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Life of a radar detector?
I plan on getting a radar detector soon since I am driving on the highway almost daily. What I want to know is, if I am spending the money for a nice detector, will it last for several years and not become obsolete anytime soon? I don't know anything about what new technologies might be in the works, but I want to get something that is going to help me out for a few years. Maybe I'm just being paranoid.
v1 has been around since 1992.
should last a while
Yeah, the V1's gonna last you a long long time, Mike's made it clear he does not like to outdate any of his existing customers' devices with shiny new ones. You can always update to the latest V1 at a very reasonable fee, or keep on using the one you have (the update checker at their website doesn't always tell you to spend money and send in for the latest upgrade, it tends to provide very honest opinions on whether or not a particular upgrade is worth it or not)
Well...
As far as radar bands in the US there are X, K and Ka-wide bands. Ku band isn't coming to the US for many reasons and most likely will never be used in the US. That is the general consensus with regards to Ku band as far as I am aware. Also, I don't think that there are any other proposed police radar bands being considered by the FCC. Jimbonzzz, "the Professor", keeps track of this stuff far more diligently than just about anyone else here on this forum.
Laser has become rather popular with law enforcement agencies during the last several years, and it is possible that new laser gun models will be introduced during the next several years. The current crop of laser guns work rather well at defeating radar detectors. This is where other types of countermeasure technology such as laser jammers and laser absorbing coatings come into play. It is possible that new laser guns could utilize different pulse rates and/or possibly pulse width modulation in an effort to defeat the laser detection circuitry within current radar detectors. But usually the radar detector manufacturers are right on the heels with either new technology or new firmware to counter the threats created by new laser gun models.
Fortunately Bel, Escort, Whistler and Valentine radar detectors generally can be updated with new firmware revisions in order to address new types of laser threats and to filter out false alerts from various types of new non-police radar microwave sources. Valentine also offers hardware upgrades, if feasible to implement, for their existing radar detectors.
In short, the higher end radar detectors offered by the mentioned RD manufacturers should retain their effectiveness against all current threats for at least a few years. And with a firmware upgrade when necessary, their products likely will be effective throughout the next five years. At least that is the way I see it given what I know about the current technologies on both sides of the fence.
Here is another way to look at it: Regularly check this forum for reports of any new or anticipated radar and laser threats. If something really new comes down the pike then you will find out about it here first and then can sell your current RD to get some of your investment back, well before the the vast majority of RD users who don't frequent this forum become aware of the new threats.
That is my two cents for what its worth!
--Michael
The bands in radar have not been updated in awhile. the X/K/Ka band has been in use for ages.
Theres one radar band (In the US only... i'm excluding Europe's Ku) that current detectors do not cover, that being S band, but that is so outdated that there are no departments using it.
The main two radar bands you'll likely encounter is K/Ka band radar. X band is still used in some areas, and is still a major threat in the hands of a skilled operator, but it is on its way to the S-Band's fate.
Many Law Enforcement agencies are now turning to Laser technology, and they will probably replace radar guns in most departments as the technology gets cheaper. Laser is very difficult to detect compared to radar, and many times, even the V1 won't directly give advanced warning to a laser threat (Unless you get lucky enough to catch the scatter off of another vehicle.) The beam for laser is very narrow and if you get a laser alert, you're being hit directly most of the time. This lack of advance warning is a major reason why many are using laser jammers and VEIL in order to make themselves harder to hard lock.
yea laser is a pain in the ass
Originally Posted by hockey005
The thing with Laser is you can not use it moving, with Ka you can, I notice a lot of cops using Ka traveling in the left lane with Ka running to get on coming cars. Overall, Ka is going to be a huge threat, I think Laser will be used more but probably more targeted traps.
and u can completely jam laser...as with radar only detect it
You can jam radar too but that’s illegal.
Thanks for all the the help. I have been reading the forums a lot lately and have learned quite a lot. Now I just need to make a decision between the several detectors I have been looking at.
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