Very low powered Ka Band?

[jackenloper]

I was driving down the highway and i thought i was in the clear when i suddenly see a biker cop in front of me. He was about 250 feet away from me and i started to pass the car in front of me when i noticed. I hit the brakes and on my bel980 I got a Ka1 alert.

When i was passing him, i did not see him hold any radar gun at all. He was just talking to his buddy on the radio. He was facing me when i went past him.

My question is... why did my bel980 only show Ka band strength of 1 and not more when the guy was only about 250 away on a straight road facing me?
Are the guns that low powered?

My other hypothesis was that another cop about .5 miles away might have been shooting and i might have gotten his KA 1 alert.

If they are that low powered, for what range can the cop actually lock me, about 1000 feet?

[kpatz]

It was probably a false. A radar unit should have been easily visible on his bike (or in his hand), and it would have set your detector off higher than "1" if you were close to him.

[X50 Radar Kid]

I have 2 choices to pick from that you said...
I think more than likely you were picking up that policeman .5 mile down the road ...but it is a possibility that that officer had a mounted Ka unit and it was on but not triggered.
I have ran into this a couple times before with a Ka unit.
Once in traffic bumper to bumper....I saw a camaro police car with radar that was sitting in the shoulder lane ...and it didn't pick it up till about 200 or 300 feet away...
And once on the other side of the interstate I passed by and saw this state trooper that had this person pulled over and it didn't go off till I was like side by side with him...and it just went off the weakest Ka warning you could get like a Ka1 ....so you decide what it could have been...
But definintely no false unless it went to a full blast....in that case it might have been a false. :D Hope this helps

[NooB1FieD]

He could have the hand held unit set down, or aimed into somthing on the bike/in car, like lay it in the seat, so it just getting a weak signal, rather than a signal coming from a shot. Hence why it was such a weak shot.

[jackenloper]

sounds good. Thanks for the replies guys.

[GTO_04]

My other hypothesis was that another cop about .5 miles away might have been shooting and i might have gotten his KA 1 alert.

If they are that low powered, for what range can the cop actually lock me, about 1000 feet?

The range of Ka band radar will vary a lot with the type of vehicle you're driving. If you're driving an SUV, it will pick you up well over a mile away with no problem. If you're driving a mid sized sedan like a Grand Prix, it can pick you up about 1500 ft. away. If you're driving a 'Vette or a black WS6 TA (Ram Air hood), the range is only a little bit over 500ft.

You were probably picking up another cop.

On more than one occasion, I have passed a cop that I thought was running radar, but it turned up to be another one down the road. I was able to tell from the arrows on the V1.

GTO_04

[X50 Radar Kid]

On more than one occasion, I have passed a cop that I thought was running radar, but it turned up to be another one down the road. I was able to tell from the arrows on the V1.
GTO_04
:D 8)

[Longsnowsm]

Jakenloper, I don't think you read this wrong. I have now seen this same behavior on a couple of occasions recently. 1 bar on Ka for a very very quick blip... And there the LEO was and using radar. I think they are using a very low powered Ka in your face type of radar and they are definately quick trigger this. This appears to be happening much more frequently lately as LEO's seem to be using the radar very sparingly, and when they do it is a very quick trigger which appears on our RD's as a single blip. Based on this I decided to reprogram my V1 to turn up the alarm on Ka so I don't disregard those blips. Pretty scarey stuff.

This brings up another question regarding quick triggering the radar. I know Outrun reported that he was having an issue with a Bushnell radar gun that could be quick triggered to get a speed and his RD wouldn't even go off. Has anyone done any testing on the quick trigger and the chance that our RD's will miss the quick trigger? This low power, very selective, quick trigger looks to be happening at an alarming rate...

Longsnowsm

[bearcat]

Jakenloper, I don't think you read this wrong. I have now seen this same behavior on a couple of occasions recently. 1 bar on Ka for a very very quick blip... And there the LEO was and using radar. I think they are using a very low powered Ka in your face type of radar and they are definately quick trigger this. This appears to be happening much more frequently lately as LEO's seem to be using the radar very sparingly, and when they do it is a very quick trigger which appears on our RD's as a single blip. Based on this I decided to reprogram my V1 to turn up the alarm on Ka so I don't disregard those blips. Pretty scarey stuff.

This brings up another question regarding quick triggering the radar. I know Outrun reported that he was having an issue with a Bushnell radar gun that could be quick triggered to get a speed and his RD wouldn't even go off. Has anyone done any testing on the quick trigger and the chance that our RD's will miss the quick trigger? This low power, very selective, quick trigger looks to be happening at an alarming rate...

Longsnowsm

I’ve have got a solution to our radar problems DONT SPEED and you wont have to worry about it. Hold on let me think this over again I live 45 min from work and if I speed an can get there in 25-30 thus saving me 20-15 minutes so never mind what I said SPEED but not drive like a dumbass like I see a lot of people doing around were I live now days.

[Longsnowsm]

Just an FYI, in both of the recent cases of the low power Ka I was doing the posted limit at the time. They always setup speed traps there. What was UNUSUAL is this new low powered Ka and the very short duration alert I recieved. Also the gun in the car looked different than the ones I normally see around. So something new is going on, and from the number of reports of RD's not going off, or barely giving a warning I think this is becoming much more common place.

So take it for what it's worth... There is something going on and I think it is time to connect some of the dots from the reports folks are making here... They do add up.

Longsnowsm

[ryanfx]

lol well crap!!

What are the chances that I have a black WS6 (ram air hood) :evil:

lol =(