Anybody got any thoughts on brand, and location to purchase one?........I'm thinken it would a good safety thing...........
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1967 GTA F/B, S code, deluxe interior, NO AIR!...
At first you don't succeed, read the manual.
* Dirty Morty Rackham*
He who dies with the most toys....Wins.
Begin every day as if it was on purpose!
Everything works out in the end, if it hasn't worked out, it's not the end
Depends on how much you want to spend, and how "safety" minded you are. IMHO the Escort Passport at about $400., is the best you can get. Next would be the Beltronics at about $250. And then the Whistler at about $150. I've had a Whistler that I bought about 10 years ago at Radio Shack on sale for $50. I've transfered it from car to car over the years and it now recides in my 66 Mustang. I have driven all over Florida and the eastern U.S. with this thing and have never gotten a ticket! It has saved me many times and still does, even today! When and if this thing ever dies, I will bite the bullet and buy an Escort.
If you really want something that is 100% effective and will save you money, don't speed! Everything else, and I mean EVERYTHING, is a gamble at best.
I checked out the link Sanborn posted. I don't know where the company got their info on legality of their device, but I can tell you it is WRONG. Jamming devices are ILLEGAL in ALL states. This is per a federal ruling by the FCC. Most states, including my own, have also enacted specific state statutes that outlaw them, of which SC is NOT included on the list. They also make statements about mounting their device near the front license plate (to paraphrase), where most police "aim" their radar. Again, WRONG. Radar is an expanding microwave signal that is aimed in the direction of the car (i.e. the wave expands exponentially over distance), not a specific target area of the car. LIDAR is indeed aimed at a specific area, usually the grill area of a car. This is due to the possibility of the beam reflecting off of the windshield, the two largest areas on the front of a vehicle. However it is a laser beam, not a microwave. You can deflect a laser beam, but you can't "jam" it.
Regarding the "reliability" of ANY brand of Radar detector, none are 100% effective. This claim can directly relate to specific states and how their laws are written. Here in SC you can run the very best, high dollar, top rated detector on the market..... and I can still get you for speeding and that lump of cash hanging on your windshield will NEVER alert you. Or, if it does activate, it still won't matter, I've already got you. Why? Because in my state we have certified and uncertified radar operators. Most agencies will not allow operation of Radar unless the operator IS certified. You can quickly teach ANYONE to actually operate the unit. That's NOT what certification here means. A CERTIFIED operator in SC means you have been certified to ACCURATELY determine a vehicle's speed VISUALLY. The Radar is then used to confirm this, though NOT required! Until a company can come up with a detector that senses my eyeball watching you speed..you're busted!
BTW, I love RMR's 1 year ticket "rebate". Sure they'll pay you back for a ticket. How about the points against your license and the ensuing rise in insurance rates though?!
__________________ John Wilson
. My factory GT '66 Fastback (circa 1984!)
They also make statements about mounting their device near the front license plate (to paraphrase), where most police "aim" their radar. Again, WRONG. Radar is an expanding microwave signal that is aimed in the direction of the car
Not to pick nits, but the paragraph I just read is:
The RMR-8RDS provides up to 3 times the jamming power of our conventional units by being externally mounted to the outside of the vehicle by the license plate where the police like to aim their laser guns and optimizing the radar jamming by not being restricted by windshield glass.
I know that here in CT., the DMV changed our license plates to the fully reflective ones to facilitate laser reading.
With the cost of traffic tickets, points, and insurance rate changes, I don't trust any detector\jammer device. In light traffic, the instant on devices the police use will catch someone even with a detector (I don't know if jammers work). I use my cruise control whenever possible and have trained myself to drive unnaturally slow around town. So far, I've been lucky.
John
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66 2+2 C Code Auto. 52K miles.
Something quite different coming eventually.
now sandblasted and DP40'd since this pic was taken.
a two legged hole shot, even with a munged up carb and snow tires...
I swear by the Escort Passport. Got my first one wayyy back in '85, just before a trip to Colorado (from SoCal). It paid for itself the first time it went off out in the middle of Utah on the I-70 as I was doing 120+, and one of Utah's finest was hiding out in the shade of an underpass about 3/4 mile ahead. The detector went off way before his gun could register, and I was able to haul it down in time. I of course also stopped for a change of shorts a few more miles down the road.
Obviously, I don't drive like that these days (and anybody who's made that trip knows you couldn't pull off that kind of speed out there anymore anyway), but the Passports and all their succeeding models have always performed really well for me.
I've got a couple of buddies who swear by that Valentine model, too.
I've heard nothing but negatives about the Whistlers, Cobras, Unidens, Bels, and other "Pep Boys" type brands that also used to do so poorly in the car mag tests over the years that they seem like a complete waste of $$.
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~Daniel
"No trees have been killed in the sending of this message,
but a large number of electrons have been inconvenienced."
'66 Coupe
'66 T-Bird Q-code (428) Town Hardtop
Vice Pres. 2007-2009, Inland Empire Classic Mustang Club
Active jamming is illegal. Passive jamming still isn't.... as far as I know. The "jam" doesn't occur until a signal is received thus making it a passive jammer. As I understand it, it is a loophole in the law that allows the passive jamming.
Happy motoring!
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"The danger of communication is the illusion that it has occured"
hands down VALENTINE ONE,have had one for years.I have a passport 8500 and have had both in the windshield on several trips and the V-1 always out performs the escort.The man that makes the VALETINE used to work for and designed the escort originally.The valentine tells you how many and which direction they are coming from,you can be driving down the road and it will go off and be signaling ahead then you wait to see it and watch the arrows go from front, to side, to behind you as he passes you.
Active jamming is illegal. Passive jamming still isn't.... as far as I know. The "jam" doesn't occur until a signal is received thus making it a passive jammer. As I understand it, it is a loophole in the law that allows the passive jamming.
Happy motoring!
Here ya go Dave:
"RADAR jammers, both active and passive, are illegal under federal law in all 50 states (see excerpt from FCC news release).
FCC FINDS MARKETING OF ROCKY MOUNTAIN RADAR'S SPIRIT II RADAR JAMMER TO BE IN VIOLATION OF ITS RULES. Ruled that a radar jamming device manufactured by Rocky Mountain Radar that interferes with police radar signals is illegal; found that interference from these devices creates a threat to public safety. Report No: CI 97-14. by MO&O. Action by: Commission. Adopted: December 4, 1997. (FCC No. 97-404) News Media Contact: David Fiske (202) 418-0500. CIB Contact: Ana J. Curtis at (202) 418-1160. "
BTW, I just want to clarify, I'm not trying to be a stick in the mud. I just want all my fellow VMFr's to stay safe!
__________________ John Wilson
. My factory GT '66 Fastback (circa 1984!)
Rocky mountain industries and valentine 1 are the best on the market. I run almost 200,000 miles a year coast to coast and use the RMI myself.I haven't had a speeding ticket in 17 years. Now keep in mind that nothing is 100 percent.A Lot of my friends run Valentine 1 pretty good results. CB radios are your best radar detector.
It's funny but it seems like everyone on the VMF website is looking to go fast, wanting to know which are the best heads, 4 barrel carbs, hedders, etc,etc, now all of sudden, everyone is driving like a priest on Sunday? Yea, right!
We can talk about wanting to go fast on the road, we just cannot talk about actually going fast on the road. A lot of people speed, a lot don't. To each his own on how to keep from getting caught. Myself, I wait for someone to pass me and follow at a good distance or I don't. I used to use CB radios, or did I. I have never had a radar detector, or did I. Now I am really confused. Maybe going faster will help clear my mind.........turn head sideways to let air pass to clear cobwebs....
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Radar detectors?
