3.851 = Horrible Ka Range? ! ?

[thestaton]

Alright I'm very confused. My 3.826 was a great detector with Ka here in dover with an AVG of 1 mile or 2. However since upgrading to 3.851 it seriously sucks. I've gotten the "E" twice and the bad thing it does not alert you that it has displayed the "E" it just sets silent. So I have mine mounted high and if I'm zoning out I won't even notice it.

Ever since I have upgraded to 3.851 every encounter with Ka here in DE it acts like instant on. However I find this hard to belive, a week ago I was driving and I notice a state car up ahead that had a customer. I'm thinking no biggie his radar is not on. So as I drive by right when I get parrallel with his car I get a strong spike of Ka coming from the rear *meaning he was running his front antenna*. I know it was not instant on because there was no one else in the car. And the trooper was talking to his customer.

Today I am coming back from the beach when again I visually see the cop car, slow down then get a full alert.

This is quite odd that DE would upgrade to instant on equiptment the same time I get my 3.851.

Is there any type of digital Ka band that is just crazy hard to detect?

I'm wishing I still had my 3.826!

[WRC]

maybe sent it in for the newest upgrade, 3.854

[TeamQuack]

yeah with the E error's i would toss that v1 back to vr and get it refreshed :wink:

[againstme!]

i too am getting horrible Ka range on my 8.351. i am expericencing the instant on experience you are getting. everytime i get a Ka, its a car coming toward me and it finally alerts at a 3/4 led signal with a .3-.5 mile range...my .826 had 1.7 mile range on a curve.

[Barc]

i too am getting horrible Ka range on my 8.351. i am expericencing the instant on experience you are getting. everytime i get a Ka, its a car coming toward me and it finally alerts at a 3/4 led signal with a .3-.5 mile range...my .826 had 1.7 mile range on a curve.

After studying, lurking, and finally deciding to purchase the V1 after all the research, I'm beginning to think maybe I should have gotten the RX65 or X50...

I think you guys have convinced me to send mine back in. Driving Sat evening, after having only received my 3.852 Tuesday and installing it, I had yet to have a Ka encounter. Then, out of nowhere, I get 3 to 4 leds lighting up on Ka only to see the trooper with a car pulled over (on the same side of the road) not more than 2 seconds later... maybe a range of .3 miles - .5 miles... maybe. Granted, he was over a small hill but I thought the V1 would detect at a greater range than that! This was in mode A with nothing modified from the factory settings.

What do you guys think?

[thestaton]

yeah something is most deff up. if it where only me having this problem I would not be worried but as more of us are finding the same thing V1 has some explaining to do.

[Barc]

Yet another encounter with Ka... not 5 minutes ago. This time, I was making a right onto a highway, the Trooper was coming toward me from the right (i.e. he would be going in the opposite direction as me when I made the turn) following a van. I SAW him before I got an alert. The alert came within .1 miles or less (yes, like two to 5 hundred feet or so) and was full blast Ka when it did come on.

How do I return the V1? How long does it take to get a replacement? I would like to keep a V1 but want don't want to completely uninstall it (hardwired, concealed display run through the dash and not easy to uninstall... Any opinions?

[AirMoore]

How do I return the V1? How long does it take to get a replacement? I would like to keep a V1 but want don't want to completely uninstall it (hardwired, concealed display run through the dash and not easy to uninstall... Any opinions?

Call up VR and ask to talk to the tech. department, tell them about the problem you are having, along with the same problem that many others on this site are having with the V1 3.851 (trust me they know this website). They will give you possible solutions to the problem , and then say 'well if you try those for a week or so... and are still not convinced send the unit back'.

So you just send the unit back, in the V1 manual I believe it tells you what all you need to send back (probably for your case just the V1 itself is all thats needed)... type up a short description of your problem so they can check it out. Just use the box that the V1 comes in (the grey/silverish and white/black box, and also the brown shipping box and send it back to them)... that way you know its safe... just how they sent it.

Turn around time is normally pretty good... how long it takes back will depend on how long it takes for your shipping to get to VR, (meaning Overnight, Next day air, ground etc etc)... I'd say normally about 5-7 business days.

-With that said VR is probably getting FLOODED right now with returns, both because many people are (foolishly) trying to keep up with the upgrades .826>.851>.852>.854, also many people are probably sending V1's back to VR already with your problems, and thats among other reasons.

[Barc]

I think I am not the only one dealing with these problems. I just called and spoke to a very nice rep who told me to just send it back with a note, etc., etc. and they'd take a look at it and have it shipped back in 3 - 4 days. Now if I were in business to make money, I'd definately try to diagnose the problem, say it was the customer, etc... assuming no other problems were popping up with other units.

I'm sending it back tomorrow to get another unit. It's kind of bad that I bought this thinking I was getting the best and to avoid the errors that have been popping up with Belscorts recently. Maybe I should have waited another few weeks.

[carbonhed]

Yet another encounter with Ka... not 5 minutes ago. This time, I was making a right onto a highway, the Trooper was coming toward me from the right (i.e. he would be going in the opposite direction as me when I made the turn) following a van. I SAW him before I got an alert. The alert came within .1 miles or less (yes, like two to 5 hundred feet or so) and was full blast Ka when it did come on.

My 3.826 V1 does this too. Once your target goes off axis you get dramatically reduced performance. My Sti is far more sensitive off axis. Perhaps it's a case of a single horn design having to be more sensitive to peripheral threats in order to pick up signals coming from the rear?

So it's not so much a bug as a feature.

The good news is that LEO's at 90 degrees to your direction of travel are somewhat less of a threat... maybe.