9500i false "POP" warnings

[Hack Goby]

Im new here and I have a 9500i.I used to have a Mercury Marauder and evertime I would get on it I would get a false "POP" warning.It would happen everytime.I have a new Focus now and theres no problems.Any thoughts on this?

[KnightHawk]

Try turning off POP. Really don't need it.

[Oxygen]

yea i had this problem on my x50, i just turned it off to stop it from going off anymore..

[Esoterica]

Search this forum here for "ferrite beads" if your getting a false under "every time" conditions.

I have POP enabled and use mine in 3 different vehicles and I've never gotten a POP alert when there wasn't a verified active LEO in the area, and they have POP capable equipment here and it's been said they are known to use it where I live (still trying to verify it though, a work in progress).

I'd say there is something wrong taking place if you can reproduce this every time under those particular conditions. As you'll find in doing that search here it's more a problem in your cars electrical system than the detector though, but still a problem is a problem and you should solve it, not just sweep it under the rug by disabling the feature.

[MEM-TEK]

Im new here and I have a 9500i.I used to have a Mercury Marauder and evertime I would get on it I would get a false "POP" warning.It would happen everytime.I have a new Focus now and theres no problems.Any thoughts on this?

Noise in your vehicle's electrical system is the cause. Escort can apply a custom flash to fix this issue, but I don't know how that will affect your RD's POP detection capabilities. Try installing a hardwire kit first. If that doesn't fix it, then find an old car stereo (maybe $5 at a pawn shop if you talk them into a deal?) and salvage the RC filter off of it which is inside the plastic box on the power and ground leads. Mark the side of the RC filter's box as to which side goes to the car wiring and which side went to the stereo but now will go to the hardwire kit's wires. Then install the salvaged RC filter inline on the hardwire kit's power and ground wires. The RC filter will definitely fix the problem, and a hardwire install looks a lot neater and cleaner than a dangling coiled power cord to the radar detector!

[cestmoi]

Funny that I saw this post as my RD was going off showing POP at a particular traffic light. The first time I passed it, it was going off like a madman and I looked for LEOs but didn't see any (shrugged it off as being a false alarm or that I just couldn't see a true LEO or camera)... came back to the same traffic light a few hours later and my POP goes crazy again.

This time, I looked long and hard, swivelled my head for a camera, cops, anything... but don't see any.

Anyone know why a traffic light area would be giving off POP signals??

[Esoterica]

I haven't seen anything like that yet myself. I did one time on the highway get a POP alert in an area I drive all the time and never got a false, could not find a LEO anywhere around (but there was mid level traffic). A few hours later I was coming back through that same area and was that time hit by a 1 bar Ka alert, still no LEO in site. I've driven through that area a hundred more times since and no alerts at all. Never figured that one out, but it was in a known speedtrap area so I certainly would still not rule out my observation as a false. Any other time I've seen a POP on my display there was very active LEO in the area though.

I do see a lot of people saying they have POP off to prevent falses, but from my own experience with it on I have to question if they either have older build dates of their units, or even had first hand experience with this and not just read someone else saying they got a lot of POP falses so it should be turned off and they just took someone elses word for it (who may have had just an RF noise issue when they started this rumor).

[Esoterica]

P.S. cestmoi,

You should note: In your owner’s manual on page 11 it specifies the following…

For Laser and POP signals:
Since laser and POP signals are a possible threat no matter how weak, Passport will provide a full alert for these signals.

This clearly means that even if the POP signal you detected was extremely weak and would have maybe shown as a one or no bar Ka (or other band) warning (very far away), you are still going to see it as a full bar warning, when it thinks there is a need to alert to either POP or Laser.

The manual also specifies that even in City mode, Ka, POP, and laser signals will detect at full sensitivity, sensitivity is only affected on X and K band when in City mode or driving less than 45 mph in AUTO mode.

This could easily mean that a LEO was possibly in the area, but could have been well out of your line of sight and the alert would have still displayed as if he should have been right there on top of you since it was detecting POP which always displays as a full bar alert despite the strength of the signal its actually detecting.

This could also explain why many people thought they were getting a POP False just because they didn't see a LEO within range of how they would expect to of in a full bar alert situation like they are use to.

[proudNMAmember]

I think the 9500i has the most unique POP alert tone of all the BelEscort rds. I like it when you hear,"POP alert" and it has an I/O tone to it. Kind of funny IMHO.

[MUST4NG]

What would cause a false POP?
I've had POP a few times, but I'm pretty sure all the police around here run Ka.
I've been able to determine the false locations for X and K bands (stores). But the POP hits allude me.

I keep it on because I'm interested in what is being picked up, and it lets me check the volume while listening to music.