Just bought a used 8500 X50...Some Q'2

[SpdFreak]

Hi. I have a blue 8500 X50 that I bought new, and liked it so much that I bought a used one for my other car.

The day I got it, I put it side by side with a friends X50 and went for a drive. The first thing I did was reset it. I have rev 5. I hope thats new enough, because I don't want to spend $60 to send it back to Escort. I then set up all my settings to my liking.
The rest of the ride I was confused. My dtector kept on false alarming...So I called Escort and they said it's because one detector was setting the other off.

So, ok.

I put it into my car and went for a (slow ) drive. Sure enough it rings and I slow down to 20 mph (in a 30 zone) just because I had to find the radar source. I looked into the complex parking lots on the sides and all around. I was stunned because I have never had radar signals there. Sure enought it was a digital speed sign. I returned and measured the distance from the beginning of the signal to the sign.
1/2 mile on the odometer. Not too bad of a warning.
I called Escort and they said that speed signs aren't calibrated often and that I couldn't bais any numbers off that test.

How can I make sure that my detector works to the fullest? I have to make atleast two trips to south Jersy in the next week or two, and don't want to get a ticket.

Any suggestions?

[MEM-TEK]

Hi. I have a blue 8500 X50 that I bought new, and liked it so much that I bought a used one for my other car.

The day I got it, I put it side by side with a friends X50 and went for a drive. The first thing I did was reset it. I have rev 5. I hope thats new enough, because I don't want to spend $60 to send it back to Escort. I then set up all my settings to my liking.
The rest of the ride I was confused. My dtector kept on false alarming...So I called Escort and they said it's because one detector was setting the other off.

So, ok.

I put it into my car and went for a (slow ) drive. Sure enough it rings and I slow down to 20 mph (in a 30 zone) just because I had to find the radar source. I looked into the complex parking lots on the sides and all around. I was stunned because I have never had radar signals there. Sure enought it was a digital speed sign. I returned and measured the distance from the beginning of the signal to the sign.
1/2 mile on the odometer. Not too bad of a warning.
I called Escort and they said that speed signs aren't calibrated often and that I couldn't bais any numbers off that test.

How can I make sure that my detector works to the fullest? I have to make atleast two trips to south Jersy in the next week or two, and don't want to get a ticket.

Any suggestions?

Since you have two X50s, you can compare them against X and K band door openers and hopefully find a parked patrol car with a Ka band radar gun still turned on. Obviously do the comparisons with both radar detectors set to Highway mode, not Autoscan mode.

The idea is to power one X50 up and see how far away you can detect the door openers or police radar, and then power up the other and see if it too is detecting the radar at the same distance. These are by no means really precise tests, but these simple tests should allow you to confirm whether or not the performance of both X50s appears to be very similar to each other.

To test laser, gather all of your IR electronics remote controls and try every button on each one while pointing them at your X50, and while varying the distance between the remote and your X50 between 1 to 10 feet. Hopefully you will find a "magic button" on at least one of the remotes that, at the right distance from your X50, triggers the laser alert.

[SpdFreak]

Hi. I have a blue 8500 X50 that I bought new, and liked it so much that I bought a used one for my other car.

The day I got it, I put it side by side with a friends X50 and went for a drive. The first thing I did was reset it. I have rev 5. I hope thats new enough, because I don't want to spend $60 to send it back to Escort. I then set up all my settings to my liking.
The rest of the ride I was confused. My dtector kept on false alarming...So I called Escort and they said it's because one detector was setting the other off.

So, ok.

I put it into my car and went for a (slow ) drive. Sure enough it rings and I slow down to 20 mph (in a 30 zone) just because I had to find the radar source. I looked into the complex parking lots on the sides and all around. I was stunned because I have never had radar signals there. Sure enought it was a digital speed sign. I returned and measured the distance from the beginning of the signal to the sign.
1/2 mile on the odometer. Not too bad of a warning.
I called Escort and they said that speed signs aren't calibrated often and that I couldn't bais any numbers off that test.

How can I make sure that my detector works to the fullest? I have to make atleast two trips to south Jersy in the next week or two, and don't want to get a ticket.

Any suggestions?

Since you have two X50s, you can compare them against X and K band door openers and hopefully find a parked patrol car with a Ka band radar gun still turned on. Obviously do the comparisons with both radar detectors set to Highway mode, not Autoscan mode.

The idea is to power one X50 up and see how far away you can detect the door openers or police radar, and then power up the other and see if it too is detecting the radar at the same distance. These are by no means really precise tests, but these simple tests should allow you to confirm whether or not the performance of both X50s appears to be very similar to each other.

To test laser, gather all of your IR electronics remote controls and try every button on each one while pointing them at your X50, and while varying the distance between the remote and your X50 between 1 to 10 feet. Hopefully you will find a "magic button" on at least one of the remotes that, at the right distance from your X50, triggers the laser alert.

Thanks for the reply.
I have two questions.

Why should I test it in hiway mode vs auto mode?

Also, the lazer test will just show me if the lazer part of the detetor is working. Correct?

[MEM-TEK]

Thanks for the reply.
I have two questions.

Why should I test it in hiway mode vs auto mode?

Also, the lazer test will just show me if the lazer part of the detetor is working. Correct?

Hi SpdFreak,

The reason for testing in Highway mode instead of Autoscan mode is that Autoscan automatically tries to filter out pairs of door openers, whereas Highway mode doesn't. Yes, the laser test will merely show you whether or not the laser detection circuitry is working. The problem though is finding an IR remote with a button which produces a pulse rate which will trip the laser circuitry. If you do manage to trip the laser detection circuitry, then great! You know that the laser detection circuitry is working. If you aren't able to trip the laser detection circuitry with an IR remote, then this does not necessarily mean that the laser detection circuitry is not working. The laser test, if anything, is more or less just a fun test since certain pulse rates may get ignored in different radar detector firmware versions in order to reduce laser falsing. Have some fun though and see if you can trip the laser circuitry!

--Michael

[SpdFreak]

Well after driving to south Jersy tonight and I think the rabbit got hit with lazer, and I got saved..so it works.

Do you guys leave it in "highway" mode on the highway vs autoscan? if so why?

[focalcivic]

Well after driving to south Jersy tonight and I think the rabbit got hit with lazer, and I got saved..so it works.

Do you guys leave it in "highway" mode on the highway vs autoscan? if so why?

If you drive in NJ leave it in Highway mode, I have found with autoscan, X band alerts seem too delayed, and in NJ you need X band protection.

[SpdFreak]

In NJ what seemed to bother me was, that I slammed the brakes at every toll booth. I guess thats where the new 9500i shines.