Ground waves?

[Mr Q]

This is probably a question for someone like Jimbonzz. I have used the search function and came up empty handed.

I was wondering if microwaves propagate in ground waves also?
The reason I ask is because I have a sti-r+ mounted about 8 inches off the ground behind a bumper and a redline mounted high in my windscreen and my sti-r always alerts before my redline. Every time.

I done a little experiment and turned off X and Ka bands on both detectors to make things even and the remote mount always wins on K band or any band for that matter.

Which brings me back to my ground wave theory. Does it hold any water?

When I first read this post I noticed the term "ground wave" used in a slightly wrong manner - ground waves travel along the Earth's surface while sky waves travel up into the ionosphere and are then refracted back to the ground well beyond the range of ground waves.

As to your problem in performance, the two detectors are most likely differing in sensitivity only. There would be (in a few cases) some radar signals ducting along the pavement due to its material,surface moisture, higher temperature than several feet higher, etc. But the most likely reason for the results you have is just that one RD is a lot hotter than the other. Yes, if a car was right in front of you, the low mounted antenna would maybe pick up some signal from under that car whereas the windshield mount would suffer signal loss from the car ahead. But the greater the distance between both cars increases, the less advantage the "under the car ahead" would be. So the bottom line is, as others said, the ST has a hotter receiver than the Redline. I guess you sometimes get what you paid for but that much for a RTD? I thought $400 was steep for a V1

[Veil Guy]

This is probably a question for someone like Jimbonzz. I have used the search function and came up empty handed.

I was wondering if microwaves propagate in ground waves also?
The reason I ask is because I have a sti-r+ mounted about 8 inches off the ground behind a bumper and a redline mounted high in my windscreen and my sti-r always alerts before my redline. Every time.

I done a little experiment and turned off X and Ka bands on both detectors to make things even and the remote mount always wins on K band or any band for that matter.

Which brings me back to my ground wave theory. Does it hold any water?

When I first read this post I noticed the term "ground wave" used in a slightly wrong manner - ground waves travel along the Earth's surface while sky waves travel up into the ionosphere and are then refracted back to the ground well beyond the range of ground waves.

As to your problem in performance, the two detectors are most likely differing in sensitivity only. There would be (in a few cases) some radar signals ducting along the pavement due to its material,surface moisture, higher temperature than several feet higher, etc. But the most likely reason for the results you have is just that one RD is a lot hotter than the other. Yes, if a car was right in front of you, the low mounted antenna would maybe pick up some signal from under that car whereas the windshield mount would suffer signal loss from the car ahead. But the greater the distance between both cars increases, the less advantage the "under the car ahead" would be. So the bottom line is, as others said, the ST has a hotter receiver than the Redline. I guess you sometimes get what you paid for but that much for a RTD? I thought $400 was steep for a V1

It's all relative. Last ticket out of state I received was in excess of $600! I didn't have the V1 with me at the time. May not have made a difference, but it certainly wouldn't have hurt, either.

Just got wind of a gentleman in Canada that got nailed with a total out of pocket in excess of $1500! Sorta makes the $400 investment hedge look like cheap insurance.

VG

[Mr Q]

How true that is. I rarely speed, at most over 5 mph over the PSL and people ask why I use a detector. I explain that my last speeding ticket was due to a non-calibrated gun and instead of fighting the ticket, I paid it and have been using a RD since. With ticket prices and insurance surcharges, the V1 has paid for itself many times. When it alerts, I drop to 5 mph under the PSL every time to protect from mis-calibrated guns and it has kept me ticket free for many years.