SML 2003 POP testing

When I purchase my Bel985 (about 2 yrs ago), I thought I was covered, especially with paying the price tag on that item. I research what I thought was important and thought I covered my bases (for a novice) and pick the unit that was right for me. Well I believe I did, but just recently 30 days ago, I started to hear about all this POP stuff, and worst, possible Ku in the future. Well no where on the advertised Bel985 does it say anything about POP. So naturally I thought I was going to be screw until I came accross a SML 2003 review the other day... and listed under POP testing was Bel985.

Now again there are no listed POP modes/setting on the RD and after thinking I have an obsolete unit, I found this SML 2003 review, POP sensitivity test, the Bel picked up both the Bee III Ka 33.8, and K band when the radar gun was using POP. So can this be true, that I have the sesitivity (perhaps not the extreme sensitivity or range that perhaps maybe the new line of RD's have, but also not having to deal with increased falses). I also was wondering about these newer RD if you turn off POP mode does that turn off all sesitivity to a possible 67millisecond burst, as my old Bel985 can pick this up automaticaly.

Comparison of my Bel985 and the newer RD's, SML review such as the 2003 tested POP from 1/4 mile, now the SML 2004 review tested the new Bel-escorts from distances of 1000 ft and 500 ft, and another, the newest SML 2005 review simply said Y/N result (although I did read the fine print and it said it to was at a 1/4 mile. Now I was going to ask what the conversion of mile to feet are, but did a quick search and found the answer...

1/4 mile equals 1320 feet.

So I am feeling pretty happy about my detector that can alert to POP Ka and K, but seeing there were no test done farther than 1/4 mile I do not know how much farer the newer RD possible can detect POP...???

But this is where I get thrown, the SML 2003 review does not list the Bel985 for laser testing, however it is listed at the end. So what happend to the laser testing of the Bel985? I know for a fact it has great laser sesitivity both far and close and even rear detection but it is not shown... so I am starting to fear that this copy of SML 2003 review may be inaccurate and perhaps my Bel985 does not have POP sensitivity.

Can anyone chime in on this for me, I am alittle confused. Here are the links...

Overall review:

http://www.radarbusters.com/support/...dar-review.asp

POP testing:

http://www.radarbusters.com/support/.../radar-pop.asp

Laser testing:

http://www.radarbusters.com/support/...adar-laser.asp

I can't find the thread but Jimbonzz answered this sometime ago.
The 985 did alert to POP but it was not specifically designed to do so.
I bought my 985 in 2000. I asked Bel numerous times if my 985 was the same RD internally as the one tested in 2003.
All I got was double talk and BS from Bel.

OK, first click here for the actual 2003 results from SML.

This does show the laser results.

What I had said about this at the time was mostly specultaion, but here's the theory: The pre-pop detectors had a slower sweep rate, and would perhaps scan through all frequencies in about 300ms or so. This could mean that they would have about a 1 in 4 of detecting a POP burst, if the POP burst occurred at the exact same time that the detector was sweeping the BEE III's 33.8 GHz frequency. The BELs with accusweep on would probably have a much better chance at this.

There has been a LOT of questions raised about SML's POP results in their tests. For example, the POP burst in the Z-Series units is only 16MS long instead of 67MS. This could clearly be seen in the now defunct videos from jammertests.com. None of the detectors alerted to K band POP from the Z-35, even the ones designed specifically to detect POP. So, why did the detectors alert at SML's tests? I have my theories, but these are the kinds of things we're going to try and clear up in the Guys of LIDAR test this weekend.

Here's my advice: if you are worried about POP at all, get a detector that was designed to detect it. Keep the 985 as a backup.

As far as laser goes, you can get some level of protection from a detector if you have a stealthy car and use passive countermeasures like VEIL and the Laser Shield. You might also be able to get lucky once in a while and detect it when another car is targeted. But if you really want protection from laser, a jammer would be necessary. Short of a jammer, a V1.

Jim

Pop is a quick-trigger instant on, typically 65ms, but there is also a shorter duration version, 16ms?

Detectors "sweep" the signals they can recieve to detect them. This is like holding the channel up button on your TV until you've gone through them all. If you see a show you like - then you note it down [alert] and see if there is anything better. If the show you like is on channel 21 and you are on channel 20 going up, then the time to find the show is very short. However if you are on channel 22 and going up, it might take a while.

A complete sweep on the average RD is about 300ms. So a 65ms burst will probably go unnoticed 1/4 of the time. But if it is just around that 33.8GHz frequency, bang you've got an alert.