Do You Run a Detector ????
Discussion
Actually I have two, but since I got the Vette, I've used neither - go figure. 
Perhaps it is because they are illegal in many places I drive (France etc) so
I leave them at home?
Have a Snooper and Road Angel and both work well for different reasons.
Perhaps it is because they are illegal in many places I drive (France etc) so
I leave them at home?
Have a Snooper and Road Angel and both work well for different reasons.
Edited by Cuban on Friday 11th August 15:59
I have a Snooper SD815is and a Talex.
The Talex works on GPS and tells me where fixed (and possible mobile) sites are and the Snooper tells me if a Camera is working (oh yes, and the Snopper also tells me which shops have infra red doors, if anyone is changing channel on their TV as I drive past, who has electronic garage door openers and whether those cameras on top of Pelican crossings are working........)
Plug the Sat Nav in at the same time and it's a nightmare with two female voices (three in your count my wife) all shouting "reduce speed, reduce speed - camera site ahead" "lost satellite reception" "off route - recalcualting" amd "make a U-turn now" etc. etc
The Talex works on GPS and tells me where fixed (and possible mobile) sites are and the Snooper tells me if a Camera is working (oh yes, and the Snopper also tells me which shops have infra red doors, if anyone is changing channel on their TV as I drive past, who has electronic garage door openers and whether those cameras on top of Pelican crossings are working........)
Plug the Sat Nav in at the same time and it's a nightmare with two female voices (three in your count my wife) all shouting "reduce speed, reduce speed - camera site ahead" "lost satellite reception" "off route - recalcualting" amd "make a U-turn now" etc. etc
Gixer said:
Hard wire it in 
Remember though NOTHING will pick up a mobile scamera van unless you are really lucky - then you might get a beep to let you know that you are nicked
Remember though NOTHING will pick up a mobile scamera van unless you are really lucky - then you might get a beep to let you know that you are nicked?? My Snooper picks up the mobiles no problem at all, or am I missing something? I generally get an alert from 250 metres, which is just about time to haul it down enough, and a wave as you pass the b*stards.
Living around Poole, it's easy enough to 'calibrate'. Just drive along the Upton by-pass on a Tuesday evening when the bikes are on their way to & from the Quay. The tossers sit on the slip roads catching the unaware.
Just a thought; what if I were to 'break down' just in front of their scamera. A mystery glitch and the car won't restart; what could they do to move you on? Surely this couldn't be obstruction?
Adetuono said:
Gixer said:
Hard wire it in Remember though NOTHING will pick up a mobile scamera van unless you are really lucky - then you might get a beep to let you know that you are nicked
Remember though NOTHING will pick up a mobile scamera van unless you are really lucky - then you might get a beep to let you know that you are nicked?? My Snooper picks up the mobiles no problem at all, or am I missing something? I generally get an alert from 250 metres, which is just about time to haul it down enough, and a wave as you pass the b*stards.
Living around Poole, it's easy enough to 'calibrate'. Just drive along the Upton by-pass on a Tuesday evening when the bikes are on their way to & from the Quay. The tossers sit on the slip roads catching the unaware.
Just a thought; what if I were to 'break down' just in front of their scamera. A mystery glitch and the car won't restart; what could they do to move you on? Surely this couldn't be obstruction?
Scamera vans can get you 2Ks away!! The beam, usually focused at the number plate only spreads to an inch or so meaning the detector wont usually know its there, unless its aimed at it (or its on you no. plate) and thats usually too late. Mobile traps are no problem but the scamera vans are another strory. Even suppliers of jammers advise 2 on each end for better chance of protection. BTW they can't use them in the rain
The 2 best detectors money can buy are the euro550 and the valentine, both perform about the same with the bell slightly ahead but the valentine has more than one reciever and will try to triangulate the source and show where its from with the use of arrows on the display it was however a lot of money over the bell and I'm talking back when the bell was about £500 notes
All of this is really quite old hat really these days though as a lot of cameras no longer use radar meaning GPS detection is req and I would estimate in the last 50k of driving I have seen 2 or 3 plod trap (which the bell is shit hot at warning about) But scamera vans or plod parked out of sight using vascar are another matter.
Another feature of the bell is the lack of false alarms which you can cut further by programing it to ignore various frequencies.
www.speedcam.co.uk/gatso2.htm
www.ukspeedtraps.co.uk/bestbuy.htm
www.speed-trap.co.uk/Avoid_Home/Avoid_Gadgets.htm
hope that helps
Edited by Gixer on Saturday 12th August 09:52
Gixer said:
Hard wire it in Had a prob with my 550 and had to get another as well but hey they are by far the best detector as per all the tests. Remember though NOTHING will pick up a mobile scamera van unless you are really lucky - then you might get a beep to let you know that you are nicked
Had a prob with my 550 and had to get another as well but hey they are by far the best detector as per all the tests. Remember though NOTHING will pick up a mobile scamera van unless you are really lucky - then you might get a beep to let you know that you are nickedBell Euro 550 for me. Not sure on point about"mobile scamera". Mobile or not it is the type of camrea that is the issue in terms of detection of source. Mobile on the 338 leaving Bournemouth always come up with "Laser alert" in a nice American drawl for me.The point is of course if you are the only car around then when the laser is pointing in your direction and your detector picks it up, it is pointing at YOU, so it probably is too late.
In driving around 60k a year none of my 550's have ever picked up a mobile scamera van niether has my road angel (with the laser detector on it). I didn't even get a beep out of either of them when caught by a scamera van with both units on.
Yet I know the 550 works very well indeed when trafpol have a laser speed trap I've been warned well in advance everytime without fail.
I understand the units in the vans are properly mounted with telescopic sights etc making them very accurate unlike mr plods hand held where even slight hand shake is going to cause more than enough scatter for a detector to recieve (providing of course you are not the first car he has targetted for a while) The reasons why any detector will be next to useless to this kind of trap are well documented on the net, the best site I know being www.ukspeedtraps.co.uk
and taken from there -
Laser Guns, LTI 20-20,Prolaser II, RIEGL Laser Guns.
The Laser Gun fires a harmless, narrow laser beam and computes distance using the simple change of position over time formula, rather than a radio frequency shift. While radar projects a broad, cone-shaped beam 200 to 400 feet wide, with an effective range of only a few hundred yards, the Laser Gun beam widens to just 3 feet at a range of 1000 feet in most cases. Individual vehicles can be isolated during heavy traffic due to laser's pinpoint accuracy.
Well, it seems that although LIDAR is good at measuring speed and distance, the guns are a bit of a pain to use. Fog, rain, dust, vehicle halogen headlights, movement, (just to mention a few) make the guns more difficult to use than radar. They can't be used inside a nice warm police car either unless the window is down most won't work through glass without error.
When used for distances over 400 yards they usually have to be tripod mounted or steadied to stop beam shake and instability.
With handheld laser, a 1 degree movement of the operator's hand moves the beam 6-7ft for every 100 yards the beam travels from the gun.
Laser speed detection renders radar detectors useless due to laser's tight beam-width (two feet at 800 feet) a radar/laser detector mounted outside the beam's strike-zone will give little or no warning, and thus isolates the most flagrant speeders, however a Laser or Radar Jammer will help if mounted well on your vehicle, some of the systems sold will give you enough time to slow before the next reading is taken, for more info see my links page for more information.
Most Laser Guns measure speed in 1/3 second, not nearly enough time for a driver to react to a laser detector warning.
But to acquire a reading, the laser beam must bounce directly back to the laser gun from a flat reflective surface. Consequently, laser guns are specifically aimed at a vehicle's licence plate or front headlights, and the gun's computer looks for the strongest return signal
Calibration: Laser devices are self-calibrating. The device itself performs verification at power on, but the police must also check the device at the start and end of each tour of duty of the device. They often check the device against a patrol car with a calibrated speedometer, referred to as calibration verification. A record of the check must be made - usually in the officer's pocket book. If a calibration defect is found, the unit is returned to the manufacturer. Once a year the calibration is performed by the manufacturer or a certified agent, and a certificate of calibration is issued to the police. A visible sticker showing the date of calibration must be fixed to the device along with lead seals similar to what you would have on your electric meter.
They are being used more and more, either Hand Held, resting on a wing mirror of an unmarked car, or on a tripod with a video camera linked to it for the Video evidence quite often printing out a picture of an offending vehicle. These are usually accompanied by a unmarked car or van. The most common place to site the is on a motorway bridge, usually the small farm crossing bridges. They also have a tendency to site them on bridges in roadwork's, to blend in.
Use of laser guns on a bridge has its own rules, they are to be as close as possible to the centre line of the lane being targeted to reduce cosine effect. They must also carry out a height check from the height of the bridge to the road below and multiply this figure by 10. This then becomes the minimum distance the ACPO allow for speed measurement. For example, if he's on a bridge 9 metres above the motorway, the minimum distance to target a vehicle is 90 metres.
Kent, Manchester and Wales Police do this the most.
Common support vehicles are unmarked vans, but Kent also like Citroen AX cars. On a motorway they set the limit at about 85mph or above.
This is far becoming one of the most common mobile ways to nick you.
....And the test results of the 550 -
Approaching back of Gatso. Range in feet (metres)
Bel 550 - 730ft (222m) = 8.2 second warning at 60mph
Other detectors in this test for comparison as the distances can vary from test to test.
Cheetah - 740ft (225m) = 8.4 second warning at 60mph
Bel 966 - 745ft (227m) = 8.4 second warning at 60mph
Morpheous Radar Head - 750ft (228m) = 8.5 second warning at 60mph
Valentine One (2002 Edition) - 680ft (207m) = 7.7 second warning at 60mph
Please note: Detection range will vary depending on mounting position and type of car and wind screen. We suggest you try different positions in you vehicle to maximise range. If you are approaching the face of a gatso you can expect ranges of 3x what is shown above in most cases.
Speed v Distance covered.
30mph = 44ft/sec
40mph = 58ft/sec
50mph = 73ft/sec
60mph = 88ft/sec
70mph = 102ft/sec
Laser Gun Test.
The Laser gun was used in two ways, the first test was directly at the car with the detector in it, although the detector worked and was instant on alarm, if the officer used the first reading you were in trouble. However they often take a few readings so you may have a chance to slow. The second test was to have two cars in front and the operator target the first car and see if there was enough scatter for the third car to get an alarm, it was not a problem for the Bel we had an alarm in all three runs.
In our opinion you could get a warning or you could get nicked when it come to the Laser alert mode.
False Alarms.
False alarms are low and more than acceptable.
Can we recommend it, YES, we can, Its a worthy 990i replacement.
Its a class leader! Its simply Brilliant! Worth every penny!
It sets an even higher standard for radar detector quality and performance than the 990i
What do we like. What don't we like.
It's performance
Clear easy to read display
Voice Alert
Loud Clear Sounds
Selectable Frequencies
User menu functions
Low False alarms
Build Quality
Instructions
Good choice of mounts
Warranty
Upgrade facility
Soft case
Not Much
Price, (The price has gone up by quite a
Yet I know the 550 works very well indeed when trafpol have a laser speed trap I've been warned well in advance everytime without fail.
I understand the units in the vans are properly mounted with telescopic sights etc making them very accurate unlike mr plods hand held where even slight hand shake is going to cause more than enough scatter for a detector to recieve (providing of course you are not the first car he has targetted for a while) The reasons why any detector will be next to useless to this kind of trap are well documented on the net, the best site I know being www.ukspeedtraps.co.uk
and taken from there -
Laser Guns, LTI 20-20,Prolaser II, RIEGL Laser Guns.
The Laser Gun fires a harmless, narrow laser beam and computes distance using the simple change of position over time formula, rather than a radio frequency shift. While radar projects a broad, cone-shaped beam 200 to 400 feet wide, with an effective range of only a few hundred yards, the Laser Gun beam widens to just 3 feet at a range of 1000 feet in most cases. Individual vehicles can be isolated during heavy traffic due to laser's pinpoint accuracy.
Well, it seems that although LIDAR is good at measuring speed and distance, the guns are a bit of a pain to use. Fog, rain, dust, vehicle halogen headlights, movement, (just to mention a few) make the guns more difficult to use than radar. They can't be used inside a nice warm police car either unless the window is down most won't work through glass without error.
When used for distances over 400 yards they usually have to be tripod mounted or steadied to stop beam shake and instability.
With handheld laser, a 1 degree movement of the operator's hand moves the beam 6-7ft for every 100 yards the beam travels from the gun.
Laser speed detection renders radar detectors useless due to laser's tight beam-width (two feet at 800 feet) a radar/laser detector mounted outside the beam's strike-zone will give little or no warning, and thus isolates the most flagrant speeders, however a Laser or Radar Jammer will help if mounted well on your vehicle, some of the systems sold will give you enough time to slow before the next reading is taken, for more info see my links page for more information.
Most Laser Guns measure speed in 1/3 second, not nearly enough time for a driver to react to a laser detector warning.
But to acquire a reading, the laser beam must bounce directly back to the laser gun from a flat reflective surface. Consequently, laser guns are specifically aimed at a vehicle's licence plate or front headlights, and the gun's computer looks for the strongest return signal
Calibration: Laser devices are self-calibrating. The device itself performs verification at power on, but the police must also check the device at the start and end of each tour of duty of the device. They often check the device against a patrol car with a calibrated speedometer, referred to as calibration verification. A record of the check must be made - usually in the officer's pocket book. If a calibration defect is found, the unit is returned to the manufacturer. Once a year the calibration is performed by the manufacturer or a certified agent, and a certificate of calibration is issued to the police. A visible sticker showing the date of calibration must be fixed to the device along with lead seals similar to what you would have on your electric meter.
They are being used more and more, either Hand Held, resting on a wing mirror of an unmarked car, or on a tripod with a video camera linked to it for the Video evidence quite often printing out a picture of an offending vehicle. These are usually accompanied by a unmarked car or van. The most common place to site the is on a motorway bridge, usually the small farm crossing bridges. They also have a tendency to site them on bridges in roadwork's, to blend in.
Use of laser guns on a bridge has its own rules, they are to be as close as possible to the centre line of the lane being targeted to reduce cosine effect. They must also carry out a height check from the height of the bridge to the road below and multiply this figure by 10. This then becomes the minimum distance the ACPO allow for speed measurement. For example, if he's on a bridge 9 metres above the motorway, the minimum distance to target a vehicle is 90 metres.
Kent, Manchester and Wales Police do this the most.
Common support vehicles are unmarked vans, but Kent also like Citroen AX cars. On a motorway they set the limit at about 85mph or above.
This is far becoming one of the most common mobile ways to nick you.
....And the test results of the 550 -
Approaching back of Gatso. Range in feet (metres)
Bel 550 - 730ft (222m) = 8.2 second warning at 60mph
Other detectors in this test for comparison as the distances can vary from test to test.
Cheetah - 740ft (225m) = 8.4 second warning at 60mph
Bel 966 - 745ft (227m) = 8.4 second warning at 60mph
Morpheous Radar Head - 750ft (228m) = 8.5 second warning at 60mph
Valentine One (2002 Edition) - 680ft (207m) = 7.7 second warning at 60mph
Please note: Detection range will vary depending on mounting position and type of car and wind screen. We suggest you try different positions in you vehicle to maximise range. If you are approaching the face of a gatso you can expect ranges of 3x what is shown above in most cases.
Speed v Distance covered.
30mph = 44ft/sec
40mph = 58ft/sec
50mph = 73ft/sec
60mph = 88ft/sec
70mph = 102ft/sec
Laser Gun Test.
The Laser gun was used in two ways, the first test was directly at the car with the detector in it, although the detector worked and was instant on alarm, if the officer used the first reading you were in trouble. However they often take a few readings so you may have a chance to slow. The second test was to have two cars in front and the operator target the first car and see if there was enough scatter for the third car to get an alarm, it was not a problem for the Bel we had an alarm in all three runs.
In our opinion you could get a warning or you could get nicked when it come to the Laser alert mode.
False Alarms.
False alarms are low and more than acceptable.
Can we recommend it, YES, we can, Its a worthy 990i replacement.
Its a class leader! Its simply Brilliant! Worth every penny!
It sets an even higher standard for radar detector quality and performance than the 990i
What do we like. What don't we like.
It's performance
Clear easy to read display
Voice Alert
Loud Clear Sounds
Selectable Frequencies
User menu functions
Low False alarms
Build Quality
Instructions
Good choice of mounts
Warranty
Upgrade facility
Soft case
Not Much
Price, (The price has gone up by quite a
Edited by Gixer on Saturday 12th August 17:58
The Bournemouth one is in a van parked on the grass side verge - I suspect the rear doors are opened to leave say a foot gap for the unit to sight through. When I got the alarm the other week I was in the inside lane doing 50 smugly as I came over the brow. Nothing immediaetly in front of me but a car in the outside lane probably 30-40 yards ahead. So I have no real idea whether the sighting was on me or scatter from the car in the outside lane
Got an Inforad GPS detector, only use it as an aid on long journeys or the user set speed limit function if I'm driving through roadworks.
Let's face it these days, detector or no detector you're taking quite a risk speeding, and there's too many methods that can't be detected (I'm seeing a frightening number of very subtle unmarked cars around Cambridgeshire - not to mention the 'Speed Limit Enforced By Aircraft' sign in Derbyshire)- bit of a problem for those of us where licence problems would impact our jobs.
Let's face it these days, detector or no detector you're taking quite a risk speeding, and there's too many methods that can't be detected (I'm seeing a frightening number of very subtle unmarked cars around Cambridgeshire - not to mention the 'Speed Limit Enforced By Aircraft' sign in Derbyshire)- bit of a problem for those of us where licence problems would impact our jobs.
I have an Inforad too. Cheap'n'cheerful, beeps whenever I approach a permanent or known mobile site, plus I can add my own.
Only problem is that it seems to take increasingly longer to lock onto a GPS satellite signal recently... I don't know why, but if this gets any worse it'll have to go back.
We also run a Tom Tom which works very well (scamera database overlaid). Works in France too...
Only problem is that it seems to take increasingly longer to lock onto a GPS satellite signal recently... I don't know why, but if this gets any worse it'll have to go back.
We also run a Tom Tom which works very well (scamera database overlaid). Works in France too...
Edited by V7TTE on Monday 14th August 10:05
Pete - if you've got a metallised film windscreen they perform much worse - it barely works at all in my partner's Megane. I would have thought the C5 has one of these - you can get an external aerial for them too. (we had to put the sat nav aerial on the parcel shelf)
Only other tip is that anything GPS (I've got one for running and another hiking type GPS too) is that they much prefer standing still first to lock on, if you move about/drive off it can take eons to lock on.
Only other tip is that anything GPS (I've got one for running and another hiking type GPS too) is that they much prefer standing still first to lock on, if you move about/drive off it can take eons to lock on.
Run a Valentine one, cheap in the USA but expensive here and a Nuvi 310 GPS sat nav with loaded camera database see www.pocketgpsworld.com for info.
As an ex BIB I have a certificate for hand held laser and if there is a car in front it will set off your alarm by the laser splatter off the front car, but if you are on your own out front (like all good PH's
) then you are on the machine.
Also hand helds don't always give you a good reading or in fact any reading expecially on sports cars like Vipers and Vettes SUV's and people carriers with a brick front end no problem.
Most trainers teach you to aim for the number plate......what number plate officer it must have fallen off......
As an ex BIB I have a certificate for hand held laser and if there is a car in front it will set off your alarm by the laser splatter off the front car, but if you are on your own out front (like all good PH's
) then you are on the machine. Also hand helds don't always give you a good reading or in fact any reading expecially on sports cars like Vipers and Vettes SUV's and people carriers with a brick front end no problem.
Most trainers teach you to aim for the number plate......what number plate officer it must have fallen off......
Given that some of these laser cameras can target you from 2kms, once the alarm goes off, what's to stop you pulling over and stopping for half an hour, or reversing back the way you came (providing you're not on a motorway or somesuch)? I doubt that they'd have a fix on your registration number from that distance.
They are usually much nearer, the gun is usually connected to a camera and yes they would get your plate at that distance. Camera vans are also able to now go out at night and get you and yes they get a good pic of your plate even at night with lights on etc. I couldnt believe this until a month or so ago when ther was a thread running on the gen. PH forum and someone posted a link to sample photos. Also the nearer they are to you the less likely you will detect them as the area of the cone of beam and therefore scatter will be less.
Its pot luck when it comes to these vans just dont trust your detector to save you. I see a lot of these traps about every week and tend to know where they sit at various parts of the country. I have only ever seen one in a 30 limit. 99% of the time the will be on good roads, usually dual carriage ways which often have a speed limit that is too slow. They will always be on a quite bridge, in a layby or on a grass verge (they lay plastic mats into the ground where the vans park up - that will give you a clue as you can spot them when they are not there) always after a bend or ridge. Used to see some park on the on-slips but havent for a while (M20 jct 8 and 11 were the favourites)
Its pot luck when it comes to these vans just dont trust your detector to save you. I see a lot of these traps about every week and tend to know where they sit at various parts of the country. I have only ever seen one in a 30 limit. 99% of the time the will be on good roads, usually dual carriage ways which often have a speed limit that is too slow. They will always be on a quite bridge, in a layby or on a grass verge (they lay plastic mats into the ground where the vans park up - that will give you a clue as you can spot them when they are not there) always after a bend or ridge. Used to see some park on the on-slips but havent for a while (M20 jct 8 and 11 were the favourites)
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