Rain makes detection worse??

Does rain improve or makes detection worse with V1?

Its been raining here in Wash DC area for the past 2 days none stop. And i pass by same retirement home few times a day that has automatic door openers. Usually i will get 3 bogeys and 4 lights on the strength meter.
But tonight, when i was passing same retirement home, while it was raining, i got 7 Bogeys and the strength meter was maxed out.

Do you think im getting a lot of Ghosting because it was raining or something else is at play that made my V1 go coo-koo tonight??

I find that i normaly get slightly better detection but never can i think of a good reason for it. EXCEPT that normaly when raining there are less cars on the road which cuses less radar blocking, but who knows.

i wish it would rain, i am from corona hills, california and the fires are killing us !! but as far as the v1 question about rain... i don't know but i am sure someone this site would know. good luck !!

It was a bad weather last night from IL to Indiana ... my V1 was very quiet and i sure think that rain does effect a little bit but since it was raining hard so i think thats possible the reason the slow detection ...

It wasnt slow detection, it was good detection. It has stopped raining mid day today and tonight coming from work on the same road, i didnt get as many Bogeys by the same retirement home. It was only 3 as always.

So i think, even though rain helps by increasing distant of detection, it also gives you a lot of ghosting at the same time.

I'm in California during them bad fires. Law Enforcement is too busy protecting life and property, which is good.

So its free speeding in California right now =)

As a LEO in New Zealand, I can tell you that the rain definately affects the Police radar. We use Stalker Duals and DSR's predominantly (dash mounted) and if it is raining, it is nearly impossible to get an accurate patrol speed. It will often read about 10kmh higher than true speed. When this happens, the target speed (you) will be shown as 10kmh lower than your true speed. The problem is it happens the other way around too so a false high reading can be locked on.

This is why I have an RX65. I don't trust the inexperienced cops to get it right and I can use a ticket as much as the next guy.

Now if only I can get my selfcal - service required problem sorted! Oh well.

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Originally Posted by barry911

I'm in California during them bad fires. Law Enforcement is too busy protecting life and property, which is good.

So its free speeding in California right now =)

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So ironic. My first thought to come to mind is:

If they are so busy protecting property why am I getting pulled over and lasered more times in 2 months than I usually do in two years?

I must be really lucky or somthing.

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Originally Posted by robster66

As a LEO in New Zealand, I can tell you that the rain definately affects the Police radar. We use Stalker Duals and DSR's predominantly (dash mounted) and if it is raining, it is nearly impossible to get an accurate patrol speed.
sor

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Don't you guys use the VSS cable?

Water absorbs both radar and laser so yes you may get worse detection in bad weather, but lot's of other factors appear when detecting radar like how much has entered the antenna.

How much sensitivity the rd has, how much radar is reflected your way, is the radar source pointing towards or away from you, plus did your window wipers block radar from entering the antenna?

Windscreen wipers blocking instant on radar, thats even more of a worse sinario, i'm not sure how much radar they can block but having metal strips waving passed the front of the antenna isnt a good idea when trying to ''catch'' radar in your detectors antenna, but what can you do when it's raining!

ok the California fires are over now.

Get the RD detectors ready! hehehe

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Originally Posted by laserblaster

Water absorbs both radar and laser so yes you may get worse detection in bad weather, but lot's of other factors appear when detecting radar like how much has entered the antenna.

How much sensitivity the rd has, how much radar is reflected your way, is the radar source pointing towards or away from you, plus did your window wipers block radar from entering the antenna?

Windscreen wipers blocking instant on radar, thats even more of a worse sinario, i'm not sure how much radar they can block but having metal strips waving passed the front of the antenna isnt a good idea when trying to ''catch'' radar in your detectors antenna, but what can you do when it's raining!

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Use RainX. :P

Love that stuff!

When I'm going over 30 I barely need my wipers it just glides off. :D

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Originally Posted by Azonehits

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Originally Posted by robster66

As a LEO in New Zealand, I can tell you that the rain definately affects the Police radar. We use Stalker Duals and DSR's predominantly (dash mounted) and if it is raining, it is nearly impossible to get an accurate patrol speed.
sor

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Don't you guys use the VSS cable?

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I wouldn't even have a clue what a VSS cable is so I guess we don't use it. Most of our stalker and all of our Eagle units are getting really old and probably need to be replaced but as in most Police Dept's, cheapest is best, so I won't hold my breath.

VSS = Vehicle Speed Sensor. It can be mounted on the gearbox, driveshaft or a wheel (preferably a non-driven wheel to avoid wheel-spin or slip error). Generally more reliable than the dual radar horn solution, but may be less accurate if tire rotations per mile are off for any reason (such as new versus old tires, or P versus non-P sizes, or brand change, etc.).

Oh OK, we definately don't use those. All our units are dash mounted, (usually just on velcro so when we crash they brain us). We have no handheld radar guns as such but plenty of Prolaser 2 and Stalker laser guns. The Prolasers are pretty lethal as they can detect up to 1.4kms but the Stalkers are limited to only about 400 metres which I understand is some sort of internationally agreed distance as longer than this it is too difficult to stand up in court and say that your target was definately the vehicle you stopped etc.

I have detected vehicles at 1200+ metres going away from a motorway overbridge but coming at me only up to about 1000 metres.

Off topic but can anyone tell me if I open my RX65 to try and fix the selfcal issue, will it void the warranty?

Cheers, Mike

Finally managed to get through to Bel, they tell me that the warranty will be voided if the case is opened so I will just send it to them to get it fixed.