programing my new 8500 x50

[bernardo00]

Hi, I got the 8500 x50 today and i dont know anything about how i am supposed to program it. a friend of mine told me to turn off the X. also whats the difference between city/auto/highway. let me know of any tips about it.

[joey_corleone]

Did you buy it new? If so, it should have come with the instruction booklet and EZ programming guide. It's a very simple to operate, and will take you 10 minutes to read through the manual. All your questions would be answered.

Lets move on and assume you don't have the manual. Your x50 basically has 3 buttons: 2 on the top and one on the front. The one on the front can be tricky to identify if you don't know it's there...right next to the display on the right.

By default all the bands are on (x,k,ka,laser) with the exception of pop. Most people here will tell you to leave pop off, I do the same.

To enter program mode on your x50 have it powered on and hold down both the top buttons. You will hear it beep and display "Program." If you press the left button it will scroll through categories that are programmable, such as the display, and bands.

I recommend you go with the expert mode display option, which will allow you to see multiple bands at the same time. I also recommend you turn on the option for fast power on, just a personal preference.

To enable or disable bands, you will go to program mode, and scroll until you get to one that says something like "BandsMod" if I remember right. when you get there hit the right button to enter that menu. It should say X on. To toggle it off hit button 3 on the front display. When you are done continue scrolling through the different bands to turn on/off using the right button. When you are totally done programming just do nothing for about 3-5 seconds. It will beep and say complete I think. I would make sure your local authorities don't use x band if you are turning it off. Most don't, but I know in Ohio and some other places it is still in use.

As far as the modes, like you said there is auto, city , and highway. According to the manual, the only difference between city and highway is that city mode has higher filtering on x band ONLY meaning you will get less alerts from things like automatic doors in town that use x band radar. According to the manual that is the only difference. Auto mode is supposed to adapt to where you are in a way...like automatically know if you are in the city with a high concentration of interfering x band signals and know to filter more. Almost nobody on this form would recommend auto mode. Mainly because there is suspicion as to it working as it should, and many people have reported that it doesn't have as good response time or range as when in city or highway mode. Highway mode is completely unrestricted. I myself run City mode with x band turned off around town, and if I'm on a road trip driving a long distance on the freeway, highway mode all the way.

Oh yeah regarding turning off x band: There are actually sort of 4 "modes" on the x50. Auto, highway, city and "city noX" City noX as you would think is just city mode without x band on...however running in city noX mode does NOT disable x band in the band mod programming section...so if you switch to highway mode X will still be on. I love this feature because when I road trip I go through Ohio where they use x. So, I can simply go from my city noX mode (with x still on in the band mod setting) to highway mode with the touch of a button and get x band...but on my day to day city drive no x band is detected.

For more details read your manual. If you don't have a manual, download it from escort

Best Regards,

Joey

[TSi+WRX]

Did you buy it new? If so, it should have come with the instruction booklet and EZ programming guide. It's a very simple to operate, and will take you 10 minutes to read through the manual. All your questions would be answered.

^ +1.

And if the OP bought it used/second-hand, Escort offers a full .pdf download of the owner's manual via their official commercial website.

[Cruiser66]

The only thing I would add, other than agreeing with the read the manual comments - it contains lots of useful information, especially for novices, is the following:
Be careful when turning X off since there are quite a few areas, more than I realized (although that is probably because I haven't looked into it that much since I have it enabled anyway - it is actively used here in NJ):

See the following thread for details (keep in mind that it may not be up to date, in some cases, and there may also be errors or omissions):
http://www.radardetector.net/viewtopic.php?t=589

[Orbital75]

I'd check to make sure your state doesn't use X band.
X band has fallen to the side and is only used in smaller
towns and a few states by the State Highway Patrol.

Here is a link where you can find this information out.

http://www.radardetector.net/viewtopic.php?t=589

[Qui-Gon]

I'd check to make sure your state doesn't use X band.
X band has fallen to the side and is only used in smaller
towns and a few states by the State Highway Patrol.

X2

[ELVATO]

Doesn't it also have an option of LoX? Maybe keep it on here for a while and make sure X isn't used where you live?

[Qui-Gon]

Doesn't it also have an option of LoX? Maybe keep it on here for a while and make sure X isn't used where you live?

Yes, it does. It will cut down on the number of X-band false alerts you get for sure (i.e. door openers and alarm systems). As someone else also posted, only a few places still utilize X-band radar (OH & NJ). Ka is preferable, with K not far behind.

[Cerberus]

Reading this forum (extremely helpful) and living in OH (unfortunately), I decided to finally give in, buy X50 and not turn "X" band off. I am not sure if that is wise or not since I drove from Cleveland to Chicago and back this past weekend and my X50 was going nuts in X (through Indiana). I did ran into three or so cops: one has already pulled someone over and I would assume his/her radar was on since I was still getting K; another person was pulled over, but this time cop's radar was off (no signal on my X50); and finally, on the way back to OH, I got hit w/ Ka (3-4 bars) maybe 200' before I saw the cop, since he was in an unmarked car parked under the bridge, behind the pillars (in the grass) and all lights were off (I didn't see which way he was facing but I think it was facing the same direction I was coming from).

Since OH is one of those few states that has to be so darn anal about cops (having everything possible from radar to laser to photocameras), I left all the default settings on and drive in HWY mode only.

I guess this question goes to those that live in OH/CLE area: what settings do you guys have your X50 on? In what mode do you drive?

I bought x50 (blue) even though I am not a believer in RDs (mainly due to "Instant-On" and not to mention pricey), but after getting two darn tix in 3-4 weeks decided it might be wise to invest some mula in one of these babies (I got a ticket in WV 81 in 70 which I think it's complete BS and another ticket in NY I-86, which I def did deserve due to not paying attention and driving a bit too fast... figured that if I actually did have RD in my car I would of slowed down on time... blah).


Sorry about my bible writings...