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For those of you who used radar detectors in the 70's and 80's, what was life like?
No door openers to deal with? Short range, long range? No instant on to deal with?
Did slamming on one's brakes lower the speed displayed on the radar gun?
Earliest I remember was the late 80's/early 90's when NYSP ran constant on all the time and gave a good 2-3 miles range... don't remember the band, but I remember instant on being introduced which ended the good old days.....
Life was constant on X-band. In the 70's alot (most?) detectors were not superheterodyne, yet they gave enough warning (plus you'd have to stomp on your brakes alot) not to get a ticket.
In the early 80's when the original Escort was introduced, it gave X-band protection like no other up to that point. (X band protection was close to what we get now.) Then as detectors shrank and performance increased, you were pretty well protected, since X-band still ruled the day, and constant on was pretty much the standard. Some good detectors of the mid 80's included the Escort and the Passport, as well as Unidens (RD-9, RD9XL) plus, believe it or not, Cobras (3160, Trapshooter II, and Trapshooter III)
Like I said, 95% of radar was X-band, and most of it was constant on. I actually felt "safer" driving then, than I do now, with IO Ka, and laser.
J/
That is what I remember with my old CMW Escort. I don't even recall band identification on my early 80's model. Just an analog meter and a red light. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by jerry540i
I had the original Passport in the 80's and RD were essentially undefeatable. I used to get 3+ miles detection on X-band on I287 in NJ. You ALWAYS had lots of time to slow down. Aaah, the good old days!
Yep, I'll agree. Constant on X was the only threat back then.
I remember I had a Whistler Detector that had one red power light that
doubled as a blinking warning light. It had this distinctive tone,
it sounded more like todays K band alert.
But they had IO in the 70's and 80's didn't they? I know in the late 80's IO K band was big in my area.
I sort of see laser use as a good thing, because the laser counter measures we have are more effective than the current radar counter measures.
those must have been the good ol' days, constant on X band.......... that's about as good as it gets
I started using an RD in '87 when I got my license. IO has always been a threat for me. My RD was a Cobra Trapshooter 3110 X, K band. It didn't have the capability to tell me what band it was. Like a few posts back, Cobras were pretty good back then. Fox RD's were the sub par ones. Escort was legendary and the RD I wish I could afford at the time.
I got my first RD in '89 (not counting a POS Maxon in '88 that got stolen), and even back then K band ruled the roost around here. In fact, the only time I ever saw X in NH was in a podunk town that was using 70s vintage radar guns (the huge ones). I think I picked that gun up from 5 miles away. :) Though I haven't been through that area recently (Belmont), I'm 99.9% certain they've upgraded their equipment since then. ;)
But this was when instant-on was starting to appear.
Hello,
The good old days, S and X Band CO radar.
Analog meters: No digital read outs on them. Had a needle that would swing up and the operator would then push down on a bar on top and it would 'hold' the needle in place to keep the reading. The one that I remember getting a look at was in Batavia Illinois, about 35 miles outside of Chicago. Stopped to ask directions and the LEO was nice enough to let me take a peek at it. Was CO, think the name of it was called the 'silver moon' Had a huge X band chrome horn that mounted on the rear window. The readout reminds me of the old TV rotor boxes of the day with that analog need readout.
If I remember right, S band was about 2 gigs. No moving, no IO etc. I ran one of those battery operated detectors which I have long forgotten the name of.
S band was phased out about late 60's early 70's.
(kind of like X band is now, hit and miss. But still could get hit by a small department. I got hit with S band in a small village in north central Wisconsin in 1978 while on my honeymoon. The next week while headed home, the same village had a new X band unit. Oh and forgot, most of the departments where on 33 mhz low band with long 8 Ft whips or VHF. Running Tube sets with single channels and a separate ISPERN radio and had a single 'gum ball' on top of the cars.)
X band was the king for years, most of the Chicago land and Northern Illinois stuck with the old stationary / moving K-55 units and some of the Decatur Rayguns 'series' for years till the late 90's when they where replaced with K. Funny how X band stayed around for years and years and most departments have jumped quickly from K to Ka in a few years.
The rest you all know, K band / Ka / Lidar / Digital radar Moving / IO etc.
Take care,
Spin
Got one in late 70's. I don't remember the brand, but that thing was about 3"x3"x4"! It was HUGE! It had a small speaker, a hole actually, in the top center. I remember when automatic door openers got prolific I just put it on the shelf. I finally threw it out a year or so ago. This is about what I had minus the on/off switch and "mode" selection:
http://www.guysoflidar.com/museum/gul_microscan_1.jpg
Before auto doors started appearing everywhere, were there any X band falses, or was it like Ka band is today (if it alerts, it's most likely a LEO).
LOL
you dont get cobra non-Leo alerts? I do all the time from those nasty cobra's.
X band non-leo alerts where far between in those days. If I remember right, some non-Leo alerts where mainly from point to point microwave transmissions.
Take care,
Spin
OMG! I had one of those too!!! Some protection on X band against the ever powerful MR-7. I got my first RD in 1979. It was a Road Patrol (Radio Shack) XK. Not bad for a passive unit. It was actually better than the Micro Scan. X band predominated for awhile. The Kustom MR7 did not have instant on, but shortly thereafter the K-55 X band came out. It was low powered, had instant on and was harder to detect. But the CMI Escort (thanks to Mike V) made quick work of the K-55.Quote:
Originally Posted by ezaircon4jc
There were plenty of false alerts, but they were all X band and the passive RDs could not pick them up as far away.
K band was being used more and more in the early 80s. The GUL Micro Scan was horrible against K band, specifically the Kustom KR-11 K band radar. It could only pick up the KR-11 within a 200-300 ft. The Radio Shack was not so good against it either. That was when I invested in the CMI Escort. Needless to say, it was a night and day difference! It picked up the door openers from a longer distance, but that was the price for good sensitivity! My first X band trap with it was a Wisconsin State Trooper running an MR-7, and I picked it up 3-4 miles away!
Constant on X band! Life was good!
GTO_04
What caused X and K falses in the late 70's/early 80's?
When did door openers start to appear a lot?
Hello,
Wasn't it funny, CMI made the Speedgun for LEO's and made Escort detectors for the civilian population to find radar traps.
Take care,
Spin
X band constant was the weapon of choice. Not very difficult to detect whatsoever. 2 miles, was I bet an average detection range, sometimes 6 or 7 miles+ on a straight away with some slight hills and curves. My first Uniden (I cant remember what model or anything) and then my uniden RD-9 were great detectors for the era. Cobra Trapshooter got the job done for a while, then Bel 745sti and finally and shortly after the V-1. I had the original V-1 until 1999 with one upgrade at about 1997.
When K band guns came into the picture, and also when I got the Trapshooter it got a little tougher to detect some guns, but with the Trapshooter it still was a piece of cake and there was plenty of warning. It wasn't long after, Ka and V-1 came to be. The V-1 ate K for lunch and Ka wasn't, for quite some time, wasn't a major threat.
Now it can be pretty tough some times and in some situations to get good range and decent warnings, even with the top three.
X2! It is hard for many on this forum to believe that at one time, Uniden did actually make good RDs. And the RD-9XL was very good! And yes the original Cobra Trapshooter (the one with the big warning light bulb, like the Escort) was pretty good too. And the BEL Micro Eye XKR-VIII was excellent on X and K band.Quote:
Originally Posted by MMeteor
It was Ka band that really set the RD manufacturers back. BEL's first attempts at Ka band were terrible. I must have gone through at least 10 745 STi units. At that time BEL just replaced faulty RDs, they did not repair them. At least the 745 had a two year warranty. Well I got to use that warranty, a lot! I have never seen an RD false so much especially on Ka band, and in the middle of nowhere with no radar or even other cars around. It would just false on it's own! Also, the X and K band sensitivity on the 745 was very poor. It was the terrible performance of the 745 that drove me to spend $400 on the V1, and I was glad that I did. It was no contest, V1 was far superior, and I had to wait 30 days to get it because it was on backorder. The 800 series (845, 850, and 855) were not better than the 745. Finally BEL got it right with the 900 series, starting with the 970, 980 and 985.
GTO_04
When I started RDing in the late 80s/early 90s, X band was always false (door openers etc.) and K band was always a LEO. So I ignored X (ran in city mode all the time) and slowed down when I got the K "brap".Quote:
Originally Posted by computersoc
Life got a lot more complicated when K band door openers started to appear. :roll:
As far as I know this is an URBAN myth. CMI, that's Cincinnati Microwave Inc. never made RADAR guns for speed enforcement. CMI made satellite receivers, radar detectors, they had a cell phone line (Motorola OEM). Later CMI made Cellular Digital Packet Data modems (CDPD) and cordless phones along with their Radar/Laser detector lines. The Cobras that worked so well in the "old" days, were made by CMI under contract to Cobra. MPH made the "Speedgun" and it's still one of their trademarked retail names.Quote:
Originally Posted by Spinner55
X2Quote:
Originally Posted by insidercw3
The CMI that made the radar guns was a different company than "Cincinnati Microwave Incorporated". Cincinnati Microwave went bankrupt and the assets were bought by Escort Inc. The CMI that made the radar guns was bought out by MPH Industries.
I had one of the original Fuzzbusters, but as they say the mind is the first thing to go, so I don't remember those days too well.
What caused X and K falses in the late 70's/early 80's?
Trains and automatic door openers were the major cause of "falses" in the early 80's, that I remember where I lived anyway (rural Utah). I don't think there were many others really that you could pinpoint it was the source of the false. Some of my buddies used to say microwaves and automatic garage door openers set thier detectors off but I don't really think they did. Other than that, I don't really remember too many "falses" if you bought a decent radar detector. 95+% or more were LEO's.
I think my favorite old detector was the original Passport although it could only detect X and K band.
Now there is a name from the past GUL.Quote:
Originally Posted by GTO_04
I really loved my Maxon RD 1 until Ka & laser came along. Switched to the brand new Escort 4500 in 1992 or so. What a POS. Ran it until I got my V1 in 1998. No turning back then. Still running it today.
*****
Using a Fuzzbuster II I got over a six mile warning in Louisiana - it was hilltopping at the time. I used it up until I got stopped (and received a warning) from a trooper using IO X-band. He knew I had a detector because the stupid thing lit up the inside of the car as well as the dome light did. Used the (then) infamous Super Snooper a bit but it was huge (and better).
Graduated to an Escort as soon as K band was available. Moved to a Passoprt and kept that until Ka was in use in this area.
Early X falses seemed to come near bridges for me.
Bought a Fuzzbuster in 1981/82 when I was just 2 points away from losing my lisence. Not one ticket while using / many saves!! Without a doubt, it saved my lisence.
Gave it to a cop using a Spectre in place of the expensive one I was using many years later. Wish I still had it just as an antique.
Going back not SO long ago, maybe 10-12 years, does anyone remember a radioshack unit that looked similar to this RMR...in the fact that it had the little raised binnicle of to one side for the laser? My wife had one.....I've wondered who made it since I've been on here. I just threw it away a few months ago but she got it back in college in maybe 96?
http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.c...3_1957_3346509
I had one similar to what you described. It was a Whistler knockoff from what I remember. I actually just threw it in the trash a couple of months back, as it didn't work any longer. Wouldn't even detect a K band radar that was 20' away!!
When it was working, I recall that it did very well against X band radar when I made a foray into NC back in 98. I picked up a NCHP that was about 2 miles away (this was on Hatteras Island, mind you, very straight and level road) running a K55. It was decent on K band, maybe 3/4 mile-1 mile detection. Ka was still pretty uncommon in my neck of the woods when I actively used it. I bought a Passport 7500 after that, then a V1 a few months later once Ka started showing up and I found out the 7500 wasn't worth a flip on Ka.
Dang, you are absolutely right, it was indeed the Bandit 55, my first RD. I thought the newest trapshooter was by far better at K however.Quote:
Originally Posted by MEM-TEK
Ah, I see. See, that's what'd be cool. For someone to archive these newer but still old detectors like the 1990s models. The kind that still pop up on the web for sale every now and then. :lol:
Since this thread is about old RD's, what model was the Escort/Passport around '93? It was when Ka just gone superwide, and laser just hit the roads. The laser detector was a separate unit that you plugged into the RADAR detector to power it. I didn't have too long, it had gotten stolen out of my truck. The low lifes even broke out my driver side door window to get it. :evil:
I miss the "blurb" tone from my Fuzzbuster. I'd plug it in and check it out but I think the dust that has accumulated may short out the board, :shock:
Way back around '81 constant on was king, and the savvy users would choose an ambush location that used a hill top, a curve, or some other terrain to limit the amount of radar signal that was shot down the approaching road.
You would brake hard if you got an alert when approaching a hill or curve. Granted it might have been a false from a nearby CB or other radio. You simply had to slow down before you entered the radar beam and they could get a reading. Examples of multi-mile reception were common because constant on and fixed use were the most common.
Later when the first Escort was released, you had a lot more warning than you needed, but folks started noticing a change as instant on units became more common place, and their users began to refine their tactics. Also the number of false alarms from other RD's and door openers grew.
Moving mode radar also meant that you needed to be more alert all of the time, and not just at the known "Bear Traps".
The old detectors helped with a good set of eyes and no cell phones so the distractions weren't as bad. I'm glad todays are much better because the eyes have gone in the other direction.:D
With the old Escorts (the huge ones) you could pick up radar a long ways off. Because there were few falses when it went off you knew there was radar and you waited until you came upon it. That was back in the early 80's. By the late 80's you began to see false alarms on X band via grocery store auto doors and alarm systems. Still, the pick up range was great compared to today.
Does any body know why door openers run on the same k and x band that police used back then and still run on the same band where poilce use now.