The BEST set up for me.... need help.

[torred 3.5]

Hey guys, I'm a RD newbie, I know nothing about different frequencies and such, but I'm not new to forums so I read the stickies on the different types of frequencies and now have an idea of where they all come from. Questions still remain though....

I have a cobra XRS 9990, yes I know when you a majority of you see the name "Cobra" you're going to leave this thread and not waste your time... but, these new detectors that Cobra has out have had fairly positive reviews, I can't really say because I've only had it for 3 days, but I did my research before buying. And I got it from Radioshack for $60, when it was originally $220, so I think I got a GREAT detector for MONEY. I never said a great detector

I will probably get the GPS Aura locater thing later that warns of red light cameras and speed traps etc. but before I do that, I need to get familiar with a radar detector and all its different functions.

Here are my questions:

-I live in a suburb outside of Detroit, I do mainly drive in this suburb only, so you have your normal supermarkets, stores, gas stations, etc. My first question is, what types of frequencies can I expect in the city? Both real LEO radar and false alerts? Can I expect both a false alert and a LEO detection from the same frequency?

-Second, what mode should I put my detector in? I know to put it in city mode, but there are different city modes in my cobra: City X, City X + K, and City X beep off, today I had it X + K mode and noticed a Ka band at 35.5 and the intensity even reached 5, but there were no cops, so I'm guessing it's a false alarm.

Here's what the manual says about each mode:

X
sounds a single beep when an x band signal is first detected. The alert then sounds when signal strength reaches level 3.

X+K
combines the City X mode with prevention of K band audio alerts until the signal strength reaches level 2.

City X beep off
blocks all X band audio alerts until the signal strength reaches level 3.

So which setting would be best for my needs in suburban area driving?

Also, another question, what is POP? Should I turn this on in my detector? There is a setting to turn it on, but the default settings are POP off, I don't know if I should turn this on considering it was off from the factory.

Sorry for all the questions guys, but I thought might as well let it all out at once and see if the RD gurus can point in the right direction.

Thanks for your response in advance! and thanks for reading this post, I know it was long.

[AvsBest]

I can't help you a lot because I know nothing about cobras. 95% of all falses are X band and K band. The other 5% (maybe even lower than that) is other radar detectors (Ka band) and the odd laser false usually from the sun or you satellite radio remote like mine lol). I run City No X in the city because I don't have X band in my area. It is actually totally turned off on my V1.

As far as LEOs goes, it really depends on your area. If you live in a smaller town with less money to put towards enforcement, you will probably see K band from LEOs. Again, totally varies from city to city, some don't even have radars and are exclusively laser. The more encounters you have, the better you will be at telling who is running what specially if you have the ''spec mode'' with your cobra (frequency readout).

POP radar is extremely rare as only one company uses it and it is not one of the top 3 radar companies. The LEO basically uses POP mode to acquire a somewhat accurate estimate of a speeder. If he likes the speed, he switches to regular mode to get this tracking and issue the violation as POP mode only cannot be used to ticket someone. POP mode sends short burst of radar making it difficult for detectors to pick up. All the new RDs have that feature though. Again only a very few areas are using those.

[Mandingo]

look in the Cobra threads for the info you need. You will find it there I am sure.

[torred 3.5]

Alright thanks for clearing things up guys, I just wanted to know what you guys were using as well. I know the other SUPERIOR and BETTER radar detectors than mine have similar settings to my Cobra so I was just wondering what city setup you guys use... I'll keep looking, but it'd be nice to see what you guys think about my situation as well. Thanks for the help!