Back to Escort 9500

[billccm]

Hello:
As a former Cincinnati Microwave employee from 1983 through 1989, and a V1 owner from 1997 to date, I am about to go 'home' to Escort. The fact that my state has discovered the revenue generation of red light cameras and photo radar has promted me to consider the Passport 9500.
I am truly aware that the V1 is superior as a radar 'receiver', and will continue it's use in my Interstate travel.
I need something to wake me up during the daily commutes of threats such as red light cameras and photo radar; lets face it, Escort leapfrogged all of the competition on this one putting GPS technology to use as a better mousetrap fighter.
Anyhow, I have a few questions:
1) Does anyone know if Escort has any refurb units for sale?
2) Are the discounters on eBay legit?
3) How often do I need to update the database?
4) Can you uplaod to the detector all red light cameras for the USA?
Thanks for any advice and opinions. Have a nice day, Bill

[MEM-TEK]

Hello:
As a former Cincinnati Microwave employee from 1983 through 1989, and a V1 owner from 1997 to date, I am about to go 'home' to Escort. The fact that my state has discovered the revenue generation of red light cameras and photo radar has promted me to consider the Passport 9500.
I am truly aware that the V1 is superior as a radar 'receiver', and will continue it's use in my Interstate travel.
I need something to wake me up during the daily commutes of threats such as red light cameras and photo radar; lets face it, Escort leapfrogged all of the competition on this one putting GPS technology to use as a better mousetrap fighter.
Anyhow, I have a few questions:
1) Does anyone know if Escort has any refurb units for sale?
2) Are the discounters on eBay legit?
3) How often do I need to update the database?
4) Can you uplaod to the detector all red light cameras for the USA?
Thanks for any advice and opinions. Have a nice day, Bill

Hi Bill,

Hmm...I think that you are first former CM employee which I have encountered here on the forum. Cool! To answer your questions:

1) Does anyone know if Escort has any refurb units for sale? Not to my knowledge.

2) Are the discounters on eBay legit? A few are, but most are not authorized Bel/Escort dealers. Thus purchasing from an unauthorized dealer means no warranty. Not only that, many of the unauthorized dealers remove the serial number stickers so that Bel/Escort can't trace via the serial numbers who these non-authorized sellers actually are or where they are getting their inventory from. Some of these non-authorized dealers sell units which were poorly refurbished in Mexico or which have problems. Some even put fake serial number stickers on the units. In short, don't buy a Bel/Escort RD from eBay!

3) How often do I need to update the database? Maybe once or twice a year, tops?

4) Can you upload to the detector all red light cameras for the USA? The 9500ix and 9500ci come preloaded with a national red light camera database. Updating this database is as simple as downloading the latest national RLC database from Escort and then flashing it to the 9500ix or 9500ci via USB.

Now, me being a huge Bel/Escort fanatic, I just have to know! What was your former position at Cincinnati Microwave? Just curious.

[billccm]

Thanks for the info.

To answer your question, I started at Cincinnati Microwave in 1983 right around the time Mike Valentine left and the company wnet public. It was a very exciting time, because I was working on the top secret, 'cassette tape' sized radar detector code named 'fidget'. My official title was Senior Microwave Technician, and I bounced back and forth between design engineering and production.

The 'fidget' was released to production on October 4th, 1984 and somewhere I have a picture of me and the very first PASSPORT RADAR DETECTOR ever made. We worked day and night, and weekends to get the PASSPORT out the door.

I still think it was the very best RADAR detector ever made, and really hated the fact that it was not upgraded to be competitive over its production run.

I also got to work with design engineering on the very first SOLO, which received luke warm sales, and the forgotten ESCORT DSP that should have blown the doors off the competition, but was a bit too far ahead of it's time.

I left Cincinnati Microwave in 1989. To date, it is still the best job I had ever had, and definately the most fun.

I need to dig through my stuff, I have several 'engineering mules' of various RADAR detectors that you might be interested in, including a very special "one of three built" PASSPORT.

Take care, Bill

[MEM-TEK]

Hi Bill,

WOW! This is unbelievably cool stuff! And welcome to the forum!

I'm sure that we would love to see the photo of you with the very first Passport (fidget) radar detector (blur your face if you want). I guess October 4, 1984 remains a very special day in your life. Did you all pop open some champagne? I would also love to see photos of that very special "one of three built" Passports. Was it gold plated or something? Did it talk?

I also agree that the Passport was the very best of the pocket sized radar detectors produced by any manufacturer during the mid to later 1980s. The Uniden RD9 and its Cobra and Radio Shack siblings were good and well made, but the Passport remained in a class by itself and had significantly better K band performance. The MicroFox wasn't quite as compact, but it looked really neat with its illuminated push buttons. Interestingly there was not one single SMD device inside the tiny MicroFox, just a few ICs, resistors, caps and trim pots. See my vintage RD collection link in my signature for photos of these RD models.

Alas, those were the days when copycat radar detectors were being cranked out like hotcakes in Taiwan, the Philippines and some still in Japan. These imports glutted the market and consumers figured that they must perform just as well since they looked very similar. Unfortunately the situation is not really that much different today except that the imports are now made in China or southeastern Asia. What does make the situation different is that Bel/Escort, Whistler and Valentine hold virtually all of the really significant radar detector electronics design patents. Sometime I would love to pick your mind for more information. I have been fascinated with radar detectors since 1982.

[Holla]

Hey Bill, nice to have you on here and a great source of radar info, as well to share any knowledge you may want to clue us in on

I still have and love my little figit--Passport! I love that radar detector and it was the best ever on K band for sure, I bet it will give these top dawgs a run for their money still today.

Do us a favor and talk to ol Mike V for us and see whats up his sleeve--yea,yea impossible huh

[CJR238]

And i have a few answers.
1) Does anyone know if Escort has any refurb units for sale? I think i herd Escort has a refurb page on eBay.
2) Are the discounters on eBay legit? Yes but the units might not be.
3) How often do I need to update the database? When ever you want once every few months or never.
4) Can you uplaod to the detector all red light cameras for the USA? yes

Good to here your going back to the future. I love my 9500I and am sure even you will be pretty impressed with the ix.

Welcome to the board.

[billccm]

Thanks for all of the replies and your interest in my good ol'CMI days.

The Passport was truly state of the art for it's time, both in design and manufacture. I believe Cincinnati Microwave was the VERY FIRST automated SMD manufacturer in the USA! Electronics manufacturerers from all over the world came out to see our plant and process.

The Passport's waveguide antenna design was also state of the art and provided that great K band performance. I truly believe it took the competition four years, or so to catch us. Unfortuneately, they also passed us.

As I reacll, we only popped champagne when the very first SOLO was built in the late 1980s. That detector also has a long tale to tell about some day.

I bumped into Mike Valentine in the late 1980s; he is a nice guy, and an 'engineer's engineer'. I have loved my V1 since my 1997 purchase, and as a 'radar receiver', it is still the best out there in my opinion. The V1 won't collect dust, it will be used on my Interstate drvies.

I am saving my money and will buy a new 9500 for a Christams gift to myself. I guess I'll difg up an old first generation ESCORT to get my $50 trade, although I like to keep every RADAR detector I have, since I built the majority of them (V1 being the exception).

Take care, Bill

[Stealth Stalker]

Bill, this is awesome stuff! I'm glad you came around, and hope you will stay to chat with us sometime.

As for your current dilemma, it sounds to me like you are exactly the kind of user that the Cheetah products are geared towards. Their GPS mirror and new C100 GPS device give you all the benefits of the 9500, without sacrificing the performance of your V1. The perfect compliment for each other. That would be the way I would go. I can't imagine giving up the arrows and bogey counter in the city of all places!

Cheetah USA LLC > GPSmirror

Cheetah USA > C100 GPS Detector

Just an option to consider. Good luck!

[FlyinZX-10R]

Bill, this is awesome stuff! I'm glad you came around, and hope you will stay to chat with us sometime.

As for your current dilemma, it sounds to me like you are exactly the kind of user that the Cheetah products are geared towards. Their GPS mirror and new C100 GPS device give you all the benefits of the 9500, without sacrificing the performance of your V1. The perfect compliment for each other. That would be the way I would go. I can't imagine giving up the arrows and bogey counter in the city of all places!

Cheetah USA LLC > GPSmirror

Cheetah USA > C100 GPS Detector

Just an option to consider. Good luck!

X2 on that. The V1/Cheetah GPS mirror combo rocks, especially with the 2 products interfaced together.