I was showing off my turbo setup to a classmate on the highway when all the sudden my radar detector goes crazy. I hit the brakes, but it's too late. The cop is already getting in his car. What I don't understand is that my detector read Ka band radar but the cop marked laser on the ticket. Which one is right?

Guess I have to be more careful with the turbo. 60 to 85 doesn't take too long anymore.

 

Was there a spot for radar as most states have only one box. It doesnt really matter does it as long as it goes off it did its job.

 

well i'm not sure how radar detectors work... but i'll throw this out there. my thoughts on how they work.

if the radar detector senses radar........then the radar gun has hit you.
so... basically radar detectors are only good when cars in front of you trigger a radar response from the officer, and your detector is able to pick up that signal, so it gives you a warning that your coming up on a radar field and thus need to slow down.

but if your the lead car then it seems like a worthless piece of equiptment to have, because as soon as you realize that your being hit, the cop already got your speed

 

Also, aren't lasers kind of an instant on kind of thing, so that once your alarm goes off, you're already safe or ticketed?

 

You're both completely right.

Also, if it's laser, and he's close and hits you down low, like the bottom of the bumper, your radar detector might not even register it if it's mounted up high above the rearview mirror.

 

He most likely did an instant on. Nothing you can do there. If he were to shoot a car a bit ahead of you, you might have picked it up and have been able to slow down.

 

they also have pop radar or something like that. wait till they see you and know they can target you then just pull the trigger one time. bam your done.

laser your just about screwed either way. sure it might detect the laser but if it does at that point you know all your going to do is pull your wallet out. laser is instant on. and being it is a much smaller beam it uses even if it hits another car chances are your not going to get it detected on your detector.

 

This is the cardomain, showoff of the week.. A little under halfway down the page, in his radar detector section...
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/386674/3

He says he has a 'laser shifter' that works with his detector, and he's got two pieces connected to the front and back bumper. What does this do, move the laser away? It sounds illegal, as the way he mounts it is to kind of hide them..
Any thoughts?

 

Most higher end radars give some warning distance to instant on or POP radars. POP radar is inaccurate and is debated as to whether it is used much anymore.

In my own experience, every time I have ever picked up a cop, I get a full warning with either ka or k band or POP alerts, with a steadily increasing warning level until he finally zeroed in on me.

Even in my best range/reaction time, you can only be going maybe 8 over to slow down fast enough.

I still find my Whistler Pro (185.00) radar to be invaluable

 

how are you going to have warning to instant on.
it shouldn't be emitting anything untill he pulls the triggeR I would think.

 

maybe my info was wrong.

Instant on radar is still tested by radarbusters.com and certain higher end detectors pick something up.

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Instant on radar emissions, X, K, Ka (33.8 Ghz) were triggered for two seconds. Only certified police officers operated the radar guns and police officers in the test vehicles reported the performance of the detectors. N means the detector did not detect radar........
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The only way you're going to get a warning from an instant on, is if the officer shoots another car in front or behind you. Then you will pick up the band and know to slow down. If you are coming down a road, and he has his radar off, then points it at you and shoots. Your detector is going to go off, but it will be too late.

Around here, they just sit with the radar on 100% of the time. My Valentine 1 picks them up from miles away.

 

Hmm.. Funny reading all this, makes me want a radar detecter.. That'd be hard to have to explain away though...
"Uh.. Yeah.. I need it in case there's an accident in front of me, I'll know about it ahead of time..."

Though actually, about a month back, coming home at around 1130 at night, the road was essentially empty.. I see a cop way ahead of me with the lights on, and I thought he pulled a guy over, so I moved into the right lane.. Pretyt soon, I see there's two cops, and they are chasing a guy on the other side of the freeway... Getting closer, I realize, 'hey.... somethings wrong..' then I figure it out, they are on MY side of the freeway, coming towards me! I move away with about 7 or so seconds to spare.. quite a bit of room, but still, terrifying...

Hmm... Let's all just pretend that applied somehow..