Scooter

cops on Long Island like to hide behind bridges, and i'm afraid i'd get tagged.

daverman

As their names imply, radar detectors detect radar energy and do not "penetrate" anything. If the cops' radar energy reaches your car (and it has to for him to measure your speed) a detector will detect it.

CO-CL-S

Don't speed? As above, if the radio waves from the gun get to your car a V-1 will let you know about it. On the other hand, no one has a unit that can tell if someone with a radar gun (or any other kind of gun) is behind a cement wall.

[ 08-22-2001: Message edited by: empeters ]

Water Rabbit

The detector will not penetrate much of anything. It acts like a radio receiver. The radar gun is the transmitter. It doesn't penetrate stuff very well either, but it does tend to bounce all over the place very efficiently.

If your bogey is hiding behind a concrete wall with his radar turned off, he will be invisible to your detector until he decides to point it at someone and to get a speed reading; hopefully, someone driving along in front of you. When this happens you should get a warning. If you're fortunate enough to have a V1 you'll know your warning came from the front.

If you're the only car on the road and Mr. Bogey hops out of his hidey hole and pops you first . . . bad luck - you're toast.

bone_stock

True enough a radar detector is a receiver, however the super heterodyne circuity in radar detectors DOES emit radio frequency. That is how troopers know you have a radar rectector where they are illegal. More modern detectors use filters to squelch the super het. output.

jdl75

Getting to what I think you were trying to ask, no, a radar gun will not penetrate concrete. However, the reflected radio waves would most likely be picked up by the V1 if the gun is on.

kensteele

I think I know what you are talking about. A radar gun cannot penetrate concrete. Therefore if a cop is behind a concrete wall or divider, he intends to clock you as soon as there is no concrete between your car and his radar gun. Also the concrete will help to mask his radar when he's clocking other cars making it that much more difficult for you to pick him up prior to spring the trap.

However radar can penetrate other forms of material. Hedges come to mind. If the cop is behind a row of 6 foot thick hedges making his vehicle mostly invisible to the oncoming traffic, he can clock cars through the vegetation to some degree. Of course you will detect his radar just the same (or probably to a lesser degree) but this tactic increases the effectiveness of instant on radar. It happened to me once: I was approaching the intersection and I got a few beeps, then a full blast of instant on. I couldn't see anything, not even a patrol car. It wasn't until I went thru the intersection that I saw the patrol car parked on the other side of the bushes which is too late.

EricL

Forget about the V1 for looking through concrete -- you will need Superman as a passenger on your next ride...