8500 programing

[cclt1z]

hey guys.. have been thumbing through the manual and trying to get the most out of it. I see some guys on here using the scanning dots. What is the purpose of this? I am gonna try out the expert mode tomorrow. How do you 8500 users program yours?

right now I have mine

aMute-on
tone-loud (loud exhaust on car)
meter-std
text-complete word
display-bright

mounted high behind non-metallic tint strip above RVM and hard-wired and lovin it so far!!

[mrpopo573]

I have never used the roaming dots. I just leave it with "H" or highway, depending on mood. Auto Mute on. X off (nearly non existent in my state). Tone Loud. Expert Mode is my preference.

[Davis]

I am not sure if the scanning dot does anything than give you something different to look at. Unless your display is not visible through the rear windshield, might I suggest low brightness or dark mode for the night hours? also, you may want to consider turning off the x band if it's not inuse in your city. Check here: http://www.radardetector.net/forums/...-8-6-09-a.html for radar bands by town.


Also, are you using a plain 8500, or one of the X50s?

My settings are currently set like this:
aMute - off (that's what the volume wheel is for, plus my music is too loud otherwise)
tone-loud
meter-spc (trying to get acclimated to the local bands in use, doing alright so far)
text - complete word
city -noX (I turn this to highway when leaving town/going to houston cause hpd uses X, believe it or not)

[djrams80]

Members here like the scanning dot because if your 8500 ever freezes up, you'll know it because the scanning dot stops moving.

[mrpopo573]

Great to know! I never thought about that

[Davis]

Members here like the scanning dot because if your 8500 ever freezes up, you'll know it because the scanning dot stops moving.

Didn't know that they could freeze. something else for me to watch out for, I guess.

[djrams80]

Didn't know that they could freeze. something else for me to watch out for, I guess.

It's not common, but it's bad news if it does.

[Obsidian]

Members here like the scanning dot because if your 8500 ever freezes up, you'll know it because the scanning dot stops moving.

X2, plus it looks cool.

I had an X50 freeze up once. There is no way to tell it's frozen without the scanning dots ... everything looks fine until you push any button and get no response.

[csg1991]

hey guys.. have been thumbing through the manual and trying to get the most out of it. I see some guys on here using the scanning dots. What is the purpose of this? I am gonna try out the expert mode tomorrow. How do you 8500 users program yours?

right now I have mine

aMute-on
tone-loud (loud exhaust on car)
meter-std
text-complete word
display-bright

mounted high behind non-metallic tint strip above RVM and hard-wired and lovin it so far!!

The scanning dot is just a pilot light option, it does not change what your detector does in any way. its just how you want it to look when it is not detecting anything and just searching.

[Motor On]

X2, plus it looks cool.

I always called it "movie mode" so the RD has flashy lights to blend in with the fast and furious cars. Freezing up would be a good thing to know, wouldn't want to find that one out by getting a radar ticket when the officer "didn't have his radar on"