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I have a brand new 3.863 V1 but today a LEO was on the other side of a hill (not that steep) and i receive a 1 dot Ka warning. About 8-10 seconds later I see him come over the hill and he is rather close. Is it normal for a V1 to get this little warning time, even if the radar source is on the other side of a hill?
Some Ka guns are rather low power, making them hard to sniff out in over-the-hill or around-the-curve encounters. Last fall when I had to make a business trip to TX, I encountered a very experienced AL cop who was set up around a fairly sharp curve on I-59 near downtown Birmingham. He was parked next to the rather tall cement wall dividing the highway and had his radar gun angled across the road. With my 9500i I too got roughly 10 seconds warning before seeing him. The initial alerts were very weak until I nearly rounded the curve.Quote:
Originally Posted by KinetiK
A question though. On the highway you were traveling, was it a divided highway with a fairly large width median between the directions of travel? I suspect that this was the case. If so...
Now consider that Ka band radar guns have a narrower emission cone compared to K band radar, and a much narrower emission cone compared to X band radar. On a two lane road with the same hill you would have detected his radar sooner, but on a divided highway most of the radiation from his radar's cone was located to the left of you on the other side of the road.
To add onto MEM-TEK, a little note:
Remember you are traveling towards each other... so that 10seconds would equate to 20 if it was a stationary trap, which would equate to a bit more comfort... but, sometimes thats what you get when you encounter Ka band.
Now that the V1 has the 'E' with it, I would feel a bit more secure that its working properly.
it could be IO, and 10 sec is plenty to slow down.
This happened to me last Sat where the LEO was sitting at the bottom of a steep bridge. He was shooting IO away from me, which made it harder to sniff out.
Although I was going 10 over the PSL, didn't get pulled over.
The median was pretty big, yeah, and had trees on it. It wasn't a highway though, just residential. I guess the main reason I'm asking this is because I've gotten some 1.5mi+ detection with straight-shot Ka, but when it's around the curve/hill or when they're hiding on side streets next to main roads sometimes I get an uncomfortably little amount of warning. I almost always have enough time to slow down, though.
I didn't know that Ka had a narrower band than K, I thought it was the opposite.
Nope. Ka guns have a narrower cone compared to K and X guns. The wide median plus the trees in the median explains why you got such a short range with your V1. Now you know what conditions to watch for which can reduce your detection range. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by KinetiK
10 seconds is actually pretty decent warning for Ka, especially considering the conditions you mentioned.
Those one-dot Ka warnings are really where the V1 shines:
Buying a more sensitive detector isn't about getting an extra few seconds of warning over another detector. It's about warning vs no warning. It is situations exactly like these where another, less sensitive detector might not have given you any prior warning at all.
Jim
makes sense, that's how I almost got caught speeding after ignoring the one dot on the V1( so used to my trusty 8500).Quote:
Originally Posted by jimbonzzz
This morning on the way to work I was coming up on a hill and got one LED Ka from the front. As I crested the hill a statie was sitting on the opposite side of the median, facing me, with his rear antenna on. After I passed him I picked it up for a few miles. The radar wasn't even pointed at me and I STILL had some warning. Thanks Mike V.
I had the same experience as others above last week, sure its not the greatest but, being it was IO, and I had an alert, even though short, it still was pleanty.
1 dot Ka, I slowed, alert went away, in traffic, guesstimate of 1/4 mile later, other side of divided median, a freaking Charger, rarely see those, not sure where he belonged to but I saw the antenna on the dash. So with a little hill (overpass) and curve and traffic and other side of divided median. The 10+ seconds to slow before being in view of moving IO, hey it alerted, thats all that matters.