Bel 955 Issues

[DieselSpeeder]

First off, I'm a noob on this board, so HELLO EVERYONE! Looks like a nice forum. I am not new to detectors by any means and have gone to school for engineering... Detectors I have had: average Cobra in 2001, Valentine One from 2002-2004 (sold to my brother).

Ok, reason I'm on here... I haven't had a detector since 2004ish and am driving an ungoddly amount of miles per week all hwy. So a decent detector seemed to be a good idea. I'm not into fast cars anymore, I have trucks now. so I really didn't wanna break the bank. I narrowed my search down to the Bel 955 and the Whistler pro 78. Ended up buying the Bel 955. I started using it Wed morning until now, Fri night. and clocked about 1,400 miles with it. I reached the conclusion this afternoon it's A- broken/defectiv or B- a total POS. First off, let me tell you if you put this thing in POP mode it is UNBEARABLE how many false alerts you will get. Total joke. It's going off every 3-5 mins at 80. So, I turned POP mode OFF. The false alerts went WAY down by doing so. Next problem I have with is range. My sight was working better than the RD. I ran into this instance 3x's this week. Cop running K or Ka in the median of a HWY. I'm coming up from behind him; he's radaring traffic in the other direction. This detector only would go off when you get about 100yds at best from the cop. and then once you pass him, the detector goes to full alert for a very short period of time and then a few seconds later it's quiet. So you pretty much have to be right infront of the cop for it to work. I had this happen many times. and cars around me were slowing down 1/2-1mile before we reached the cop; I saw there detectors going off. And I've driven by cops issuing tickets on the side of the hwy and I only get an alert if i'm about 100yrds behind the cop and 200yds infront of him... yet again, right infront of the gun. And I'm stilling getting a fair amount of false alerts driving through the middle of nowhere. To give you an example how remote... I have 2 cell phones with me, Nextel and Tmobile. Neither has signal, and we're in BFE, but I'm getting false alerts. Overall, very very disappointed with this thing. This thing has to be defective. And it's worked like this since the day I plugged it in and drove off. Opinions? ideas? It's performing worse than my 2001 $99 walmart cobra. I've also been in friends cars with $100 whistlers from wal-mart and had much better luck than this thing. Seems like a nice detector, but something is not right....

[Anthrax]

ive heard that the Pro 78 is a wolf in sheeps clothing so to speak.

if your only getting about 100 yards of detection, thats worse than my RMR then i think it might be broken.

i thought having a Radar in a commercial vehicle or heavy vehicle in the states was illegal?

if your doing those amount of miles then i would suggest: dont bother with cheap radars get a V1 or if you are driving a heavy truck getting a STi. it will pay for itself in the long run.

[dpatel01]

Somethings not right about this if your only getting 100yds or so range. I have a V955 too and it performs consistently, alerts up to 2 miles on constant-on K/Ka. Try resetting it (shut the unit down, and hold down city and bright, then hit the power button). You'll lose all your settings but its a piece of cake to program, especially if you're coming from a V1. I'm assuming the detector is also mounted level. If the cops aren't using pop in your area, turn it off because my V955 sometimes goes insane too giving dozens of alerts even while its sitting in the driveway facing my house.

[focalcivic]

First off, I'm a noob on this board, so HELLO EVERYONE! Looks like a nice forum. I am not new to detectors by any means and have gone to school for engineering... Detectors I have had: average Cobra in 2001, Valentine One from 2002-2004 (sold to my brother).

Ok, reason I'm on here... I haven't had a detector since 2004ish and am driving an ungoddly amount of miles per week all hwy. So a decent detector seemed to be a good idea. I'm not into fast cars anymore, I have trucks now. so I really didn't wanna break the bank. I narrowed my search down to the Bel 955 and the Whistler pro 78. Ended up buying the Bel 955. I started using it Wed morning until now, Fri night. and clocked about 1,400 miles with it. I reached the conclusion this afternoon it's A- broken/defectiv or B- a total POS. First off, let me tell you if you put this thing in POP mode it is UNBEARABLE how many false alerts you will get. Total joke. It's going off every 3-5 mins at 80. So, I turned POP mode OFF. The false alerts went WAY down by doing so. Next problem I have with is range. My sight was working better than the RD. I ran into this instance 3x's this week. Cop running K or Ka in the median of a HWY. I'm coming up from behind him; he's radaring traffic in the other direction. This detector only would go off when you get about 100yds at best from the cop. and then once you pass him, the detector goes to full alert for a very short period of time and then a few seconds later it's quiet. So you pretty much have to be right infront of the cop for it to work. I had this happen many times. and cars around me were slowing down 1/2-1mile before we reached the cop; I saw there detectors going off. And I've driven by cops issuing tickets on the side of the hwy and I only get an alert if i'm about 100yrds behind the cop and 200yds infront of him... yet again, right infront of the gun. And I'm stilling getting a fair amount of false alerts driving through the middle of nowhere. To give you an example how remote... I have 2 cell phones with me, Nextel and Tmobile. Neither has signal, and we're in BFE, but I'm getting false alerts. Overall, very very disappointed with this thing. This thing has to be defective. And it's worked like this since the day I plugged it in and drove off. Opinions? ideas? It's performing worse than my 2001 $99 walmart cobra. I've also been in friends cars with $100 whistlers from wal-mart and had much better luck than this thing. Seems like a nice detector, but something is not right....

A few things, did you buy it new? Did you buy it from an authorized dealer? If so you can exchange it.

Second, does your truck have any special kind of windshield with a coating on it?

[BlinderGuy]

I had a V955 up until a few days ago then upgraded to V995 but when I had my V955 it had great range on all bands. Pop was a problem so I never used. As far as your not detecting a cop until you where 100 yds away it could have been because the were not shooting at you they where shooting the opposite traffic. It is my understanding that the new M4 platform that comes in all new Bels are alot less chatty unless it is a direct threat shooting in your direction. that is how they cut back on all the falses. I could be wrong about that but is what I've gotten from reading about the new M4 platform. If Im wrong someone let me know.

[DieselSpeeder]

I bought it brandnew from radar roy. I tried resetting it, still same thing. Yes pop is annoying that's why I shut it off. I already have a RMA # and am sending it back monday morning for a refund. I already bought a V1. The thing has to be defective, my 6yr old $99 cobra is whooping it. Bel themselves pretty much confirmed that it is defective. I don't have a commercial vehicle per say. It's just a regular F150 the company provides in place of your personal vehicle. I just need it for getting to here and there. I doubt a XL F150 has a special coating on the glass, it's a 2008, but it's a work truck special. And after using it for 1,400 miles and almost a week... I have no confidence in this unit. between the false alerts and worse than line of sight warning. It has yet to have properly warned me.

[BlinderGuy]

I would say it is a defective unit because overall the V955 is a very good Rd. I had full confidence in mine just as I do my V995.. But as I stated before be aware of the fact that because of the M4 platform that Beltronics uses you will not get as many alerts . THat does not mean it is not working its because the M4 platform is designed to really go off when radar is a direct threat meaning shooting toward you not away from you.

[CJR238]

Its one of 2 things:

1- From what you described it sounded like the LEO was shooting radar at traffic in the other direction so why would you get good detection? its like thinking your going to get hit by a ball your throwing away from you. And after you pass him your detection is longer. That’s normal in that case.
However a it does appear to be way, way too short of a detection range after the LEO.

2- More likley: bad unit or windshield with radar blocking film. Exchange it or replace your windshield.

[Freebird]

My experiences with the STI when they are sitting in the middle shooting the other direction I dont get very much warning (cause you are getting reflections off the cars coming your direction). Also if the LEO is on the shoulder giving a citation and the victims car is blocking the radar beam I dont get much warning either. Im not sure about the V1 in this situation but you should have plenty of warning in most encounters, but I would be concerned the V1 may be too noisy around town. Good luck with your new purchase and let us know how it performs.

[DieselSpeeder]

Well my old V1 I sold to my brother a few yrs ago, that has never been updated... so he's running V1.6 I believe, whatever was current in 2002 when I bought it.. It's mopping the floor with this new 955. We tried them out this morning. No comparison. But if the 955 is defective (99% sure it is) then it's not fair comparison. Either way... Quality control should have caught something like this. I'm going back to a V1. FYI, arrows rock. and even when LEO is radaring oncoming trffic the V1 gave us like a 1 mile alert. and it has less false alerts. Not to mention it's upgradable. I figured almost all newer decent RD were upgradable nowadays. I tried saving money and in the end I bought the V1 anyway. Well I tried. It doesn't pay to be cheap.

I just really wanted to see if this is a common thing with the 955, and from what it sounds like... it's not. However I did find quite a few threads on the net complaining of similar Bel's that are dying before 6 months.