autolearn/truelock feature

[weights]

I'm doing my best not to open a can of worms on this one..... In any event, I wanted to get some advice. For all of you who use these features, have you come across big problems in regards to the detector locking out a LEO radar source? If so, what is the best way to reduce the risk of it happening? I'm basically trying to find out what would be the risk of not picking up a real threat if I were to use these features. I live in NE Ohio, and do mostly urban city driving, but I do some highway as well. The LEOs around here still use X, K, and KA band I believe, so this is something that is a concern for me. Thanks in advance.

[djrams80]

I'm doing my best not to open a can of worms on this one..... In any event, I wanted to get some advice. For all of you who use these features, have you come across big problems in regards to the detector locking out a LEO radar source?

I have not had this happen to me, but several others around here have and so has my brother.

If so, what is the best way to reduce the risk of it happening?

If you are using autolearn, the RD does everything automatically, so there is no way to keep this from happening if just the right conditions happen. In my brother's case, after the LEO was autolocked out, he just drove back there and manually unlocked the LEO.

I'm basically trying to find out what would be the risk of not picking up a real threat if I were to use these features. I live in NE Ohio, and do mostly urban city driving, but I do some highway as well. The LEOs around here still use X, K, and KA band I believe, so this is something that is a concern for me. Thanks in advance.

Obviously, you live in the worst possible situation for TrueLock, since both X and K are used in your area. The good news is that, from what I know, X band is only used by the staties, which would mean that your X encounters will be during highway drives, where the least false alerts happen and theoretically, you should have the best detection distances.

K and Ka bands are used by the locals around Ohio. Obviously, Ka band is not a concern as far as TrueLock is concerned, but there is always a small risk when using TrueLock where K band is used. That said, your risk should be no worse than anyone else's in this regard. You should be fine. Autolocking out a LEO should only happen if said LEO is running X or K band in the same spot 3 times in a relatively short amount of time. This is rare, but this exactly what happened to my brother. If a LEO runs radar in the same spot 3 times, you might want to mark that spot as a speedtrap to remind you about that spot, as a backup solution should that LEO get locked out. Also, do as my brother did and manually unlock that LEO's signal if this happens.

All those scary words aside, you are at a much higher risk from a laser ticket in Ohio, most likely on the interstate, than you are from getting a ticket from a locked out LEO.

This is my opinion.

[wegrowhair]

I have not had this happen to me, but several others around here have and so has my brother.

If you are using autolearn, the RD does everything automatically, so there is no way to keep this from happening if just the right conditions happen. In my brother's case, after the LEO was autolocked out, he just drove back there and manually unlocked the LEO.

Obviously, you live in the worst possible situation for TrueLock, since both X and K are used in your area. The good news is that, from what I know, X band is only used by the staties, which would mean that your X encounters will be during highway drives, where the least false alerts happen and theoretically, you should have the best detection distances.

K and Ka bands are used by the locals around Ohio. Obviously, Ka band is not a concern as far as TrueLock is concerned, but there is always a small risk when using TrueLock where K band is used. That said, your risk should be no worse than anyone else's in this regard. You should be fine. Autolocking out a LEO should only happen if said LEO is running X or K band in the same spot 3 times in a relatively short amount of time. This is rare, but this exactly what happened to my brother. If a LEO runs radar in the same spot 3 times, you might want to mark that spot as a speedtrap to remind you about that spot, as a backup solution should that LEO get locked out. Also, do as my brother did and manually unlock that LEO's signal if this happens.

All those scary words aside, you are at a much higher risk from a laser ticket in Ohio, most likely on the interstate, than you are from getting a ticket from a locked out LEO.

This is my opinion.

[CJR238]

I'm doing my best not to open a can of worms on this one..... In any event, I wanted to get some advice. For all of you who use these features, have you come across big problems in regards to the detector locking out a LEO radar source? If so, what is the best way to reduce the risk of it happening? I'm basically trying to find out what would be the risk of not picking up a real threat if I were to use these features. I live in NE Ohio, and do mostly urban city driving, but I do some highway as well. The LEOs around here still use X, K, and KA band I believe, so this is something that is a concern for me. Thanks in advance.

You fall into a "High Risk" area but you can still use TrueLock if you are willing to adjust some things.
Lock outs where you can’t speed or wouldn’t are usually ok. LEO,s may never sit in the areas you lock out too, so observe the areas you want to lock out for quite some time before locking out.

I have quite a few High Risk areas i lock out but i won’t or cant speed there and prefer the quiet. But the times im driving a bit more aggressively there i just turn GPS off to get all alerts.

I still haven’t decided weather manually using TrueLock or using Autolock is better. Autolock does have additional features to help decrease the chance of locking out a LEO but it can also lock one out if the LEO sits in the same spot every day (K & X only).

"Threat/Risk Scenarios"
I found its best to lock out dally commute or areas you know well and have surveyed closely. This will help to decrease the chances of locking out a real LEO and understanding the falses in that area.

It is a good idea to lock out the door opener false when you are close but passing the false along your driving route you want quiet (This will prevent locking out additional unnecessary falses).

The 9500i records/locks all signals it receives for a very short time/distance, approximately 1/10 to 1/2 of a mile depending on how strong the signal is and how many falses there are after you lock out the location (Cumulative).
Once the 9500I is powered down or self confirms (takes 1/10mi of no signal) It will lock out the false frequency block/block’s you locked out for approximately 1/10 to 1/2 mi from last signal received (total accumulative distance).

Very important note: If you are too close to the false you can get a strong alert that can overflow into another 30MHz block (Ghosting), Therefore creating a larger lock out block. So try to lock out with less then 1/2 of a full alert, the weaker the signal the better. This will also help keep the lock out area small.

“The Scenarios”
1) In areas where police X band isn't used, lock out X band falses the first time you encounter them. (No Risk )

2) In areas where police K band isn't used, lock out K band falses the first time you encounter them. (No Risk )

3) In areas where police do use K/X band but never sit in that area it would be a Low Risk lock out point. You will most likely lock this point out.

4) In areas where police K/X band is used and they do sit in that area it would be considered a High Risk lock out point (You may not want to lock this point out).
Detection range will trump the small lock out area in most cases and provide ample warning/alert before the lock out point (react to any alert no matter how small). In most cases Auto mode will also do a good job filtering these falses if you chose not to use TrueLock.

If you decide to lockout a false in a High Risk area to mute the alert you should still drive through the area with caution if you suspect any chance you could have locked out police radar. The same rules would apply if you were using any non GPS capable detector and instead pressed your mute button in false area. Simply treat the spinning satellite icon in your display as a silent alert and proceed with your own discretion and best judgment.
(There is all ways the option of turning off GPS when speeding in a "High Risk" locked out area)

Note: TrueLock can create a lock out radius depending on signal strength and amount of falses, so its best to lock out at lower than 1/2 full alert.
: Less than 1/2 of full alert ~1/10 to 2/10mi radius
: More than 1/2 of full alert 1/2mi radius.
: And accumulative alerts.

In the end you need to way the importance of having a quiet drive.
IMO most TrueLock users prefer quiet and don’t aggressively speed through areas where the majority of falses are. It’s the day in day out falses that drive us nuts and end up getting ignored anyway so locking them out is very useful.

[gpracer1]

I simply use the method of not speeding for 1.5 miles near any locked out area. You gain the pleasure of no noise, but no guarantee that you will detect a LEO. Once you understand that, its not really an issue like its made out to be.

The hard part is knowing when you are in a locked out area. That cheeeeezy little satellite symbol spinning is hard to notice. They should change that to have the alert light on the plug light up too. Maybe they can change that with a firmware update.

[partsfreak]

[CJR238]

I simply use the method of not speeding for 1.5 miles near any locked out area. You gain the pleasure of no noise, but no guarantee that you will detect a LEO. Once you understand that, its not really an issue like its made out to be.

The hard part is knowing when you are in a locked out area. That cheeeeezy little satellite symbol spinning is hard to notice. They should change that to have the alert light on the plug light up too. Maybe they can change that with a firmware update.

X2. I just remember where my lock outs are, but Escort should have an audible beep entering and exiting a lock out.

[djrams80]

X2. I just remember where my lock outs are, but Escort should have an audible beep entering and exiting a lock out.

I 100% disagree with this. The point of TrueLock is to keep things quiet. Living in LA, my 9500s would beep constantly. No thanks. TrueLock's success rate is too high to warrant this.

[Obsidian]

I 100% disagree with this. The point of TrueLock is to keep things quiet. Living in LA, my 9500s would beep constantly. No thanks. TrueLock's success rate is too high to warrant this.

+1. I would not mind if the light on my smartcord blinked in TrueLocked areas though.

[gpracer1]

+1. I would not mind if the light on my smartcord blinked in TrueLocked areas though.

Thats exactly what I meant. Hell, they could even make it a selectable function to have the smart cord plug light up or not in the menu.