First ticket ever since i got V1 :(

[yan_750i]

I got clocked at 65 in 45 last night at 1am on an expressway. The weird part is that my V1 didn't make a beep. I have it programmed in the following way:

- X band disabled (feature 1)
- K band is muted for 10 seconds (feature K, E, F, G), lowercase-L mode

I asked the cop to show me the radar and he did (wanted to see make/model). The radar had on it:

Phantom 1
by U.S. Radars

It looked pretty old and was last calibrated sometime in April of '05. I went to U.S. Radars site and saw that current Phantom they are making is using K-band. My questions are these:

1] did older phantom radar use X band? this would explain the silence of my V1
2] if it did use K band, it is quite possible that because my K band is muted i simply didn't notice the lights
3] the expressway was pretty empy in both directions - maybe there was no advanced warning because he wasn't pointing it at any cars?

i'll try and get a lawer for this ticket and fight it, but i am more worried about making sure my V1 is programmed properly. one thing i will definately do now is drive in A mode around town and use lowercase L for freeway. but should i:

A) turn X band back on? here in bay area X band goes off every minute
B) bump b,C,d down to 5 seconds from default 10?

when i go to court, can i get my lawer to request info on radar so i would know for sure if it used K band or X band?

sorry for such a long post... just want to make sure i dont get busted like this again. the sad part is, expressway turns into 55mph just a two lights later.

[V1 Dave]

2] if it did use K band, it is quite possible that because my K band is muted i simply didn't notice the lights
3] the expressway was pretty empy in both directions - maybe there was no advanced warning because he wasn't pointing it at any cars?

It was one of the these two things that got you I seriously doubt that there is an old X band gun still being used around here.
You must be talking about Central Expressway, they use K band on that I can confirm.
Might as well do another run tonight or next Friday night with everything on at the speed limit to see if you can pick up anything.

I hope that you are primarily using these settings for drone radar and not to keep the V1 quiet all the time.
There is no setting of (K) and (E) (F) will keep regular volume off at all eight LED's so in (l) mode you missed all the V1 lights.
You should have been using (A) mode and not speeding at that time of the morning unless you had a rabbit in front of you.
Either go to traffic school or put off the appearance date as long as you can and hope that the LEO does not show up in court.

[yan_750i]

hey dave,

yes, it was central. i was driving from castro st. in downtown mtn. view and took right heading toward santa clara.

I hope that you are primarily using these settings for drone radar and not to keep the V1 quiet all the time.

well, both. i get a lot of K-band false alarms driving around south bay.

There is no setting of (K) and (E) (F) will keep regular volume off at all eight LED's so in (l) mode you missed all the V1 lights.

right, typo. i wanted to say 7, E, F, G. but dont you mean "you missed all the V1 volume alerts" - the lights for K band should have still went on. it is possible i got distracted for a second or two with something else in the car and didn't notice them.

You should have been using (A) mode and not speeding at that time of the morning unless you had a rabbit in front of you.

yeah, either i will switch to (a) mode or turn 'muted' volume up a bit and keep it in lower-case L (l) mode. as for speeding on empty roads - well, i usually dont speed when there are cars since morons tend to move into my lane and test my breaks. but don't LEO keep their radars on even when there are no cars on the road? i was reading on some site that radar needs to warm up - it can't be used against cars if it just turned on a second ago.

so, if all of these conclusions are true:

1] K band was used
2] no advance warning due to no cars on the road

for how long would K band on my V1 be on when i got hit? are we talking 1 second? 3? 5? i just know that with it been dark outside, i'd notice the K band light up if it was for 3 seconds or longer.

as for fighting a ticket - will have to get a lawer. got a good one you can recommend? already going to traffic school for ticket i got a few weeks ago (car was new, didn't have a chance to hardware V1 - stupid me)

[Won Hunglo]

Sorry dude. Now you understand what the screw is for.

[V1 Dave]

I am guessing about 2-3 seconds of alert time for an instant on hit. Most city LEO's use instant on I don't believe the newer ones need warm up.
As far as the lights go remember the auto dimmer turns them down especially if there are no headlights behind you to boost up the auto dimmer.
Don't know any lawyers sorry. If your ticket goes to the Palo Alto court house as mine did (right turn on a no right turn at a red light Lawrence expwy & 101 CHP it took eight months to proccess and by the time I contested it the officer had transferred out)

[compu44]

Just saw this post. Please refrain from double posting. The 10 second mute is what killed you. You can be clocked easily in two seconds, usually less. If you EVER see instant on, I wouldn't use a time-based muting.

[yan_750i]

Just saw this post. Please refrain from double posting.

it wasn't double posting. one was V1 specific post on the V1 forum and another one was radar specific post on the general forum. just becaue they are related, doesn't make them a doulble post. as somebody who been around internet from early usenet and uucp days i usually try to follow netiquette to the dot.

The 10 second mute is what killed you. You can be clocked easily in two seconds, usually less. If you EVER see instant on, I wouldn't use a time-based muting.

yeah, most likely. it is possible i got distracted for a few seconds with something else in the car and didn't notice the K band lights turn on.

this also happened right outside of downtown where K-band alerts are set off every few feet, so maybe i was just conditioned to ignore them in the area.

i was also under (what now i understand incorrect) impression radars always transmit on a band when they get turned on. i guess there is another button for actually hitting somebody with it? or do radars only have one button for "ON" and one for "Reset"? anybody knows? or maybe it was in POP mode and since nobody was in front of me...

[yan_750i]

Sorry dude. Now you understand what the screw is for.

no, i am not blaming V1 at all - i am just trying to understand what i could to tweak it.

[yan_750i]

I am guessing about 2-3 seconds of alert time for an instant on hit. Most city LEO's use instant on I don't believe the newer ones need warm up.
As far as the lights go remember the auto dimmer turns them down especially if there are no headlights behind you to boost up the auto dimmer.
Don't know any lawyers sorry. If your ticket goes to the Palo Alto court house as mine did (right turn on a no right turn at a red light Lawrence expwy & 101 CHP it took eight months to proccess and by the time I contested it the officer had transferred out)

i wonder if it was the same officer who gave me a ticket on 101 about 16 months ago and when i went to court i found out he transfered to sacramento or something like that. but this time its a city cop - i doubt he is going anywhere soon. yet with real estate prices in bay area, you never know

i am very familiar with that turn since i live off lawrence. but the off ramp exit is nice, really lets you corner into it.

i wonder i if i can use this study in court:
http://www.valentine1.com/pop/info.asp

[jimbonzzz]

i wonder i if i can use this study in court:
http://www.valentine1.com/pop/info.asp

No, that only applies to POP mode, which is a feature that a few MPH radar units have. The Phantom does not have such a feature.

Jim