A few issues with the 9500ix

[PreCog]

I just received my 9500ix this past saturday but have a few issues with it and wanted some others input.

I have owned a 995 for a while and have a zr4. I pulled the 995 down to replace it with the 9500ix.

the issues I've experienced so far:

1 - When it first powers on there is a rattling sound (the best word I can use to describe the noise). It powers up just fine other than the noise and occasionally while driving it will make a similar noise but in short bursts. It is loud enough to hear while driving on the interstate with the radio turned off.

2 - I live in Austin where they just started using red light cameras. THey have a total of 2 installed and in use at this time. The rd notified me of a red light camera at an intersection which is a good 15 miles from where the closest one has been installed. I approached the light and stopped at the red. I took that time to look around and did not see a red light camera. There was however a bullet style camera posted on top of the pole (similar to what you will see on the highway so DPS can monitor the flow of traffic) I thought nothing of it until a mile or so down the street and it alerted me to another red light camera. Same scenario as the last.

If anyone is in the Austin area I am referring to the intersections Lamar and 290 and the light at Lamar right there by Harbor Freight.

Not that big of a deal but just found it strange!

3 - The sensitivity is horrible. I have it in Auto mode and was driving on I35. Today alone I came across 3 troopers. I made a visual on all 3 before the ix gave me a Ka warning. Once it did give me a Ka signal it gave it with full bars and slowly came down as I passed and continued on. It never started with 1 or even a few bars and increased it gave me a full power Ka then came down.

I am going to put the 995 back in tomorrow for comparison. I want to determine how much further in advance the 995 is alerting before the ix does.

I called escort to inquire about the rattling noise. The rep told me it should be silent when starting up and during use but it shouldnt effect the detector and I have nothing to worry about unless it starts displaying service messages on the screen.

[RanEnRui]

#1: I am not sure, if you shake the RD around (gently now...) do you hear anything that sounds like something is loose inside? If not, the rattling may be either the windshield mount is not totally secured inside the RD or a slight 'tapping' against the windshield itself from the RD while you are driving (I think I remember having something like that with my 9500i, so I mounted it higher up and it fixed it).

#2: No idea, I don't think those are rCams, but who knows!

#3: Sounds like instant-on Ka, I got some of that today too!

[thestaton]

hmmm. nothing should be rattling, if in doubt have them pay for shipping back and get it checked out.

if you run across a camera not in the data base, store it in the detector. I don't recall, if we can submit them for validation or not.

keep us updated on the performance. At 35MPH it's not at full sensitivity on X or K band so maybe that's the reason? With the auto learn feature I just leave mine on Highway

[RadarKid]

I just received my 9500ix this past saturday but have a few issues with it and wanted some others input.

I have owned a 995 for a while and have a zr4. I pulled the 995 down to replace it with the 9500ix.

the issues I've experienced so far:

1 - When it first powers on there is a rattling sound (the best word I can use to describe the noise). It powers up just fine other than the noise and occasionally while driving it will make a similar noise but in short bursts. It is loud enough to hear while driving on the interstate with the radio turned off.

2 - I live in Austin where they just started using red light cameras. THey have a total of 2 installed and in use at this time. The rd notified me of a red light camera at an intersection which is a good 15 miles from where the closest one has been installed. I approached the light and stopped at the red. I took that time to look around and did not see a red light camera. There was however a bullet style camera posted on top of the pole (similar to what you will see on the highway so DPS can monitor the flow of traffic) I thought nothing of it until a mile or so down the street and it alerted me to another red light camera. Same scenario as the last.

If anyone is in the Austin area I am referring to the intersections Lamar and 290 and the light at Lamar right there by Harbor Freight.

Not that big of a deal but just found it strange!

3 - The sensitivity is horrible. I have it in Auto mode and was driving on I35. Today alone I came across 3 troopers. I made a visual on all 3 before the ix gave me a Ka warning. Once it did give me a Ka signal it gave it with full bars and slowly came down as I passed and continued on. It never started with 1 or even a few bars and increased it gave me a full power Ka then came down.

I am going to put the 995 back in tomorrow for comparison. I want to determine how much further in advance the 995 is alerting before the ix does.

I called escort to inquire about the rattling noise. The rep told me it should be silent when starting up and during use but it shouldnt effect the detector and I have nothing to worry about unless it starts displaying service messages on the screen.

Good luck man. I just came back from Austin again from just a short trip.
The cops in Austin are NUTS pulling people over. I also noticed the Speed Cams in the area. Do you have any problems with the GPS connection downtown Austin? My navigation feature on my cellphone (VZ Navigator) was severely slow to update there. Its very quick everywhere else I use it...including when I left downtown and drove to the airport. I wondered if you have any issues living there

[PreCog]

Good luck man. I just came back from Austin again from just a short trip.
The cops in Austin are NUTS pulling people over. I also noticed the Speed Cams in the area. Do you have any problems with the GPS connection downtown Austin? My navigation feature on my cellphone (VZ Navigator) was severely slow to update there. Its very quick everywhere else I use it...including when I left downtown and drove to the airport. I wondered if you have any issues living there

On the 9500 I havent ventured downtown yet. On my Nuvi 350 I drop satellites all the time.

The cops are nuts. I received a ticket about 6 months ago and fought it and fortunately won by default. I was ticketed for unsafe movement to the left. Essentially he wrote me up because when leaving a shopping center parking lot I chose the center of 3 lanes to pull into. Was I in the wrong according to Texas statutes, yeah, but it is a petty reason to make a traffic stop. Off my soap box!

When I lightly shake the rd you can hear something loose.

On another note, I just returned from the store where I purchased a AC/DC converter. Ouput is 12-18v DC. The 9500 started to power up and then said low voltage powering down. This thing is driving me nuts. According to the manual it needs 12 volts DC. WTF. I know I can just drag my laptop out to my car and play around with the software but I was looking forward to sitting at the desk and doing it.

[Lucky225]

BTW Texas law requires signs 100ft before the intersection letting you know if there is a redlight cam, so if you didn't see the signs the database on your rd is wrong.

[TSi+WRX]

The Trinity database is the best out there, currently - but it's not bulletproof.

Link up and get the latest database often, particularly if you live in an area where such measures are in-use and/or in-flux (i.e. new ones going up, ones yet to be activated, etc.).

If you find problems/inaccuracies, contribute to the Trinity database with your location data. You'll do both yourself as well as other Trinity users a big favor.

---

As for the Ka-band sensitivity issue, actually, Ka is always on full sensitivity - what you observed was instant-on ("I/O"). Without good driving/tactical practice (without a rabbit/bird-dog to pave the way), even the best detector is at a huge disadvantage - almost a sure losing bet - against I/O.

[PointerCone]

[QUOTE=TSi+WRX;427338]The Trinity database is the best out there, currently - but it's not bulletproof.

Link up and get the latest database often, particularly if you live in an area where such measures are in-use and/or in-flux (i.e. new ones going up, ones yet to be activated, etc.).

Have had my 9500iX three weeks today and no such issues here in Chicago, the land of BIG buildings. I've caught every red light cam (and some I didnt know about) so maybe you have a defective unit. Also, Try turning off the X totally (Auto NO X will do it) and see what you get. My unit has been bulletproof in three weeks of use. If you owned a 9500 before, the 9500 iX would be a no brainer. Maybe there's a learning curve there. I also deselected teh Autolearn as well and basically have programmed mine to delete X, no autolearn, auto (since I drive both city and highway) and run AUTONoX all the time. You also may not be getting alerts that you hear if you have the Automute on since it mutes pretty quickly after the initial alert.

FYI, had the same problem with my V-1, sent it in to Mike V and he fixed it for $ 0 !!! It was rattling and there was a bad solder joint. Even updated the software!!

[PointerCone]

BTW Texas law requires signs 100ft before the intersection letting you know if there is a redlight cam, so if you didn't see the signs the database on your rd is wrong.

Illinois is the same for legal signage before the intersection. I still have caught all of them so far. You gotta update the Trinity too. Here in Chi Town they are adding cams daily (Chicago , the city alone has 104 of them and its growing); the suburbs are getting just as bad.

[akarol]

Call me crazy, but I believe my 9500ix is more sensitive than my V1. I have been getting a lot earlier warnings of some speed sensors I drive through daily from work. That is, until it AutoLearned and quieted down.