How to protect yourself with a radar and laser detector
Types of radar and laser detectors
Fortunately, there is help. Modern
radar and laser detectors are effective
tools to defend against unfair tickets.
Today’s radar detectors are high-
performance, high-technology devices.
In the last decade, advances in
microcircuitry, signal processing and
chip design have led to the design of
premium radar detectors which virtually
eliminate false alarms and provide
longer range warning of radar and laser
with great accuracy.
How a radar detector works
A radar detector is simply a receiver
tuned to detect the presence of the radar
and laser frequencies used by traffic
monitors. When it picks up one of these
signals, the detector warns you. There
are three different radar bands approved
by the FCC in use by traffic monitoring
units: X, K, and Ka band.
How detectors provide
advanced warning
Can a radar detector find police radar
before it finds you? The answer is yes.
Suppose you’re heading right into the
beam of a radar trap. To measure your
speed, the radar beam has to hit you
and be reflected back to the radar unit,
returning with enough strength to be
sensed by the calculating circuitry.
Your radar detector, however, has a
job that’s considerably easier, since the
signal only has to travel one way to reach
you. As a result, you’ll be able to detect
radar before it can detect you.
Radar can’t work around curves.
But radar detectors can.
A radar beam acts like the beam
from a flashlight on a foggy night. The
person holding the flashlight can’t see
you until the beam makes a direct hit.
But you can see the beam through the
fog-as it reflects off moisture and dust in
the air—long before it falls on you.
In much the same way, police radar
can’t “see” you over a hill or around a
corner, because there’s no way for the
beam to hit your car and bounce back.
But your radar detector can pick up
reflections from the microwave beam
well before it hits you directly. You can
“see” it before it “sees” you.
“Instant-on” radar and laser
One technique can be hard to defend
against, the so-called “Instant- on.” Here,
the radar or laser unit is in a stand-by
mode until a vehicle approaches. It is not
emitting a beam–so your detector can’t
find it. Then, when you are within range,
the operator switches the unit on and it
calculates your speed within one second.
A good radar detector protects you
by warning you when the operator “zaps”
one of the cars up ahead. The detector
has to be sensitive enough to pick up
these brief, weak signals. And reliable
enough so you don’t interpret them as
random false alarms and ignore them.
Photo radar
Approximately 200 short-range
stationary photo radar units are in use
around the country. Fortunately, a good
radar detector can provide advanced
warning of these new systems.
Escort Passport 8500 radar and laser detector. Escort Solo S2 cordless radar and laser detector. Passport SRX custom-installed radar-laser detector.
Conventional, Windshield-mounted
Most radar detectors are portable,
and mount in seconds to your car’s
windshield with a suction cup mount. A
power cord plugs into your car’s lighter
socket to provide power for the unit.
Cordless, Windshield-mounted
Cordless detectors are powered by
batteries instead of a car cord, and are
a great choice for drivers who move
the detector from car to car, and for
business travelers.
Custom-installed
A custom-installed radar and laser
detector is a multi-piece system that can
be mounted in your car’s dashboard. It
is discreet, remarkably effective and
very easy to use.
X-band
K-band
Ka-band
Laser
