Cobra and Escort Radar Detector use in Washington State

[Rickd]

For years, I have been reading fans of the V1 and anything Escort. Always the same, "mine is better than yours". It is a foregone conclusion that the more you spend, the better the detector. Enough of the CONSTANT discussion of V1 vs Redline vs Escort 9**** vs Bel. I've come the realization that the best is not necessarily the best for everyone. Not all of us can affort $500 either.

I live in Seattle, WA. Here is what I found: Washington State and local police use POP(heavily) and Ka. Usually together or Ka by itself.
Speed signs use K for indication of your speed. Ka is used for the sign WITH a camera.

Last week, I bought on Ebay a Cobra XRS 9950 refurb for $98.98 with free shipping. Next day, I bought an Escort 8500 X50 blue on Ebay for $100 plus shipping just because It was a good price, and it seemed no one else wanted to buy it having a scratched up case.

I received the XRS 9950 first. It looked cool and being a gaget guy, had fun with the display and settings. I live in a north suburb of Seattle, where going further north on I5 I'm told, you can be hit anytime by several local and state patrols with laser, Pop, and Ka. I figured I'd give the Cobra a try and took to the highway. My 9950 did sniff out Ka and POP law enforcement very well. Later, I go to a grocery store and of course, the 9950 squawked "K", but then something interesting happened. A red "Rail" icon popped up indicating a railroad alert. I did not see tracks anywhere. While the detector was beeping, a passerby asked, "what's going on?" I told him about the alert and he said there is a rail line two blocks from the store. So, I drove over and sure enough there was a stalled loco stopped in an intersection. So, I have a theory. Perhaps the Cobra brand suffers from mass production with poor quality control. It may be possible that my refurb was worked over with greater care than a mass produced unit that is assumed will be within specs. It seems that my 9950 performs really well for where I live.

A week later, I received the 8500 X50. The Escort is mostly silent, almost having me thinking it's a defect. However, on the weekend, when legitimate radar was present in the distance, the 8500 X50 performed really well with plenty of advanced notice. I like it alot. I see many posts on the web about a number of Escort 8500 9500 models dying out after a short time and having to be sent in for recalib, reset, temp issues, etc. If my unit dies out, at least I only spent $100 and not $200 or more.

Another week later, I bought an Escort S2 on Ebay for $49.95 (again because it was inexpensive). The seller said he couldn't power on the unit with batteries. Received the unit with new batteries in it and determined the contact for one of the batteries was bent in. A quick fix and the unit works fine. I find it's range is is just as good as the Cobra (better on POP) and a welcome additon to the family.

Please no replys that I should ditch the Cobra and keep the 8500 X50 and S2. Maybe so, but the Cobra is working for me where I live and locally drive. It detects as well and points out a variety of legitimate warnings. Radar detection is as good as the Escorts with the only negative being the ramp up indication is slower, except for POP which is full on when hit. So, I learned to heed a distant threat immediately at the 2nd level indication. May get the GPS add-on for city driving and use the Escorts for the local highways.

Now saving up for my next purchase of a V1 for longer highway trips. It took about 10 years for everyone else to catch up to the V1, and that says alot to me about a product. Plus, there are fewer manufacturing complaints about V1s.

[bombebomb]

I have never seen so much S*** on a post in my life. Next thing you know you will be running into Ku band.

Not trying to be mean but come on man, don't barge into the door gun's blazing with no ammo.

My favorite quote about the S2 and POP

I find it's range is is just as good as the Cobra (better on POP) and a welcome additon to the family.

I think, in my opinion you need to do a lot of reading. While a handful of your post is correct, most of it is not. You can learn a lot here

[TRun]

WSP does not use pop. Yes they do have MPH guns. They do a lot of instant on which can appear as a pop alert on a cheap detector. Laser is more of a threat in that state and no detector will save you from it. I would say keep whatever detector you like. Just beware of whats in the sky.

[Rickd]

Well, I knew that I would get at least one a** responding in a negative way.

Here are the facts: WSP do use POP and in some local areas sit by K signs as some small cities cannot afford guns. I asked a few officers in my travels (being from CA, I play the "out of state" card to discuss). It depends on where you are. Yes, laser is used, and all my detectors picked them up well it seems to me after seeing other drivers being stopped and not me. However, just after two days of ownership, the S2 is lately alerting long Laser threats at random.

I am not an Escort hater nor a Cobra fan. Just posting what I found using these detectors. I bought used and found little information about purchasing used equipment.

I would like to see constructive conversation based on same user experiences that will be helpful to those who cannot afford spending the money that some of you can.

bombebomb, have you tried a 99** series Cobra? Probably not. Radar Roy has, and said he was impressed how far Cobra has come and thought the series was okay, not perfect. And yes, I read alot in this forum which is why I bought what I could afford that I felt would work where I live and travel.

[powerpickle]

First,buying detectors off of Ebay is a crap shoot. If they work then you got lucky. Second,the Solo series DOES NOT detect pop radar They cannot because their circuity cycles on/off to save the batteries and it does this when a cord is used so it is not fast enough to detect pop and never will. Pop is not an option in the menu.

[Weeth]

Lol you bought a S2.

HAHAHAHA you bought a cobra.

For $250 you could have got something good.

[Rickd]

Oh Geez...

powerpickle, I agree that the S2 is not fast enough. However, it depends on how the officer is using their equipment. Here in WA, I am told depending where you are, some officers use POP first and then Ka immediatly after. The S2 does not indicate POP on the display (did not say that it does), but rather an alert. Sorry if I am not being precise in my posts. Suffice to say that in my discussions and with the help of a few officers, I was able to test what I stated. It was much a curiosity to them as well as me. Again, I am not trying to say what is better or worse, just what I found to be true depending on my travels.

Once again, I bought these because it was what I could afford at the TIME to have sometime right away as my luck will run out. I have been stopped twice by local police (20 over speed) and once by a state trooper (85 in a 60 zone on I5) since being in WA and they all let me off, no ticket. I asked them how they tracked me. They all were candid about what they used. I asked more officers in various cities who were on a break. Again, very candid.

I am just asking people here to post about their experiences with units other than the same ones we see all the time.

I think I did okay with a $49.95 S2, a $100 X50 blue that are keeping me legal on the road. The Cobra is a curiousity that works well. For the cost of the higher end units, I would still be waiting to get one another two weeks from today. Why have all eggs in one basket? And, as I said, I am saving for a V1.

[TRun]

Never test with cops and don't talk to cops about detectors. It will bite you and everyone else in the ass.

[switch626]

A long time ago I used to run a Solo 5 (if I remember correctly). I was happy with it at the time because I hadn't experienced what a great detector was like at the time. The major problem I noticed was that the detection range decreased whenever the batteries were getting low, which happened often. Though at the time, I was beside myself for having finally purchased an Escort, but didn't realize I didn't have one of the really good ones. Lesson learned: keep the batteries fresh.

Now when you do get the V1, you will be convinced that all of your current RDs are crap! It will be an eye opening experience, and you will never go back to the cheap RDs after that.

ALso, as TRun said, never test countermeasures with LEOs. You hurt all of us when you help to educate them. It's not a personal thing, as I am sure they are nice guys and all. It's just that as a guy who is using CMs to get away with speeding, you are hurting yourself and all of us by doing this. The ones who are interested enough are already coming here to get educated, please don't help the less ambitious ones, we like them as they are.

[bombebomb]

Let the education begin.

POP is a very quick shot of radar normally 67ms or quicker. 99.999% of cops do not use it
Quick trigger, is a very quick instant on shot under 500ms. - Texas loves it, and it's not legal
Instant on is a quick instant on shot over 500ms generally. - Is legal, loads of cops use it.