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  1. #1
    Lead Foot
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    Feb 2007
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    North Carolina
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    350

    Default Day #2 w/ Pro 78

    Day #2 was pretty uneventful..well sorta- Where do the officers go when you want to test a new radar detector?!?!?!

    I'm running Highway mode, all bands ON, POP disabled, SWS disabled, with default Filter. I had both my Pro 78 and 8500 mounted at the same level on the windshield and side by side. Never ran them both at the same time so they wouldn't interfere with one another.

    I did a lot of driving around today (work related) and had a mixture of city and interstate driving. On some backroads I did get some random blips of K-band which would have a strength of '2' for a second or two and then it would just vanish. I had the same thing happen with Ka once with no other vehicles around...so no crapras to blame! No real police radar encounters.

    I did pass a small town police station with a police vehicle parked perpendicular to the road approximately 25'-30' from my lane of travel with his K-band radar still running. They do this all the time...the Pro 78 alerted at roughly the same point my 8500 does (approx. 300ft.), yet it only reached a signal strength of 3 when I passed directly in front of and within 25 feet of the radar at approximately 25mph. I circled around and turned off the Pro 78 and turned the 8500 on, alert point was the same yet the 8500 went full scale in front of the unit!!! With both passes there was nothing between me and the radar unit. Hmmm...not sure what to make of that-

    Yesterday in my other post I mentioned a "drone" that emits a weak X-band signal. Today I talked to a contact I have and he told me that the "drone" I am seeing is actually a CCTV camera that allows the DOT to view traffic conditions from their traffic center in Raleigh. This Camera is up on the overpass mounted on a 30' pole so it has a good vantage point and view of the interstate. This camera runs off of direct power (not solar) and is tied into the controller cabinet at the interchange on the road above the interstate. So with that, I tested the Pro 78 and the 8500 to see if there was and significant differences. There was light traffic, I used the same lane and drove the same speed for each run. First run with the Pro 78, I got an alert at about .1 miles and the second run was just a tad less. So I crank up the 8500, powered off the 78, and made two runs. First run with the 8500 alerted at .25 miles, and the second run was at .3 miles. Signal strength was approximately the same on both units.

    So far I have no opinion good or bad on the Pro 78 until I get real radar encounters. The X-band does seem to be reduced in this unit, buit seeing that X-band alerts are usually ridiculously long (assuming constant on) it really doesn't bother me. Instant on, well your toast anyway unless the rabbitt is being used!

    The k-band encounter with the parked cruiser I described above does concern me a little. It did alert, but did not go full scale when it probably should have.

    It has only been 2 days...so I'm probably being a bit impatient. Hell sometimes I can go for weeks without hearing anything, so this will take time to truely test real threats. I can't wait!

    Till next time!

  2. #2
    Professional
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Posts
    1,299

    Default Re: Day #2 w/ Pro 78

    Quote Originally Posted by dmo1028
    On some backroads I did get some random blips of K-band which would have a strength of '2' for a second or two and then it would just vanish. I had the same thing happen with Ka once with no other vehicles around...so no crapras to blame! No real police radar encounters.
    This is the typical crappa false on whistlers. Use filter2 and see if you still get them. POP on might help too!!

  3. #3
    Stealthcb
    Guest

    Default Re: Day #2 w/ Pro 78

    Quote Originally Posted by ahmadr
    Quote Originally Posted by dmo1028
    On some backroads I did get some random blips of K-band which would have a strength of '2' for a second or two and then it would just vanish. I had the same thing happen with Ka once with no other vehicles around...so no crapras to blame! No real police radar encounters.
    This is the typical crappa false on whistlers. Use filter2 and see if you still get them. POP on might help too!!
    Nah, try Filter1. Filter2 is for older RDs and I'm not using it any more.

    Don't know what to say about the K-band encounter. My 78 does fantastic on K, but I've never used an X50, either.

  4. #4
    Lead Foot
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    North Carolina
    Posts
    350

    Default

    Thanks for the pointers- I will try Filter 1, and may play with POP turned on for a while.

    I'm really not trying to compare Whistler vs. Escort, I'm just doing it for informational purposes- For the Pro 78 and its price point, I really think it will prove to be the best bang for the buck...It is early on, so there is plenty of time to test and let the Whistler prove itself like I know it will!

    stealthcb you are right the auto dim is very cool!

  5. #5

    Default

    couple of things about x band. X band is really becoming extinct. Have you ever seen how big the old portable x band guns are. Even if its direct power it could still be low power. Full X band ranges can be crazy long. I actually rather enjoy a reduction in range from x band. As its crazy. The Leo could have had the gun in the passenger seat so it did not yield full ramp up. I have driven by second and third times before and gotten a full ramp up. Believe me when their is a real threat your way the whistler will ramp up quite nicely. On a side note stop threating over the small stuff. Trying to compare the 8500 to the pro 78 is a wrong thing to do. Compare whistler to ample stop time on a real threat. Of course the 8500 will probably pickup the signal a little farther back but if the whistler provides you with more then ample stop time then it more then did its job of protecting you. Its like saying my detector can detect 8 miles aways but mine can detect 6 miles away both would give you ample stop time.

  6. #6
    Founder of Stealthvation
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    Cleveland, Ohio
    Posts
    11,174

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by whistlerfan
    couple of things about x band. X band is really becoming extinct. Have you ever seen how big the old portable x band guns are. Even if its direct power it could still be low power. Full X band ranges can be crazy long. I actually rather enjoy a reduction in range from x band. As its crazy. The Leo could have had the gun in the passenger seat so it did not yield full ramp up. I have driven by second and third times before and gotten a full ramp up. Believe me when their is a real threat your way the whistler will ramp up quite nicely. On a side note stop threating over the small stuff. Trying to compare the 8500 to the pro 78 is a wrong thing to do. Compare whistler to ample stop time on a real threat. Of course the 8500 will probably pickup the signal a little farther back but if the whistler provides you with more then ample stop time then it more then did its job of protecting you. Its like saying my detector can detect 8 miles aways but mine can detect 6 miles away both would give you ample stop time.
    Well said. Do not forget to compare price
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  7. #7
    Lead Foot
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    North Carolina
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    350

    Default

    Yeah I know comparing the the Whistler and Escort is the wrong thing to do and have pointed that out in my remarks a few times. Just doing this for information only, and since no real threats have been encountered, I haven't formed any real opinion either way-

    Speaking to the price point the Pro 78 is at- For the excellent price, and the performance I think it is capable of...it simply can't be beat!

    I still have a Whistler 1753 which my wife has now taken an interest in...and it has proved itself many many times for me, so I know what Whistler is capable of.

    Whislterfan, I can't wait to hear results from your long trip coming up!

  8. #8
    Newcomer
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Garner, NC
    Posts
    33

    Default

    I get the K, X, Ka blips and I'm running city and filter 1.

  9. #9

    Default Re: Day #2 w/ Pro 78

    *****

  10. #10
    Lead Foot
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    North Carolina
    Posts
    350

    Default

    Michael I didn't think of the radar horn possibly being more directional...may be why 78 is quiet around the regular door opener sources I usually pass by!

    Thanks!

 

 

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