9500ix True Lock ERRORS
So I picked up a 9500ix a couple of weeks ago as an upgrade to my 8500 X50 and so far I must say that I'm not impressed in the least. The design of the unit is disappointing, some of the features render themselves useless in real life application...
Here's a few examples that I've encountered lately that made me come to the conclusion that I'm going to send this thing back for another X50, or V1:
The Auto mode auto sensitivity feature is a huge downplay on this device in my opinion. I'm in Canada and we have a lot of fixed photo radar locations in playground and school zone (speed limit 30 KM per hour). The auto sensitivity reduces the sensitivity of K band (which is primarily what these units are equipped with) to the point that the detector will not pick the K band signals up until physically passing the vehicle. OK, so I figured no big deal, I'll just run the damn thing in highway mode 24/7 with X band disabled. So it's been a week testing in highway mode only with X band disabled and I ended up encountering the photo radar vehicle in the same position as previously. Even in highway mode (full sensitivity on all bands) the damn thing doesn't have near the range as my X50. My X50 historically would have picked up the signal at least 3-4 seconds earlier, which is a huge surprise to me, as I've read raving reviews of enhances sensitivity on both K, KA and Laser bands.
Secondly, the TrueLock feature in my opinion had been quite bad. I know that they base a locked position on the premise of passing the same signal 3 times to analyze, however the device has tried to block out the K band photo radar unit now 3 times, as it's always situated in the same place. No big deal, I can unlock the signal manually and be on my way, however I just feel that the engineering of this device could have been a lot better, which is probably what we'll see in later versions or firmware upgrades (hopefully).
Another example of terrible TrueLock effectiveness is that I regularly drive the same route to and from work on a daily basis. There's a liquor store near my home that generates a K band signal, which I was used to with the X50 as well. The 9500ix successfully blocked the false signal, however yesterday was the second time that TrueLock FAILED ME. I passed the false source and the detector did not go off, however I noticed the satellite spinning for far too long, as I know it's a weak source and typically only last just past the strip mall. The satellite kept spinning and spinning for much too long and sure enough as I approached the next intersection there was a cop running K band radar sitting behind a fence. The TrueLock satellite was still spinning until I got right beside him and then WHAM K band full bars! TrueLock did not work in conjunction with the REAL RADAR THREAT! I would have thought that maybe the office was using instant on, or just turned the radar on, but this is the second time that this has happened in the vicinity and I know it's a TrueLock error, as the K signal from the officer was being blocked out. I also tried driving by again in spec mode and the K frequencies were different from one another, so that's not the issue either.
I've come in to situations where police were using Ka band from their vehicles as well and the sensitivity is far inferior to my 8500 X50, not just minutely either, substantially. I feel that If I'm paying $600 CAD for a detector, it better damn work, at least better than the predecessor that I had, the X50, which clearly isn't the case.
I can't find any other complaining about the TrueLock feature online, as escort and it's distributors dominate search engine queries. I'm hoping that some of you have had the same issues and can vouch for the fact that this thing seems to be an over priced hype!
If you've gotten this far, thank you for reading my complaining in it's entirety and thank you in advance for your response!!
Brett
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Originally Posted by <<JAZZY>>
TrueLock can lock out a real LEO under the right circumstances. However it doesn't mean it cant be used effectively or work well for some.
good move. you'll like the v1
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