Does a median and other cars on the freeway affect my detection?

[ssick92]

It seems like when there is a median and other cars on the freeway I get signifacantly shorter range when a cop is coming at me on the other side of the median. I know the cars would pretty much block the radar waves except through the windows, but what about the median?

[AirMoore]

Median... it depends on what kind you refer to as a 'median'.



A large concrete barricade with the metal pillars on top will significantly decrease your detection (not so much a median as barricade, but many call it a median all the same)...

But a simple space with guard-rails on either side should not impact it as much... or very little


A space betwixt you and the other side of the road with a lot of vegetation (ie: trees and bushes) may impact you range a fair amount.



Cars will impact range (especially large SUV type vehicles or TTrailers)


Lastly: Remember that essentially with oncoming C/O radar you will get 'the same range' but generally 1/2 the warning time...

[stlcardsfan]

Median... it depends on what kind you refer to as a 'median'.



A large concrete barricade with the metal pillars on top will significantly decrease your detection (not so much a median as barricade, but many call it a median all the same)...

But a simple space with guard-rails on either side should not impact it as much... or very little


A space betwixt you and the other side of the road with a lot of vegetation (ie: trees and bushes) may impact you range a fair amount.



Cars will impact range (especially large SUV type vehicles or TTrailers)


Lastly: Remember that essentially with oncoming C/O radar you will get 'the same range' but generally 1/2 the warning time...

Good point. I've got 2.7 miles of detection with the ix against oncoming C/O K. So you might say 5 miles!

[AirMoore]

Good point. I've got 2.7 miles of detection with the ix against oncoming C/O K. So you might say 5 miles!

No, no mate... your range would still have been 2.7miles, but your warning time before you contacted the source would have been double.

[stlcardsfan]

Good point. I've got 2.7 miles of detection with the ix against oncoming C/O K. So you might say 5 miles!

No, no mate... your range would still have been 2.7miles, but your warning time before you contacted the source would have been double.

I meant if he had been stationary though.

[AirMoore]

See below \/ \/ \/ \/

[AirMoore]

Good point. I've got 2.7 miles of detection with the ix against oncoming C/O K. So you might say 5 miles!

No, no mate... your range would still have been 2.7miles, but your warning time before you contacted the source would have been double.

I meant if he had been stationary though.

No, no... you're thinking about this all wrong:

The RANGE would be the same... the WARNING time would have been double.


Think of it this way:
For that split trilla-billa-milla-second that your RD first received the warning, you two were not going towards or away from each other. In other words... that right there was the max DISTANCE that your RD could pick up the radar at (whether he was stationary or otherwise).

Had he been stationary... you would have picked it up at the exact same time 2.7miles away.


The difference is: Because he was moving at the same speed you were (closing on each other)... you had half the warning TIME to slow down before you contacted him... because you were both closing on that distance.

So a 2.7Mile moving warning (oncoming) feels (time-wise) like a 1.35Mile stationary alert...




Your messing with the space-time continuum.



Now IF your saying you got 2.7miles detection ON YOUR HALF... then it WAS indeed a 5.4mile detection... but then again... you didn't say that... you said:

(Essentially) you got 1.35miles warning then doubled it to get 2.7miles of detection range.


So either you aren't understanding the concept... or you misspoke.

***I am beginning to believe you misspoke. Because you seem to be wanting to say you got 2.7miles of warning on your half before you saw the oncoming LEO... which would mean you got 5.4miles of detection on the LEO. In other words it was 5.4miles the whole time... but you only saw 2.7 of those miles... so you said 2.7miles of detection when really it was 5.4miles

In the most basic terms: Detection range should (in theory) always stay the same,for C/O whether stationary or oncoming... but the warning time it takes to cross paths will be cut in half in the oncoming scenario... but range should not change... because for the split second that the RD alerted (if one could freeze time) that was the detection range all along...

So what you meant to say is that you got 2.7miles of WARNING before you crossed the LEO, so assuming he was oncoming at roughly the same speed the whole time... you got 5.4miles of detection (the detection was there the whole time).

[stlcardsfan]

Good point. I've got 2.7 miles of detection with the ix against oncoming C/O K. So you might say 5 miles!

No, no mate... your range would still have been 2.7miles, but your warning time before you contacted the source would have been double.

I meant if he had been stationary though.

No, no... you're thinking about this all wrong:

The RANGE would be the same... the WARNING time would have been double.


Think of it this way:
For that split trilla-billa-milla-second that your RD first received the warning, you two were not going towards or away from each other. In other words... that right there was the max DISTANCE that your RD could pick up the radar at (whether he was stationary or otherwise).

Had he been stationary... you would have picked it up at the exact same time 2.7miles away.


The difference is: Because he was moving at the same speed you were (closing on each other)... you had half the warning TIME to slow down before you contacted him... because you were both closing on that distance.

So a 2.7Mile moving warning (oncoming) feels (time-wise) like a 1.35Mile stationary alert...




Your messing with the space-time continuum.



Now IF your saying you got 2.7miles detection ON YOUR HALF... then it WAS indeed a 5.4mile detection... but then again... you didn't say that... you said:

(Essentially) you got 1.35miles warning then doubled it to get 2.7miles of detection range.


So either you aren't understanding the concept... or you misspoke. I am beginning to believe you misspoke. Because you seem to be wanting to say you got 2.7miles of warning on your half before you saw the oncoming LEO... which would mean you got 5.4miles of detection on the LEO.

I'm gonna just stop and quit confuzzling myself!

[AirMoore]

^^^^

It is confusing... I am having a hard time typing it out.


I think what you meant to originally say is you got 2.7miles of warning before you crossed the path of the oncoming LEO, which would lead to 5.4miles of detection.


You said you got 2.7miles of detection... which would mean you only got 1.35miles of warning before you crossed the source (the LEO).


^^^^ I have a strong feeling the above is exactly what is happening here.

[djrams80]

It seems like when there is a median and other cars on the freeway I get signifacantly shorter range when a cop is coming at me on the other side of the median. I know the cars would pretty much block the radar waves except through the windows, but what about the median?

The answer is yes. If a CHP cruiser is coming the other way, there will be lots of cars and the typical SoCal freeway concrete median between you and the CHP cruiser. The more solid objects between your 8500 and the radar antenna, the more attenuated the radar signal will be and thus harder to detect.

Also, remember this. CHP cruisers all have front and rear radar antennas, but from what I've seen thus far, only use one at a time. If the CHP cruiser is going the other way and he is using his rear radar antenna to check the speeds of the cars coming up behind him, which they do quite often, your detection range will be extremely short, but you'll probable keep the signal longer once you pass the cruiser.