Only semi-Valentine-related

[mckellyb]

I have been a fan of Mr. Valentine's products since before I could drive, 1981, IIRC, is when I first started paying attention to his baby, and I was wondering, I know he co-designed the original, metal, would-hurt-someone-if-you-hit-them-with-it, Escort, but did he work on either the first-gen Passport or the second-gen Escort. I really liked the second-gen Escort, it was still metal, could live on my motorcycle in all but the hardest downpours, and like the original Escort, would probably be able to survive being bathed in boiling water while on and still function. That last one is a strange story....

I have to admit, making the 'alert' light the 'dark' button, I think it was that, it might have been a mute...getting old sucks...was the coolest thing I'd seen at the time. After I got tagged with Ka in Utah on the bike for 89 in a 55...and I'd slowed *way* down knowing I was approaching a 'town', I knew it was time to make the move to the V1.

What was the name for the second-generation Escort? Escort II? I can't imagine they'd be that unimaginative, but it was the late-80's....

(edit: I found out what it was, the Escort DSP)

I had a first-gen Passport, and while I liked it, I never had a car with air conditioning, and with all the windows down, this was in Texas so like 8 months of the year, I didn't hear it very well. The V1 shames everything before it with volume, I mean, I can make my wife jump if I turn it up all the way. Heh, heh. I really, REALLY like being able to adjust my mute's volume. Very, very cool.

I think I still have the second-gen Escort packed away in storage, somewhere, but I haven't seen it in years, now. Not like it's particularly useful with Ka and the like, but good engineering is neat to have around, even if it is outta date.

[SmaartAasSaabr]

The ESCORT DSP?

[mckellyb]

Yep, that's it. I must have done the edit while you were posting.... Took me a while to find the name reference, but it's out there. This list is *****in'.

[laserblaster]

Mike left in early 80's possibley 81 -83.....

the reason why it would work with hot water all over it probibly because of the lack chips and processors inside..

[mckellyb]

Mike left in early 80's possibley 81 -83.....

the reason why it would work with hot water all over it probibly because of the lack chips and processors inside..

Got it, so he had little, if anything, to do with the 'Scort DSP. It looks like a bunch of those ideas made it into the V1, so I'd wager he helped with the design early on, and they stuck until production. I saw the DSP's design as moving making the Passport more user-friendly, and he must have had ideas used for that. I think the 'Port came along in '85 or '86. Three years was a short time in manufacturing, given the time frame of the early-80's.

It's funny how resiliant most electrical stuff is to moisture, as long as it dries out before you turn it on. The metal case did wonders this time, though it didn't keep me from getting berated by a good friend of mine, who was the detector's owner. If you have a vehicle which has radiator access only from inside the passenger compartment, be very careful when it's 110F out and you're on the verge of overheating. Letting it sit for 20 minutes is nowhere near long enough to crack the rad cap...

[hoosier]

I bought a totally mint original Escort complete with plastic case, instruction book, spare bulb, everything - on Ebay, and I put it in my display case. That original Escort looks like a serious piece of equipment, even after a quarter century. Nothing dated, nothing gimmicky, nothing hokey about it. I really liked the meter on mine though LED's quickly took over the job of indicating signal strength.

I had one of those original Escorts - I think they ran like $199 or $249 at the time and in their day they were the equivalent of what the V1 is today. Unquestionably the best.

[billgerr]

Escorts $245
Passports $299

IIRC
Bill

[CactusMan]

I still think the original passport with only x/k bands could perform with the best today being offered if only x/k bands were tested.

[Holla]

I still think the original passport with only x/k bands could perform with the best today being offered if only x/k bands were tested.

Is this the one?

This unit Rocks on X/K...Still works perfect but it does me no good anymore.

[CactusMan]

I still think the original passport with only x/k bands could perform with the best today being offered if only x/k bands were tested.

Is this the one?

This unit Rocks on X/K...Still works perfect but it does me no good anymore.

Not that I recall. I seem to recall it was all grey in color and the outside had a slight rough textured feel to it but it was from Cincinnati Microwave. I remember reading in the owners manual how incredibley expensive it was to manfacture due to the fact the the circuit board were dipped in silver. Jog any memories? The more I think of it from the pic that might have been it after all.