PCA SDR

What radar detector has the best K band detection? I just drove to Humboldt and back and my cheapie Costco detector found almost every Highway Patrol to be using K-band. The problem was it didn't go off until within 1/4 mile or closer and it would be nice to have a little more warning than that (but no tickets ). I think every single X band warning was a false alarm so I really want to focus on good K-band detection. Any recomendations?

CHP uses Ka band, although many local police use K band.

At any rate, I love my Valentine One. It is very expensive ($400) but worth every penny, due to the counter and arrows. I have X band alarms completely disabled, which is fairly safe in SoCal.

That being said, I am intrigued by the new Escort with GPS. Supposedly you can teach it where the false alarms are on your regular routes and it won't go off there. Has anyone tried this new model?

Kris, what sort of range do you get on your warnings on Ka band?
Autoweek had a blurb about the new Escort with gps and mentioned that the gps also monitors your speed in addition to location and adjusts sensitivity based on that information.
For me, I seldom use my radar detector other than on trips out of town so I don't know that the added feature (and expense) would be of much utility for my useage. Cheers, Leigh

Range depends a lot on terrain, but I can say I have never been stopped while using my V1. It always alerts well before I can even see the trooper, giving me plenty of time to slow down.

All the comparison studies I was able to find (two years ago) rate the Valentine and Escort roughly equal in sensitivity, and both well above the competition. They are also roughly the same price, which is a quite a bit more than the competition, so it appears that you get what you pay for in that department.

I've got the cordless Passport Solo II, it picks up CHP Ka for miles. Great unit.

It is also extremely courteous how the CHP leaves those Ka guns on all the time, as they are capable of "instant on" operation. It's a free pass for anyone with a good radar detector.

rasta

I have my Valentine on all the time in the Boxster & it has never failed me (now if I just would have had it with in the rental car in Washington last yearjavascript:emoticon(':('). Love the counters & arrows

I have a Bell Pro RX65 which has been serving me well. Works great and I am thinking on turning off the and X, Laser Band scans too.

Martin,

The radar detectors are great, as long as don't pass the cop on the 14 going to Willow Springs.

I have a V1 and I'm very happy with it. If your in a relatively flat area (say on your way to AZ or Buttonwillow after the grapevine) it will pick up Ka band over a mile away. In the valleys and canyon geography of SD, a little less.

The X bands used to be exclusively false alarms, but there are A LOT of new elecronic speed signs up that post your speed around the county. Those are being picked up by the X band. What I've seen is that CHP is waiting around the corner of these signs with Ka band radar to nab speeders. The V1 will pick up both bands, laser and K band.

I have the Escort 8500. It has worked very well for me picking up CHP on KA band. I have turned off X and K band since they are seldomly used in CA. As far as Laser detection, it is nice to hve but if you detect the Laser it is probably too late
Also with Laser being on, I get false Alarm readings every time I drive by LAX, Miramar or any major airport with some type of ILS that use the same freq as the Laser Freq that this unit is programmed to pick up.
In terms of reviews, check out these 2 websites:
The first site is a straight fwd review of Radar detectors. The 2nd website is a forum used by Law enforcement personnel and it is very interesting to read what some of these Police officers, state troopers and Highway Patrol have to say about Radar detectors. The link is for a thread about Radar Detectors.

http://www.radarbusters.com/default.asp

http://forums.officer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57808

SDGT3 wrote:The X bands used to be exclusively false alarms, but there are A LOT of new elecronic speed signs up that post your speed around the county. Those are being picked up by the X band. What I've seen is that CHP is waiting around the corner of these signs with Ka band radar to nab speeders. The V1 will pick up both bands, laser and K band.

Where, exactly, is X band still in use? Of the dozen or so permanent speed signs that I am familiar with (Poway and I-15 mostly), as well as the portables, all trigger K band alerts for me.

There is a speed sign in La Jolla on the way to Mt Soledad that uses X Band. Very often, a cop on a bike sits on the street behind it and pulls over people.
I ride my bike up and down that hill many times and saw him there.

Tawfik wrote:There is a speed sign in La Jolla on the way to Mt Soledad that uses X Band. Very often, a cop on a bike sits on the street behind it and pulls over people.
I ride my bike up and down that hill many times and saw him there.

Very interesting. Does he write tickets based on what the sign reads, or does he have his own radar gun?

I don t know. I never got a ticket cause I am usually sweatin in my bike going up that hill but I very often see the cars pulled over when he is there.

Mt. Helix has 3, Orange County has too many to count and I've seen them being installed all over SD County, I can't recall where at this time. I'm afraid this is a prelude to speed enforcement cameras.