Radar Detector Problems

[spec4]

Driving on Rt 41 and Rt 30 in NWI, it seems my escort goes off constantly without any police being around. On the tollway around Chicago it will go off very loud every few minutes, again no police around. I called Escort and was told the tollway issue could be traffic monitoring radar. As far as the spontaneous beeps, the lady at Escort said many newer cars with adaptive cruise etc., emit signals the detector picks up. She didn't offer a solution. Anyone else experiencing this? It is getting to the point that the false beeps are a real pain and the value of having radar is diminished.

Would gladly trade up to another detector if it would only pick up police signals. Mine is an Escort 9500i.

 

[wassup61]

I have the same Problem. It's the various store door openers in the area.

Eta: try locking out X band. I only am concerned with KA these days

 

[chezuki]

#firstworldproblems

 

[Bigtanker]

Some of the newer semi truck have the adaptive cruise control. I was driving one a few years back and it actually gave me the speed of the vehicle in front of me. That was in 2010. The system would cause a fuzz buster to go off as I would see them in the windows of the vehicles in front of me and the brakes go on.

 

[T.Lex]

I stopped using a radar detector years ago, mostly because of the false positives. It got to the point that, if I'm slowing down anyway, I might as well drive the speed limit (or reasonably close thereto/with the flow of traffic).

 

[SEIndSAM]

I stopped using a radar detector years ago, mostly because of the false positives. It got to the point that, if I'm slowing down anyway, I might as well drive the speed limit (or reasonably close thereto/with the flow of traffic).

Yep, same here. Since the State Police seem to be using mostly lasers now, the radar detectors are no help. All is does is tell you, "he's got you"....

 

[actaeon277]

Yep, same here. Since the State Police seem to be using mostly lasers now, the radar detectors are no help. All is does is tell you, "he's got you"....

Not really. While the transmission of the laser is more focused than a radio beam, it still strikes an object and you are measuring "reflections". A laser will still reflect in multiple directions.

So, if someone 20 cars in front of you is being "painted", then you will pick up the reflections, setting off your detector.

 

[actaeon277]

Driving on Rt 41 and Rt 30 in NWI, it seems my escort goes off constantly without any police being around. On the tollway around Chicago it will go off very loud every few minutes, again no police around. I called Escort and was told the tollway issue could be traffic monitoring radar. As far as the spontaneous beeps, the lady at Escort said many newer cars with adaptive cruise etc., emit signals the detector picks up. She didn't offer a solution. Anyone else experiencing this? It is getting to the point that the false beeps are a real pain and the value of having radar is diminished.

Would gladly trade up to another detector if it would only pick up police signals. Mine is an Escort 9500i.

The 9500i should be filtering out frequencies that constantly repeat in the same area, such as motion sensors on buildings, alarm systems etc.
Then a different freq in the same area should set it off, such as a patrolman trying to take advantage of people ignoring their detector, because it always goes off there.

So, either your detector isn't remembering those areas (option turned off, or broken), or you are detecting the newer stuff everyone has their cars.
The only fix I can think of, would be making those items NOT used police freqs.
Unfortunately, I don't see that happening.

 

[mrjarrell]

I have the same problem with mine and have finally figured out the issue. It's certain newer cars and SUV's with these collision avoidance systems. They use X band radar that's always on, so it keeps you detector going constantly while they're in front of you. This just started popping up on mine in the last couple of months. It's really annoying.

 

[mbafta]

I recently replaced my 14 year old valentine with a new updated firmware model and i was having the same issue. Passing any high end car or semi on the interstate would set it off. It wasnt x band either it was k or ka. It was a pain on my Florida trip...every hill i crested it would give a false detection it seemed. I found the answer for my valentine...i had to turn off some sort of pop protection in the firmware only used in New Jersey and one other location that i cant remember at the moment. Google it or check an escort forum. Someone should have an answer.

 

[CountryBoy19]

My daily commute is 100% rural roads. Up until recently, if I encountered radar, IT WAS A LEO. But within the last year or so I started encountering weak signals that seemed to never grow or fade. I'd pick them up and they would stay with me. I finally determined it had to be other vehicles around me, going the same direction. Turns out, that's what it is; it's the crash avoidance or adaptive cruise control systems. They have radar-based distance monitoring systems on-board.

For those that say radar detectors are useless, they still have their place. I can't count the number of times in the last 2 months I've encountered local LEO's with constant-on radar. They still have, and use it frequently in my AO.

 

[Gluemanz28]

I got rid of mine years ago too. All they are good for is a false sense of protection and to tell you when to pull over. I just try to keep it at the speed limit or no more than 7 over.

 

[edporch]

A radar detector isn't a panacea.

It's just one tool that combined with situational awareness, positioning your vehicle to reduce the line of sight distance, and watching out for what's coming up behind you CAN significantly reduce speeding tickets.
I KNOW it has for me.

I have an approximately 10 year old Valentine One, and it still works great for me,
But there is a learning curve with any radar detector to recognize the relevant readings.

But to buy a radar detector and just turn it on and drive down the road oblivious to everything won't help you much at all.

 

[KittySlayer]

But to buy a radar detector and just turn it on and drive down the road oblivious to everything won't help you much at all.

It is still important to Turn It On. Don't ask me how I know.

 

[danmdevries]

New Audis are annoying, set off my detector on K band.

I still use it and trust it the same as before. Beep, check speed and adjust accordingly

 

[KLB]

[STRIKE]But to buy a radar detector and just turn it on and drive[/STRIKE]Driving down the road oblivious to everything won't help you much at all.

FIFY

Too many people drive with their heads up their behinds period.