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

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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!

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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?

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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.

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