Which detector for highway construction zones?

[mm6mm6]

Here in Illinois, the State Police will be using vans/SUVs for photo radar enforcement in construction zones.

I currently drive approx 20 miles of all construction zone each way to and from work. The speed limit is 45 miles per hour. The white signs with black lettering declaring the use of photo radar have been up for several weeks now (they blend right in with other highway signs and you have to really look hard to see them). Some online searches have found that the photo radar will begin July 1st but the online references appear to come from undated or outdated articles. It is possible that they're already being used.

I drove with my cruise control set at 53 mph in the right lane and I never passed a single vehicle during my 20 mile commute. Approx 500+ vehicles passed me. Obviously, tickets will be very easy to come by.

Here in Illinois, a first offense photo radar ticket fine is $375. A second violation is $1,000 and a six month license suspension of the vehicle's registered owner! Geez! Can you tell I'm scared to death now?

I need a radar detector only for this 20 mile stretch. It's all I drive. Back and forth and back and forth. The van/SUV shouldn't be too hard to see and I am guessing that during the next two years of construction, the van/SUV will be moved only between several different locations (there aren't many areas to choose from).

I am looking at the Valentine One and the Escort series.

Is there a less expensive radar detector that would be good for this situation? Would the V1 and Escort be overkill?

Thanks in advance for your knowledgable responses!!!

-Steve

[licamell]

Welcome to the board, and sorry to hear about photo radar coming that way. That sure is a lot of money / penalties for photo radar. Most places I have seen photo radar they will only fine you money and not points or other penalties since they even claim they can't prove beyond a doubt that it is you driving, even if it is your car.

Anyways, I have the STi and it picks up all photo radar around where I live quite well.

You should also realize that there is a good chance that you will pick up other signals (true radar sources, but not necessarily photo radar or police radar). They tend to have a lot of "drones" (radar emitting signs, etc) at construction sites to begin with. I will let others leave their feedback in terms of how cheaper detectors have faired with photo radar. One more thing to find out is do you know what kind of photo radar they will be using? This makes a big difference.

[RW'07]

Anyways, I have the STi and it picks up all photo radar around where I live quite well.

In no way I intend to hijack this thread, I have the STI as well BUT in Ontario photo radar has been banned since 1995 so have no experience with any photo radar detection, question: what band photo radar (the one with the fixed van taking pictures from inside) runs on, X, K or Ka?

TIA

[jdong]

If we're talking highway, I would incline to say that the V1 will deliver best range on all bands over its competitors.

[mm6mm6]

jdong, what do you think of the Whistler Pro 78? I see your avatar is a Whistler detector so I'm guessing you might have some input?

Radar Roy's review of the Whistler Pro 78 was pretty good and it's reasonably priced.

Here's my reasoning for trying to find a detector that fits my rather specific needs. I can drive this stretch of highway under construction at the speed limit with a detector to figure out where the radar signals will be. I can use it to spot the van/SUV used.

I think that after a couple weeks of using the detector that I choose, I will get pretty good at driving this same stretch of 20 miles that I have been driving for 20 years already. I'm just super paranoid about this two year construction zone with such high fines and a loss of driver's license.

[jdong]

jdong, what do you think of the Whistler Pro 78? I see your avatar is a Whistler detector so I'm guessing you might have some input?

Radar Roy's review of the Whistler Pro 78 was pretty good and it's reasonably priced.

The pro-78 IMO is the best detector on the market in its price range. However, in terms of raw performance it simply can't compare to its $400 relatives (of course, it's not fair to expect that cal-i-b-e-r (stupid censorship) of performance from a detector 1/3 the price!)


The reason I said V1 off the bat is because photo radar tends to be off-axis or low-powered radar and you need every last bit of sensitivity if you want more than 5 seconds before your picture is taken...

While I recommend the Pro-78/XTR-690 as excellent budget general-purpose detectors, I don't know enough about your circumstances to give a recommendation one way or the other.

[rsatmans]

All the top of the line detectors offer a 30 day money back guarantee. If you have the funds buy a V1 and if you think it's to much return it. You can get a refurbished v1 for like $50 of the normal price.

[djrams80]

These radar sources are very low power and are difficult to detect. IMO, you need one of the big boys to combat this threat consistently. That would mean, in this order:

1. V1, first choice, since it is the most sensitive. Unless you live in an area with lots of false alarms, I'd stop here.(I own a V1)

2. 9500i, only if the V1 is too noisy for your tastes.(I own a 9500i)

3. Sti, only if your locals use Spectre RDD, would I choose this over either of the above 2 RDs.(I do not own an STi)

Other than these 3, or the very expensive Belscort remote RDs(9500ci or STi-R), you might not have enough consistent warning times to combat this very difficult threat.

[swarga]

Here in Illinois, the State Police will be using vans/SUVs for photo radar enforcement in construction zones.

I currently drive approx 20 miles of all construction zone each way to and from work.

The Garden of Edens?

Here in Illinois, a first offense photo radar ticket fine is $375. A second violation is $1,000 and a six month license suspension of the vehicle's registered owner! Geez! Can you tell I'm scared to death now?

I need a radar detector only for this 20 mile stretch. It's all I drive. Back and forth and back and forth.

Is there a less expensive radar detector that would be good for this situation? Would the V1 and Escort be overkill?

Well, I'm a Zombie, so my biased recommendation is that you not screw around - get the V1! You will be driving other places, taking road trips, etc. at some point, so even if a cheaper detector would work for your daily commute situation you're still better off in the long run getting a top quality detector with directional arrows and a bogey counter.

[aust3333]

While all of the recommendations given are really good, the photo radar vans operate on k band and are really easy to pick up. I personally use a V1 and a RX65 but I can honestly tell you that it is over kill if these photo vans are your main concern. Bel 940 has your name written all over it. A very nice budget detector that will give you plenty of advanced warning against the photo vans. I have used an older Bel (purchased in 95) and the warning it provided against the photo vans was very adequate. All in all, I would suggest that you not spend the money on a high end detector if photo vans are your main concern.