9500ix First 200 Mile Run

[PHILBERT]

OK, I just got home from my initial 200 mile "training mission" on my new 9500ix. I started this at 1:00 PM and it is now 10:00 PM! At first I used AutoLearn and drove the same road over and over. It took over 6 runs to lock 'em all on this 5 mile road! Too slow, so I started TrueLocking it with the MUTE switch. I went both directions and pulled into strip malls where I knew door openers were. I got every Wallgreens, Publix, , Home Depot, Lowes, and Winn Dixie stored. Funny that CVS door openers did not alert at all. What frequency are they on? Anyway, every major route I and my wife drive on for a 20+ mile radius is stored. Tested it again and again, and it is working well to kill the false signals. The RD is trained for all local driving. In one case I locked out a K band signal and noticed the SAT symbol was spinning far too distant from the intersection I just drove through. That was a LEO! I unlocked it and drove the area again...no door openers there and no harm done.

The X and K sensitivity is a little less than my RX65. (I know my false areas well.) Not too far off, but yes a little less likely to trigger on some off axis door signals. I can live with that, especially since the real LEO signals will now be heard. I locked out X and K on the RX65, so now I can actuall hear those bands without going nuts. What about Ka band? Wowza! Better than the RX65, which I though was great. I was getting blasted all over the place again and again. They were out for blood! The range was way more than I expected. I actually had to wait a long time to see the LEO's. Talk about warning time! I can live with that!

Ramp-up? I dunno...I like the sounds on the RX65 better. At times I saw full scale (Expert Mode) but the sound skipped like half signal. It was hard to tell by the sound how strong the signal was. At times on low signals I did not hear any alert. What is up with that? It alerted at first, but when the signal went very low I heard no more alarm...just the visual alert. I counted three alert speeds, and that is lame. Hey, at least I have plenty of warning time.

Anyway, this unit will do fine. I trained it mounted in the middle of the windshield, but later mounted it in my favorite spot above the rear view mirror. Works just the same for range but no one can see it up there behind the tint band. Even with the metalized mirror mount area above the RD GPS antenna, the GPS locked in 7 to 10 seconds (on a cloudy day). No difference on lock time from the ideal location in the open, and no GPS loss. I love this thing! I set a few "speed trap" areas on it and it worked great to advise me. I can't wait to see some red light and speed camera areas pop up. That will be very useful! The RX65 is a great unit, but this was a steller upgrade. I can enjoy driving with this companion!



Phil

[nine_c1]

What about Ka band? Wowza! Better than the RX65, which I though was great. I was getting blasted all over the place again and again. They were out for blood! The range was way more than I expected. I actually had to wait a long time to see the LEO's. Talk about warning time! I can live with that!

It's quite possible that you have the same M4 antenna in your RX65 as is used in the 9500ix. However, the M4's in the 9500 series seem to smoke all other M4 platforms........especially on Ka band. I suppose it could be better tweaking at the factory, but I suspect it has something to do with that bubble lense on the 9500. It's supposed to correct for phase errors due to the shortened horn used in compact RD's. It must be fairly effective as Belscort uses it on all of their top end detectors including the M3's.

Ramp-up? I dunno...I like the sounds on the RX65 better. At times I saw full scale (Expert Mode) but the sound skipped like half signal. It was hard to tell by the sound how strong the signal was. At times on low signals I did not hear any alert. What is up with that? It alerted at first, but when the signal went very low I heard no more alarm...just the visual alert. I counted three alert speeds, and that is lame. Hey, at least I have plenty of warning time.

If you stuck with the factory settings (Automute on) then your 9500ix is automuting after giving the initial alert. Automute reduces the alert volume to about 40% of whatever volume level you have set. In a car cabin, with normal Volume set to medium, it becomes virtually inaudible.

Also, the 9500ix totally kills the audible alerts (after the initial alert) to any signals picked up if your traveling under 20 mph or sitting still. There is nothing you can do to disable that feature of the 9500ix.

Sounds like you wasted no time getting the lockouts set up! Good luck with your new RD..........the 9500ix is a terrific all around detector.

[PHILBERT]

Thank you, nineC1. Now that you mention it, yes, it was under 20 MPH. That makes sense why I did not hear it. That is fine with me. In fact, I like that idea. Great unit with a good antenna design. (I'm an engineer and active amateur radio guy)

I wonder how AutoUnlearn will work? I wish there was a setting that asked you before it "automatically" did something. I'm sure I will think of other things I wish they did after more time, experience and thought, but it is a God send for South Florida drivers. And yeah, I wasted no time. In fact, I ran out of places to drive to train it! I'm going to have to go some major distance to do more training. I think that would be a waste of gas (even more than today's 200 mile run). I'll just have to keep my trigger finger ready on the Mute button when I roam beyond.

Thanks for the details.

Phil

[PHILBERT]

I was at 42 stored false locations this morning, and went up to the next town up and I now have 51. About 4 Ka LEO's got in the way of my storing! So I had to wait for them to leave the area and re-survey those areas.

This unit is very slick!

Phil

EDIT: I think I'm addicted to this lockout business. I can't stop looking for falses to lockout! I'm up to 60.

Anyone else have this same obsesion?

[CJR238]

I'm more of a cautious TrueLock user. I only activate AutoLearn where I know I wont speed, or safe zones. Then i turn off AutoLearn everywhere else.
I manually locked out tons of places with my 9500I's but want to give AutoLearn its chance in my 9500ci.

Kind of annoying for a month or so but well worth it IMO.

[ac4vette]

I'm more of a cautious TrueLock user. I only activate AutoLearn where I know I wont speed, or safe zones. Then i turn off AutoLearn everywhere else.
I manually locked out tons of places with my 9500I's but want to give AutoLearn its chance in my 9500ci.

Kind of annoying for a month or so but well worth it IMO.

If we could stand the annoyance we would be V1 users.
Damn thing drove me nuts.

[rocky2]

If you run your 9500ix in auto mode when you are under 50mph your X and K band sensitivity adjusts with your speed the slower you go the less sensitive it is to X and K. Thats why it seems to be less sensitive than the RX-65, to X and K band falses.

If your RX-65 is a older unit it has a S7 platform that performs better than the newer M4 platform against off axis radar. So the 9500ix will never match a S7 based RD against off axis radar, but if you run the 9500ix in highway mode it should be just as good against on axis X and K as your Rx-65.

[PHILBERT]

I thought about all this as I was locking-out things. Last night I locked out a K band signal on a speed sign. I unlocked it as soon as I realized what it was, BUT even if I kept it locked out, the sign would eventually move, right? So if it were in a different location it would still alert.

Same goes for the LEO's. Although I am very carefull to verify the source before locking out, or going in or back to double check and unlock if I need to, the chance of the LEO on the same frequency being in the same spot on that road is very low. Especially here in FL where almost all radar is Ka band. With AutoLearn it is supposed to UnLearn as well, if you pass a marked point and that frequency is not there X amount of times. I feel safe using it, but I am addicted to looking for spots to TrueLock with the MUTE button.

Too bad we can not share our lockout points. I doubt the detectors are frequency stable enough to do that anyway. I also wonder what the max number of lockouts is. ??? What happens if you hit that max???

It is a fun device though. Last night I turned off the GPS just to see what I was not hearing. Quite a bit in town! I like looking at all three bands active (LEO on Ka while multiple X and K door alarms are being received). What a neat device!

Phil

[PHILBERT]

If you run your 9500ix in auto mode when you are under 50mph your X and K band sensitivity adjusts with your speed the slower you go the less sensitive it is to X and K. Thats why it seems to be less sensitive than the RX-65, to X and K band falses.

If your RX-65 is a older unit it has a S7 platform that performs better than the newer M4 platform against off axis radar. So the 9500ix will never match a S7 based RD against off axis radar, but if you run the 9500ix in highway mode it should be just as good against on axis X and K as your Rx-65.

I always run highway mode on both. And yes, my RX65 is a week 39 2005 S7 antenna. I can now see the 9500ix is sensitive on X and K, and that off axis is attenuated You are quite right about that. The only thing I worry about is strip mall lockouts unlocking on the adjacent roadways that often are a little too off axis to trigger the detector every time you drive by. Time will tell what will happen. Maybe I should turn off AutoLearn. It would be nice if I could have an option to turn off AutoUnLearn!

Phil

[CJR238]

I'm more of a cautious TrueLock user. I only activate AutoLearn where I know I wont speed, or safe zones. Then i turn off AutoLearn everywhere else.
I manually locked out tons of places with my 9500I's but want to give AutoLearn its chance in my 9500ci.

Kind of annoying for a month or so but well worth it IMO.

If we could stand the annoyance we would be V1 users.
Damn thing drove me nuts.

x2, my CI drove me nuts the first few days, way sensitive. But My 9500ix kept up pretty well with standard encounters.

Much better now with all the BS falses locked out.