Cobra leakage test

[stlcardsfan]

I originally posted this in a thread but instead I'm going to make a thread out of it. Have any of you all tested this before? Today just for the heck off it I purposely turned on POP detection on my 9500ix and turned it on next to my back up Cobra. What do you know... Ka and POP interchangeably pulsed about every 5 seconds on the Escort. The interesting point is that I had it in spec mode and it registered the same frequency as actual Ka police radar although I can't remember Specifically what it was. Now I see why you all hate Cobras so much! :)

[dpatel01]

was the frequency around 34.674?

[ActiveKAjam]

My cobra alerts are typically in the 33.xxx area. It's kind of a good thing too, because I know there's no real 33.8 Ka in my area so when ever I see that I KNOW it's a cobra.

[stlcardsfan]

was the frequency around 34.674?

I'll check and post it here this afternoon. I can't remember.

[jdong]

Yeah, some Cobras park close to 1/3*33.8 for 50ms during their sweep which looks an awful lot like POP. From my tests, my Whistler XTR-690 goes CRAZY on POP close to my Cobra but my V1 doesn't care, POP on or off.

[stlcardsfan]

Yeah. When I turn POP off on the 9500 the performance isn't changed sitting next to Cobra. The 9500IX is still more than doubling the detection range of my Cobra. How far away can a good RD detect them?

[jdong]

Yeah. When I turn POP off on the 9500 the performance isn't changed sitting next to Cobra. The 9500IX is still more than doubling the detection range of my Cobra. How far away can a good RD detect them?


There's plenty of tales to here of 3.81x V1's detecting them from multiple blocks away.

[stlcardsfan]

Here is a new video I made that shows how the 9500ix detects the Cobra.
YouTube - Cobra Radar Detector Makes Escort 9500ix False

[erickonphoenix]

The SR7 never alerts to it but the V1 J-OUTs on it.

[jdong]

Here is a new video I made that shows how the 9500ix detects the Cobra.
YouTube - Cobra Radar Detector Makes Escort 9500ix False (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3x9vi9szeaU)

Advise change of background music.... *dons flamesuit*

[stlcardsfan]

You know that radio station in your city that plays the same song over and over again? This is that station! lol Sorry, I forgot to turn it down when I recorded the video. I hope to upload some more videos soon minus the music! BTW that was T-Pain/Lil Wayne - I can't believe it

[jdong]

You know that radio station in your city that plays the same song over and over again? This is that station! lol Sorry, I forgot to turn it down when I recorded the video. I hope to upload some more videos soon minus the music! BTW that was T-Pain/Lil Wayne - I can't believe it


Lol, no problem, just poking a bit of fun :). I know exactly what you mean.

[stlcardsfan]

Uploaded higher quality video.
YouTube - Cobra Radar Detector Makes Escort 9500ix False (2)

[MEM-TEK]

Yeah. When I turn POP off on the 9500 the performance isn't changed sitting next to Cobra. The 9500IX is still more than doubling the detection range of my Cobra. How far away can a good RD detect them?

You will get even more range with the 9500ix with the Cobra turned off. Just for grins, you might want to pick up the ultra cheap Cobra ESD7000 at Walmart and play around with it alongside your 9500ix. You will find that the ESD7000 (sold at Walmart under a different model name, the 737) will unbelievably slaughter your 9500ix's (or any other good RD's) range! :D

[stlcardsfan]

You will get even more range with the 9500ix with the Cobra turned off. Just for grins, you might want to pick up the ultra cheap Cobra ESD7000 at Walmart and play around with it alongside your 9500ix. You will find that the ESD7000 (sold at Walmart under a different model name, the 737) will unbelievably slaughter your 9500ix's (or any other good RD's) range! :D
So what you're saying is that the cheaper the Cobra the worst it leaks? I payed $150 back in March for my 9630. (it was those d*amn cleaver Radioshack salesmen)

[jdong]

So what you're saying is that the cheaper the Cobra the worst it leaks? I payed $150 back in March for my 9630. (it was those d*amn cleaver Radioshack salesmen)

They all leak strongly, just different generations' leaks were filterable in different ways.

Mike B has shed a lot of insight into why Cobras false other detectors, and how various detectors have tried to work around it. I've quoted most of his key posts at Falses Caused by Radar Detectors - RadarDetector.net Wiki (http://www.radardetector.net/wiki/index.php/Falses_Caused_by_Radar_Detectors) if you want to read.

[MEM-TEK]

...I payed $150 back in March for my 9630. (it was those d*amn cleaver Radioshack salesmen)

I bet you would like to take a cleaver to them. :D

[RadarGhost]

There is no problem with any cheap cobra Rd that a hammer wouldn't fix. :D

[FortyTillFive]

Damn Cobras

[Divewjason]

Cobras do their best to look fancy. I don't see why Cobra doesn't make an effort to revamp their entire detection platform. With some of the ideas they have they could be a viable competitor if they actually had good range.

[djrams80]

Cobras do their best to look fancy. I don't see why Cobra doesn't make an effort to revamp their entire detection platform. With some of the ideas they have they could be a viable competitor if they actually had good range.I think the problem is that the engineers at VR, Belscort and Whistler are smarter than those at Cobra. This is a patent driven industry and it seems that all of the good ideas are taken. It appears that Cobra will have a tough time significantly improving performance without infringing on active patents.

[MEM-TEK]

I think the problem is that the engineers at VR, Belscort and Whistler are smarter than those at Cobra. This is a patent driven industry and it seems that all of the good ideas are taken. It appears that Cobra will have a tough time significantly improving performance without infringing on active patents.

Exactly. 25 years ago Cobra radar detectors started off by being clones of Cincinnati Microwave's original Escort -- at least in terms of general appearance and features. Cobra (Dynascan Corporation) made the huge mistake of not investing in R&D whereas their competitors did. Over the years Bel, Escort and Whistler quietly filed numerous electronics design patents related to radar detector horn and local oscillator design. By 1995 Cobra had lost the radar detector wars in terms of performance, leaving them only one choice -- flood the market with products and use a lot of advertising hyperbole to convince consumers that their products were superior.

[RadarGhost]

I would really like to see Cobra become an honest quality contender again. :)

[jdong]

I do like some of what Cobra does -- sleek designed case and really interesting screen implementations. Indeed too bad their detection range is CRAP, consistency is CRAP, and even worse, they've intentionally designed their detectors to send emissions similar to the most difficult to detect forms of police radar.

[Jag42]

I think cobra did this intentionally because they knew they couldn't win the detector war so they wanted to flood the market like MEM-TEK said with leaky detectors to piss off all the other detector manufactures.:mad:

[jdong]

I think cobra did this intentionally because they knew they couldn't win the detector war so they wanted to flood the market like MEM-TEK said with leaky detectors to piss off all the other detector manufactures.:mad:

One of Mike B's early posts regarding the history of Cobra sweep patterns hinted towards the exact same conclusion -- Cobra attempted to introduce false alarms and then a succession of false-alarm filtering algorithms that they then go and patent, likely in an attempt to make sure other detectors will continue falsing to Cobras.

[Jag42]

Filter 2 is very nice ! About 94% of cobra falses don't exist with heavy traffic on interstates and highways with Filter 2. Filter falses often and Filter 1 is good.

[stlcardsfan]

I do like some of what Cobra does -- sleek designed case and really interesting screen implementations. Indeed too bad their detection range is CRAP, consistency is CRAP, and even worse, they've intentionally designed their detectors to send emissions similar to the most difficult to detect forms of police radar.

I may get a video up soon but today when I switched out the suction cups from my old Cobra 9630 to my Escort I did some more brief testing. When I placed the two radars together at the horn, the 9500ix Ka falsed at 35.523 GHz. Scary stuff.

[MEM-TEK]

One of Mike B's early posts regarding the history of Cobra sweep patterns hinted towards the exact same conclusion -- Cobra attempted to introduce false alarms and then a succession of false-alarm filtering algorithms that they then go and patent, likely in an attempt to make sure other detectors will continue falsing to Cobras.

Man, if that is true then it is really funny. Design your products to make competitor products false, then additionally design your products to be able to ignore falses from another of your products being nearby on the road, and then try to turn around and patent this "technology"? Its akin to Microsoft's old saying from back in the DOS days:

"DOS isn't done until Lotus won't run."

[Whistler1]

What I find interesting about the Cobra forum in general is how crappy the Cobra detectors are vs. their merits which are few.


Whistler1 :D:D:D

[unknown]

:D