How to tell a real hit from a false? (ACC, lane assist, etc)

[napthalene]

There are more and more cars with new technological features that give false alerts. Assuming I know nothing (which I almost do) about radar detectors, how can you tell the difference between a real LEO a few miles ahead and some douche with adaptive cruise control?

I'm planning on a Whistler Pro 78SE, in case that changes anything.

[AvsBest]

They are very very low powered devices and you will only get an alert when you hit the sweet spot. If it beeps and you are passing a mercedes or an audi or a bmw or a higher end dodge, chrysler, etc... then you have your answer. The alert will be very brief and should only last from the time you are right behind/beside the vehicle to when you are completely passed it. Sometimes you can see their blind spot light near their side view mirrors.

[NormSky]

Situational awareness is king here. Know the radar used in your area.

[jdong]

They are very very low powered devices and you will only get an alert when you hit the sweet spot. If it beeps and you are passing a mercedes or an audi or a bmw or a higher end dodge, chrysler, etc... then you have your answer. The alert will be very brief and should only last from the time you are right behind/beside the vehicle to when you are completely passed it. Sometimes you can see their blind spot light near their side view mirrors.

Also, laser hits tend to be fairly easy to identify, since the officer needs line of sight to you. Look along the sides of the road and at overpasses. Possibly look at any bridges you just passed. If you don't see a parked police cruiser, it's likely not a real hit.

[North Alabama]

Experience! After many years, hope you will learn how to read your RD (hope it does more than just beep)....

[forgewire]

They are very very low powered devices and you will only get an alert when you hit the sweet spot. If it beeps and you are passing a mercedes or an audi or a bmw or a higher end dodge, chrysler, etc... then you have your answer. The alert will be very brief and should only last from the time you are right behind/beside the vehicle to when you are completely passed it. Sometimes you can see their blind spot light near their side view mirrors.

They are not low powered. They operate similar to traffic lights sensors, strong short birsts on K band.
I own Mazda6 myself with lame RVM system. Its radar bombarded my RL with short false alerts on K band even when it switched off similar to that coming from traffic lights. I was about to sell Redline. Finally I tried TSR On and it worked magically. Redline went quiet. I like Redline even more now!

My advise is to get Redline which has TSR option esp if you have one of these lame cars. I think Wistler has some filtering modes also, but never used it.
Redline worked perfectly for me