Radar detectors - with remote antenna/remote mount

I feel the same way--I want to know when I'm being watched. I explain this to people, and few understand (or believe me even--"if you have a detector, you must be speeding, right?")

Also, here in MD, they recently passed a law allowing photo radar within 1/2 mi of any school zone. I'm all for safety in school zones; sounds innocuous enough right? Wrong, *wrong*, WRONG. Take a look at a map and you'll realize virtually any place in any urban area is within this zone. A revenue generating scheme if there ever was one.

Back to the topic--I have an Escort a few years old. Even in 'city' mode, it falses at every <expletive> thing imaginable. In my old RSX (I still miss that car, sigh...) the plug-in was conveniently close to the console so you could shut it the h*ll up easily (you do so by pressing a button on the plug-in). In the Prius, it's down under the bridge by the seat heater switches--a major reach and a royal PITA. So I've stopped using it for now, figuring I'd rather not rear-end someone or go nuts listening to the damn thing screech and braaaap at absolutely nothing. I have heard the Valentine is *much* better in this regard--more discriminating and more programmable. It costs about $100 more than my Escort; if I had it to do over, I'd spend the extra money. Hope this helps.

T

 

Curious as to what model you had "the escort"..... I've ran them for the last 10 years, upgrading each time when I could.

The 8500-x50 has some good ears, but as you say picks up lots of false alarms... the 9500 carried features that allowed less false alarms "like lessening the strength when driving below 25mph" or in a parking lot driving very slow.... but then the 9500 intelligent one came out and unless I'm in an area I never drive, it will "always" be a cop when it goes off.... "no false alarms"

Out on the open road officiers use higher powers since the traffic is more sparse as using high powers in crowded areas would only give the officer confusing and false readings as hundreds of cars would be reflecting back to him. On the open road an officer can crank up his power to see you from very far..... this is one reason it "appears" your detector is very powerful since it picks up from so far.

Escort does make the "redline" now which doesn't have all the intelligence of the 9500ix but has individual antennas for each frequency making it supposedly the most sensitive out there. I think its designed more for truckers.

I have no idea how it matches up to the Valentive against a distant signal.

One question I have for valentine owners..... do you feel the arrows are pretty accurate, or do they give you false signals to the point you still really don't know where the signal is coming from?

I ask because thats the main feature I would like to have that I don't presently.

 

If it were truely accurate, I could see the peace of mind of knowing the signal is to your side or behind verses in front.

But this technology seems pretty simple, I'm surprised other vendors have not used it if its really worthwhile and accurate.

I never did get a straight answer on whether it gives tons of false alarms or not.

Any detector that false alarms is like the little boy who cried wolf.. soon you ignore it.

 

Sounds like we're in agreement... we need both.

If the arrows are even 80%+ accurate, It would be desirable... but to have that and go back to the older technology that picks up every alarm without intelligence and regard for false alarms would be a hard decision.

Its good that Valentine has 3 different levels. The Escort does too... "City, Hwy, and auto".

I always prefer Auto because that offers the highest intelligence to pick up everything without fear of missing anything but still run the quietest possible.

As we all know.. unless you take a drive out into the wild lonely roads, normal everyday driving back and forth offers constant change and constant challenges of need for distance sensitivity, but then as you enter small towns, you need the rejection too without having to remember to reach up and manually change the mode each time....

Here in texas, we get it all... lots of wide open spaces between those small cluttered cities. "as well as the big ones"

If the arrows work that well, I wish escort would incorporate them too... or else have Valentine incorporate intelligence, gps memory locks and user abilities to customize locations for speed traps, cameras, etc...... like every red blooded American.. we want it all!

But meeting those challenges is what makes money. The first vendor to step up to the plate will render the competition helpless.