Issues with 9500ix and Passport Detectors...

[Blurrrr....]

I recently bought a 9500ix... I had one awhile ago. A different one. So this is a new unit. With the other 9500ix unit I got a ticket for 65 in a 45... I was rushing to a dental appointment. The radar detector went off last minute charlie style. The ticket said that the radar was a dual stalker radar system and it was a FL state trooper. That made me lose all confidence in the radar detector.

Another time I was with my buddie on the phone. He runs an older 1st generation passport 8500. I think it was a 7500 back then? Anyway its old, from when they first came out. It is super sensitive. It will pick up radar with single beeps like 2 miles out. This is no exaggeration I have seen it in action on the highway its amazing.

Anyway, my buddy and I are on the phone. He picks up a beep and was alerted to a radar signal by a leo where I only picked up a signal when right on top of the cop.


I do like the 9500ix it is a very smart radar detector and I had found that others were falsing a great deal. Such as the passport 8500 x50 I had there for awhile. The pop would go off for no apparent reason and scare the stuffing out of me. I love escort radar detectors dont get me wrong. They have saved me many times but I have spent thousands on them through the years. Like I said this is my second 9500ix... long story as to why.

I even sent a Passport 8500 (forgot which model I had at the time) back to escort to have them test the sensitivity. They put it on a mount and adjust the focus and said it should be dead on perfect now. The tech I spoke to told me that the units are not hand tuned and this one is dialed in nicely now.

I did this because I was having the issue of seeing my friends passport seeing the performance of his. And not getting that out of my escort unit.

My friend still has his older passport, he leaves the unit suctioned to his front windshield in the Florida sun to bake (something I never do) and still his outperforms mine in regard to radar sensitivity.


So now I have a brand new 9500ix that I purchased about two weeks ago, early part of November.


I thought this one was doing good... it had alerted me within a good distance of the two LEO threats I encountered.

That was up until just a couple days ago when it did a last minute charlie quick full power ramp up when I passed a state trooper LEO out here in Florida near Tampa Bay.

So once again my confidence has been tarnished to a small extent.


I know for a fact that Escort could get the sensitivity right and have these units super sensitive. Then that would eliminate the market for the other more expensive unit that gets better sensitivity ratings and performance.

I also would argue that the law mandates or has some agreement with the manufacturers of these units which regulates their sensitivity. I personally saw my buddies older original model (likely before these modifications have gone into effect) pick up a mushroom fart of radar at nearly two miles out. Perfect one beep... closer... two beeps.... even closer... then it ramped up just a little.


Please explain to me how I can restore my personal confidence in these units now after years of owning them.

I just think as long as Escort has been playing this game, the only person getting played is the consumer. Hands down, the state gets their $, and the companies make theirs, meanwhile we the customer get the weak a$$ units that have lack luster sensitivity but are capable of much better.


To me the situation seems very one sided for who is to gain and who is to loose.

I do love the Passports I feel they are the best on the market for a number of reasons but are capable of much better performance. The little receiving dish inside I have even considered polishing with descending levels of fine grain sand paper till I got it like glass.

Think that will improve sensitivity?

Think another hand tune will? The last one did nothing by the way. I noticed little to no difference with that unit after waiting like 5 or 6 weeks round trip to get it back.

Thanks for any help.

[STiMULi]

Don't assume that all cops run around with the radar guns on all the time. This is called Constant on or C/O. Many of them do Instant on or I/O.

There is no doubt that you have a great Radar Detector as it is what I have and am very happy with. In spite of what the ads say or the box says it is not a Laser detector from the point of avoiding tickets. There is not (to my knowledge) a Radar detector made that has Laser Detector functionality that you should trust with your driving record.

Read this for some more insight on countermeasure use:

http://www.radardetector.net/forums/...les-speed.html

[Batman]

WRX Stimuli hit it on the head. You were hit by I/O in a situation where he didn't fire it while you were approaching. I had a short Ka band I/O blip on the MacArthur causeway. I slowed down and sure enough - there was a cop sitting on the right at the other end of the causeway with his gun ready to pull the trigger when a fast car approached.

[Blurrrr....]

Thank you.

That addresses the one issue but many others are still left unresolved.

I do agree the Passports are wonderful and intuitive detectors.

However, the KA and K sensitivity could use a revamping and power boost, that is a definite. And they (IMO) shamboozle the consumer to think you are getting the cats meow in terms of performance. The sensitivity performance should be better. MUCH BETTER!!!!

[statusquo]

I'm going to add a bit of info here from a N.Y.S.P. Leo who wrote a book called "How to Avoid a Speeding Ticket."

"If you are inclined to speed, DO NOT DO IT IN THE CENTER OR FAST LANE!"

The cosine error is less if you are in that passing lane or high speed and the angle between him and you is decreased a lot and to your disadvantage. I/O will generally require him to be close and the angle will be greater if you are in the right-most lane (i.e. which will indicate a lower speed on his radar) which could mean the difference between ticket or a pass. If his tolerance is anythng up to 70 MPH, you moving over to the right if he is appraoching you may signal a 69 on his gun and you get a pass. Had you been 12 feet over in the center lane, it would indicate 70 MPH and you get the award.

You can actually prove it by using Google Earth with their measurement ruler which also has a angle measurement in it. We played with it at work the other day on some highway with a median and it can be significant if you stay to the right and he pops up maybe 300 feet away with I/O.

He also mentioned something that has bugged me for a long time. I get a Ka signal from a CA CHP car when I'm maybe 30 feet from them. He states that the car's shoot an A and B band of radar. The A is what you get and is a narrow and far-reaching beam out to maybe 2000-3000 feet. The B beam is a low power and wide-area beam (out to ~10-30 feet) and is what the radar needs to detect his patrol car's speed and it subtracts that from your combined approaching speeds (A-B). It isn't present on hand-held units.

sq~

[CJR238]

A RD's antenna is a very delicate and sensitive part, so you cant really mess with it. Best is to send in the unit if its having problems.

I bet there is a logical explanation for all of the poor encounters. The first one that comes to mind is what car do you drive and does it have a windshield that obstructs Radar signals? With the Escorts that preformed bad were they all used in the same car?

The old 7500 are not as good as the new Escorts. But keep in mind every encounter is different and 2mi range is rare unless under the right conditions. Radar now a days is much harder to pick up than when the old 7500 was new.

[Batman]

Thank you.

That addresses the one issue but many others are still left unresolved.

I do agree the Passports are wonderful and intuitive detectors.

However, the KA and K sensitivity could use a revamping and power boost, that is a definite. And they (IMO) shamboozle the consumer to think you are getting the cats meow in terms of performance. The sensitivity performance should be better. MUCH BETTER!!!!

The redline and 9500ci have stronger Ka and K sensitivity. For the 9500ci many regard it as best in class in terms of range and people who run 9500ci with V1 find the 9500ci tends to pick up Ka first if properly mounted.

On that note, have you checked your mounting? Is it level, do you have a metallic tint, or any other kind of barrier in front of the detector? Is it mounted as high as possible, while allowing for the barriers described? Do you have acoustic glass in your car (like the newer Lexus GS and LS models)?

[Blurrrr....]

No guys I drive a Honda S2000.

The A and B radar differences would give some good explanation as to what throws me off when seeing or receiving different radar strength signals at varying distances so thank you for that information.

I have always mounted the Passport units properly. I mount them high on the windshield but not behind tinted glass etc.



I still feel as though the sensitivity should and could be much better on these newer advanced units.

My buddies older model outperformed my new units. I had two or three different passport units (compared them all to his, an 8500x50, a 9500i, and the 9500ix) and his still picked up radar before mine.

And the sensitivity, even if its *equally* as good as my buddies 8 year old 7500 or original 8500 escort unit... Shouldn't the sensitivity capabilities of the units have progressed by now?


Its like everything else on the unit has evolved and progressed but they still are the same in terms of actual performance and sensitivity.



For as much as they cost and for as many years as they have been perfecting these units, the sensitivity level has flat-lined from the first units until now. Does that make sense?

Where has the evolution in terms of sensitivity progressed?

It hasnt.

If you spend 500$ on a radar detector... weather the LEO is using A type straight long distance radar or B wide band radar for shorter distance while the police vehicles are in motion. It should pick up the car in motion before he is right on top of you.


Do these radar units project an outward signal? Or do they only receive?


thanks for any and all insight gents

[Blurrrr....]

If you search for this in utube you will see a video that shows the limits of the ix as compared to the ci.


Beltronics STi-R, Passport 9500ix versus Multiple 34 7 Ghz Ka Traffic Radar






check out that utube video of the ix performance.


Im not that impressed quite honestly compared to the other more expensive models.

[STiMULi]

I have owned a Bel Or an Escort for many years. My 9500ix blows my mind as to how sensitive it is compared to older products I have owned.

I am wondering if you are comparing apples to apples for one. This means you and your buddy use the same car and the same placement on the same radar source at near the same time with 2 different detectors and have significant differences. I say significant because there are so many other variables like weather, the vehicles between you and the radar source and how many other radar sources and radar detectors are in the same area,

If you have created this scenario and the differences are 10% or greater, then you may have an issue. Less than 10% in a non lab (perfect) testing area is probably a product of environmental changes at the time of testing.

Riding in your buddies vehicle and seeing his RD react and thinking yours is deaf in the same area is not a fair test.

You honestly could end up with a device that is out if spec but make sure you are not basing it on too many variables or who has the fewest tickets between the two of you.

Also you need to make sure that the RDs are looking at the same bands. Monitoring different bands could cause issues. You really need to compare detector for detector, band for band.

As you can see most of us non-fanboys are not having the issues you are complaining of.

Fanboys disregard facts and/or variables and stick with one brand over another because of a personal bias and many other psychological reasons beyond the cause and effect phase.

I hope this helps. If after you have done proper testing send it back and they will make it good so long as they can create the same issues as you have you will have a better detector.

Make sure you have a device issue first though.

Good luck