Testing POP/ X-band

[languy99]

OK, so lately I have been giving some though to people recommending pop off and x band off. I decided to do some testing. I have a known k-band door that is always on and low power, so tonight I did some testing. First I started about 3100 feet away with pop on and x on. On average I got about 1400 foot detection. What happened is that I would get one or two strength dots for about 2 seconds and it would go away. About 3 seconds later I would pick it up again and it would stay constant.

With POP off and X-band off this time I only got a detection range of about 1000 feet. So there is a loss of detection. I ran this test a few times and it remained consistent. What I noticed is that I would not pick up the initial one or two dots of detection. I would only pick it up where it was constant.

Next I decided to turn POP on and leave x-band off. With this setup I drove it once again. The detection range was identical to the runs with POP on and X-band on. So from my testing leaving pop on gives me more range. It might be because it is looking for much weaker signals or something but for me it works. Just as a reference, my best detection was over 1600 feet but it only happened once out of numerous runs.

[Red Turbo Tegg]

Cool. Leave it on then.

[FoolishOne]

Man, now you have me thinking. Not that I don't believe you, but as a wise man once said "Trust, but verify."

I think I can take 15-20 minutes and do a similar test. I think I'll do the Walgreens right on Beecher, maybe tomorrow. It'll give me a break from finals.

[jdong]

Not surprising. POP mode causes the detector to accept shorter bursts of radar. When you're at the edge of detection all you probably will see are blips of the signal fading in and out of detection range. That's why in the real world filtering could cause results quite different than seen on GOL tests. If your detector waits 1-2 seconds of continuous-on before sound the alert and you're approaching a source behind trees and highway barriers, how do you know you're not seeing pulses of radar less than that time duration? Not to mention the fact that it waits before alerting you might compromise critical reaction time

Just something to think about.

[FoolishOne]

^ Makes sense.

Decrease in distance with X-band off that gets me. With x-band deactivated, you would think you would get an alert further away, due to it not having to scan those frequencies, but in his case, turning it off decreased from 1400 to 1000, 28%.

EDIT: I'm incorrect as languy will point out. All POP's and on's and off's got me a little confused.

[Red Turbo Tegg]

It maybe so, but I won't be turning POP back on with or without decreased range. I detect radar just fine with it off, and I don't like the KA falsing that I get with it on. I'd rather get slightly less range, but know there's a lot better chance when I pick up a blip of KA it's instant on, and not just someone with a Cobra near by. I had way to many falses with POP on, and I started doubting weather they were real or not. That's not good, especially because it wouldn't J out most of the alerts.

[ATSRADAR]

I had this very conversation this morning with the folks at VR. The rep I spoke with specifically told me that POP on would increase K band detection (and falses) because it increases the number of sweeps made of K band during the cycle. The detector itself is not more sensitive, it just takes less time to get back to K after looking at the rest of the spectrum. Therefore the detector will pick up shorter bursts or weaker signals. She said that some folks in areas prone to K falses will benefit by turning POP off. If the K signals in your area don't bother you, leave it on. I am leaving mine on for now because we have K band photo radar in AZ, (very weak signal strength). POP will help find this because the V1 will look harder for K.

[languy99]

I had this very conversation this morning with the folks at VR. The rep I spoke with specifically told me that POP on would increase K band detection (and falses) because it increases the number of sweeps made of K band during the cycle. The detector itself is not more sensitive, it just takes less time to get back to K after looking at the rest of the spectrum. Therefore the detector will pick up shorter bursts or weaker signals. She said that some folks in areas prone to K falses will benefit by turning POP off. If the K signals in your area don't bother you, leave it on. I am leaving mine on for now because we have K band photo radar in AZ, (very weak signal strength). POP will help find this because the V1 will look harder for K.

I knew it was something like that, I'm keeping it on. I don't get many falses and in Michigan they use I/O K band a lot, so any advantage in detection will be a plus for me.

Decrease in distance with X-band off that gets me. With x-band deactivated, you would think you would get an alert further away, due to it not having to scan those frequencies, but in his case, turning it off decreased from 1400 to 1000, 28%.

try re-reading it, I said that with x band off you get the same distance as with it on. It had no effect on detection distance. The only time I got a different reading was when I turned POP on or off.

[KnightHawk]

OK, so lately I have been giving some though to people recommending pop off and x band off. I decided to do some testing. I have a known k-band door that is always on and low power, so tonight I did some testing. First I started about 3100 feet away with pop on and x on. On average I got about 1400 foot detection. What happened is that I would get one or two strength dots for about 2 seconds and it would go away. About 3 seconds later I would pick it up again and it would stay constant.

With POP off and X-band off this time I only got a detection range of about 1000 feet. So there is a loss of detection. I ran this test a few times and it remained consistent. What I noticed is that I would not pick up the initial one or two dots of detection. I would only pick it up where it was constant.

Next I decided to turn POP on and leave x-band off. With this setup I drove it once again. The detection range was identical to the runs with POP on and X-band on. So from my testing leaving pop on gives me more range. It might be because it is looking for much weaker signals or something but for me it works. Just as a reference, my best detection was over 1600 feet but it only happened once out of numerous runs.

Although it is a good test, refer to GOL's test which gives you better measurement with distances other than estimating a distance. Scroll down on this page for V1's performance with POP on/off.

Guys of LIDAR - Radar Detector Test - August 2007

[languy99]

Although it is a good test, refer to GOL's test which gives you better measurement with distances other than estimating a distance. Scroll down on this page for V1's performance with POP on/off.

Guys of LIDAR - Radar Detector Test - August 2007

I got my distances with google maps, so I am pretty accurate with in +/- 100 feet. Also when they tested POP on/off I don't know how they did it, all they said is "pop off increase distance?" and also they used a Ka gun to test. I used a K-band source.