Ace's Review Spotlight: 9500ix - Day One

**Ace_Racer** · 04-12-2009, 11:09 PM

Final Addition Added!

Ace

**Gator Bite** · 04-13-2009, 06:13 AM

Originally Posted by Ace

I decided to further test the big issue of the 9500ix locking out my K band bushnell with a lockout source with in 30 Ghz. I had to travel 40 miles to another city to finally find one. It was a nice set up street though having 3.8 miles of clear and straight road with a K band speed sign at the very end. I good easily get up to and maintain 90 MPH if I so desired but I was not that stupid. This road somewhat resembles the desert highway I refer to above except without curves and hills.

The frequency of the sign was 24.194 according to the 9500ix and my bushnell was at 24.135 so it was a nice 60 Ghz difference. I made a total of 25 passes on both sides and used almost a whole tank of gas just for this testing. No worries though I am happy to do it for my fellow enthusiasts and myself as well. I began by traveling 3.0 miles away from the sign which worked out perfect as there was a legal u turn spot right at 3.0 miles so call it luck for Ace!

The first three passes it alerts about an average distance of 2.0 miles away from the sign. I had it mounted up high and to the left of the RVM where I normally have Valerie (My V1). Upon the forth pass it alerts right until I am about 0.4 miles away from it then I see the stored message along with a beep. On the reverse direction it would alert about 1.3 miles before going altogether. The reverse pass would be considered forward facing radar if you were behind the sign in that direction so everyone is clear on this.

We are now on pass number five and I am traveling at the PSL of 65 MPH set by my cruise control to be fair. As with previous passes about 2.0 miles away it begins spinning which I find was odd since it was only 0.4 when it locked it out. Anyways, I wait until I am 1.0 miles away and I fire a CO stream for 5 seconds. What happened you ask? Well you will find out in two months! Just kidding as I am having some fun with you (needed for a long post such as this you know).

It does alert to my gun at full alert (8 of 8 and solid tone) and lingers for about 8 seconds after having stopped firing my gun. I do the same for the reverse pass and get the same result. Now pass number 6,7,8,9 and 10 are very interesting. On pass six I unlock the K band YSI sign. I get a unlock this signal prompt and press mute to confirm and get signal unlocked. It alerts both ways and I begin pass seven and to my surprise I get stored again along with a beep to confirm. It does it at the same distance of 2.0 miles away. I am confused by this action and begin to think that unlocking a signal stored by auto learn only unlocks it temporarily.

I then go back to my starting position and power down the unit and wait for about 2 minutes before powering back up. I then begin pass eight and see that at 2.0 miles away I get a spinning icon and I then unlock it via mute two times and then power down the unit and return to my start position. Pass nine I receive the alert again with no lock out or stored message. Pass ten amazingly reveals the same result as does frequent passes 11, 12, and 13. So it seems that after unlocking a signal you need to power down to actually save it from being locked out again.

Now we begin passes 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18 I use pass 14 to manually lockout the YSI sign before auto learn did to test out what I will call true lock instead of autolock. I lock it out at a distance of 0.5 miles before the sign and it has a strength of full alert and level 7.On pass 15 I fire my bushnell and it alerts just fine as with autolock. Passes 16 and 17 have the same result. Upon pass 18 I unlock the sign and it alerts as originally. I power down and on again just to make sure it was fully unlocked.

On pass 19 I lockout the sign at a distance of 1.0 miles before the sign. A strength of about 4 - 5 is heard (using spec mode). Pass 20 it begins spinning at 2.0 miles away just as with all other times and I am still traveling at 65 MPH. Somehow I think it “learns” how far from the first alert the locked out source is to the point of full alert to determine the lockout radius. So like others have reported the true lock portion is based upon strength and distance.

For the remaining 4 passes I alternate my speed by 10 + and 10 - the PSL and true lock the sign and I get no difference in the lockout radius which still holds at 2.0 miles when it first received the signal.

In the end I was satisfied with the 9500ix but the V1 still had a hold on my heart. I am too far attached to the style of the V1. The 9500ix is a great detector but the V1 has the features I like more. I am currently testing the Cheetah C100 unit and hope to have that review up soon.

Nice review Ace. Nice to see that even though the V1 has your heart, you were fair and honest with the Escort's review.

Just a small technicality, you mean '30 MHz', not '30 GHz'. A Gigahertz (GHz) is 1,000 Megahertz (MHz). Radar signals reside in the GHz area. So the difference between a K band signal of 24.195 GHz and 24.135 GHz is 30 MHz. Think of the radar frequencies like this: GG.MMM.

**Ace_Racer** · 04-13-2009, 06:21 AM

Thanks Gator for pointing out the Mhz and not Ghz. I thought I had it wrong but was unsure.

It was really hard not to put down the 9500ix and to keep it separate from the V1 as they both have their own unique "fields" and each offers different benefits to different users. For me the V1 better suited me and the 9500ix will suit someone else better then the V1. After all isn't that what it boils down to in the end?

Thanks Again

Ace

**Gator Bite** · 04-13-2009, 06:46 AM

Originally Posted by Ace_Racer

Thanks Gator for pointing out the Mhz and not Ghz. I thought I had it wrong but was unsure.

It was really hard not to put down the 9500ix and to keep it separate from the V1 as they both have their own unique "fields" and each offers different benefits to different users. For me the V1 better suited me and the 9500ix will suit someone else better then the V1. After all isn't that what it boils down to in the end?

Thanks Again

Ace

Yup. It would be like debating chocolate versus vanilla. To each their own.

In the end, we're all lucky that there is both Escort and Valentine. They are constantly pushing each other to make a better product and ultimately, we win.