Just got my used X50...impression/thoughts/questions

[OzarkaWater]

After waiting for more than a week for it to ship, I finally got my blue Rev 5 X50 off of e-bay last night.

The seller packed it nicely, came with the original box with matching serial number, leather case and all accessories.

My concerns are with how old the unit is. It was manufactured on the 39th week of 2004, which would make it almost 3 years old. Cosmetically the unit arrived with more scratches than I expected...it looked better in the pictures in the auction than what I had in my hands, but it shouldn't affect performance I suppose. Also is there anyway to check to see if the unit has been serviced in the past? I assume you just call Escort to see if it has?

I got a chance to play with it last night and when I turned it on I was a little freaked out because it was in voltage display. Upon resetting the detector I see the Rev 5 displayed which reassured me that the unit should have the correct board inside of it. I played around with some of the features and the detector seems to work great.

I ended up going to my neighborhood Kroger's to see if it would alert K-band like my Beltronics 895 would. I borrowed my friend's Rev 5 X50 also, his was manufactured on the 41st week of 2005. I noticed that for the most part both units would alert around the same time when I drove past the door, except mine was off by 1 bar on the alert display. My friend's displayed 5 bars next to the door, while mine only displayed 4 bars. Maybe the newer Rev 5's were more sensitive? Maybe it was just the manufacturing variance on these units.

Anyways accessory-wise, I was able to compare my smartcord with my friend's smartcord and for some odd reason my blue on light is really really bright while his was a more of a dimmer, darker blue light. His smartcord also had a different feel, as mine had a grainy feel, while his felt smoother. Did Escort change the brightness of the blue light later on? It's kind of distracting especially at night and was wondering if the any users with the blue version direct wire smartcord find the 'on' light to be too bright. I plan on direct wiring the detector later after I purchase a direct wire smartcord.

I hope I encounter some cops soon...otherwise I'll have to wait until I go back to Austin and test the range of the X50 on some of those 'Your Speed' signs on the UT campus.

[KnightHawk]

You can set the brightness to min, med and max. Your friends brightnes may have been turned to medium or min and yours was max. Change the brightness level and see what happens. As far as sensitivity, it would be hard to tell since you had both radars running at the same time. get it a few days and see how it performs with one radar at a time.

[OzarkaWater]

Azonehits, I was referring to the 'on' light on the smartcord, not the unit itself. Sorry I didn't make that clearer. The smartcord that came with my unit, the 2004 one seems a lot brighter compared to my friend's smartcord from his 2005 unit.

Both radars weren't running at the same time. I drove by the thing switching out each unit and made 2 passes bythe door for each detector. It kinda sucks how the only way I can test the darned thing is through a supermarket door. There aren't very many LEO's running radar in Sugar Land...at least not that I know of. It'd be great to encounter some real experiences with the unit especially in the Ka department. Anyone know where I can find some in the Houston area?

I was wondering what people thought of the brightness for the 'on' LED for the blue direct wire smartcord. Is it irritating when you look at it at night?

Oh and I was wondering if anyone knew what date Escort started manufacturing the Rev 5 units?

[aradarnut]

I was wondering what people thought of the brightness for the 'on' LED for the blue direct wire smartcord. Is it irritating when you look at it at night?

Maybe you could try coloring the LED w/ a non-permanent (overhead projector) style marker to see how you like it. :?: If it works, then you could wipe it clean and use a permanent one for better durability. Just an idea, not trying to be a botcher.

[KnightHawk]

I never had a blue light smartcord. They just look "cool" but not good for night vison becuase it is so distracting. You may need t follow aradarnut's suggestion.

[OzarkaWater]

I just ordered the blue direct wire smartcord from Escort so we'll see if I have any complaints about the brightness of the 'on' light on the cord.

On a side note, I called Escort to see if they would be able to tell me any previous information about a unit based on the serial number (if the unit had ever been serviced or anything like that) and the customer representative said they couldn't. The only way to do that she said was if you had the name of the person who purchased it? I wonder if that's BS. She was probably trying to say Escort only keeps track of the units that are bought directly from them or if they are purchased new from an authorized reseller and are registered through their website or something. I still don't know why she would need a name.

[OzarkaWater]

So I decided to update on my experiences with the X50.

I've had the X50 for almost 3 weeks now and I didn't really pick up any LEOs until this past weekend. Must be because it's the end of the month or something.

So far I see why users think the X50 Rev 5 is a K-band monster. So far I've picked up K-band very well, definitely more sensitive than my 895 and I love the ramp up. I've had a early K-band alert when I was perpendicular to the cop as he was driving on the highway while I was about to turn onto the highway. I've also picked up a cop with his K-band radar on driving towards me almost a mile out. I was at a stop light and the darned thing was still going off like crazy and after sitting at a stoplight at like 20 seconds and turning my passenger finally spotted the cop pulling up to the light where I was at.

I've had a couple of Ka blips here and there, but haven't spotted any LEOs with the Ka alert except once.

Couple of questions I have are...
1). What do Cobras set off? X band? Ka band?
I was at a stop light one time and got a X alert that I usually pass by and when this guy pulled up next to me with a Cobra the X alert increased. I've also have had a couple of random Ka alerts that alert for like 2 seconds and then turn off that seem random.
2). How accurate is the expert meter?
I think I read somewhere about it double bogeying when there's only one radar source. I've put it in expert meter more recently and notice sometimes it'll show two K sources and then one drops out all of a sudden. This happens sometimes at shopping centers. It was kind of cool though to see it working though. I was at Office Depot today and there was a parked LEO who left her car on with constant K band running. The expert meter showed 1 strong K band source from the cop and a weak K source coming from the Office Depot doors. Thought that was pretty cool.

I think I'm going to be very happy with my blue Rev 5 X50. It may be used, scratched up, and 3 years old, but as long as the darned thing works I'm satisfied with it.

[TSi+WRX]

Couple of questions I have are...
1). What do Cobras set off? X band? Ka band?
I was at a stop light one time and got a X alert that I usually pass by and when this guy pulled up next to me with a Cobra the X alert increased. I've also have had a couple of random Ka alerts that alert for like 2 seconds and then turn off that seem random.

As with your experience, I've come across both types of falsing.

With my typical daily commute and errands, which is all in-city, on heavily-trafficked surface streets with multiple ambient non-LEO (i.e. "false") sources, I run in City mode, with the LoX option. This has helped tremendously with X-band falsing from, at the very least, passing motorists using leaky detectors, and also has greatly helped with X-band falsing from door-openers, etc.

Ka does occasionally present falsing situations, much as you've described, but I don't find these to be quite as common.

2). How accurate is the expert meter?
I think I read somewhere about it double bogeying when there's only one radar source. I've put it in expert meter more recently and notice sometimes it'll show two K sources and then one drops out all of a sudden. This happens sometimes at shopping centers. It was kind of cool though to see it working though. I was at Office Depot today and there was a parked LEO who left her car on with constant K band running. The expert meter showed 1 strong K band source from the cop and a weak K source coming from the Office Depot doors. Thought that was pretty cool.

This is a problem with any of the detectors capable of simultaneously showing multiple incomings.

Even with the excellent combination of strength-meter, Bogey-Count, the arrows, and its awesome set of programming parameters, proper use of the V1 *still* requires good end-user interpretation/operation.

The x50's ExpertMeter is a step down from the situational-awareness offered by the V1's comprehensive presentation, as such, you should work to be extra diligent in thinking about its presentations.

Typically, I've found the ExpertMeter to have worked as-advertised. However, signal "ghosting" as well as alert "merging" are still very much very real possibilities, and the risks associated with the latter, particularly in terms of enforcement situations, is significant, and should be kept-in-mind when, for example, you approach a "double underpass" or other such areas where multiple enforcement vehicles are capable of setting up a sequential trap (where the x50, depending on the distances separating the incoming signals as well as how far apart they may be in terms of frequency spread, could erroneously interpret it as only one threat).

You've already shown that you're very self-directed in terms of research. This, combined with your demonstration of active thinking/use of the device holds good promise that you'll truly extract the most possible out of this tool.

I have no doubt, at all, that as you continue to rack up miles and time with your x50, that you'll become even more formidable, and that you will be able to pick out such potential trouble-situations.

[ELVATO]

I have X turned off, so I can't tell you about Cobras there, but I do get some on Ka. Mostly around 33.5 and 34.3 Ka.

[Stealth 795]

Yes the 6.1's smartcord are dimmer than the rev 5s...I had both and that I noticed as well ..The guys on here gave me crap for it because I made a big stink on how much chattier the rev5 is than the 6.1...My cord light makes my car look like a dance club..
cya