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I'm holding out hope that these perceived "hints" end up to be a sarcastic play on the fact that everyone is speculating that the ZR4 performed poorly. I've got a couple weeks left on the 30-day return from Escort, so I should be ok either way I guess.
I'm holding out hope that these perceived "hints" end up to be a sarcastic play on the fact that everyone is speculating that the ZR4 performed poorly. I've got a couple weeks left on the 30-day return from Escort, so I should be ok either way I guess.
Yeah, I am hoping its a bit of sarcastic play also... and that it infact did pretty well for a LED jammer. I just have a worry that it seems they have really started to dog it lots more only after the event.
Only time will tell and I guess I shall await the results.
The ZR4 LEDs are new and are more powerful. Obviously the ZR4 would JTG if there were twice as many LEDs in each front head, but then I strongly suspect that the ZR4 would produce far more frequent jam codes on laser guns, and the officer operating the laser gun would know whats up.
^ Unfortunately, bro, I agree with the others on this one - I won't believe this (and that includes what you'd said before, about the ZR4 eliciting less, in its current format, error/jam-codes than other jammers currently on-market) until I see that data.
__________________ - Allen / Usual Suspect "DumboRAT" / One of the Three Stooges
I still stand by my assertion that the ZR4 is capable of jamming to the gun. During the Atlanta Jammerfest 2008 roadside tests, the ZR4 setup on this Mercedes 560SL jammed the Ultralyte and the PLIII to the gun in the center mass and driver's headlight shots, and managed to jam the Stalker to 273 feet in the center mass shot and to 137 feet in the driver's headlight shot. Note that the Blinder J11 three head system didn't fare any better than the ZR4 two head system, and that the Blinder J15 three head system did fare better due to its one extra jammer head. Here is a photo of the ZR4 setup on the Mercedes 560SL:
My car, with its metallic gold color, a large and relatively flat front bumper area and with the shifters mounted up very high, didn't fare as well since I had mounted my shifters up too high relative to the large flat bumper areas further below them:
I finally figured out that I have my shifters mounted way too high relative to the broad and flat areas on my front bumper, making it easy to get punch-throughs on my car at close range simply by aiming a laser gun lower at the front of my car. The Mercedes 560 SL installation, after seeing its better performance, is what clued me into the fact that my heads were mounted too high relative to my car's front and relatively flat metallic gold bumper.
I also mentioned in another thread that it appears to me that the front jammer head's cone of very strong vertical coverage seems to be roughly -2 degrees to +4 degrees. It appears to me that it is in this range of angles where the front shifter heads emit both a maximum and consistent intensity of IR radiation. Thus it is important that the ZR4 heads be mounted very level (within 1 degree) in order to effectively jam the Stalker down to very short ranges. Assuming that the jammers are mounted at a height of 2 feet off the ground and that an officer is standing while shooting a laser gun, then this difference in height would be about 3 feet. At 100 feet, a 3 feet difference in height translates to 1.7 degrees which is well within the -2 to +4 degree vertical cone of the ZR4 front head emissions. Yet you can see why I say that the ZR4 front shifters should be mounted level to within +/-1 degree for maximum effectiveness.
Level mounting, combined with well chosen installation locations, does make the ZR4 an affordable and effective jammer system.
__________________
Radar detectors which I use: 9500ci, STi, 9500i and V995.
Check out my Vintage Radar Detector collection.
Quotes of the Month: ersin: "Gotta love Radio Shack. 'You've got questions. We've got blank stares.'" tactical22: "Please lean forward so I can slap you ..."
I still stand by my assertion that the ZR4 is capable of jamming to the gun. ....
Level mounting, combined with well chosen installation locations, does make the ZR4 an affordable and effective jammer system.
^ Of this, I have no doubt.
No jammer is perfect - none is 100% against every enforcement setup (hardware and physical engagement situation). And what's the weakness of one can well be the strength of another.
I don't doubt, at all, that the ZR4 can do well against certain hardware, and certain setups. Heck, even the vastly outdated ZR3 can still do very well, today -> look at erickonphoenix's experiences!
What I doubt, instead, is the part of your statement prior regarding jam-codes/error-codes.
That's one thing that I'll believe when I see it (i.e. the GOL data).
I apologize if I didn't make this more clear!
Also, the other point of doubt in my statement is with adding further IR-LEDs to increase the jammer's output. Although I suspect that you might be right, I can't help but think that the ancillary factors you've cited (placement/coverage and leveling/aim) also will have a lot to do with this factor of "jamming effectiveness."
The ZR4 is an amazing laser receiver - no doubt about that. And it would seem to reason that "more output" should rectify its current shortcomings. But I don't really know if this is the sole issue.....
__________________ - Allen / Usual Suspect "DumboRAT" / One of the Three Stooges
The ZR4 is an amazing laser receiver - no doubt about that. And it would seem to reason that "more output" should rectify its current shortcomings. But I don't really know if this is the sole issue.....
Rrrrrrrrrr... Yea be on to something there matey!!!
Well...on the bright side...at least I found out from Escort that any future 9500ci ZR4 component firmware updates would be included in downloaded 9500ci updates and that the separate ZR4 stand-alone system can be updated simply by sending in its under-the-dash mounted interface module.
__________________
Radar detectors which I use: 9500ci, STi, 9500i and V995.
Check out my Vintage Radar Detector collection.
Quotes of the Month: ersin: "Gotta love Radio Shack. 'You've got questions. We've got blank stares.'" tactical22: "Please lean forward so I can slap you ..."
Like I said before, when your first announced those findings, it seems like they've got a plan in-place for "future-proofing" the ZR4.
I just hope that they carry-through with their plans.
x2, The ZR4 does have a good bit going for it IMO... one feature that stands out is the front/rear indicators of where the laser strike is occurring from. This is great information to have, especially if its supplemented with another jammer (Diode based) for a bit more jamming power. (Not trying to start a war here...) but unlike the V1's arrows which can get easily confused (regarding radar)... the front/rear indicators should be spot on accurate on the ZR4 because of the 'properties' of laser. Again though its not the V1's fault regarding radar and being inaccurate... normally when laser is concerned the V1's arrows are rather accurate (in my experiences). So again, thats a plus for the ZR4.
Also, it seems through forum members testing that it has a great receiving system in it similar to the ZR3. So thats another plus...
Another huge one in my book: Integration with current (and many past) Belscort models... which is a fantastic thing to have a single system working coherently in tandem!
Price: Its relatively cheap for a laser jammer (2nd cheapest), especially one that integrates seamlessly into other products many owners have.
Lastly it has a huge backing by a multi-million dollar company... so if Escort does follow through on keeping the ZR4 updated (cough cough IF... Yeah I know), they can sink the most money into R&D and jamming algorithms and such to keep trying to perfect the unit, and if all that needs to be sent in is the module... thats fairly straight-forward and easy.
The downfalls:
It obviously doesn't have the 'jamming power' of the diode based systems... bottom line right there. (It seems it did rather poorly at GOL, from what GOL members have been hinting... though it may just be teasing and it did decent.)
The odds of Escort keeping up and on-top of updates and all that is very, very slim... and most likely there is be a 'ZR5' in a few years.
Just my .02 into whats going on here though. Great internal pictures, I think a new thread should be created that just shows the internals of the ZR4 and the ZR3 side by side photo possibly... maybe made into a sticky
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Re: Internal photos of the ZR4 shifter heads! 
