have noticed the lockout block is more than 30Mhz.

[ClarkKent51]

How do you know that more than a single 30MHz block is locked out?
Specifically, how do you know that (by definition) more than one transmitter is locked out?

[Idontgo55]

I Just now turn mine back off after many false and I still speed thu them Same risk I thought why not??

But it did lock out sam's club doors on 1st pass thought it took 3?

[CJR238]

x2!!!!!
It gives me the $hits when I drive past photo radar vans with no alert.

What I have done to sort of overcome this problem is work backwards. But requires you to obey the speed limit for quite some time.

1.Let Autolock learn all of your false alerts in your town.

2.When it has everything locked out turn Autolock off and keep it off for good.

3.Now whenever you pass a photo radar van unlock that signal.

It will take quite a while to do this and because the vans tend to use the same spots you will get to know where they are.

So eventually you'll have the places they sit unlocked. You will still get falses from near by automatic doors within the same 30Mhz frequency block.

A major pain in the arse but it works for me.

Try to avoid manually locking out signals because I have noticed the lockout block is more than 30Mhz.

I use TrueLock very similarly.

---

The best way for escort to fix this issue is to know exactly the roads and size of the original false. If the false is 300ft make the lock out radius 350 or if its 600 make it 650. My falses are always exactly the same distance give or take 50ft.

1/2mi is ok for some spots but if it was more exact in its radius it would work better for everyone. Actually having the RD measure the exact distance of the false, direction traveled and designating a 50ft or so buffer around it would work great. This would solve these issues, and make TrueLock virtually flawless.

It would require a bit of memory to remember so many details of a lock out but it could be done.