Just got a new xtr-690 today!!

**vortexnut** · 07-10-2007 07:56 PM

Just wanted to let everyone know that I got a new xtr-690 today. I mounted it high just to the left of my rearview mirror. It will be intersting to see how good it is compared to my Bel V995. I am hoping that the KA will be better than my Bel V995. I am fairly sure that most police cruisers around here have stalker duals in their vehicles and that is why my V995 has always had problems with good detection. I will keep everyone informed.

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**dmo1028** · 07-10-2007 08:06 PM

Excellent, good luck with the 690! Looking forward to some reports on the performance you see!

**carboncopy** · 07-10-2007 09:32 PM

Originally Posted by vortexnut

Just wanted to let everyone know that I got a new xtr-690 today. I mounted it high just to the left of my rearview mirror. It will be intersting to see how good it is compared to my Bel V995. I am hoping that the KA will be better than my Bel V995. I am fairly sure that most police cruisers around here have stalker duals in their vehicles and that is why my V995 has always had problems with good detection. I will keep everyone informed.

Hey vortexnut I am from central IL and depending on where you are at you will mostly encounter Ka @35.5 and K band. I haven't seen any laser yet, but I am sure it is around. I know for sure it is in the northern and southern parts of the state. I can't see the XTR-690 doing any better with Ka than the V995, but you never know. BTW good mounting location. Let us know how it works out.

CC

**jdong** · 07-10-2007 09:39 PM

The XTR-690 was not designed to compete with the V995's class, but well you never know

**vortexnut** · 07-10-2007 10:27 PM

Well just did a nice trial run with both the Bel V995 and the Whistler xtr-690. I was running both detectors at the same time and it seemed like they were not interfering with each other but there is no way to tell for sure. I was not keeping track of the distance of the initial radar hits just what detector went off first. I had 2 constant KA radar hits from patrol cars, a K band "your speed" sign and my local CVS drug store false positive k band door opener.

Encounter #1. CVS door opener: The bel V995 went off about 1 second before the whistler.

Encounter #2. Creve Coeur PD running constant ka: The whistler beat the Bel by about 2 seconds.

Encounter #3. Morton PD running constant ka: The whistler beat the Bel by about 1 second.

Encounter #4. A k band "your speed" sign: The Bel went off about 2 seconds prior to the whistler.

I encountered no false alarms with the Bel V995 and 1 false alarm on K band with the whistler set in filter 1 mode. I also got a random laser alert on the whistler for some odd reason. The display was fairly easy to see for me however other people are having trouble with the glare on the display.

Things I do not like about the whistler:

1. The buttons on the radar detector rattle too much and I fixed the problem by putting a piece of electrical tape on them, lol.

2. The display flickers some when you put it in dim-bright mode.

Things I liked about it :

1. From the two encounters with ka band it outperformed the Bel V995 slightly.

2. The digital compass is cool.

3. Only slightly behind the Bel V995 in k band detection

4. About 50% cheaper than a Bel V995.

I am not a so called expert or anything about radar detectors but I would say that I know a lot more about them than your average radar detector user. I will run the whistler in my car for several weeks to get a good feel for it. Eventually I will send my detector back into whistler once the software update becomes available. So far from what I can tell for the money the whislter xtr-690 is well worth it for those on a budget.

**happya$$** · 07-10-2007 10:31 PM

Originally Posted by vortexnut

Well just did a nice trial run with both the Bel V995 and the Whistler xtr-690. I was running both detectors at the same time and it seemed like they were not interfering with each other but there is no way to tell for sure. I was not keeping track of the distance of the initial radar hits just what detector went off first. I had 2 constant KA radar hits from patrol cars, a K band "your speed" sign and my local CVS drug store false positive k band door opener.

Encounter #1. CVS door opener: The bel V995 went off about 1 second before the whistler.

Encounter #2. Creve Coeur PD running constant ka: The whistler beat the Bel by about 2 seconds.

Encounter #3. Morton PD running constant ka: The whistler beat the Bel by about 1 second.

Encounter #4. A k band "your speed" sign: The Bel went off about 2 seconds prior to the whistler.

I encountered no false alarms with the Bel V995 and 1 false alarm on K band with the whistler set in filter 1 mode. I also got a random laser alert on the whistler for some odd reason. The display was fairly easy to see for me however other people are having trouble with the glare on the display.

Things I do not like about the whistler:

1. The buttons on the radar detector rattle too much and I fixed the problem by putting a piece of electrical tape on them, lol.

2. The display flickers some when you put it in dim-bright mode.

Things I liked about it :

1. From the two encounters with ka band it outperformed the Bel V995 slightly.

2. The digital compass is cool.

3. Only slightly behind the Bel V995 in k band detection

4. About 50% cheaper than a Bel V995.

I am not a so called expert or anything about radar detectors but I would say that I know a lot more about them than your average radar detector user. I will run the whistler in my car for several weeks to get a good feel for it. Eventually I will send my detector back into whistler once the software update becomes available. So far from what I can tell for the money the whislter xtr-690 is well worth it for those on a budget.

I am glad you are liking what I call the best kept secret in the industry

**MEM-TEK** · 07-10-2007 10:41 PM

*****

**happya$$** · 07-10-2007 11:02 PM

Originally Posted by MEM-TEK

Originally Posted by vortexnut

Well just did a nice trial run with both the Bel V995 and the Whistler xtr-690....I am not a so called expert or anything about radar detectors but I would say that I know a lot more about them than your average radar detector user...So far from what I can tell for the money the whislter xtr-690 is well worth it for those on a budget.

Actually, I think that your review pretty much hits the nail on the head. I had very positive experiences reviewing a Whistler Pro73 against my V995. Except for the most extreme situations (steep over the hill or sharp around the bend), I really can't fault Whistler's performance in any way.

I used to consider the V955 the best bang for the buck in mid priced radar detectors, but have now decidedly switched my opinion over to Whistler. Whistlers may be a bit more prone to falses, but on the open road their performance versus price seems to win out over competing models.

Oh I GUARANTEE you that the Pro 78 "falses" less than the 955. They have really nailed the falsing down. From what I hear the Pro 73 did false a lot but that must had a lot to do with the X band sensitivity being so high

**jdong** · 07-10-2007 11:07 PM

Originally Posted by happya$$

Oh I GUARANTEE you that the Pro 78 "falses" less than the 955. They have really nailed the falsing down. From what I hear the Pro 73 did false a lot but that must had a lot to do with the X band sensitivity being so high

I can tell you as a 1793SE owner that X-band falsing was not an issue. The biggest issue for me in terms of falsing were short weak blips of K-band that could not be explained.

On the highway, I'd say roughly once every 5-10 minutes, you get a very short, usually 1-2 bar K band alert (sometimes up to mid-strength), that just goes:

BEEP... K band.... BEEP.

It would be extremely annoying in areas where cops use IO on K-band, as you WILL quickly be desensitized to quick K-band alerts.

From what I am hearing this issue is history with the new Whistlers, and that alone makes it worthwhile.

Stealthcb · 07-10-2007 11:27 PM

I am a bit more concerned about running those two detectors simultaneously. I was not as concerned with happya$$'s test, since he had an STi running, and it doesn't leak. HOwever, the V995 makes not such claim, and I wonder if the two could have interfered with one another.

That said, I am amazed that the 690 out-performed the V995. I NEARLY bought a V995 and would have paid $220 for it ($70 trade-in on my old 715i). Now I am glad I spent the money on the Pro-73, then upgraded to the 78.