New Whistler XTR690
There are going to be several big announcements in the speed counter measure industry next month at the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that will certainly “rock” the industry.
However information one new product was recently leaked by a Whistler insider on radardetector.net and has allot of users excited is the new XTR690 radar detector.
Scheduled for release in April of 2007, the Whistler XTR690 will be their new top of the line and sport a new re-engineered antenna system, in which according to Whistler, will deliver range similar to the top end Escort and Beltronics radar detectors.
The XTR690 also includes other new features, only found on higher priced units that include:
Rear Laser eye
True VG-2 Immunity
Real Voice Alerts
Laser Etched Button
Expected price of the XTR690 will be in the $200.00 price range and is expected availability is 4/2007
Blinder – Cheetah Install in Under 30 Minutes
Several weeks ago we started carrying the new Cheetah wireless kit for the Blinder laser jammers and last night was our first professional install in a customers 2006 Saturn SUV.
Step One, Installing two Blinder Heads – Total Time 10 Minutes:
Without question, this is the most important part of any laser jammer install in that you need to make sure that the front of the Blinder heads are not obstructed, that they are level and pointed straight ahead. During most of our installs, we use 3M double sided automotive tape to mount the laser heads, this tape is available at most NAPA automotive stores.
We mounted the two heads and made small “shims” with the tape, to make sure that they were perfectly level. We then ran the cables from the heads to the rear of the engine compartment where we going to mount the Blinder and Cheetah interface.
Step Two Connecting the Blinder and Cheetah Interface – Total Time: 1 minute
The Cheeth Interfaces with the Blinder with two supplied cables.
A: Cheetah battery connector; connects to the automotive battery.
B: Contains an inline fuse
C: Power Node: Senses when the car is operational and turns the Blinder on, or off when engine turned off
D: Cheetah Interface. This is the brain of the Cheetah unit, it plugs into the Blinder Interface with two cables
E: Blinder Interface
Step Three – Mount the Cheetah Weatherproof Box, connect Blinder Heads – Total Time 3 Minutes
We used Industrial Velcro to mount the box into the engine compartment, making sure that the surface we were mounting to was clean.
One we mounted the box, we connected the Blinder heads to the Blinder interface, placed the interface into the box and then screwed the box together
Step Four – Mount the Cheetah Interface, connect power – Total Time 3 Minutes
We also used velco to secure the Cheetah interface in the engine compartment.
Next we connected the Cheetah (part a) to the battery
Step Five – Mount the Cheetah Alert Interface – Total Time 3 Minutes
This is the beauty of the Cheetah interface, you do not have to run wires through the firewall, nor do you have to mount the power switch, LED or Speaker. All you have to do is plug the Cheetah Alert Interface into the lighter (or direct wire for cleaner install) and you’re done. We used velcro to hold the alert interface in place and tied down the extra wire behind the dash.
Step Six – Testing – 10 minutes
Of course your final testing maybe much shorter, but this is the most fun of the install. We grabbed a couple of laser guns and tested our Blinder and Cheetah set-up and each time we had Jam To Gun!
RMR Feels the HEAT!
On October 27, 2006, the Federal Communications Commission issued a memorandum opinion and an order to Michael Churchman and Rocky Mountain Radar, denying their request seeking copies of all complaints alleged against RMR, with the complaining parties clearly identified, under the “Freedom of Information Act”.
Michael Churchman cites several different factors why the complaints should be released:
The only FCC Order or citation against RMR was issued in 1977 and relates to the Spirit II device.
RMR maintains that its devices are certified by the FCC and “comply with the existing code”
That any complaints lodged against RMR were submitted by its competitors for competitive advantage.
And finally, RMR agues that the FCC rules provide that the complaints are routinely available for public inspection.
The Federal Communications Commission stated that it did receive a complaint alleging that RMR was marketing devices designed to jam or interfere with police radar, and that the Enforcement Bureau has instituted an investigation. However, under FOIA Exemption 7(a) that they may withhold “records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes but only to the extent that production of such law enforcement records or information could be reasonably be expected to interfere with law enforcement proceedings”.
In the November Issue of FHH Telecom Law, Mitchell Lasarus wrote “If the FCC ultimately has to disclose the complaints, it could find that a major source of information on violations quickly dries up.”
So it appears that Michael Churchman feeling the heat of the complaints filed against his company and perhaps the reason behind his new company KAT (Kick Ass Technologies) that is now selling radar detectors without the claim of being able to scramble police radar?
Taking Aim at Speeders
This article appeared today in the Press Enterprise Newpaper in Southern Califorina, in which I was interviewed.
Technology allows CHP to pinpoint infractions
10:00 PM PST on Sunday, December 3, 2006
By JULIA GLICK – The Press-Enterprise
The California Highway Patrol has a new weapon against speeders in the Inland region: lasers. Officers in Riverside and San Bernardino counties started using laser speed measurement, called lidar, last month to clock drivers barreling down the area’s freeways, authorities said.
California Highway Patrol officers in Riverside and San Bernardino counties started using the lidar device last month.
Lidar makes it easier to zero in on individual vehicles and nearly impossible for drivers to contest tickets in court, officials said. And speeders beware: radar detectors won’t help you.
“The lidar is so quick that by the time your radar detector goes off, your speed has already been determined,” said Officer Mario Lopez with the Inland Division of the highway patrol.
The patrol is using about 10 lidar units in Riverside County and 17 in San Bernardino County to supplement officers’ traditional radar guns, authorities said.
After a successful pilot project in the Solano area of Northern California, the state purchased 240 laser units with federal grants in 2006 and distributed them among its eight highway patrol divisions, said spokesman Steve Kohler.
“When it comes to measuring distance and speed, lidar has really replaced radar,” said Dan Sise of Laser-Technology Inc., the Colorado-based manufacturer of the units. “It is the new technology.”
Lidar, which stands for Light Detection and Ranging, enables an officer to aim at a particular vehicle, even a small motorcycle in heavy traffic, said Sise. The unit shoots out a laser beam and uses the time it takes for the light to bounce back to pinpoint the car’s distance. When the device measures the same distance a split-second later, it can determine how quickly the car has moved, he said.
Radar uses the reflection of radio waves to measure a car’s speed. Its main advantage over laser is that it can be mobile while a laser unit must be kept still in order to function, Sise said.
While laser beams are narrow and focused, traditional radar beams are wider and sometimes cover several vehicles, Sise said. Officers use their training and judgment to determine which car is giving off the fast-speed reading, he said.
“If you get a good lawyer, sometimes you can get out of a radar ticket,” Sise said. “But it is very hard to get out of a laser ticket, because it is so precise. It makes the judge’s job much easier.”
Lidar also foils radar detectors, the old-standby for avoiding a ticket. While a radar gun’s broad radio wave emissions can be picked up at a distance and give drivers a warning to slow down, the laser beams don’t trigger the radar detector until it is too late.
If a lidar unit sets off your detector, “Just pull over. You just got a ticket,” said Roy Reyer, owner of RadarBusters.com, which sells and reviews radar detectors.
But as quickly as new technology comes out, speeders find a way to beat it, said Reyer, a retired policeman from Arizona.
RadarBusters.com and other companies have begun selling laser jammers, also known as blinders, which sell for about $350. The jammers, mounted inside the car grill, flash a burst of invisible infrared light at the lidar gun and block a reading, Reyer said. That buys time to slow down and escape a ticket.
While radar detectors are not specifically illegal in California, laser jammers are outlawed, Reyer said.
Former Cop Offers $50,000 For Radar Jammer That Works
“Radar Roy” leads crusade to stop misleading claims
From Yahoo News!
Wickenburg, AZ — The ads say the radar jammer keeps police radar from detecting your automobile. For the price of the jammer, you can drive as fast as you want and never get a speeding ticket.
That’s what the ad claims, but Radar Roy disagrees. And the nationally known radar authority is offering $50,000 to anyone who can produce a passive jammer that really works. “Radar jammers are not effective against traffic radar. They’re also illegal, ” Roy says. It is a federal felony to jam, or attempt to jam, police radar guns.
Repeated tests conducted by police departments nationwide have shown radar jammers are ineffective. Yet jamming devices continue to proliferate. “We even saw the Radio Shack chain start selling the RMR jammer recently and some states are investigating other sellers,” Roy said.
Radar Roy is Arizona’s Roy Reyer, a retired cop and sheriff who has almost 30 years experience in the traffic industry. His site, http://www.RadarJammer.com is a top information source for traffic radar jammers.
For years Roy offered a $5,000 reward to anyone who could show a radar jammer that worked. After getting no takers, Roy recently increased the reward to $50,000. “I’m confident I’ll never get a taker. And that’s the point. These jammers are a fraud committed on the public and people continue to buy them,” Roy said.
Roy recently challenged the owner of the leading manufacture of jamming devices, Michael Churchman of Rocky Mountain Radar. Roy says he was turned down and told Churchman had nothing to prove, his products work. That was when Roy increased the reward.
Fraudulent radar jammers have been prominently reported by major TV news shows like 20/20, Extra, American Journal, and a host of major market TV news programs. Radar Roy has appeared as the featured expert on several of these news reports.
Radar Roy also has a site that reviews and sells effective and legal radar detectors. “These days radar detectors not only warn drivers of radar ahead, they tell the driver how fast they should be driving and how much they need to slow down. Unlike jammers, radar detectors are an effective way to promote safe driving,” Roy said.
Contact: Radar Roy
928-684-3974
Contact online at http://www.radarjammer.com/contact-us
Cities Use Radar To Line Their Pockets With YOUR Money
Increasingly, cities in the US and Canada are using photo radar and red light cameras to catch speeders. While you might think this is a good thing, cities often put the cameras in tricky locations where the speed limit suddenly drops unexpectedly.
You may get a ticket and pay a big fine when you had no intention of speeding and didn’t know you were over the limit at the time.
For example, there is a heavily traveled location in my area where the speed limit suddenly drops from 65 miles per hour to 35 mph. The city has cameras stationed there and nabs speeders one after another all day long.
This is no isolated occurrence. Municipalities all over North America have discovered this kind of “speed trap” is a HUGE money-maker. Normally a camera company is hired to set up a detection location, analyze the photos, and sends out threatening citations for the city. The city pulls in big revenue with very little expense.
What can you do about it? Plenty. New photo radar detection units are staying well ahead of the situation. One just-released speed camera and red light camera alert system uses GPS to locate cameras far ahead of you. The tiny unit features a LED display and a voice warning telling you a camera is coming up. It also tells you what speed you’re SUPPOSED to be driving, and what speed you ARE driving.
With traffic tickets and time lost fighting them often amounting to hundreds of dollars, the affordable detection unit quickly pays for itself.
But isn’t this helping people to get away with driving dangerously high speeds? Research shows these types of advanced detectors do two things:
1. These units encourage people to drive the speed limit. Often people speed because they don’t know what the speed limit is or aren’t consciously aware of how fast they are driving. The unit corrects that.
2. Radar and camera detection units allow people to drive faster when conditions safely allow.
This last point is one most consumers aren’t aware of. Experts have long agreed you can safely drive somewhat faster than the speed limit without creating a danger to yourself and others.
Some states and communities take this into consideration, only handing out tickets when your speed is well over the posted limit. But many other municipalities use a low speed limit as a license to make mounds of money, liberally handing out tickets to as many as possible.
What can you do if you wind up in court after being nabbed by a speed camera? Since these cameras aren’t being monitored by a police officer, you can point out the various ways the system could be dishing up faulty information. If you can shed doubt on the validity of the camera’s report, your ticket could be dismissed. See my site for a full tutorial on how this works.
Safe driving is important, but it’s also important for you to avoid getting tickets. If this makes sense for your driving, check out the wide range of photo radar detectors available.
Bounty Raised to $50,000.00!
Sometimes you just couldn’t ask for a better encounter, that was the case at this years SEMA show…..
Last year when I issued my $5000.00 challenge to Rual, the head engineer at RMR, while tv cameras were rolling, the RMR staff were a little gun shy at the CES show, held just a few months later. When I was spotted near their booth at CES in January, CEO and President Mike Churchman would quickly duck under the display leaving his staff to handle any questions.
So at this years SEMA, Mr. Churchman manned a booth for a new company that he just formed, KAT radar detectors and he never went close to the RMR booth.
On November 2nd I just finished off a great dinner at the top of the Stratosphere restaurant and was meeting with a few associates at a lounge on the casino floor. Don, who is the business rep for Cheetah USA nudged me and pointed to the bar. Standing there was my nemesis in the speed counter measure industry, Michael Churchman.
Mr. Churchman is the founder and CEO of Rocky Mountain Radar, the main retailer of those radar scrambler devices you hear blabbed all over the radio and e-mailed to you in junk e-mails. I get countless phone calls and e-mails each day regarding these devices from customers that found out the hard way, that these devices just don’t work.
In 1998, when I started in this industry, I offered my first $5,000 challenge to anyone that could show me one of these products that worked.
Now I had my chance to personally offer my challenge to the huckster himself!
After getting a glass of wine at the bar, Mr. Churchman walked directly toward me and my table. As he passed I said “Hi Mike”. At first he seemed surprised that someone would call out his name at a bar, but as he made eye contact the surprise seemly turned to shock.
I invited Mike to sit down and introduced him to other attendees at the table and made small talk. After a few minutes I then dropped the question that I have been waiting to ask Mike for over 8 years, why he wouldn’t take me up on my $5000.00 challenge.
He responded that my test was rigged and that it had to be performed by Carl Fors at Speed Measurement Laboratories. I responded that was not the case, that Carl Fors had no involvement in his challenge and that I would even let him hold the radar and laser guns, that all I asked that there would be an impartial party involved to judge the test.
At first Mike seemed taken aback and replied “Let me think about this” but then quickly responded, I don’t have anything to prove to you, just to my customers and they already know my product works, so no, your $5000.00 means nothing to me.
I then offered to raise the challenge to $50,000.00 and Mr. Churchman stated “I don’t care if you make it five million dollars” I have nothing to gain. I then responded by saying that potential customers would have something to gain, knowing that a product actually worked as advertised and that I would get off his back in seeing for the first time, an actual product that worked.
Mr. Churchman related that my challenge had no effect on his operation, other then perhaps losing a sale here and there. Even letters that I had written to DBL and Cabellas about him selling illegal jammers had no effect.
I then asked if I had no effect, why would he dispute my video right on the home page of his website. Mr. Churchman related that my video was all rigged and that you could tell that by looking at the lights on the detector, they were not on. Mike related that he had since removed my name from his homepage, and that I was just a footnote now, buried on the site.
Mr. Churchman was also asked why his products were removed from the Radio Shack stores and he related my actions had no effect what so ever, that his detectors were outselling the Radio Shack brand and only had a 2% return rate.
Since I personally raised the challenge to $50,000.00 to Michael Churchman, I have decided to let that offer stand. Here are the details if ANYONE can show me a passive radar jammer that works in scrambling the speed of a vehicle so equipped with such a device.
SEMA 2006 Observations…
The Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) is the premier automotive trade event in the world. Held each year in Las Vegas, the event provides seminars, product demonstrations, special events and more. As I am involved in the speed counter measurement industry, it is a great opportunity for me, to network with others in the same industry.
This year we met with manufactures and reps from Escort, Beltronics, Cheetah, Blinder, RAM, Whistler, GSG Technologies, KAT (Kick Ass Technologies) and even Rocky Mountain Radar.
Our first stop was at Blinder, where we met with the CEO of Blinder International Torbin Anderson and Leon Gruner of Blinder USA. One pressing question we had involved the recent laser jammers that have been selling overseas that Blinder a ledges infringe on their US patent. Torbin explained that they are actively enforcing their patent here in the USA and if they become aware of any retailer within the US that sells and/or promotes these jammers, that they will take the proper legal steps in not only shutting the merchant down, but also seizing the merchandise and filing for restitution. Blinder International was just successful in obtaining the patent for their product design in South Africa and are also active in obtaining other patents in other countries.
Torbin also explained that Blinder is also in the final stages of development of a new parking sensor product, that is expected to be released in the first quarter of 2007.
Blinder also hinted to watch for information on new product releases within the next few weeks regarding their line of laser jammers.
Next stop was with the Whistler Group, where we got to see some new detectors that will be coming to the market soon. Two new cordless models that have spun off their popular 1788 model are the XTR 185 and the XTR 190. The XTR185 has a new feature in that it is the first “solar enhanced” radar detector. The top of the XTR185 has a solar panel, that will extend the lifetime of a set of batteries several hours, if the detector is left mounted in the windshield.
Although Escort did not have an “official” presence at this years show, company representatives were present at the Beltronics booth. They were all very tight lipped about any new devices coming to market, and would not confirm rumors that we had heard of a new Escort model that would debut at the January CES show. However we did learn that their SR7 would be paired with an improved laser jamming device, but that the RX75 would not be sold with any active laser countermeasure device.
I then had lunch with Speed Cheetah and was blown away by the interface devices that they plan on offering the first quarter of 2007. The first was a helmet display module that had six different LED lights and an audio output. There was one LED light for each radar band and laser band, with the other two LED lights that would interface with either laser jammers and/or GPS devices.
They then had a clip on rear view mirror that had a built in GPS based safety camera alert system with the interface for remote mounted radar detectors and laser jammers.
Each of these interface devices will interconnect with any high end detector from Bel, Escort, Valentine or any laser jammer from Blinder, Lidatek or Drive Smart.
GSG Technologies was next on our list, and we learned that they had completely redesigned their VF Photo Jammers. Their product successfully passed the testing at the 2005 Speed Measurement Laboratories test of successfully blocking the photo of safety camera devices. However many of the cameras in the Scottsdale Arizona now use the Redflex Traffic Systems camera. Because this system uses a double flash the VF Photo Jammer could not recycle in time and block their photos. They explained that their new design allows them to block these cameras and we will be arranging a retest with the Scottsdale cameras in the near future.
Perhaps our biggest surprise was seeing CEO and founder of Rocky Mountain Radar Michael Churchman, sitting in front of another display, KAT Inc.
We learned (and later confirmed) that Michael Churchman founded his new company, Kick Ass Technologies, because of all the pressure Rocky Mountain Radar has been under involving the sales of radar scramblers. Mr. Churchman related that by removing the radar scrambler function from the KAT line of detectors he could then get his products into the Auto Zone type of stores more easily.
Although he may had removed the scrambler from his KAT line, he still used outrageous marketing claims to unsuspecting customers. These are just a sample of some of his claims to attendees at his booth:
1: That his KAT detector can detect and jam any laser gun up to two miles away.
2: That he purposely reduced the overall range of his radar detectors to only 2 miles ahead, because if you picked up any further away (like a Bel or Escort will) you may feel that it was a false alert.
3: He was kicked out of Radio Shack because his products were outselling the Radio Shack detectors, and Radio Shack was not making any money on their product line.
4: That his radar detectors were immune to the new Spectre IV and that they were now designing a new Spectre in Australia just so they could detect his detectors
On Thursday night during the SEMA show, I spotted Mike at a Las Vegas lounge at the Stratosphere casino and invite him to sit down with me. Our (video taped) conversation about his products and my $5000.00 challenge will follow in a new post..
Radio Shack Flip, Flop, Flip….
It seems that the Shack cannot make up its mind on the Rocky Mountain Radar product line…..
On Monday, October 16th, we reported that Radio Shack was selling the Rocky Mountain C450 and the C430 on their website.
A flood of faxes and e-mails followed from users of the RadarDetector.net website to officials at Radio Shack and within 4 hours of my original posting, Radio Shack pulled the RMR units off their website. I then posted a follow-up congratulating Radio Shack for removing these illegal products.
On Monday, October 23rd, the RMR C450 returned to their website clearly stating that this product was a scrambler.
The FCC clearly has stated in their 1977 action, that any advertising of radar jammers is illegal. Also on July 10th, FCC Chief of Staff Michael Carowitz sent Senator Hutchsion this letter, in which is stated: “The Marketing, including radio advertising for sale, and use of RF devices designed to intentionally jam or interfere with licensed radio services is illegaL”
Our follow-up congratulatory post was removed and we started making telephone calls and sending e-mails to our contacts, including Attorney Justin Cluck, who has fileld legal action before against RMR.
Well today, Radio Shack pulled the RMR items off their website again!
What is the Shack’s next move? What ever it maybe, I know that members of the RadarDetector.net, and other interested parties will be watching…
The Meaning of the Rabbit…
Several times a month someone asks what the bunny represents in our logo, or one why my nickname with people I have worked with in law enforcement is rabbit.
Normally I just snicker and just say “long story” and leave it to their imagination. It is not because I am embarrassed about the nickname and how I got it, it is just that, a long story.
So to set the record straight, I will answer on my blog, the meaning of the rabbit.
On October 10, 1978, I started my law enforcement career as a deputy sheriff recruit in a class of eighty at the Phoenix Police Academy. The first week at the academy was called hell week, as the instructors attempt to wash out as many of the new officers they could.
After a day of intensive class work and physical exercise, we were sent home with a long list of items that had to bring with us to class the following day. On day one we had to purchase a particular pair of gray gym shorts, stencil our name on them, then polish our brass, spit shine our leather and write out a 5000 word essay on why we wanted to be a police officer.
One thing that they fail to tell you during these assignments is where in the Phoenix metro area you could go to purchase these particular hard to find items!
After an extensive search, working the telephone and driving from store to store, I was able to locate one of only three locations in the Phoenix area that stocked these shorts as they were closing for the night.
Getting home with the shorts after 10:00 pm, I carefully stenciled out my name, polished my leather and brass and wrote out my 5000 word essay. By the time I got to bed it was 4:00 am and I had to be on the academy grounds at 6:00.
Day two’s assignment were similar, in that we had to locate a particular black 2” binder and have it divided into sections for particular titles of class work, polish our brass and leather, and then write a 5000 essay on our autobiography.
Prior to leaving for the day, a few classmates and I decided to team up and work together in locating the binders. As a team, we quickly located one of five stores in the Phoenix area that had them. However a few other classmates had gotten there before us and there were only two left. The store owner referred us to another shop on the other side of town where we were able to get another two for the other members of our team.
After getting my binder ready and spit shinning my leather, I started my 5000 word essay at 2:00 am. As I wrote I remember slipping in and out of conciseness as I tried to stay awake. During my conscious state I remember thinking back to my early childhood, growing up with my pet rabbit named “Dicky”.
At 5:30 am I some how managed to wake up at my desk with my essay scribbled out, only having minutes to spare before class formation at the academy.
That day our little team grew to add a few more students and we discovered that by helping one another, that our class assignments would be easier to accomplish.
During formation on Friday afternoon, just prior to dismissal, our class Sergeant said that he wanted to congratulate the remaining fifty recruits. However, he was disturbed by one student’s autobiography and wanted to address it before the entire class.
I started choking as he remarked that after reading everyone’s essay he felt that one of the recruits had a weird perversion to animals. He then asked that if anyone in the class had a perversion to step forward. I was certain that the class sergeant was referring to my essay about my rabbit and as I began to move, another recruit quickly stepped forward.
Relieved, I stood at attention with the other fifty as the class sergeant yelled at the recruit to explain his perversion. The recruit explained that he had dogs and that he had some dog training experience. The Sergeant then yelled “Did you write about this in your essay” and the recruit said no. The Sergeant then yelled “Well then I am not talking about you then am I? Are there any other recruits in this class that wrote about their perversion about animals?”
I stepped forward. The Sergeant then asked about my perversion. I explained that as a young child that I had a pet rabbit and that I used to walk it on a leash and that the rabbits name was Dickey.
The Sergeant then asked “did you write about this rabbit in your essay” and I responded yes. The Sergeant then asked how many words of my 5000 word essay was about my rabbit and I said that I didn’t know. He barked out “Over 4500 words of your 5000 word essay was about your pet rabbit Dickey!”
The other 49 class members of the class were doing everything possible to keep themselves from doubling up in laugher during this exchange, and from that moment forward in my law enforcement career, I was known as Rabbit.
The nickname Rabbit still sticks with me today as a member of the Arizona Choirboys Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club and serves as a reminder of an important lesson that I learned over 25 years ago.
Difficult assignments can be successfully accomplished when you work as a team!
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