I have what may be a silly question.

Can this XTR-550 or ANY radar detector be mounted or placed in an ashtray below the windshields line of sight?

Will the radar detector still work correctly without pointing directly out the windshield or mounted on a visor??

Thx for any info you can provide.

the cheaper they are ($$$$) the worse the det.

Freakazoid84 wrote:blah, $10 bucks less than it was a month ago when I bought it...

Same here--dammit!! It works VERY well so far though! I am very happy with it, even though I paid $55 a month ago....

Valentine One has rear radar! who cares about bell or escort.. The rear radar has saved me so many times in CA.. Cops follow you with radar on, and especially at night they get you.. all these journalists and forums never stress the importance of this. Once escort incorporates this then I may think about switching. Never till then.

DanhxCore wrote:I HATE the police, just be honest and does this work?

You, sir, are a fool. It is the lonely patrol cop that keeps the drunk driver from killing your mother when she is going to pick up more pizza pockets for your basement lan party. It is the detective that busts the pervert serial killer than is going to use your pasty skin to make his next human suit that saves you. it is the narcotics officer that stops the bikers from poisoning you with meth. People that make blanket statements about hating the police are mostly idiots (or criminals). Sure, there are jerks among us, but there are jerks programming computers and bagging groceries and playing football and going to college. So what. If you have a problem with a cop, file a complaint, but show a little respect or compassion to someone that works long long hours in a dangerous job for low pay in order to keep at dumbass like you safe from harm.

and yes, these work okay, but there are plenty better ones around. You will get a ticket for sure if you get caught with one.

ropchik wrote:I have what may be a silly question.

Can this XTR-550 or ANY radar detector be mounted or placed in an ashtray below the windshields line of sight?

Will the radar detector still work correctly without pointing directly out the windshield or mounted on a visor??

Thx for any info you can provide.

No. A radar detector must be in the line of sight of whatever it's trying to detect. Unless you install sensors on the outside of your car.

dabomboo7o wrote:Valentine One has rear radar! who cares about bell or escort.. The rear radar has saved me so many times in CA.. Cops follow you with radar on, and especially at night they get you.. all these journalists and forums never stress the importance of this. Once escort incorporates this then I may think about switching. Never till then.

There are alot of detectors with rear detection.

fortgeorge wrote:ahuhu, here you can go 75mph which is plenty fast however no matter the speed limit there's always people that just HAVE to go faster, probably because they need to make up for other things...anyway I like to pull along side a long haul truck(which has a limit of 65mph) and slow down when I see some genius flying up up from behind me.

The faces they make and yelling they do is great.

Also, you burn more gas because you are gunning it, not because of them, you choose to speed.

^^@$$hole^^

whistler != (<) escort

Capital wrote:There are alot of detectors with rear detection.

name one that has front and back detection...

fortgeorge wrote:I'm the opposite of road rage by the way, I'm extremely relaxed and easy going. I rarely even honk when most people would. Driving is just a relaxing experience for me.

I think the point is that you are fostering a road rage situation, regardless of whether you, yourself, are prone to rage. It's better to let them just peacefully disappear over the horizon than to get them boiling mad behind you and then send them off once they can pass you. You certainly aren't going to be making their driving less reckless by working them up.

huantino wrote:Too bad its illegal in CA - seems like a good price

Actually I think it is not illegal in CA. It is, however, illegal to mount anything on your windshield. Solution: mount it anywhere else.

dabomboo7o wrote:name one that has front and back detection...

i don't think they're common, but my hardwired/concealed BEL kit has front and rear sensors

interesting specs

http://www.howstuffworks.com/framed.htm?parent=radar-detector.htm&url=http://www.speedzones.com/

Alot of posts are talking about this works, but with laser ur screwed, etc, but the description says it works for both? Are u saying it works poorly against laser?

dabomboo7o wrote:name one that has front and back detection...

Whistler xtr 560

mgs333 wrote:i don't think they're common, but my hardwired/concealed BEL kit has front and rear sensors

yeah your talking about a kit that costs over 1K though! sheesh

noisyparker wrote:I think the point is that you are fostering a road rage situation, regardless of whether you, yourself, are prone to rage. It's better to let them just peacefully disappear over the horizon than to get them boiling mad behind you and then send them off once they can pass you. You certainly aren't going to be making their driving less reckless by working them up.

Hmm, this is true, I will probably think about your advice next time I see someone speeding like an idi@t.

Capital wrote:Whistler xtr 560

uh.. wrong..

dabomboo7o wrote:name one that has front and back detection...

valintine one, BEL STi-R, Beltronic RX65,Escort Passport 9500i, Whistler xtr-690, Cobra ESD 7000 just to name a few.... pretty much a standard feature on detectors that don't suck.

waacodemon wrote:these work? Who has one?

yup most definately do work and has gotten me out of tickets a many, dont rely on the POP mode though

Alot of posts are talking about this works, but with laser ur screwed, etc, but the description says it works for both? Are u saying it works poorly against laser?

dabomboo7o wrote:uh.. wrong..

Well I would say that any detector, namely this one, that goes off when a cop is behind you has rear detection.

ionizer wrote:no, the people endagering the public are the idiots going 55 in the left lane

if everyone understood the concept of "keep right, pass left" i wouldnt need to go 80mph by you to make up for the time i spend behind a moving convoy of morons who dont stay right.

AMEN!!!!!!!!!
Although they may not get as many tickets, it's hard to quantify how many accidents they cause (as they slowly drive away!). They also cost us money longterm, by requiring us to add more lanes rather than use less more efficiently. Why haven't we yet learned from the Autobahn? No speed limits and fewer lanes, yet higher safety through better education, responsibility, courtesy and accountability! Rather than a few 'Slower Traffic Keep Right' signs that are too often ignored... Law enforcement REALLY should ticket these people! It's not the 'Speed Limit' lane... or the 'I Don't Give A Woot' lane... The left lane is the PASSING LANE!!! It's that way because drivers sitting on the left have better visibility to the left of the vehicle, and more blind spots to the right. Of course, that means nothing if you are oblivious to anything outside your car, or your cell phone. SO... If you're in the left lane... and you are NOT passing... and you notice someone coming up behind you, because you're PAYING ATTENTION... Simply glance right, move over and let 'em by! A few seconds and they're gone! If they get caught for speeding... they'll be on the shoulder... NOT HOLDING UP TRAFFIC or causing congestion and increasing greenhouse traffic jam emissions... like you were!

Just move over. It's the fast, safe, green, courteous and RIGHT thing to do.

huantino wrote:Too bad its illegal in CA - seems like a good price

safer than riding BART these days...

I have to agree with a previous poster that likes to mess with speeders (mostly small city driving, but sometimes on the freeway).

If I see someone in my rear view mirror weaving through traffic to get ahead, I like to find a car on the lane beside me that is going just a touch below the speed limit. Then I pull ahead until they switch to my lane, let off the gas a little until they change to the other lane, and repeat. I try not to use my brakes because that would look too obvious.

There was one guy who was tailgating cars and weaving back and forth. After messing with him a few times he slammed on his brakes and squealed his tires, then he shaped up and started driving like a normal person.

Headparot wrote:valintine one, BEL STi-R, Beltronic RX65,Escort Passport 9500i, Whistler xtr-690, Cobra ESD 7000 just to name a few.... pretty much a standard feature on detectors that don't suck.

when they say front and rear detection, im pretty sure they are referring to front and rear detection of laser?? cause I dont see any panel where they could be receiving KA or K radar on the front of it on any of those.

From the product description:

"360° Total Perimeter Protection™"

Doesn't this mean the xtr-550 has front AND rear detection??

My old Cobra 9200 had 360 degree laser protection -- but I'm not sure about radar signals.

The wife has the XTR-650 model for a while now. I checked the specs and they seem to be nearly identical except hers has a nice chrome on top.
According to her, it works great!

She drives like a maniac to catch the Metra (about 40 miles from our home) and says she wouldn't leave home without it. It starts alerting her early enough to slow down.

I've been wanting one and decided to pull the trigger.

Placement: I used the mount that has the suction cups. Remove the cups, install onto the radar and slide between the headliner and the glass, just to the right of the rear view mirror.

angrybob7 wrote:I wonder how much the cop would laugh if he STILL pulled me over, then looked in my car and saw I had one of these...

yup, it happened to me, they laugh, they comment, and then they make some snide remarks

crazypigeon wrote:Radar detectors are not directly illegal, but they are cause they attach to your windshield. My dad got pulled over because he had a gps on his windshield once. Look here:

http://dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d12/vc26708.htm

That being said, I'd rather get pulled over for having something on my windshield than speeding :D

As of Jan 1, you can now have a GPS on your windshield in the lower right or left side.
Not that it helps with a radar detector, but wanted to correct that image.
Yes, something on your windshield would not be a moving violation, I think..

DanhxCore wrote:I HATE the police, just be honest and does this work?

No. Signed LIDAR USER

I have a higher version of this brand. It works amazingly well. This version doesn't have as many features, but really the only ones that count when you're on the highway.

dabomboo7o wrote:name one that has front and back detection...

So... What does 360° Total Perimeter Protection mean then?

All of the radar detectors that I have purchased since 1999 have had some sort of rear radar. The Valentine One is the only one, that I know of, that will tell you whether it is coming from the front or the rear. Most treat the rear radar the same as front radar.

e39krazy wrote:You my friend are the assh@les i hate. You get a sick joy out of making people slow down. If you wanted people to slow down, why dont you go be a cop?

I concur.

JohnnyLemonhead wrote:actually in many states (such as here in GA) it is now illegal to drive the speed limit in the left lane. they almost never enforce it but if you are going regular speed in the passing lane it is illegal in many states now.

I recently got a speeding ticket here in VA (yeah, no buying one of these for me), but I found out when paying my fine that cops, atleast in Dinwiddie county, can and will pull you over for failing to drive to the right. The fine for that offense was actually More than my fine for speeding.

Specs on the xtr-550 from another vendor's website which is selling this unit for $91.48.

Whistler laser-radar detectors receive all current laser guns which operate at a laser wavelength of 905+/-10nm. These guns include: Pro Laser I, II, and III, LTI 20-20 and UltraLyte. Laser-Radar Detectors are legal for passenger vehicles in every state except Virginia and Washington D.C. Radar receivers are prohibited in commercial vehicles over 10,000 lbs.

Whistler detectors receive the following radar frequencies:
10.500 - 10.550 GHz X Band
24.050 - 24.250 GHz K Band
33.400 - 36.000 GHz SuperWide Band Ka

This includes the new POP instant on feature, which operates within the K and Ka bands. POP is a trademark of MPH Industries.

e39krazy wrote:I hate to disagree with you but, lets say you get a ticket for 15 over. How much is that going to cost you when your XTR-550 doesn't pick it up in time? The price of a nice escort maybe and lets not forget those points and maybe even driving school and insurance prices going up? So over all a nice 300 dollar investment saves you money in the long run. And if you really into speeding the 8500 x50 can also be used as a laser jammer, if you get the sensors (my spring project)..

No such thing as a laser jammer!

dabomboo7o wrote:when they say front and rear detection, im pretty sure they are referring to front and rear detection of laser?? cause I dont see any panel where they could be receiving KA or K radar on the front of it on any of those.

ka and K are detected by tiny rf antenna embedded in the housing. laser is detected by multiple diodes around the interior of the housing as well. the placement of the antenna in the housing may or may not require a visible window, like the IR window you are probably thinking of. some devices require multiple antenna some don't.

SchmooBro wrote:No, Northern California, actually. CHP cruisers
and running 'cycles tend to leave them on; so, with
a good detector you can tell way off and I am sure
my Valentine has saved my butt many times.

I do know they are using LASAR for intown inforcement
in several Bay Area cities, Sacramento, Roseville,
and most recently Stockton..... YMMV.

Okay, so I commute on city streets from Sac County to Fair Oaks. I'm always late at 6:00 (not a morning person) so I go fast. Does the above statement mean this won't be useful for me?

(Lots and lots of police on my route)