Can someone explain to me why detectors leak?

[worldpower]

I don't understand how cheap detectors leak and better made detectors don't,why does this happen and does it really matter?

[Ace_Racer]

I don't understand how cheap detectors leak and better made detectors don't,why does this happen and does it really matter?

Worldpower,

Cheap detectors leak because simply they are made of cheap material hence the lower price then say a Bel RX65. It is the LO leakage which I believe is something Oscillator which I believe is what scans for threats. For example, a cobra will leak all over and the Bel STI won't because of the material it is made of. It only matters if you are in a state or country that bans RD's. This leakage is what RDD's (Radar Detector Detectors) look for and alerts its user to the presence. There are only 2 states in the USA Virginia is one and I don't know the other and of course Canada also bans them. So you have 48 states that are worry free. :lol:

I have a feeling that I have not answered your question as well as a more experienced user on here can, but it is what I know. Wait for them to respond and fill you in more. Also, if I have incorrect info in my post please feel free to correct it and/or let me know so that I too may learn.

Signed,

Ace_Racer

[Bear-Tweezy]

I don't understand how cheap detectors leak and better made detectors don't,why does this happen and does it really matter?

Worldpower,

Cheap detectors leak because simply they are made of cheap material hence the lower price then say a Bel RX65. It is the LO leakage which I believe is something Oscillator which I believe is what scans for threats. For example, a cobra will leak all over and the Bel STI won't because of the material it is made of. It only matters if you are in a state or country that bans RD's. This leakage is what RDD's (Radar Detector Detectors) look for and alerts its user to the presence. There are only 2 states in the USA Virginia is one and I don't know the other and of course Canada also bans them. So you have 48 states that are worry free. :lol:

I have a feeling that I have not answered your question as well as a more experienced user on here can, but it is what I know. Wait for them to respond and fill you in more. Also, if I have incorrect info in my post please feel free to correct it and/or let me know so that I too may learn.

Signed,

Ace_Racer

LO= local oscillator

[Road Warrior]

Worldpower,

Cheap detectors leak because simply they are made of cheap material hence the lower price then say a Bel RX65. It is the LO leakage which I believe is something Oscillator which I believe is what scans for threats. For example, a cobra will leak all over and the Bel STI won't because of the material it is made of. It only matters if you are in a state or country that bans RD's. This leakage is what RDD's (Radar Detector Detectors) look for and alerts its user to the presence. There are only 2 states in the USA Virginia is one and I don't know the other and of course Canada also bans them. So you have 48 states that are worry free. :lol:

I have a feeling that I have not answered your question as well as a more experienced user on here can, but it is what I know. Wait for them to respond and fill you in more. Also, if I have incorrect info in my post please feel free to correct it and/or let me know so that I too may learn.

Signed,

Ace_Racer

You are pretty much exact in the reason for RD leakage, this STI is made of a very rough, solid material, I don't know exactly but I think it's titanium, and that's why is $450, the most expensive RD on the market nowadays, totally a waste if you live in a non-banned RD area (unless you have no problem spending this amount of money on something, stealth, you don't need at all)... just a correction, 49 states where RDs are all legal, just VA (as a state) and DC (but this is a city, not state) prohibits the use of RDs in all vehicles (private and commercial)... RDs are illegal in all commercial vehicles over a certain weight (maybe 10k lbs, maybe 16k lbs, not sure as I don't drive a commercial one)... in Canada RDs are all legal in 3 western provinces, BC, Alberta and Saskatchewan and illegal in the rest... :wink:

[Road Warrior]

Worldpower,

Cheap detectors leak because simply they are made of cheap material hence the lower price then say a Bel RX65. It is the LO leakage which I believe is something Oscillator which I believe is what scans for threats. For example, a cobra will leak all over and the Bel STI won't because of the material it is made of. It only matters if you are in a state or country that bans RD's. This leakage is what RDD's (Radar Detector Detectors) look for and alerts its user to the presence. There are only 2 states in the USA Virginia is one and I don't know the other and of course Canada also bans them. So you have 48 states that are worry free. :lol:

I have a feeling that I have not answered your question as well as a more experienced user on here can, but it is what I know. Wait for them to respond and fill you in more. Also, if I have incorrect info in my post please feel free to correct it and/or let me know so that I too may learn.

Signed,

Ace_Racer

You are pretty much correct in explaining the reason for RD leakage, this STI is made of a very rough, solid material, I don't know exactly but I think it's titanium, and that's why is $450, the most expensive RD on the market nowadays, totally a waste if you live in a non-banned RD area (unless you have no problem spending this amount of money on something, stealth, you don't need at all)... just a correction, 49 states where RDs are all legal, just VA (as a state) and DC (but this is a city, not state) prohibits the use of RDs in all vehicles (private and commercial)... RDs are illegal in all commercial vehicles over a certain weight (maybe 10k lbs, maybe 16k lbs, not sure as I don't drive a commercial one)... in Canada RDs are all legal in 3 western provinces, BC, Alberta and Saskatchewan and illegal in all the rest...

[jbay]

Let me ask a question. Will my Bel 955 pick up falses from a Cobra that is leaking ?

[Road Warrior]

Let me ask a question. Will my Bel 955 pick up falses from a Cobra that is leaking ?

Maybe yes, maybe not, the best way to find out is any time you get an alert to look around including the interior of the vehicles around you, both ways, and maybe you see something in somebody's windshield, dash or whatever... and while looking for that... a LEO drives by with the radar unit inside the cruiser... case closed :wink:

[Synbios]

RDs are illegal in all commercial vehicles over a certain weight (maybe 10k lbs, maybe 16k lbs

They are illegal in commercial vehicles over 10k pounds.

Also, DC is a district not a city. :p But you are right in saying radar detectors are legal in 49 states.

Refer to the link in my profile for more rules/regulations regarding radar detector and radio scanner laws.


To this date and to my knowledge:
Virginia only uses VG-2 RDD (radar detector detectors) so a Bel STi is not necessary if you live here. As long as your detector is VG-2 cloaked (almost all are these days, at least the good ones) you should be fine.

Also, the Bel STi is made of magnesium, not titanium. The V1 and possibly other RD's are also constructed of magnesium and it does aid in it's stealth. However, the STi has many other filters within the housing that are what truly lead to it's near 100% stealth.

[SmaartAasSaabr]

You are pretty much exact in the reason for RD leakage, this STI is made of a very rough, solid material, I don't know exactly but I think it's titanium, and that's why is $450, the most expensive RD on the market nowadays, totally a waste if you live in a non-banned RD area (unless you have no problem spending this amount of money on something, stealth, you don't need at all)... just a correction, 49 states where RDs are all legal, just VA (as a state) and DC (but this is a city, not state) prohibits the use of RDs in all vehicles (private and commercial)... RDs are illegal in all commercial vehicles over a certain weight (maybe 10k lbs, maybe 16k lbs, not sure as I don't drive a commercial one)... in Canada RDs are all legal in 3 western provinces, BC, Alberta and Saskatchewan and illegal in the rest (whick I call it the Socialist Canada)... :wink:

RoadWarrior, you did notice that the STI has "MAGNESIUM CONSTRUCTION" written on the box in several places, on the owner's manual and on the detector itself :lol: :lol: :wink:

Anyway the casing material does affect it slightly, but the main reason for the STi's stealthyness is the design of the antennae.

The detector makes an LO frequency that it "understands" by mixing incoming signals with another frequency (heterodyning) that makes the LO. This frequency generated inside the detector will leak out the antenna which will "broadcast" it all over the place.

[worldpower]

You are pretty much exact in the reason for RD leakage, this STI is made of a very rough, solid material, I don't know exactly but I think it's titanium, and that's why is $450, the most expensive RD on the market nowadays, totally a waste if you live in a non-banned RD area (unless you have no problem spending this amount of money on something, stealth, you don't need at all)... just a correction, 49 states where RDs are all legal, just VA (as a state) and DC (but this is a city, not state) prohibits the use of RDs in all vehicles (private and commercial)... RDs are illegal in all commercial vehicles over a certain weight (maybe 10k lbs, maybe 16k lbs, not sure as I don't drive a commercial one)... in Canada RDs are all legal in 3 western provinces, BC, Alberta and Saskatchewan and illegal in the rest (whick I call it the Socialist Canada)... :wink:

RoadWarrior, you did notice that the STI has "MAGNESIUM CONSTRUCTION" written on the box in several places, on the owner's manual and on the detector itself :lol: :lol: :wink:

Anyway the casing material does affect it slightly, but the main reason for the STi's stealthyness is the design of the antennae.

The detector makes an LO frequency that it "understands" by mixing incoming signals with another frequency (heterodyning) that makes the LO. This frequency generated inside the detector will leak out the antenna which will "broadcast" it all over the place.

WOW he said titanium! I thought I was missing out on something here!
a titanium detector,that would be kinda cool :D

[Synbios]

Well I guess titanium sounds really cool and the STi is just about the coolest detector out there.

[WRC]

cheap detector leak a lot because well crappy shielding, but they all leak certain amount because they're heterodyne, they transmit their own signal and "listen" for it's own reflections through the antenna

[Mr Smith]

I don't understand how cheap detectors leak and better made detectors don't,why does this happen and does it really matter?

Worldpower,

Cheap detectors leak because simply they are made of cheap material hence the lower price then say a Bel RX65. It is the LO leakage which I believe is something Oscillator which I believe is what scans for threats. For example, a cobra will leak all over and the Bel STI won't because of the material it is made of. It only matters if you are in a state or country that bans RD's. This leakage is what RDD's (Radar Detector Detectors) look for and alerts its user to the presence. There are only 2 states in the USA Virginia is one and I don't know the other and of course Canada also bans them. So you have 48 states that are worry free. :lol:

I have a feeling that I have not answered your question as well as a more experienced user on here can, but it is what I know. Wait for them to respond and fill you in more. Also, if I have incorrect info in my post please feel free to correct it and/or let me know so that I too may learn.

Signed,

Ace_Racer

Couldnt have written it any better!

[Road Warrior]

Also, DC is a district not a city. :p But you are right in saying radar detectors are legal in 49 states.

Yes Sir, I know that DC stands for District of Columbia, that's the OFICIAL terminology, but in reality, real life, how it looks like it's just a city with its own City Hall, PD, transit system, auto licence plates (Taxation without Representation), etc., and of course the capital of the USofA...

[Road Warrior]

RoadWarrior, you did notice that the STI has "MAGNESIUM CONSTRUCTION" written on the box in several places, on the owner's manual and on the detector itself :lol: :lol: :wink:

STI is always in the car, well hidden all the time, manual in the car as well, and the box is already gone... the computer I'm using is pretty much far from the interior of my car so I trusted my memory... titanium, magnesium, steel, iron, any other strong metal or mineral object, my point was that it's made out of something strong, different than a regular RD, or at least my S2...

[NooB1FieD]

Well I guess titanium sounds really cool and the STi is just about the coolest detector out there.

The v1 is magnesium too. Just... the LO leaks...

[Synbios]

Yes there are other detectors with magnesium construction as well. Although the magnesium certainly helps, it of course is not the only reason why the STi is so stealthy.

[SmaartAasSaabr]

If the case was entirely magesium, it wouldn't leak... but it wouldn't detect either :lol: The front is plastic and so is the display end of course. The V1 is magnesium and so were many other detectors, even my 1994-vintage Uniden "stalker" POS. But magnesium casing feels much better in your hand than cheapo plastic 8)

[ltilaser]

However, the STi has many other filters within the housing that are what truly lead to it's near 100% stealth.

The STi is near %100 stealth because of its high quality filters and because of its dual antenna design.

Radar detectors are superhetrodyne receivers. They operate by receiveing the microwave radar signal at 10s of gigahertz then it mixes a second signal into the mircowave signal to down the frequency to a which the radar detector's internals can analyze. The second signal which is mixed in comes from the LO or local osicllator. The radar detector's electronics can only analyze one frequency, called the intermediate frequency, and bandwith. Therefore, the local osiclaltors and can be varied and filters can be used to adjust the bandwith of the signal.
http://www.engineering.uiowa.edu/~ece195/2006/images/superheterodyne.gif
The STi's IF is, I think, around 432MHz. If the radar detector wanted to pick up a 36GHz signal, the local osicllator will have to send a singal, to the mixer, that will reduce the 36GHz signal to a 432Mhz signal.

The problem with this design is that the local oscillator will not only mix down the signal but will also go the other way and leak out through the RF amp and the antenna then out the detector. This will allow other devices to detect the radar detector.

To help fix the problem, band pass filters are added to filter out the leaking signal from the LO. The STi uses high quality filters.

Another way the STi deals with the problem is by using a dual antenna design. By using two antennas, the antennas are more frequency specific and will resonate or leak less of the LO's signal out.

The magnesium case helps shield the electronic noise from the device, but it is not the major reason for its stealth capablilites.

[jimbonzzz]

One main reason the STi is stealthy is the use of low-noise amplifiers in the front end. Prior to the release of the STi, only the V1 had this.

These LNAs, in addition to performance advantages, also have very low reverse isolation = radar gets in, but not much LO noise etc gets out. The LNA's are probably the main reason why the V1 does so well against the Spectre.