Instant-On Question

It seems that more and more police in my town are using instant-on radar at night. Some officers turn off their lights and wait for unsuspecting motorists. I almost fell victim of a ticket late last night; A blacked-out cruiser hit me with I\O Ka as I was going down a steep hill, luckily people were walking on the sidewalk and I slowed down before I was hit.

Now, assuming you're the lead car (no bunny in front of you) and an officer hits you with I\O radar, will he generally have your speed before you recieve an alert?

typically he will have your speed approximately 1-3 seconds after the beginning of the alert.

which is why IO requires immediate action...

X2 and scan the area!

From what I understand with modern radar guns 1-3 seconds is overly optimistic from your perspective... Those guns should obtain a reading in under a second or a similarly short timeframe where it is not possible to safely reduce to a legal speed before he gets a readout.

But IO radar is , IMO, the most deadly trap. There's really nothing you can do to beat the odds, other than keeping a rabbit and hoping for the best. Laser, you have jammers or passive shielding... radar -- you have nothing.

So when a detector gives out a 'Pulse' or I\O alert, it's really not picking up any special sort of radar? It's simply alerting the user that there is a sudden full strength radar going off? I always assumed that I\O was a different variation of radar.

I was behind a cruiser tonight on a busy road that has many speeders. As cars would pass in the other lane, my detector sounded a Ka alert, 6 or 7 strength, and then quickly go away until the next car was about to pass us. It sounds like the leo was using I\O, however I didn't get any pulse alerts. I assume this is because I\O radar is no different from regular radar, it's just simply shot at full strength when the targeted driver is not suspecting it?

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Originally Posted by PPPOE

So when a detector gives out a 'Pulse' or I\O alert, it's really not picking up any special sort of radar? It's simply alerting the user that there is a sudden full strength radar going off? I always assumed that I\O was a different variation of radar.

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Correct. PULSE is activated when either (1) a sudden full strength alert appears or (2) Very short pulsing of radar is detected. Maybe Michael B can tell us which one it is, but those are our theories from both testing and manual reading. In any case , it is a high-urgency ambush situation.

PULSE can be triggered by X, K, or Ka band and makes a very rapid tone that sounds like eitehr the X, K, or Ka, depending on which is being PULSEd. In addition, if the X/K/Ka alert persists past the ~3 second PULSE alert, the detector will go back to showing K 9/9, etc.

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I was behind a cruiser tonight on a busy road that has many speeders. As cars would pass in the other lane, my detector sounded a Ka alert, 6 or 7 strength, and then quickly go away until the next car was about to pass us. It sounds like the leo was using I\O, however I didn't get any pulse alerts. I assume this is because I\O radar is no different from regular radar, it's just simply shot at full strength when the targeted driver is not suspecting it?

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Yeah, that's IO. You weren't getting PULSE alerts probably because he was shooting away from you, thus you wouldn't pick up nearly as strong of a signal as if you were the direct target.

IO radar is just like regular radar... if any alert appears suddenly at strengths other than 1/9 or maybe 2/9, you must always suspect IO radar and take action.

Perfect. Thanks Jdong for your detailed reply!

IO will get your speed normally right when you get the alert. I can be right behind someone with a RD, hit them with IO Ka and get their speed at the same time I see their RD go off. It really just depends on how much interference the radar has to deal with (power lines, more cars). Also it takes longer to get a speed reading while in moving mode.

But when there is little to no other traffic, no power lines, and the cop is stationary, he'll have your speed locked, and his cruiser in gear before you have a chance to brake. I'll see if I can get some video of how quick it can get a speed reading.

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Kustom HR-8 K-band -trying to get back from PD

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Did they take your gun?

I hope they didn't take ML's radar gun :shock: . IO is really simple to use w/ a radar gun. When a target get's within a certain range of the radar gun, they turn the radar beam on just long enough to get a speed reading. That is what IO or on a Whistler rd PULSE is.

The only protection you could get is to get one of those scorp. ka jammers. But that might land you in the pen if you get caught using one or if the officer is smart enough to finally figure out whats going on. :wink:

Let me say this much about instant on. If your the lead car don't do any more then 5 over. With instant on if you where to tap the break as soon as it would go off. This would put you very close to the posted speed limit if your doing 5 over although it might depend greatly on what speed he finally locks you in at. Not only that but most cops don't worry to much about doing 5 over anyway. But anymore then 5 over when your the lead car then your just asking for it especially at night. During the day if you are the lead car you might try going over 5 if you can keep a constant look out for instant ons. Instant on should be feared even more then laser. Laser can be fast at times. Instant on is always deadly. Instant on normally is used in light traffic sometimes you might see it used in heavy traffic. Its used more at night for some reason. Allot of times you will end up seeing the officer before you see the instant on go on this is during the day only this is not true at night. Although seeing the officer ahead of time can differ greatly depending on your alertness. Allot of times you might be going 80 and never see him turn his radar gun on then a car a mile back behind you goes 90 and you hear a pulse alert. Watch going around curves and overpasses.

The thing about I/O is that a cop won't use it until he can see you. If you have good eyes, then it's just a matter of who sees who first! This is different that constant on in which a cop just leaves it running and he might get a speed reading before he even sees you if he's not paying attention.

The problem comes to be when the cop is hiding or has his lights off. Make sure you slow down when approaching obvious hiding spots.

Cops in my area love church parking lots and the spots after an overpass.

the only time i speed without a rabbit is when i know the area and it's possible speed trap spots

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Originally Posted by Synbios

The thing about I/O is that a cop won't use it until he can see you. If you have good eyes, then it's just a matter of who sees who first! This is different that constant on in which a cop just leaves it running and he might get a speed reading before he even sees you if he's not paying attention.

The problem comes to be when the cop is hiding or has his lights off. Make sure you slow down when approaching obvious hiding spots.

Cops in my area love church parking lots and the spots after an overpass.

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If the cop can't see you, neither can his radar! Radar can't go around curves, over buildings, etc. At best, the radar will 'see' you the instant he sees you. Radar works by 'line of sight'

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Originally Posted by whistlerfan

If your the lead car don't do any more then 5 over.

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You mean PSL + 10 + 5, right?

you can virtually overtake cops at PSL+5 and they don't care

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Originally Posted by asianfire

If the cop can't see you, neither can his radar! Radar can't go around curves, over buildings, etc. At best, the radar will 'see' you the instant he sees you. Radar works by 'line of sight'

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By "seeing" I think he meant "being able to visually identify".

Seeing a speck over the horizon isn't good enough for issuing tickets (I would hope!)

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Originally Posted by ahmadr

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Originally Posted by whistlerfan

If your the lead car don't do any more then 5 over.

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You mean PSL + 10 + 5, right?

you can virtually overtake cops at PSL+5 and they don't care

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Totally depends on where you live. I've been pulled over and warned for going 47 in a 45mph zone, and the little suburb I lived in regularly gave laser tickets for even 26 in a 25 zone, so everyone customarily targeted 20mph instead :)

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Originally Posted by jdong

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Originally Posted by asianfire

If the cop can't see you, neither can his radar! Radar can't go around curves, over buildings, etc. At best, the radar will 'see' you the instant he sees you. Radar works by 'line of sight'

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By "seeing" I think he meant "being able to visually identify".

Seeing a speck over the horizon isn't good enough for issuing tickets (I would hope!)

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What I meant, was the the officer won't know your true speed until he is in line of sight with you.

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Originally Posted by asianfire

What I meant, was the the officer won't know your true speed until he is in line of sight with you.

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Right, but the radar can likely read a speed before the car is close enough that the officer can make a good visual identification.

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Originally Posted by jdong

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Originally Posted by asianfire

What I meant, was the the officer won't know your true speed until he is in line of sight with you.

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Right, but the radar can likely read a speed before the car is close enough that the officer can make a good visual identification.

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Oh yeah, for sure. Totally agree with that.

It sucks when they use IO at night since they can see your headlights way before you can see their darkened out cruisers.

Actually cops are risking their lives when they turn their lights off and park on the side of the road at night. Their has been times where cop cars gotten slam into because other motorist cant see the cop car when cresting a hill or they lean a little to far to the right and sideswipe the cop car. Now if they are way off the shoulder and onto the grass area thats fine. But allot of cops dont park that far back. I guess some cops never figure out that trying to get somebody for speeding over their life is really stupid. Same thing standing on a freeway where traffic is going 75 plus and the officer standing with a tripod laser gun as close to the left lane as he can be is just deadly in my opinion. I sure wouldnt do it. One slip of somebodys will and your gone. Just remember a little common sense goes a long way.

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Originally Posted by ELVATO

It sucks when they use IO at night since they can see your headlights way before you can see their darkened out cruisers.

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Yeah, tell me about it. Luckily, most of the cruisers in my neck of the woods will actually be driving while using I\O. As you could imagine, I'm getting very good at picking out Ford P71 headlights and the 'G' on the plate. In my town (As well as many others) a sharp eye and being aware of the vehicles around you can make a big difference.

I've heard of too many kids from school flying by cops at night, not being able to identify the cruiser. By the time they figure out it was a LEO in the other lane, the cop has their speed and is pulling a U.

The worst effect with cruisers is a blend-in effect at rest areas, where they'd park alongside several other cars and only when you get right up to it, you can distinctly notice the Crown Vic headlights.