I just picked up stationary radar at least 3.5 miles. I turned the corner going into work and V1 went off...pretty strong. Up and down a few hills, I though I would see the cop really soon because at times the beeps were pretty strong. As I was approaching the workplace by now I've travelled 2 miles and I was frustrated because I thought "false alarm"

So instead of going into work, I kept driving...forward. 119th street is straight...mostly flat in Kansas until you start to approach Missouri. Starting from Antioch, I kept driving to almost State Line Road into Missouri until I finally saw the Leawood KS police working an accident, K-band radar going, he's at the top of this steep hill, from this hill you can easily see 5 miles in the distance but obviously you could never see a car that far away. So I did a u-turn and clocked the mileage...came out to almost 4 miles total. Going back I even got an occassional back arrow on the V1 up to 2 miles and still a front arrow up to nearly 3 miles. Did the u-turn at 3.5 miles (had to go BACK to work now) and immediately got the beeps so range > 3.5 miles.

Try out 3.5 miles thru your neighborhood streets....it's a long a** way.

V1 is impressive.

 

Yeah mine is the same. I pick up those stationary ones like that. Only if I'm coming towards them. If they are facing the other way I get an alert about 1/2 mile away. As I pass it I get behind for what seems like forever. K band.

 

I feel it has good long range detection.

When my father rides with me and the K/Ka band goes off in an area I know isn't a false, and I slow down... He asks where the cop is... A mile/two/three down the road... HELLO!!!! He can't believe how well the V1 works.

V1 RULES!!!

 

My 8500 does this also.

 

Longest I've ever had was 2.3 miles on I684. I thought that I was picking up something else... but there was the cop... 2.3 miles down the road (yes, I clocked it)!

BTW, when I had the 8500 it never alerted me over a mile.... I don't know what the specs say as far as ranges go... but my V1 alerts me much further out then my 8500 ever did.

 

I've picked them up about 3-4 miles ahead going up north on the 5.

 

jesus christ, THANK YOU for saying this, cuz i never understood exactly how good these were-- i would get nowhere near that with my radar-- basically i get a warning and i slow down immediately-- then i haveabout 2 seconds before i see the cop sometimes,

i need a freakin V1

 

You're right, that's what I am saying (exactly why I posted). I think generally they both work well but the V1 has pulled some "long rangers" that have frankly shocked me. I've had Passports and Escorts and Solos for over 15 years and I've never seen this kinda range on them. I remember when you couldn't pickup K band farther than a block or two with any detector on the market; forget about from behind.

 

Granted this was an isolated incident, radar was constantly on, very high on a hill, road is long, long and straight (119th is practically a straight line from State Line to I35 which has to be about 9 miles).

But most of the time with the V1 you should be turning those 2 second incidents into 10 and 20 second events.

Get a V1.

 

where can i get one? been looking for awhile

 

New: http://www.valentineone.com
Used: Buy&Sale forum here or eBay.

 

damn. i definitely need v1. gotta speeding ticket couple of days ago..

 

My 8500 works at about 2.5-3.0 miles. But I would rather have the V1.

 

hmmmm....I thought I read in a review that the V1 and 8500 were only picking up bogeys in about 1.5-1.7 miles. I could be mistaken.

 

You're right...for the most part. It's not too often (if ever) you get a nearly 4 miler. Unless you're coming off the side of a mountain in Colorado and the cop is down in the valley. That's why I posted. Well at least to me, this was nothing short of amazing.

When everything is level and there's trees and buildings and cars, etc all around forget anything past 2 miles. When either the radar or the detector is up high like on a hilltop, the range is dramatically increased.

That's why I keep my V1 at the TOP of my windshield....so it can see over the "horizon" so it can peek over the distance roadway. To me there's a [minor] difference between there and in the middle or bottom of your windshield, especially for rearview detection. Not that it will make much of a difference in close-in quarters on tight situations, but sometimes seconds count.

 

I drove up north w/ my V1 hardwired in and my buddy's 8500. Every single time the V1 picked up before the 8500. In one instance it was a good 8-10 seconds.

just some food for thought.

 

isn't the "VACATION model"? $360, anyone want to buy a uniden LRD987? blah i want to get rid of this sucker

 

Pennsylvania has a NASTY habit of installing those decoy “radar blasters” on every electronic sign or construction warning sign on the interstates here.
Those things are so powerful that I can pick them up for several miles away and even about a mile PAST them in the other direction.
This is where the “bogey counter” on the V1 shows its stuff.
The cops have a habit of hanging out around these signs with speed traps to catch the off guard detector users.
When ever I approach one of these things I hit the MUTE on the remote display and keep an eye on the counter.
If I ever see “2” displayed I slow the hell down.

The Escort 8500 user would get busted in this scenario because he wouldn’t know which direction the signal was or how many sources there were.

POINT Valentine One

 

You're absolutely right that placement as high up as possible on the windshield increases detection range of radar signals. This is a universal property of radio antennas (which is what a radar detector really is--albeit a very sophisicated one), and holds true for radar as well. This also helps dramatically in picking up signals from the rear.

However, unfortunately this placement ends up giving you a drastically reduced effective range in regards to lidar. You have two factors working against you: (1) most vehicles have the upper 6" of the windshield tinted to help with sun glare--like all tints, it absorbs and reflects light more so than plain glass and will reduce the effective sensitivity of the lidar sensor of the detector, and (2) the beam width of a lidar signal is so narrow that an officer aiming at the front plate (or grille, or headlight) of your vehicle from 1000' or closer can successfully get a steady reading off your vehicle without the detector making a sound--if the detector were mounted as low as possible, there's a better chance it would fall within the narrow lidar beam.

So you have to figure which you are more exposed to: if you very rarely encounter a lidar trap, putting the detector high up is probably the best. If you encounter a lot of lidar traps, you're better off mounting it on the dash. And if you get an even mix, a mount mid-point in the windshield would probably be a smart compromise.

 

I've said this before but the frontal protection the escort 8500 is about 90% up to the v1. rear protection like 30% or so up to the v1.

the way I know is because I pass a building w/ the automatic doors on k band and my v1 is picking the false up like 50 yards or so before my escort ever did, and when i pass it on the left and away from it the v1 alarms a rear when the escort never did.

Frontal protection i've had the escort 8500 alarm me as far as 5 miles. YES 5 miles because on 66 its all corn fields and the cop was stationary. im sure the v1 will be the same if not a little better

 

http://www.caranddriver.com/article....&page_number=1

i want everyone on the site to go there

i gotta get me one but i dont have $400