Valentine 1 vs. Bel 980

At some point I think familiarity is gonna factor in here...I've been running V1s for so long that I can interpret them at a near subconscious level. Even if some other detector offered some real benefits, I'm just *so* accustomed to the V1 that I wouldn't want to start back up the learning curve and I suspect that I'd make enough mistakes during the acclimation period to counterbalance any benefits from better technology.



The only times I get popped any more are instant-on/laser incidents where the guy hasn't been clocking anybody ahead of me (for my detector to pick up). In cases like that I simply don't see *any* detector saving me...it boils down to how I respond and how the LEO feels about citing me vs. letting me slide.



Oh, and I too like mounting them right under the rear-view, but on some vehicles I stick with the visor-clip so as to not mark the windshield. On all my remotely modern cars, the suction cups react with the polymers in the windshield and leave a permanent "ghosting", not something I want on the Jag or on vehicles I'm gonna sell off after a little use.



Heh heh, hard-wiring some vehicles is a pretty big PIA these days...on the Audis they had to R&R an airbag and otherwise do a *LOT* of work to run the wires up the A-pillar...not something I'd even *think* of DIYing.
 
I believe there's really no dispute that the V1 has been one of the top choices for a number of years. I'd love to have the arrows and from what I've seen it's sensitivity, at least for most straight-on situations, is amazing. It would be great if one radar detector had all the bells and whistles, but of course patents won't allow that. The Bel 9500 allows you to mark known locations by GPS for falses from door openers and such so you aren't bothered repeatedly, the Bel STI offers absolute stealth against even the latest radar-detector-detectors, the Escort 8500 X50 displays up to 8 different simultaneous threats.



There's precious little you can do to avoid instant-on radar, but if someone is really serious about LIDAR (LASER) traps there are options for passive and active counter-measures. There's Veil coating for headlights and license plates and at least one or two other covers for plates. For people interested in slightly more aggressive measures, I know there's the Blinder LIDAR jammers. Keep in mind that LIDAR is not actually LASER, it's infrared light. The beam is tight, but from what I've heard at 1000' the beam is about 3' wide. For anymore with more interest in good reasons why to take precautions against LIDAR, search on problems with "slip effect" or "panning error" and how the guns can return false readings.
 
velobard- My conversations with LEOs make me reluctant to try the various countermeasures available. For every cop who'll just shrug and clock somebody else, there seem to be a lot more of them who would decide the driver they couldn't clock is the most interesting person they're gonna see on that shift. They can always use their "visual" to pull somebody over, and then things are pretty much in their hands (yeah, I know the arguments, but fighting it in court is still a long ways off at that point).



I've had a few say that they'd be, uhm..."serious" about a person who went to such lengths to get away with speeding. Most are pretty cool about radar detectors, but that's about as far as it goes IME.



Given how my instant-on/laser/LIDAR experiences have gone, I'd rather take my chances on the LEO letting me off after getting gets a reading.
 
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