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View Full Version : Just bought the Pro73 - A few questions



PPPOE
03-23-2006, 03:17 PM
Hey All! After researching hard all over the internet and at the wealth of info provided by RadarRoy (You are a lifesaver, sir) I went with the Whistler 73 over the Cobra 9700 \ 9730. As much as I love the design of the Cobras, I'd rather have performance over style.

I just had a few questions tho, With all the talk about Ku band, is it going to hit the US? I'd hate to spend $120 on a radar detector and have it outdated so soon.

Also, how is the Blue LCD Backlight on the Pro73, and how are the Voice Alerts? I just bought a touchscreen Magellan RoadMate 300 that has a nice, bright blue keypad and I'm hoping it'll look good in my car.

Anything else I should know? Thanks!

Lidar2
03-23-2006, 03:33 PM
Hey All! After researching hard all over the internet and at the wealth of info provided by RadarRoy (You are a lifesaver, sir) I went with the Whistler 73 over the Cobra 9700 \ 9730. As much as I love the design of the Cobras, I'd rather have performance over style.

I just had a few questions tho, With all the talk about Ku band, is it going to hit the US? I'd hate to spend $120 on a radar detector and have it outdated so soon.

Also, how is the Blue LCD Backlight on the Pro73, and how are the Voice Alerts? I just bought a touchscreen Magellan RoadMate 300 that has a nice, bright blue keypad and I'm hoping it'll look good in my car.

Anything else I should know? Thanks!

Dont worry about Ku band for now, trust me it will be a good while before you see that appearing on our streets if at all, the pro 73 isnt backlit it has the blue LED text display which is visible in all but direct sunlight, the voices are good and quite clear identifying each threat that appears, you may have POP falsing issues with Ka sometimes it may annoy u a bit, but all in all the range is very good for this detector, also it is very good in laser detection in its class (believe it) although it wont do ne good if u are the target. Be sure to read the manual fully and enjoy. For the price and performance u have made a good choice.

PPPOE
03-23-2006, 03:38 PM
Awesome. I'm 16 and a very good driver, and I dont usually do more than 10 or 15 over the speed limit, but I'll feel much safer with this one.

When you say the LED Display (Excuse my first post, I said LCD by accident) isn't backlit, are you sure? At night time does it show up?

Lidar2
03-23-2006, 03:43 PM
Awesome. I'm 16 and a very good driver, and I dont usually do more than 10 or 15 over the speed limit, but I'll feel much safer with this one.

When you say the LED Display (Excuse my first post, I said LCD by accident) isn't backlit, are you sure? At night time does it show up?

The display stays lit unless you put it in dark mode, the display will be faintly lit at night but will go out completely when a radar or laser alert is received and will remain that way 20 seconds after the alert has ended, after which it will faintly lit again......10 -15 is good enough for this detector it has adequate range...just be careful of instant on radar if driving alone or ahead of a pack of cars...no detector will help!

PPPOE
03-23-2006, 03:45 PM
When you say Instant-On, you don't mean POP do you? Can you explain?

Lidar2
03-23-2006, 03:49 PM
When you say Instant-On, you don't mean POP do you? Can you explain? POP works just like instant on just much more quicker. Regular instant on worked by sending out a short pulse of radar to defeat radar detectors at close range by not allowing any warning time to the operator that he was being targeted.... the only prob was that it alerted every other radar detector that was near to its proximity...POP sends out a much faster pulse that a regular detector w/o POP could not see fast enough to warn..

PPPOE
03-23-2006, 03:56 PM
I see. What are the chances a small town like mine uses POP \ Instant On? I live in a small town in New England and there are never more than 8 or 9 cops out per shift.

Lidar2
03-23-2006, 04:03 PM
I see. What are the chances a small town like mine uses POP \ Instant On? I live in a small town in New England and there are never more than 8 or 9 cops out per shift.

it all depends if ur jurisdiction has purchased any MPH radar with the POP function ( its the only manufacturer that has developed that)...instant on on the other hand ..the chances are very high it is built in all manufacturers' radars as a user enabled function...and when used it is deadly!

PPPOE
03-23-2006, 04:06 PM
I see. Do most cops have radar in every cruiser?

PS: Thanks for putting up with all my questions folks, this is my first radar detector and I love getting the info on it.

Lidar2
03-23-2006, 04:11 PM
I see. Do most cops have radar in every cruiser?

PS: Thanks for putting up with all my questions folks, this is my first radar detector and I love getting the info on it....Thats what we are here for...to answer your question....the answer is no....not every cop will have a radar in their cruiser your detector will only alert you to radar that is in use whether in constant transmit or instant on.

PPPOE
03-23-2006, 04:44 PM
Thanks a ton LIDAR. I appreciate your help and I'm sure I'll be back with more 8)

Lidar2
03-23-2006, 06:41 PM
Thanks a ton LIDAR. I appreciate your help and I'm sure I'll be back with more 8)


Anytime ! Enjoy your new Whistler!

asianfire
03-23-2006, 07:10 PM
I had the 1788 and the display was really bad in the day time. I could barely see it. Don't have it too low either, cause the dashboard will reflect on it and you won't be able to see it very well.

the_Flash083
03-23-2006, 07:22 PM
I see. What are the chances a small town like mine uses POP \ Instant On? I live in a small town in New England and there are never more than 8 or 9 cops out per shift.

that doesnt mater i live in a small town and only like 5 out at a time and ive seen instant on here in my town and lots of tickets out on those. Basicly instant on is super deadly but avoidable if you use a decoy car :lol: let him get the ticket while you slow down when it detects it.

asianfire
03-23-2006, 07:29 PM
I see. What are the chances a small town like mine uses POP \ Instant On? I live in a small town in New England and there are never more than 8 or 9 cops out per shift.

that doesnt mater i live in a small town and only like 5 out at a time and ive seen instant on here in my town and lots of tickets out on those. Basicly instant on is super deadly but avoidable if you use a decoy car :lol: let him get the ticket while you slow down when it detects it.

Heck, even if he isn't speeding, if the LEO hits him, it will let you know in advance.

bfg9000d
03-23-2006, 07:34 PM
wow finally you guys are catching on what I've been saying all along about leaving another car infront of you. :D Doing that will save your a s s so many times you wont be able to count anymore how much it has saved you. Enjoy your whistler. I hope you fall in love with it as much as I have with mine. KU wont be out for quite a long time. By the time KU comes out you will probably have a full time job or a good part time job and will be able to more then afford maybe and XTR unit or whatever new detector whistler comes out with in the future. In other words it will be quite a while before you see KU on the streets. And it will take even longer before it actually makes it in your neighborhood since most police stations are only allowed so much money to buy equipment like that. Also another thing to consider is most police stations tend to stick with the norm as far as radar guns go ka k etc. If and when ku does come out you will probably have a full year to collect some kind of money to buy a xtr unit and by then the xtr units should be even cheaper. Plus whistler provides a turn in policy where you can trade in your radar detector for a newer one at a major reduction of the purchase price. So that is something to consider down the road. Either way you buying a new pro 73 is a win win situation you got laser detection that rivals pretty close to the V1 believe me I know I have a V1. You k band detection that is simply truley awesome. You got ka protection that will you give more then enough time to slow down. Just make sure you start pressing on the break when you hear ka go off. Dont let ka build up before you slow down. Even the best of radar detectors have a hard time picking ka up from a long distance. Letting any radar signal build up before you slow down is dangerous. I always let off the gas and lightly apply the break when I hear k and ka go off. Unless I know theirs a door opener around. Learn where the door openers are so you know where the falses are. Also fully read and I mean full read the manual. When you go to the restroom bring the manual with you. Even though you read through it once read through it again and again. Place the pro 73 slightly below the rear view mirror. I know whistler says mount low. Put do as I say mount slightly below the rear view mirror. Other then that thats it.

boomerman
03-24-2006, 02:42 AM
bfg9000d are you on Whistler"s payroll or something?
The Whistler's Laser detection does NOT come close to the V1, unless your V1 is not working properly.
Take a look at this from the Veil guy's report.
http://www.laserveil.com/laser-detector-performance/charts-by-radar-detector/

As you can see the Whistler does not even detect the
LTI-20-20 Ultralyte 100LR
Atlanta Model S - Stealth Mode
Atlanta Model S ( Just barely for a split second it did detect it)

Lidar2
03-24-2006, 09:51 AM
bfg9000d are you on Whistler"s payroll or something?
The Whistler's Laser detection does NOT come close to the V1, unless your V1 is not working properly.
Take a look at this from the Veil guy's report.
http://www.laserveil.com/laser-detector-performance/charts-by-radar-detector/

As you can see the Whistler does not even detect the
LTI-20-20 Ultralyte 100LR
Atlanta Model S - Stealth Mode
Atlanta Model S ( Just barely for a split second it did detect it)

Like I said it may not be a V1 but when it sees it, it sees it. Tests and real life situations vary.

bfg9000d
03-24-2006, 01:19 PM
boomerman

Lets see thats a controlled test not a real world test. Yes V1 is great on laser detection. Minus the V1 the whistler is better then the RX 65 hands down on laser. I got a few laser tickets to prove that the rx 65 dont detect c r a p for laser. so what does that leave the passport. Laser on the passport is great also. So that leaves the whistler pretty darn high for laser detection. I dont believe controlled test as that can be bias. I drive in the real world not on a controlled surface street. Seeing is believing I'm sorry boomerman that your pro 58 dont detect c r a p. You really should send it in to get it check out. Maybe then you would begin to like it.

And by the way I'm sending a formal complaint

AirMoore
03-24-2006, 01:36 PM
boomerman

You becoming a real a s s. Lets see thats a controlled test not a real world test. Yes V1 is great on laser detection. Minus the V1 the whistler is better then the RX 65 hands down on laser. I got a few laser tickets to prove that the rx 65 dont detect c r a p for laser. so what does that leave the passport. Laser on the passport is great also. So that leaves the whistler pretty darn high for laser detection. I dont believe controlled test as that can be bias. I drive in the real world not on a controlled surface street. Seeing is believing I'm sorry boomerman that your pro 58 dont detect c r a p. You really should send it in to get it check out. Maybe then you would begin to like it.

And by the way I'm sending a formal complaint

bfg9000d

1st) No need for namecalling/swearing bfg9000d, the spaces dont make it any less meaningful... it is still swearing, it just makes it so the filter doesnt catch it.

2nd) You stated and I quote:


you got laser detection that rivals pretty close to the V1 Which is simply 100% false (a lie in other words), it doesnt come close to the V1 detection on laser... you can't even make a case for it.

3rd) You obviously misread the charts... There isnt A SINGLE gun on there which the 73 beats the RX65... This shows it better:

http://www.laserveil.com/laser-detector-performance/charts-by-police-laser-gun/

As a matter of fact... the V1, X50, STi, RX65 either beat (or tie) the 73 on every single gun.

I really understand the fact you like Whistler, and they make good products... but your simply giving false statements about a product.

The RX65 isnt great on laser (the weakest of the Big 3 by far), but as you can see it still beats the 73.

boomerman
03-24-2006, 01:52 PM
File a complaint for what??
I show you hard facts and since it does NOT agree with what you think you are going to file a complaint? :roll:

You come in and you tell people things like this "Place the pro 73 slightly below the rear view mirror. I know whistler says mount low. but do as I say mount slightly below the rear view mirror. " Who are you to say that is the best place for that person to place the detector. Why should they do what you say?
You are the one who seems to be attacking me. I have been very reasonable with you.

bfg9000d
03-24-2006, 02:19 PM
Dont complain to me now. I sent a formal complaint. Its out of my hands. I have had enough of this crosstalk.

Lidar2
03-24-2006, 04:08 PM
Dont complain to me now. I sent a formal complaint. Its out of my hands. I have had enough of this crosstalk.


People dont let this get out of hand, all we are doing is just discussing devices, not a life and death situation. There is no need for us to blow our tops here....every device here has its strength and its weaknessess simply put!. I have an RX 65 but its in my cousins possession...I have to say it does excel the Pro 73 on radar but from what I have experienced from using it the 73 is a little better on laser. People seriously, its only electronic devices....not life and death good grief :evil: :!:

Radar Roy
03-24-2006, 04:17 PM
Hey guys lets all calm down and play fair...

I understand all your positions and everyone is entitled their own viewpoint on these products.

Enjoy all enjoy the board

No need to flame, threaten, lets all get along

Lidar2
03-24-2006, 04:22 PM
Hey guys lets all calm down and play fair...

I understand all your positions and everyone is entitled their own viewpoint on these products.

Enjoy all enjoy the board

No need to flame, threaten, lets all get along

Thank You, Roy

Its just an electronic device people, nothing more nothing less

bfg9000d
03-24-2006, 04:24 PM
thank-you Roy as always. :D

the_Flash083
03-24-2006, 05:23 PM
i have a whistler and my dad has a v1 i seem to slow down before he does on laser im guessing its just because he is getting old :lol:

bfg9000d
03-24-2006, 06:55 PM
lol that was a good one the_Flash083

boomerman
03-24-2006, 08:30 PM
Sorry Roy that you had to get involved.

I guess I must be the playground bully :(

the_Flash083
03-24-2006, 08:45 PM
"Place the pro 73 slightly below the rear view mirror. I know whistler says mount low.but do as I say mount slightly below the rear view mirror " been very reasonable with you.

all whistlers say mount it low as posible even the 20 dollar ones at wallmart why is this?

bfg9000d
03-25-2006, 12:41 PM
The reason why I so strongly believe to mount high even though whistler says mount low. Is from past driving experience and getting hit with laser with my detector down low. If their is a big fat SUV in front of you all that detector can see is that big fat bumper nothing else nothing more. When going down the road for that matter all it can ever see is bumpers. Scatter does not wrap around the car and reflect off the back bumper. Scatter either reflects out or through something. Just take a normal laser pointer you can see this for yourself. Whistler wants you to get the best laser pickup from your car not from somebody elses. Lets face it once you hear the laser detector go off and your the only one being targeted you've been had unless you use veil or something active to jam. So a high mount gives you that slim chance of picking up any kind of scatter that goes upward or outward or through the others drivers windshield. How do I know this well along time ago. I drove through a laser trap several times remember this is real world not surface street testing. I mounted my detector low and ran by the trap several times it didnt go off until I was right on top of the laser gun. Then I rode by the trap again several times with my whistler high mounted which is slighlty below the rear view mirror. I got a pretty good advance warning before coming up to the cop. You might say o this is subjective. Well I made sure that before I enter the trap about the same amount of traffic was around me and the test came out pretty much the same everytime I drove up into the trap. And officer wobble on the laser gun is gonna be either up or down or some side to side. So the chances of him shooting through another cars windshield and your detector picking it up is pretty resonable I would say if your detector can see through the other cars windshield that is. Higher yields a better field of view. Maybe for detecting a direct hit with your car lower is better but that is sorta pointless to me. Even with active jammers and veil were all trying to go with some kind of warning with laser. Also V1 did and article about mounting high for laser a while back ago.

Also boomerman actually I got Roy to come in here and to post something. This thread was getting out of control. Mr Roy and I have talked to each other about you and whats going on in here. Which I cant dicuss until we can sort this matter out some more. All i can say at this point in time name calling and calling people liers and not respecting other peoples opinions regardless of some test results is got to stop. I'm having Mr Roy monitor this forum more closely. As far as how Mr Roy deals with this situation and futrure situations is up to him at this point.

venexoz
03-25-2006, 01:30 PM
Wow this thread got pretty interesting just put the RD where ever you want, you bought you do what you like with it.... I put mine on the side of my mirror really high because my roommate and I have found that works for us, some people like it rigth in the middle of the windshield not too high because they like to have a better laser detection and radar detection I don't know, can't say anything about it.... really low I heard its better for laser, that might be true, but I don't have VEIL or jammer so what ever I prefer the surprise of getting the ticket or possibly a better chance of getting scatter.... Welcome to the Forum.... It's really cool here I been learning a lot and only have like two weeks here... :D

the_Flash083
03-25-2006, 07:00 PM
the whistlers you buy at wallmart do not detect laser.... and they still say mount low :shock:

SmaartAasSaabr
03-25-2006, 09:15 PM
the whistlers you buy at wallmart do not detect laser.... and they still say mount low :shock:

who what? Laser detection costs like 8 cents

the_Flash083
03-25-2006, 10:08 PM
the whistlers you buy at wallmart do not detect laser.... and they still say mount low :shock:

who what? Laser detection costs like 8 cents

lol i think it was 19 dollars when i bought it when i didnt know anything about them. Yea that **** sucked regardless it would never even go off i would get nothing then bam full on 9 as he pulls out behind me to give me a ticket or warning :shock:

bfg9000d
03-25-2006, 10:12 PM
the whistlers you buy at wallmart do not detect laser.... and they still say mount low

I think their is some truth to this. I bought my whistler directly from whistler on a trade in of a older model. I even had whistler test the unit from end to end to ensure the product was of the highest quality. The whistler you buy at walmart are roughly treated dont believe me watch the stockers who stock these things. One guy threw a whole box of whistlers down the isle for sometbody else to stock. He started to put them in the glass case. And the guy putting them in the glass case was just jamming them in there. I couldnt take it anymore. I finally went up and said sir you really ought to treat those detectors a little more nicer. Of course he replied I dont care they can take a beating nobody can tell the difference. Would I buy a detector from walmart even if it was a whistler no. Because they are roughly treated and the kind of moving they did to those detectors would for sure throw something out of whack on them. My brother did buy a whistler from walmart a few years back and the detection on it was really poor and it would turn on and off at times. We sent it in for testing. We got it back with a service sheet had a whole list of stuff that was replaced. Grant it this was a detector we bought at walmart and it wasnt more then 1 week old prior to all these problems. I wouldnt buy a detector from really anybody on the streets. Radioshack, bestbuy all these people treat these things rough. I always recommend order directly from a trusted vendor or the company themselfs and make sure the box is either ship fedex or usps express mail or UPS. The special carriers treat these boxes much nicer. If your getting poor detection from a whistler I strongly recommend getting it tested. Please dont always assume that this is as good as a whistler gets. Please get it check out through whistler repair department.

boomerman
03-26-2006, 02:26 PM
Also boomerman actually I got Roy to come in here and to post something. This thread was getting out of control. Mr Roy and I have talked to each other about you and whats going on in here. Which I cant dicuss until we can sort this matter out some more. All i can say at this point in time name calling and calling people liers and not respecting other peoples opinions regardless of some test results is got to stop. I'm having Mr Roy monitor this forum more closely. As far as how Mr Roy deals with this situation and futrure situations is up to him at this point.
BFG9000d First of all show me one place where I ever called you any names!! 2nd place show me where I ever called you a liar??

If anyone is calling anyone names it has been you, i do believe you called me an ass. I have not sunk down to your level and called anyone any names.
When did I say anyone was lying? Are saying I called you a liar? show me where.
You are the one telling the lies and calling people names.

SHOW ME ONE instance where I have lied or called you name!!!
You can NOT because I have NOT.

You can talk to Roy all you want, because I have done NOTHING wrong. YOU are the one telling lies and calling names!!

bfg9000d
03-26-2006, 08:05 PM
"You peopleare talking to Whistler's sales reps are just that, talking to a sales rep that is going to hype the unit, THAT IS THEIR JOB!! ."

You are saying that night I didnt know who I was talking to because I was to stupid to figure it out that I was really talking to a sales person. Infact I wasnt talking to a sales person that night. In essence your calling me a liar. By stating that I was talking to a sales rep when infact I was not. So you were falsing my orginal post buy in essence calling it a lie that I was really talking to a sales rep. Please do not tell people who they talked to or what they did I'm sure they can figure that out. Anything of that nature of post especially as a mod turns the poster into a liar.

Test results are subjective just like opinions. Either way it doesnt make one a lier. Stop walking in to these threads out to prove people wrong. If you disagree with people thats great disagree but dont slice and dice somebodys post apart and make remarks about them working for whistler or telling people they really werent talking to this person or that person you where just talking to blah blah blah. Also If somebody gives and suggestion or and idea its up to him or her to make the choice to do it regardless if the idea maybe right or wrong.

Studdg
03-29-2006, 08:46 PM
"Test results are subjective just like opinions."

If performed by an independant 3rd party without bias, I don't believe this to be true.

Note: I know for a fact that the 1793 detects laser. When I go to the airport it goes off. The device may not be powerful enough to detect police laser, but I'm positive that the laser detector does work on some level.

jimbonzzz
03-29-2006, 10:14 PM
Also boomerman actually I got Roy to come in here and to post something. This thread was getting out of control. Mr Roy and I have talked to each other about you and whats going on in here. Which I cant dicuss until we can sort this matter out some more. All i can say at this point in time name calling and calling people liers and not respecting other peoples opinions regardless of some test results is got to stop. I'm having Mr Roy monitor this forum more closely. As far as how Mr Roy deals with this situation and futrure situations is up to him at this point.

Let me get this straight: you post your opinion, and when someone like boomerman disagrees with you, and you don't like what they said or the way they said it, you "file a formal complaint" with Roy? Are you going to "file a formal complaint" every time boomerman or anyone else disagrees with something you say? Roy is a busy man, and he doesn't have the time to play babysitter with all of your petty bull crap! Nobody likes a crybaby! This isn't kindergarden.

Please stop this conduct, it isn't welcome here. If you can't take people disagreeing with you, then maybe you don't belong here. This is an open forum.

Go ahead and "file a formal complaint" against me too if it makes you feel better!

Jim

Lidar2
03-29-2006, 11:00 PM
This has gone far beyond ridiculous. It all started out as simply helping a noob with his new Whistler and it just gets blown out of proportion and onto different tangents....Administrators please close this thread if it deems so...this is getting irritating. :!:

jimbonzzz
03-30-2006, 12:05 AM
I agree. Thread locked.