mike_snyder

OK, this morning I saw Jonny Law running Laser. I was about 1/2 mile or more away, in the fast lane with no cars in front of me. I had a straight line of sight of him and I knew what he was up to (in the median with the trunk open etc.) I was doing 70-75 in a 65 and just left off the gas a little. (of course there was some a-hole on my bumper, but I couln't get over so he could get the ticket.) Anyway, he didn't stop me ( I assume b/c I wasn't going over 10mph over the limit.) But I saw the handheld unit, it was laser..my friggin Passport 8500 remained silent the whole time! I know he had to have been hitting me with the laser. what up with that?

Has anyone with a V1 or 8500 had their unit go off with laser? I realize by the time you hear it, it is probably too late anyway, but I got no friggin alarm at all..I don't understand that. I have the 8500 mounted on the left of my rearview up in the tint band...any chance the tint could be affecting it with the laser? The X/Ka/K band radar alarms work fine.

Please no V1 vs. 8500 debates. Just looking for info...maybe mine is broken or something?

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

I have had it go off a couple of times on laser, but never when it was zapping me (b/c I would have a ticket ). I think I got some laser scatter from other cars being hit.

Keep in mind that the po po aim at your license plate/headlights with the laser gun, so the odds are that your 8500 and my V1 are mounted too high to alarm on a direct hit. It's kind of the trade-off you have b/c you should leave it high on the windshield for maximum warning distance......

mike_snyder

I understand what you are saying about the mounting height, but at 1/2 mile or more away, can those guns really aim and hit the license plate? These guns are like binoculars, not a sniper rifle with scope! It may be that he didn't actually hit the trigger until I was closer and then I guess it could hit the plate. Guess I need to find a cop who will demonstrate it for me...errr..then again..no thanks!

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

LOL... true... but I have read that those guns are accurate at a pretty far distance... I don't think it's a half-mile though. As you said, he may not have been shooting you.... maybe he was lining someone else up?? Not sure. Either way, unless you have a good police buddy, I wouldn't ask a cop to check it out for you

JasonT

My 8500 has detected Laser only in Baltimore on I95. I have mine mounted almost the same, except not in the tint band. I never heard it before so It scared my the first time. I detected it about 500 feet before I passed the cop. I wasn't speeding though. I used my V1 too in this same area & again had the same results. The 8500 picks up laser in some of the electronic toll boths. The V1 picks it up some from cars break lights. Make sure the laser is active in the setup. You can sent it back to Escort, & they will check it out.

Wampum

Mine went off one time and it scared the **** out of me! Good thing I wasn't speeding. There's no hope for you if you are speeding and get tagged by laser. I heard from 500 feet away the laser beam is less than 18 inches.

Edward'TLS

Laser guns are a real problem. The laser beam has a very narrow focal point and doesn't scatter and bounce all over the place like radar beam. So if the laser hits other cars a few cars length away from yours, your laser detector will not be able to pick up the bounced-off stray laser beams. Only if the laser hits your car or the cars right next to you, then your laser detector may go off.

When the laser guns first came out, the cops had to set them on tripots like a camera. Aiming is done using a cross-hair periscope, like a sniping rifle. Since the laser beam is so fine and the beam has to be on locked onto an object to get a reading, hand-held units tend not to provide speed readings if the cops have unsteady hands. In addition, it is also possible that the cop is not aiming directly at you, but at other cars in your direction. I believe that's how I got away from laser traps for a couple of times. May be this is how you got away too.

Alexxx

Take the P8500 off the tint especially if you have metalic tint. You never know, maybe the cop was estimating the speed with his eyes and then he saw that you weren't flying and didn't shoot you. The only way to detect the laser is when the cop shoots the cars ahead of you. That's why I don't speed at night (when there is noone on the road but me) outside NYC since NYC cops can't afford the laser yet and I don't know if upstate NY troopers use it or NJ, PA Highway Patrol uses it.

JasonT

The NJ Troopers are starting to use it for sure. I have a friend who got a laser ticket.

gohawks63

The tint may have had an affect, but I'm guessing he didn't pull the trigger.

I've never been zapped with laser, but mine has gone off when I'm behind one of those new Envoys. Scared the **** out of me!

mcho3

i was driving up from LA to seattle and was doing about 110 most of the way which ended up saving me about 2h or so (took me 14h driving time) any how. i was going over a hill and i was doing about 85mph, and i saw the cop and then heard the my 8500 go off detecting Laser. it wasn't about 1/4 miles away when he came around to pool me over. he followed me for about another 1/4 miles before he pooled me over. and gave me a fat ticket....
Don't speed in oregon... just wanted to real life story for you guys...

fsttyms1

laser is hard to detect like some others have pointed out, that the beam is very narrow. and if they arent aiming at you or the car next to you its unlikely that you are going to detect it. there are acouple things ou can do to help avoid being taged before you have a chance to slow down, first remove your front plate. they need a surface to aim at that will help bounce the signal back, 2, use a bra, the black surface is hard fot the beam to refract back off of. i have a friend who is a county cop and he has told me what they usually aim at. its the front plate, front bumper and headlights are (all if flat) are how they can get the cars the easiest. any thing after that and they have to keep aiming till they get a signal. ive had my 8500 go off for along time while he was trying to get me and i know the whole time it was going off he was searching to get me (i was the onlycar on the road) and it wasnt until around 300 feet till he stoped and he started around 1/3 mile away

scottiew

I've heard Laser is inaccurate esp in not-perfect conditions (e.g. clouds). I dunno if this is true or maybe it's old news that has been corrected.

mcho3

man i had most of all thoes you have mentioned...
i had my front lic. plate off, had a bra on and still he pooled me over. do you guys know of any way to contest the ticket? and i would have to do this in the form of a letter since i will be down in LA by the court date comes out. please let me know.. and by the way is there a way to adjust the 8500 to different setting then highway, city and auto... thoes are the only settings that i know of

fsttyms1

those are the only settings. what are you looking for in a setting? i have mine on expert mode (it willl show up to like 12 different signals and there strengts) you cant make it any more sensitive. like we said its hard to detect because usually if you are detecting it hes aiming at you or a car next to or in front of you. its not like radar which has a really wide beam. the things i mentioned will only help in the time it takes for him to get you (the time you have to slow down) as far as what you can do to do contest it????????????????

TopGum

I think your safest bet is to invest in a laser defuser like K40s' laser defuser plus.
http://www.k40.com/Products/Radar/LaserDefuserPlus.html

fsttyms1

or this http://www.escortradar.com/zr3.htm

TopGum

definately! :smokin:

`ill*tl

..decided to test my V1 in my sister's G20t today. Couple things I like/dislike about the V1.

First off, the pros:
1.) Arrows
2.) Sensitivity on All-Bogey Mode seems to pick quicker than my 8500. I tested this by going near a supermarket where my 8500 had always gone off X. I was about a half-mile away from where my 8500 would have normally started to chirp X and my V1 had already began to chirp X. I haven't been able to test K and Ka bands yet but will report back later when I encounter those bands.

the cons:
1.) Radar is ugly and big
2.) Hard to determine which band is going off at night. Actually, this isn't really a problem..I just gotta get more familiar w/the radar.

Satman

I looked into the k40 but to install the laser deflector front/rear with radar detector its going to run about 1000.00 installed..

I'm going with the V1 I think... Does anyone know if Valentine has laser deflection/protection? That would be great!

fsttyms1

i turned my X-band off, no one around here or the near bystates i travle to uses X-any more

`ill*tl

No, radars are just receivers. What you're talking about are laser shifters maybe? If this is the case, I suggest you going the route of the 8500+Z3 Shifter.

fsttyms1

^ ^

scottiew

I own a V1. It's a detector. I don't know of any accessories that will jam or deflect. I love my V1 and wouldn't trade it for anything.

Those annoyances mentioned will be nill over time as you learn the sounds. I don't have to look at it to know what kind of radar is being shot at me. I need to get the hidden display unit.

pianoman41

Actually, they are exactly like a sniper rifle scope. The aiming reticle has a small red dot in it that the officer places on the target in question. The newer lidar guns can have effective ranges of up to 5000 feet. However, very few officers will get speed readings outside 1500 feet though, because it is just too hard to enforce properly beyond that distance.

At 1000 feet or less, if the officer is aiming at your license plate and you have your detector mounted up high near your rear view mirror it is unlikely your detector will even make a peep as it will most likely fall outside the diameter of the beam.

Satman

Its too bad Valentine doesn't make a shifter like passport! I like the integration of the 8500 with the Z3.

I'm a fan of the Valentine because of the bogey meter and the directional arrows.. Maybe i'll use the Z3 shifter with the valentine..

Does anyone have the 8500 + Z3 shifter on these forums?? I wonder what their performance is like.

Bear2Day

You can check into the binder systems, Differnt systems for differnt veicals. This is a stand alone system.

Z Factor

Indeed, what he said.