Do all detectors need periodic tuning?

**rwoods** · 01-21-2007, 06:19 PM

I recently splurged and purchased a second valentine one for my other car. It arrived Friday (1/19/07). I opened it and put it in my truck and ran it on the way home next to my old one, which I think is 3 or 4 years old. (plugging the serial number into the valentine web site says my old one is version 1.8).

I was surprised to find that the new unit in A mode beeped like crazy while the older unit in A mode stayed silent. It was catching every automatic door while the older unit was not. My original unit used to do this when I first got it but I had (stupidly) assumed that door technology had changed over time. The new unit would pick up automatic doors from hundreds of feet away, but I just about have to drive the truck through the door to get the older unit to go off (K or Ka band). I have been studying this behavior since then and have observed several times where the new unit has its signal strength pegged out with multiple signals yet nothing on the older unit. I have also passed three different patrol cars that the new unit detected from a good distance away but never registered on the old unit at all (even though other times it seems to work fine detecting police radar)!

So I guess this means that my old unit has fallen out of tune. This bothers me because I had no idea this could happen. The unit has never been dropped. What causes this? Time? Heat (I live in Birmingham, AL) and keep it mounted high on the windshield)? Do all high-end radar detectors do this? Or, do other units self-calibrate or otherwise self-test? I have spent the day searching the forum and have not read of many other brand owners sending their detectors back for tuning.

I tested a friends v1 today (also 3-4 years old) and it also has the same symptoms as my older unit does, so now I am nervous about trusting my units and am second guessing my purchase. I don't want to worry that my units are functioning correctly. So, to summarize:

1) Do all high end radar detectors go out of tune periodically?
2) If so, why? Does it get too hot in Birmingham to leave it on the windshield (If I have to take it down every time I get out of the car, then I really don't need two units)?
3) Should I feel good that I have a v1 and can send it in easily for a tuneup, or worry because it has no self test that indicates that it has gone out of tune.
4) how often should I expect my v1 to go out of tune?
5) do other high end units self diagnose and/or self calibrate tuning problems?

Thanks,
Robert

**laserblaster** · 01-21-2007, 07:34 PM

The out of tune problems on the v1 seem to affect k band, my v1 failed on some k band, obviously somthings drifted out of spec.

Also there is a relation to this non k band detection and heat!

my v1 got hot before it stopped working....

I think the bel and escort have self calibration, for the oscillators and they may compensate for drift, obviously if its unable to self calibrate then the service required appears.

The v1 does display the E in the bogey if something fails but it may not display this, and will just stop detecting...

**FlyinZX-10R** · 01-21-2007, 09:14 PM

Your not supposed to run 2 detectors at the same time in a vehicle, thats a big no-no. One will interfere with the other.

**parasonic** · 01-21-2007, 09:39 PM

Originally Posted by FlyinZX-10R

Your not supposed to run 2 detectors at the same time in a vehicle, thats a big no-no. One will interfere with the other.

Not necessarily.

**rwoods** · 01-21-2007, 09:52 PM

Originally Posted by FlyinZX-10R

Your not supposed to run 2 detectors at the same time in a vehicle, thats a big no-no. One will interfere with the other.

I had read this in a couple of other places on the net, so I made sure that I tried them both individually in areas where the new one would read signals and the old one wouldn't. I even moved out of the area before switching units and drove back to make sure that the units would not be affected by being turned on in a location that already had signal present. Net result - old unit has problems.

Thanks for the reply though!

**bauzer71487** · 01-21-2007, 09:59 PM

I would send it back to v1 and just ask them to tune it. They might do it for free even. For 10 bucks in shipping - it is definitely worth it.

**rwoods** · 01-21-2007, 10:50 PM

Originally Posted by bauzer71487

I would send it back to v1 and just ask them to tune it. They might do it for free even. For 10 bucks in shipping - it is definitely worth it.

I intend to this week and I plan on calling them to discuss. I will post my findings.

**rwoods** · 01-21-2007, 11:04 PM

I foudn this similar post, but still nothing definitive on the root cause. I wonder if this is more likely to happen to older units and perhaps the cause has ben designed out. On second thought, at version 1.8 I believe that my older unit still has the newest hardware, so I guess that rules out the possibility of an upgrade to prevent this from occuring in the future.

http://www.radardetector.net/viewtop...ht=calibration

**jimbonzzz** · 01-22-2007, 06:18 AM

Originally Posted by rwoods

I foudn this similar post, but still nothing definitive on the root cause. I wonder if this is more likely to happen to older units and perhaps the cause has ben designed out. On second thought, at version 1.8 I believe that my older unit still has the newest hardware, so I guess that rules out the possibility of an upgrade to prevent this from occuring in the future.

http://www.radardetector.net/viewtop...ht=calibration

Actually there have been a LOT of different hardware changes in 1.8s. One recent example is that in 3.851 they added a digital temperature compensation board. The "1.8", "1.7" etc basically referrs only to the case design.