regarding the Escort Passport 9500i

[targettuning]

While there have been posts about this detector scattered around within this site am I incorrect in believing that it has been tried and found wanting? Most who tried it seem to have returned it so has it been marginalized because of that? There doesn't seem to be any enthusiam for this new and unique idea of locking out false sites anymore. So then, the overall feeling is that it is a good idea that didn't quite work out?
What is the overall feeling here of the likelyhood of Escort taking the hint (from a rash of returns and/or knowledgeable users actually telling of their poor experiences) and tinkering with the software? If they do how will we know a new and improved version is out if they (Escort) will not acknowledge a problem in the first place??
I ask all these questions because I was one of those who thought this was the finest idea since sliced bread and was counting out my money to buy one UNTIL ...you guessed it, I started reading all these less than great experiences. As a result I am hanging back for something that may be improved. I live in Pa where it is not legal for city/township police to use radar. Only the state police can use radar period. As a result any alerts in towns or cities are usually false alarms. I personally have never seen a trooper using a door opener as "blind" to trap motorists. This is not to say it never happened. So, if I can lock out falses I can be about 100% sure there isn't a cop lurking in the vicinity.

[Nexeo]

Well, from personal experience, at first I loved the 9500i and would go out and drive just to play with it. As time went on I continued to be more weary of it... losing locked out signals, not picking up some radar sources or barely picking them up. And two radar sources at one point really isn't that big of a deal, even with the 8500 x50. People make it seem like your completely screwed... untrue. If you have your 8500 x50 in standard meter display mode then it will probably show the false source until the other source becomes stronger, then show the false source (as long as they are both the same band). If you have expert meter display mode on then you can see multiple signal strengths (thats what V1 owners don't understand isn't so damn special about their bogey counter, maybe they just dont know that Escorts have this mode).

[KnightHawk]

Lockout signal is a minor problem since using A mode(speed sensitive mode) takes care of most of the problem. You still can lock out frequencies and my suggestion is to lock out K band frequencies 24.125 and below for the most part. You can still lockout K band frquencies higher than 24.125 in areas where traffic radar is not useful. The other problem i have is the ramp up alert where is gives you as false sense that the LEO is still too far and then get a sudden burst of solid tone which i don't like.

Here's a sample of the 9500i ramp up alert that i am talking about.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...58776101992995

Here's the X50's ramp up alert and notice how the audio alert starts to go faster as it gets closer to the radar source.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...95428506812035

[targettuning]

OK...I used the lock out feature as the main complaint because it seemed to be the most talked about but I recognize there are others e.g. the ramp-up operation. But the general feeling I am getting is that the 9500i was primarily marketing hype OR a less than fully tested piece with US being the beta testers. That .."well,we gave it a try now we can go back to our V-1 with piece of mind that it is still the best regardless of whatever Bel/Escort tries" kind of feeling.
I guess I wonder if the majority here feel it will eventually get fixed and be the "end all" of radar detectors or fall to the wayside. Well, maybe "end all" is kind of strong but one up on the others due to the lock out and some other unique features.
I know many here regard owning several detectors as kind of an ongoing experiment or hobby of sorts but I can usually afford to buy one and I'd like a damn good one. So, questions, questions and more questions.

[transammatt]

I called escort today after my 9500i locked out another leo running K band.(24.165). The locked out signal was 24.161. So of course the detector still thought it was the false door witch the signal will sway a bit. I had escort on the phone as I was following this leo with consent k band. Every time We went into a lockout zone 1/2 mile I believe It would lock out the cop.The so called tech asked me If am going to follow the cop around all day!!! He really had no idea what I was talking about! I really wish escort will stop lying about this problem and get it fixed. I call them about once a week. Has anyone got them to tell the truth about the problems. Maybe software can help this ?Maybe not.
Thanks Matt :shock:

[Phillip559]

I called escort today after my 9500i locked out another leo running K band.(24.165). The locked out signal was 24.161. So of course the detector still thought it was the false door witch the signal will sway a bit. I had escort on the phone as I was following this leo with consent k band. Every time We went into a lockout zone 1/2 mile I believe It would lock out the cop.The so called tech asked me If am going to follow the cop around all day!!! He really had no idea what I was talking about! I really wish escort will stop lying about this problem and get it fixed. I call them about once a week. Has anyone got them to tell the truth about the problems. Maybe software can help this ?Maybe not.
Thanks Matt :shock:

That was my exact concern with the true lock feature after reading about the 9500i.

I am wondering how well the rd can actually distinguish when there is a also a real threat in a locked out area. For example, if you had a 24.150 as a true lock but a leo was also shooting this this same frequency in the area. The only way it would be able to tell is by multiple bogeys. Would it even be able to distinguish that the signals were two diffferent ones even though the GHZ are the same?

Have a lot of people been experiecing locked out leo radar shots?

[polakatl]

Its surprising that the 9500i doesn't consider the bogey count. It seems that matt previously locked out just one signal at .161 Then he picked up a leo at .165 . If the detector sees the leo as a second source it "should" alert regardless of frequency. Maybe the problem is that the lockout zone is so big that the false may not be seen at the moment that the police radar shows up. So the 9500i mistakes it for the false.

I'm just speculating.

[GoHawks63]

[quote="Phillip559"]

I am wondering how well the rd can actually distinguish when there is a also a real threat in a locked out area. For example, if you had a 24.150 as a true lock but a leo was also shooting this this same frequency in the area.

If an LEO shooting the same frequency near a source with the same frequency, wouldn't it affect his readings? How would the radar gun know which source to read? How could the detector realize it was two different sources? Wouldn't it just think it was all from one source?

[KnightHawk]

[quote="GoHawks63"]

I am wondering how well the rd can actually distinguish when there is a also a real threat in a locked out area. For example, if you had a 24.150 as a true lock but a leo was also shooting this this same frequency in the area.

If an LEO shooting the same frequency near a source with the same frequency, wouldn't it affect his readings? How would the radar gun know which source to read? How could the detector realize it was two different sources? Wouldn't it just think it was all from one source?

The 9500i will only show 1 source if the frequency is close enough and you can test it by using the expert mode to verify the source. The expert mode and true lock functions have similar methods - it determines the frequency of the source. If the frequecy is the same or close enough, it will only show 1 source. If you also lockout a source that has the same frequency or close frequency to a radar gun frequency, it will lockout the true radar source or frequency too. Frequencies from 24.150 and up can usually be a problem when locking out this signal because this is where most K band police radar is tuned in. Even police radar frequencies seen by the 9500i will also change and this is where the problem arises too because the readings from one source will vary day to day whether it be a auto door opener or a police radar gun. I did a test with 2 police radar guns operating at the same frequency where i lockout one of the the radar guns in my drive way. The following day, as i got back from work, i turned on the radar that i lock out and the sat icon started to spin with no alert. At this point, i got the handheld radar gun and fired it up. The 9500i also lock out that signal because there frequency was the same even though i have used 2 radar guns. In expert mode, it will only show 1 bar even when using 2 radar guns.

If the frequency of the false source is way too far from the true radar source, it will show 2 bogeys and when using the lockout feature, it will alert you of the true source when it is present. The 9500i should work well when locking out out signals 24.125 and below but most auto door sensors are around the 24.150 range. This problem is minor to me as long you use your brain now that you know how the truelock feature and expert meter works. It's the most quiet detector i have ever tested and planning to get one as soon as they've fixed some of the minor glitches.