A few questions and a mile Ka warning.

[sam87zxt]

First off, I got a mile Ka warning inheavy highway traffic on I 95 South bound. Mind you there were 4 cruisers all pulling people over in the oncoming direction, but the expert meter showed only one source. Not sure if this was because all 4 LEO's used that same type of radar.

Question1. I have ran into 2 K traps. The LEO's were at a 75 degree angle to the highway. I only got second or 2 warning before i went to full. No doubt it has to do with the angle theLEO was at. Can they ticket you from this angle? do they do this so RD's can't spot them running constant K until it's too late? I can get really long detection distances from speed signs using K though.


Question 2. Given perfect conditions ( perfect from a LEO point of view) what is the furthest possible that 33.x, 34.7. 35.5 Ka can determine a speed of a vehicle?

Queston 3. Can a cobra in the oncoming lane of an undivided highway give a false Ka or K alert? I got a couple of weak ka and K alerts but no LEO to be found, and no full alerts either, so I am unsure what caused this.

Question 4. In East Tennessee, I sometimes catch Ka from sheriffs department cruisers. The signals ramp up to full and die off quickly. Also I can only get these signals with in about 500 feet or so. From the state troopers i can get atleat .1 mile detections. This consistantly happens.What gives?

Thanks everyone. This is with my X-50 rev 6.1.

4000 Intersate miles and counting

[cooljay]

Well to answer #3 yes, indeed cheap leaky RDs can be detected on K or Ka sometimes they only alert weakly but sometimes they are stronger, on any road just about. I've gotten falses from cobras from a vehicle across a 4 lane divided highway me in the right lane on my side and him in the right on his side.

[jimbonzzz]

Question1. I have ran into 2 K traps. The LEO's were at a 75 degree angle to the highway. I only got second or 2 warning before i went to full. No doubt it has to do with the angle theLEO was at. Can they ticket you from this angle? do they do this so RD's can't spot them running constant K until it's too late? I can get really long detection distances from speed signs using K though.

At this angle, there would most likely be no speed displayed at all. Way too much "cosine error", the target would appear almost stationary to the radar.

Question 2. Given perfect conditions ( perfect from a LEO point of view) what is the furthest possible that 33.x, 34.7. 35.5 Ka can determine a speed of a vehicle?

The maximum possible target range will vary from vehicle to vehicle depending on the radar cross section. For example, here's a Car & Driver test from way back in 1979(!). They used a Kustom KR-11, results are in feet.



But of course, different models etc will have different maximum ranges against the same vehicle.

Here's a more recent study against some current guns. The target vehicle for the Stationary-Mode Maximum Range test was a Special Service Package Ford Expedition. This vehicle was otherwise used as the radar vehicle. For the Moving-Mode Maximum Range and Same Direction Maximum Range tests a Nissan Maxima was used as the target. All guns were Ka band except the Genesis II Directional which was K-Band.

Queston 3. Can a cobra in the oncoming lane of an undivided highway give a false Ka or K alert?

Yes, they can cause both K and Ka falses. Ka falses are the most common on the high-end detectors....

Question 4. In East Tennessee, I sometimes catch Ka from sheriffs department cruisers. The signals ramp up to full and die off quickly. Also I can only get these signals with in about 500 feet or so. From the state troopers i can get atleat .1 mile detections. This consistantly happens.What gives?

This is a VERY common question on here. This could be caused by many, many, many different things.

For example:
-the officer could have a handheld radar unit laying on the passenger seat or the floorboard turned on.
-the angle could be very steep, with not much for the radar to reflect off of
-if the officer is using his front antenna, and going the same direction as you are, you might not get much range if there isn't much for the radar to reflect off of back into your detector's antenna
-if the officer is in the opposite lane, and is using his rear antenna, you might not get much range if there isn't much for the radar to reflect off of back into your detector's antenna

But, there are a TONS of other things that could cause what you are seeing.

Bottom line: Ka is tough for any detector.

Jim

[happya$$]

GREAT stuff professor!

[ELVATO]

Wow, kinnda sux to see my car is able to be detected at 5k ft :? Hopefully, Im not alone on the road when that happens :P Other than that, cool results Thanx prof.

[sam87zxt]

Thanks for all the excellent info. The RD is a tool, but we just have to know how to to use it wisely. I count myself fortunate. In the month and a half that i have had my X-50, i have travelled at least 4000 interstate miles and it has saved me lots of times.

One time I was going just 7 over the limit but still the LEO came flying out of his hiding spot to get visualization... I had already slowed to 5 below psl and there was a vehicle a hundred or so feet behind me. Our lucky day i guess.

One last question. Do LEO's ever use IO while stationary?

I have never been instant owned, but i have seen people infront of me or behind me get instant owned from a moving partol car. I came close near ashville NC. I saw a crown vic ahead of me. I was 15 + psl and slowed down to about 5 + psl about .2 miles away from the crown vic. As I approached it I got one quick weak Ka blip followed my full Ka. I was on the breaks by the first blip. LEO slowed down to 5 below psl and so did I, still maintaining about 500 feet between us. He IO'ed an oncoming vehicle and so I knew for sure that it was indeed a LEO running IO. I sped up to PSl and approached the LEO This time he IO'd me when I was a alot closer to him. I just maintained speed as he fired. He eventually turned off and I was on my way.

Once again, thanks for all the tips guys.

[proudNMAmember]

Instant On can also be used in Staionary mode too. I just got hit w/ IO the other day in the truck while using the X50. X50 did a great job .