8500 X50 from Amazon.com, experience thus far

[BreakfastPirate]

So I bought an 8500 X50 (Red) from Amazon.com for $250 (a pretty good deal from what I see on the internet). I've never owned a radar detector before but I did some research and this one seemed the best for what I was looking for. Pretty much a nice simple set up I could keep in my car all the time and not need to worry about. Plus I couldn't pass up the price.

I hardwired it to my '02 Chevy Monte Carlo LS via the molex connector for the rear view mirror. The wiring for the lights in this car never ceases to amaze me. Of 4 wires (not including the ground) one of them is only hot when the car is off, one is on all the time, one is controlled by the dimmer, and the other (the one I used, d'oh!) only turns off when the car is in reverse or the headlights are on after pressing a button on the keyfob remote (to unlock/lock the doors/trunk etc.). Anyways, it works (except in reverse! lol). I'll post some pictures later if anyone is interested in my setup.

On to today's experience. On the weekends I deliver pizzas so I figured this would be a good chance to test it out under real conditions. Came across about 12 cops or so throughout the day. Two legitimate speed traps (cops on the side of the road radaring traffic) that the X50 spotted about a half mile away and ramped up quite nicely. I was very impressed with the range. A couple times I turned onto a road where a cop was driving (not previously picked up by the X50 due to buildings or lack of cars to reflect off of) and the meter would go from 0 to about 8 bars in a matter of less than a second. Many times I was surprised to find that it picked up cops driving perpendicular to me before they even came close to the intersection. As far as false alarms I really can't say I've had to many, and I'm confident most of them were likely just cops I couldn't see. I did have one encounter with an X-band radar that I thought must have been a false alarm. Turns out that Illinois forest preserve cops still use X-band in their cars. All in all I am VERY impressed with this unit. That's pretty much my experience with the X50 so far, I shall post some highway encounters tomorrow as I will be on the interstate for a couple of hours.

[focalcivic]

Typically, with Amazon they sell radar detectors from sub sellers, was that the case for you? Also, does it have the original serial number on the bottom? Finally, what is the build date, look after the serial number and it will be like 2307 or so.

[RanEnRui]

I recently acquired a X50 out of both curiosity and temporary necessity (V1 being borrowed by friends on a road trip). Mine appears to be quite old but still rev5 and in tune, so I can't complain with my experiences either.

I found that it mounted high definitely had a better warning distance compared to mounting it lower (more so of a difference than the V1 mounted low vs high). Running expert meter has helped me find a reallly sneaky officer that runs X (rare to find here, even in NC) right after the K speed sign on a popular road. I almost want to say he has a RD himself just for figuring out good spots to trick us RD users. :P I can just hope he runs a Cobra? ;)

Anyways, I was a bit skeptical when I first bought the X50, mostly because it was used and I don't know the history of the unit. Secondly, I never owned a 8500 before so I wasn't sure to expect, I'm just used to the 9500i (briefly) and the V1.

My skepticism was surely put to rest after 3 days of using it. Surely, it picked up the falses that I was waiting for but the actual detection of LEO radar was great too. While I will admit, it definitely does not have the range of the V1, it is a detector that I would feel safe using while crusing above PSL.

I definitely would recommend the x50 for those budget shoppers that do want a good RD without the hefty price. :)

As for delivering pizzas, yes a RD is a great asset to you (I wonder if you can write it off ;)), especially if you have more of a lead foot. My friend used to deliver pizzas and I think he's gotten two tickets while delivering before, I told him each time to invest in a RD but... that's a lost cause for him. ;)

What I did notice is that it does appear to be more vulnerable to the heat than the V1 (or 9500i). I am not sure if the detectors age plays a part in this but I did notice that I left it out for about 30 minutes in the sun (here in NC, it's been pretty hot), came back out and it was acting very strange. During the power test it would slowly creep through the bands and beep erratically, sometimes sticking on X band with a FULL alert even though there was no X band there. After letting it cool in front of the vents with the AC on (ugh), it was back to normal. It still is in tune of course, I got a great Ka alert from NCHP today on the way back to my parent's house.

[fire65]

Glad to hear of the good experiences with the X50. It will treat you right. BUT I still want to try a V1 again.

[BreakfastPirate]

focalcivic: Yes, it was from a reseller called Electronics Expo LLC that apparently no longer sells on Amazon.com as of about 30 seconds after I ordered mine. Going to check the serial to see that it matches the box once I take some pictures of my hardwire install tomorrow to post here!

Onto my highway experiences today. Picked up a LOT of non-LEO K band in construction zones. I'm beginning to think it's coming from the big programmable message signs that say things like "New Traffic Pattern" "Stay Alert" "Speed Limit 45" ;). Do safety messages broadcast in K band perhaps? Picked up another K-band that was very strong for a good several miles. Pretty sure it was coming from the Lexus SUV behind me. I think they come equipped with radar cruise control. Seemed to die down once he got in the lane next to me about 400 feet back. The ONE actual confirmed LEO that I saw was sitting in the median facing the opposite direction of me and the X50 didn't make a sound. Radar must've been off, but I swear to god the guy made eye contact with me as I drove past. Picked up some really strong X-band from what I'm assuming is some sort of device for detecting traffic travel times. Looks like a big pole on the side of the road with a solar panel. All told I got very few false alarms, just a lot of noise from non-LEO radar that I suppose I'll have to get used to.

Also, off the highway it picked up a cop on a traffic stop about a half mile up the road OVER A HILL! I was very impressed.

[FoolishOne]

Breakfast,

You hardwiring it working in forward drive only is the 2nd funniest thing I have heard in a while. (Taking the dump in a mall was the 1st.)

:p:p

[BreakfastPirate]

The really funny part is it took me about three trips to figure this out! First time it happened I assumed the force of stopping and throwing the car in reverse popped out the wire. 5 minutes of jiggling later I decided to just leave it be and see what happened. Once I backed into work on Saturday it finally clicked in my head that the radar was always turning back on as soon as I put it in Park. I still am really curious what the hell that wire is supposed to be for (it wasn't connected to anything in the rear-view mirror). My best guess is maybe the automatic dimming mirrors are supposed to turn off when you're in reverse? Maybe? Still doesn't explain why it turns off when the headlights come on after using the keychain remote.

[bkrell]

BreakfastPirate, it'd be cool if you looked at your serial number for the aforementioned build date as well as the horn type. In your serial number, you should have either "M4" or "S7" somewhere. The S7 is the older style which has a bit more ability at picking up signals off of your axis of travel. Folks have said the newer M4 horn (which has been in production for a while now) has more straight ahead ability and tad less off-axis reach by design to eliminate false signals. But your story of your cop coming at you perpendicular is very reminiscent of many encounters I have had with my S7 Bel v955.

[BreakfastPirate]

I shall check that tomorrow as well. Also, I forgot to mention: for what it's worth, I have been running the radar with POP enabled and have not had it show a single POP alert. Seems like most people here claim that this mode is very susceptible to false alarms.

[bkrell]

Yeah, I believe most people run with POP off. You really don't need it unless you are sure you are going to be encountering POP.

[FoolishOne]

Does the X50 tell the end-user of a POP hit?

(AFAIK, on the V1, it comes through as a regular hit, not a thing special. You would never now.)

[BreakfastPirate]

The manual says that it displays "POP" and plays the loudest tone for K-band if I recall correctly.

[BreakfastPirate]

Upon close inspection of the FCC ID it appears to be an M4. Maybe I just got lucky with reflection a bunch of times. Also, I've posted details of my hardwire install:

http://www.radardetector.net/forums/radar-detectors-general/36818-hardwired-rd-my-02-chevy-monte-carlo-ls.html