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Re: Radar Detectors



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> "Retherford, Martin" wrote:
> 
> All,
>         I thought I would ad a little tech spin to this.  I think what
> is meant by instant on would be laser.  Difference being that radar is
> a radio signal and laser being light.

Actually, there's instant-on radar as well as lidar (a/k/a laser).
Instant-on radar, operating on the K or Ka bands in America, generally
keeps the emitting element warm but not up to operating temperature
where it actually begins to generate signal. When Officer Speed pulls
the trigger the element is heated the rest of the way, thus generating
the desired wavelength emissions.

Lidar, like you indicated, generally uses LEDs and thus has no warm-up
time.

> I am not privy to what
> frequencies these guys are using but I can tell you if they are using
> laser you need reflexes that are on the order of time travel to not
> get nailed.  There is a big problem with detecting laser as well, it
> is not transmitted out into the world until the cop pulls the trigger
> and to boot it requires line-of-sight contact for detection.

This is why the Speed Nazis (tm) at the Insurance Institute for Highway
Safety (IIHS) love to give lidar guns to police departments. Radar likes
to bounce around a lot so if Officer Speed pulls the trigger when you're
in approx. a 1-mile radius there's a good chance that a good detector
will be able to pick up the reflections and alert you in advance. Lidar,
however, has a narrow, pencil-shaped beam that doesn't scatter much so
it's much harder to detect the reflected beam.

>         I think the entire concept of a detector may be predicated on
> the idea that you are not going to be the first one getting zapped by
> whatever method used.  The only way a detector can receive a signal is
> when it is out there to be received.  This only makes the detector
> effective for radar signals (ONLY) and in moderate to crowded traffic
> situations where you are not as likely to be speeding anyway due to
> the desire not to die.

True to some degree, but your detector can see the signal before it's
strong enough to successfully reflect back to Officer Speed's unit and
register your speed. If Officer Speed is zapping a couple of people a
minute you're going to see the reflected signal long before you'll be
close enough to the Officer for him to get a reading on you.

<rant>The unfortunate reality is that I (and many others) go faster in
moderate traffic than I do in light traffic for the very reason you
point out. Dumb? Probably. So, if you think about it, radar/lidar guns
actually increase dangerous behavior instead of decrease it. Goes to
figure that the folks trying to save us from ourselves are actually
promoting behavior that's more dangerous.</rant>
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