Extreme Ka Detection Range

[Esoterica]

Ok, there's good, but then there is also just too much, too much of a good thing is actually as the saying goes bad.

Detection of a CO Ka confirmed positive signal, over a hill and from 7 miles away is just too far.

I guess all of the right circumstances were at play here to cause this to happen, so I'll have to describe for you the conditions, even though I hate it when someone writes about an alert they received and starts giving you street names like anyone else knows or cares what they are actually referring to.

I had to drive today from Reno, Nevada to Elko, Nevada it's about a 290 mile trek, one way, all Interstate under a 75mph PSL. Its a long, very long, straight and dead flat 4 lane divided highway with absolutely nothing, not a tree, not a bush, not a building along 99% of the entire drive. The median separating the East and West traffic is a good 1/4 mile wide across most of the route. Its so far apart that you can not make out people in the on coming cars on the other side, barely make out vehicle type unless its something huge like a semi. Emergency vehicle turn arounds are spaced about 20 mile intervals, between them you aren't making the cut across to do a u turn unless you have some serious 4 wheel drive, the surface terrain making up the median is just too rough. Mountain ranges run parallel to both sides of the highway, but are very far off in the distance. The altitude here is at 5,000 foot elevation, not sure if this works for or against detection, but since the air is much thinner than sea level I suspect the Ka waves can travel further. The altitude here certainly makes a difference on everything else, like we have to buy special everything from Clothes dryers to water heaters to lawn mowers because of this. Water boils at 198 deg F here, unlike at sea level where it boils at 212 deg F.

So you can hopefully picture this highway in your mind, forward/rear vision is out to the point where you can see where you'll fall off the edge of the earth.

I was coming up on a small incline, I wouldn't even call it a hill, it was a bout a mile gradual upward grade that just apexes enough so you can't see further up the road beyond the top of it. Had two semis I could see a little ways up there that at 95mph I was approaching on, behind me there was a small clump of cars that were so far back they looked like pin heads in size and I had passed all of them some time back.

Just as I'm coming on this slight incline I get a Ka 33.784GHz alert, single ping, single ping, announcement "Ka Band", see the freq in the display and it then goes back to showing "auto" and no further alert. Noted reading on odometer of 231,619 (digital display, doesn't show 1/10ths of a mile).

Common sense is telling me at this point that its possible he was coming up behind me, but at 95mph he'd have to be moving good to come up on my ass like that. I had caught up to both the semis who were traveling at 80mph in the right hand lane and considered passing them, then decided I'll bet there's a cop just on the other side of this little crest and thats what I was picking up. Opted to slow down to 80mph and get behind the semis till I could see the source. Mind you, no more signal at this time as I approached the hill from behind these semis.

As I crested this little incline I could again see forever in front of me down the road, nothing in sight, but back to single ping, single ping "Ka Band" announcement, 33.784 in the display, steady single ping alert continuing.

Now I'm rethinking that maybe it is in that little clump way back there behind me because I don't see anything up ahead. So I decide its time to pass the semis, I'll use them as a rear shield and step down on it to put some distance to anything behind me. Pass the semi's and pick it back up to just 85 since I'm still under a caution flag with the single ping alerts.

I'm clearly moving away from anything behind me now and I suddenly start getting a steady double ping Ka alert, auto volume has run the volume down by now so I turn off my radio to get a better listen to the pings. Alert has now increased to 3 steady pings, still showing Ka 33.784 Freq. Ok, obviously at this point he has to be up ahead of me somewhere, but where? I can clearly see nothing up the road but small dots I assume to be vehicles.

Still at three steady pings and a ways down the road I finally see him, he's mobile and 1/4 mile across the median in the on coming traffic side of the road heading in my opposite direction. Alerts remain at 3 pings as we pass, and as soon as we passed I went right back to "auto" and no alerts in my display.

Checked my odometer, remember it was 231,619 miles when first contact was made, it was now reading 231,626 when we actually passed, that's a 7 mile distance that I picked up the CO Ka from (could be close 6 since I don't have anyway to read 10ths of a mile) and had a very smooth and steady ramp up to the actual encounter. Never went to full blast alert, but keep in mind the median is over 1/4 mile wide so I was never actually in his danger zone, as even if he was shooting at on coming he had no where to turn around and get anybody due to the 20 mile spacing of the turn arounds.

I suppose some people may think this kind of range is a good thing. I certainly can't agree with that, it's just too much range and gives me way too much free time to think about it all. Plus IO is very popular out here, so when I see a single ping alert I go into instant caution mode and brace my self for the usual and sudden IO blast of a full scale alert I expect to soon be coming.

1 mile of range is what I'd consider to be plenty of good notice, 7 miles is just too much. I guess this is the trade off I have to take though for good detection of weak Ka IO signals and other normal conditions that people experience where it isn't just wide open like this.

It's tough, I don't like that kind of range so I'm thinking about mounting my 9500i now all the way at the bottom of my windshield to hopefully reduce some range on it. Its a Chevy 2500 Utility van and currently mounted just below my RVM. This places it at eye level to me when I'm outside the vehicle standing on level ground. I'm 6' 2" tall so I guess that to be about a good 5' 8" off the ground right now.

Since its a utility van with no rear windows and a metal divider separating the front from rear directly behind my seat, no hood per say (6" out from windshield) and the detector ends up being mounted so high I can't help but think this also adds to channeling in my forward detection (while loosing some rear, but it hasn't been noticeable).

The delima is though, this was a CO alert, but IO is so insanely common here that I can't decide if I want to sacrifice my solid IO detection by trying to purposely reduce the extensive CO range I'm experiencing. Middle of windshield isn't going to be a happy medium, it would obstruct my vision too much.

[KaPro]

Excellent range for sure. I also understand your dilema. Too much of a good thing??? I keep my 9500 down low and center in my truck. It helps somewhat with "falsing" and lets you know when you are shot with laser. How are you liking tech mode? At least you have confirmed MPH units in your area. Now, how about PoP? jk

[Esoterica]

I'm still using the SpecDisplay and like it like that with SpeedAlrt turned off, I found the speed display annoying, glad you can disable it entirely. I haven't had a single POP alert yet since switching over to SpecDisplay, I even double checked the other day to make sure I still had POP on and it didn't accidentally get reset.

When I have seen POP alerts in the past its been in a specific area that I also have not been to very much if at all lately. I think its the State Cop who must regularly patrol that area that likes to use his POP or experiment with it.

I did however finally see for the first time an actual 24.157 K band hit here that wasn't a false, it was a county cop, I don't see too many county cops in my areas I drive, not sure where they regularly hang out, just happened by him on the highway one day and was surprised to see an actual K band in use around here since all the city and state are exclusive to Ka. I was about ready to turn K off, kind of glad now I didn't now that I've been able to confirm its used here.

I'm not overly worried about laser, I've only encountered it once while in California and the CHP was easy to spot from a long way out. Though then again the motorcycle cops aren't out yet but the weather is getting there. I have a feeling they use laser as I've always seen them in the past off their bikes and looking like they were aiming the radar, just didn't know at the time what this meant. If I do find they are using it I'll have my excuse I need to try out the new ZR4 coming out about the same time the weather will bring the bike cops back.

I am still looking for feed back like yours and from others though on the thoughts of moving my mount down lower to reduce the extreme range problem. I don't even hear falses anymore, thats no concern, I've got those pretty much completely cleaned up and locked out for a 400 mile radius around here.

[KaPro]

I have the "local" falses locked out as well. The low mounting position has had no detrimental effect on C/O or I/O hits for me. No diffence between high or low mounting positions. I've also got speed alrt off. I find it gets in the way of the real info I need. It's a nice feature though. Lastly, I have no more complaints about the ramp up. It is accurate, responsive and spot on.

[djrams80]

I'm not overly worried about laser, I've only encountered it once while in California and the CHP was easy to spot from a long way out. Though then again the motorcycle cops aren't out yet but the weather is getting there. I have a feeling they use laser as I've always seen them in the past off their bikes and looking like they were aiming the radar, just didn't know at the time what this meant. If I do find they are using it I'll have my excuse I need to try out the new ZR4 coming out about the same time the weather will bring the bike cops back.

Ponch and John use a lot of Stalker handheld radar. These are aimed a lot like laser but come off at 34.7 and are I/O.

[zr1]

So you can hopefully picture this highway in your mind,

Been on that leg many times...Reno-Elko...Vegas to Winnemucca...Elko to Mountain Home.

I was wondering about RD strategies in such an environment the other day. The I-80 is interesting because there's consistent traffic, the 1/4 spread between East and West traffic, and the never-ending roads. LEOs could run CO and keep busy, or sit and wait with IO and still keep busy.

Then I was wondering about more lonely spots like the Smokey Valley between Austin and Tonopah where traffic is few and far between...such as going 20-30 miles without seeing another vehicle in the day time. Night time is much more sparse. With such little traffic, a LEO might be waiting a long time.

[METEORIC]

Yeah that sucks to be picking up a source that far away, but the units are never sensitive enough when it comes to Ka band in my area. The state troopers like to hide over hills and around sharp corners, which does not even give me enough time to slow down. You should invest in a cheap RD for when you are on that road or something that has arrows, so you at least know what direction the radar is coming from.

[amoney]

The arrows would have come in handy, I would never think about accelerating, being a lone duck no less, without knowing where a possible source would be.

I had 4+ miles of Ka alert and that was getting to be ridiculous. I know how you feel.

[lacning74]

The arrows would have come in handy, I would never think about accelerating, being a lone duck no less, without knowing where a possible source would be.

I had 4+ miles of Ka alert and that was getting to be ridiculous. I know how you feel.

Are the arrows of the other detector always reliable in rear detection specifically? It would take me a while to get comfortable with accelerating. Don't think I got the cajones. I mean how fast would I have to safely speed to make sure the LEO doesn't creep up on me. I'm getting old.

[Esoterica]

I was wondering about RD strategies in such an environment the other day.

Their tactic of choice out there is VASCAR, its really all they can do since there's no place for them to hide and trying to target on coming traffic is rather pointless due to the 1/4 mile gap separating them and the limited turn around spots available.

The problem they have with VASCAR though is since it is so wide open the wolf pack on the ground has no where to wait in hiding. What I see them doing is running the VASCAR and then setting up all the cops many miles down the road past where they are actually using the plane at. They get unlimited customers this way, even if you can see 8 cops with flashing lights very far off in the distance with packs already pulled over most people don't start slowing down till they get closer to the action, not realizing that its a plane already above them nailing with a stop watch.

I have all the VASCAR road markings marked in my 9500i and always slow down in these one mile stretches even if I don't immediately see a pack further up the road. Probably has some people thinking I'm crazy when they seen me pass them, see I have a RD then suddenly I'm slowing down for no apparent reason to them. I bet they start looking for the cop they think I detected every time and wonder why they never see him.

The only other tactic they have is coming up on you from behind, this only works though for the people who are slightly speeding. If your already doing 95 to begin with it makes for a good counter strategy against this effort on their part as most cops aren't going to be doing 110 mph just to come up behind you. I never see them just doing the speed limit in the hopes that you'll come up on them, they'd just be wasting too much of their time out there doing this, and it doesn't work for very long because you'll easily spot a large clump of backed up cars as everyone is afraid to pass the cop. The road traffic is otherwise widely spread out there so clumps up the road stand out like a sore thumb.

On those other long lonely stretches your talking about what they usually do is have just one car patrolling down the road with mobile CO Ka. Its nice having a detector there now as in the past anytime I'd see a car deep in the distance I'd start slowing down till I could positively ID it as a cop or not, many wasted slow downs on false suspicion. Now I also know I was slowing down for these way to early as I have a better grasp of actual radar range now. I don't see them pull a lot of people over if ever on those stretches, I think they primarily just patrol them for stranded motorists.

Are the arrows of the other detector always reliable in rear detection specifically? It would take me a while to get comfortable with accelerating. Don't think I got the cajones. I mean how fast would I have to safely speed to make sure the LEO doesn't creep up on me.

I've never used one, the feature of arrows isn't all that enticing to me when weighed against just how outdated the V1 looks over all to me, I just personal can't get past that outdated design. I'd also suspect that due to radar bounce the arrows could under some circumstances actually be misleading, but thats speculation only on my part.

Under these same conditions with the stretch of road like this, and in a normal vehicle I suppose the arrows would have at least helped me figure out faster if he was ahead or behind, but you'll notice I was able to figure this out without arrows on my own in plenty of time, too much time actually.

Also factor in what I'm driving, here again the arrows would not work for me at all under my circumstances since I have a ton of metal and no windows behind me, blocking any direct rear detection. I do still detect rear threats, but I think it has to be getting bounced back into me from the front every time.

Not all of the roads here are as choice for speeding as this particular highway is. If you head in the opposite direction from Reno on this same highway it goes up and over the mountains. Here there's barely a 1/4 mile stretch of the highway that is straight so lots of curves in the road to be suddenly greeted with, and lots of "chain installation" pull offs on the side of the road that they can be parked in just around the next turn. Oddly though, I never see cops on that stretch of highway for some reason.

Anything East of Reno though is all wide open, flat and unlimited forward and rear visibility, that covers a good 80% of the entire state.

I would never think about accelerating, being a lone duck no less, without knowing where a possible source would be.

Accelerating is a useful tactic around here, you likely would do it if you were in this area and could get a first hand feel of what its like. Vehicles on that stretch get spaced very far apart so a rabbit is rarely ever possible, plus its obvious for miles you are both traveling at the same speed. Nevada Highway Patrol likes to do bonus pull overs all the time getting more than one person with a single stop. They'll stop the first car and flag you over as well, if you don't stop he'll come out after you and get back to the other guy.

You also have to keep in mind what the forward and rear visibility is like, I mean you can literally see forever and they have no place to hide, at all. You can literally see where your going to be in an hour of driving up the road, looks just like where you were an hour ago though, so its a long boring drive, speeding just makes it a little more tolerable when you see a sign that says the next what ever is 60 miles up the road and you look at your clock and calculate you'll be at that point in about 35 minutes rather than the traditional hour.

Its a good place to see how fast your vehicle can go, limited traffic, unlimited visibility, smooth flat clean well maintained highway surface and it stretches all the way from one side of Nevada to the other, California all the way to Utah like this.

Those other roads Zr1 was referring to that go from north to south for like the drive I have to do when I go from Reno to Vegas can really suck. Its mostly just undivided 2 lane highway so your always in a suicide lane with on coming traffic, 7 long hours on average to go from Reno to Vegas. Always stuck behind packs of vehicles behind semis that get tough to pass because the road that way isn't flat but up and down mountains. Always some idiot up there afraid to pass the semi so you're then stuck having to find a clearing to pass 10 backed up cars and the semi and you have to do so in the oncoming traffic lane. Most of the road is 75mph PSL, but the route is dotted with these stupid little dying mining towns that the highway doesn't bypass and the speed limit drops to 25 mph through them. Cops love writing tickets in those little towns, its 100% you'll have one in each doing it.

On a brighter note though, its only 45 minutes and under $100 (average about $69) round trip to fly South West Airlines from Reno to Vegas, so its cheaper to fly there than pay for gas to drive it, a lot cheaper.