K band and Ka band confusion?

[RebelGent]

I was driving home today and saw a LEO on the side of the road with his flashers on. I was traveling at just about a 90 degree angle to him because I was circling onto the freeway from an on ramp from another expressway. As I approached him, I notice he didn't have anyone pulled over at all, and suddenly my XTR-695 alerted to full bars with K band for about two seconds, then I got a Ka blip . . . then all alerts ended. I wasn't able to see if the Ka band was identified by the RD, there was just too much going on while I was driving to glance over and see, but it appeared to me as if he was just daring someone to scoot by him at excessive speed.

It was raining and pretty cool outside. I figured anyone zipping by this LEO while he was out in the open with his flashers on and pulling him out of a warm patrol car would definitely have a hit to his pocket book today.

However, the real question I have is....any idea why I got both K and Ka band alerts?

[Jag42]

x and K are the only ones that get mixed up sometimes because they are all on the same sweep mode. When i turn x off i get K on all the falses around town. Your encounter could have been another leaky Rd such as a Cobra,PNI,Safety alert rd,Or another LEO was off axis with K band then Ka from another LEO. I have gotten Ka falses on the interstate from cars in front of a State trooper and he was just running with his radar off (Going to lunch or something) The 695 just says Ka if its a false but if its radar it says 34.7,33.8,35.5... Just watch for it close next time (Thats if you can see the LCD screen )

[aradarnut]

x and K are the only ones that get mixed up sometimes because they are all on the same sweep mode. When i turn x off i get K on all the falses around town.

Me too. (If we are talking about the same thing). In a few locations where I get X-band falses, if I turn off X, my RD will report as K-band in the exact location at the exact signal strength. I believe that this is a downside to the combined sweep design.

[Whistler1]

Guys just so you know, I have one state highway here in Washington that I travel on that I will get a constant X band alert for close to 2 miles. I get it on the Pro78 and the XTR695. Sometimes it will alert to X band and sometimes it will alert to K band. Turning off X band on both detectors solved that issue. Most of what I encounter here is either K band or Ka band. The Ka bands typically are 33.8 or 35.5, I will get an occasional 34.7. Traveling interstate 90 I have seen K, Ka and Laser. Recently on a trip between Seattle and Vancouver Wa., I encountereed alot of K band IO, just so you know.

Whistler1

[djrams80]

Recently on a trip between Seattle and Vancouver Wa., I encountereed alot of K band IO, just so you know.

That's not police radar. That's the K band radar used by the traffic monitoring system.

http://www.radardetector.net/forums/...eattle-wa.html

[jdong]

As stated, the XTR-690+ has no chance of mistaking K with Ka, unlike the previous Pro-73/Pro-58 generation.

However, if stray X or K signals are around, it can mistake X for K and vice-versa. Once it decides a signal is X band or K band, it sticks to that decision until it loses the signal to prevent wildly oscillating between the two readouts.

[aradarnut]

However, if stray X or K signals are around, it can mistake X for K and vice-versa. Once it decides a signal is X band or K band, it sticks to that decision until it loses the signal to prevent wildly oscillating between the two readouts.

That is a downfall to this design. In certain places where: If I have X-band on, the detector will alert to the door opener (or whatever the source at that location may be) for about a mile on the highway as X-band. If I turn X-band off, it will alert K-band instead in the exact location, at the exact same strength, for the exact same duration. Does Whistler not have a design or patent that can do away with the combined sweep? This is really my only gripe about the high end Whistler products. I mean if X-band is off, it should be off! And not mistake it for K-band. To me this means X-band is not really off, it just doesn't alert to it as X-band. It alerts as K-band instead, just as annoying as a "chatty detector". This does not happen at every X-band location, but it always happens at a certain spot that is not good for me. I'm sure that there is more to it than I understand, but from the user end it is a PIA.

[jdong]

This is one of the only criticisms I have for the new Whistler platform; I don't have a complete understanding of the design motivation behind this combined-sweep design, but I am guessing it's either for cost, POP detection speed, improved Ka sensitivity, or a combination of the three.

[aradarnut]

I would like to see it get resolved as I otherwise like my XTR690. I want a 695 but won't buy one knowing that it will respond to those situations in the same manner.

[Lucky225]

wow @ the x band alerting as k or vice versa. Kind of concerns me as others posted that x band off is not really OFF. And what concerns me even more is if it mistakes K as X while X *IS OFF* does that mean it won't alert to the K band signal!