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Counterfeit Blinders Hit the US Market

M100 Laser Jammers Sting US Customers
It never ceases to amaze me the crookedness within the radar jammer and scrambler industry.
Back in 2005 Carl Fors from Speed Measurement Laboratories and I tested a what was then a new “wireless” laser jammer called the First Strike that was manufactured by Dongen Electronics, a divison of Attowave Electronics (who also manufacture the Rocky Mountain Radar Crap) both based in Korea.
The manual for these jammers were basically a photocopy of the Blinder M-20 Extreme with the Blinder references removed.
When we inspected the laser heads, we found them to be of similar design of the Blinder Xtreme heads, minus a few laser diodes.
The “wireless” laser jammer controller plugged directly into your cigarette lighter and the laser jammer heads plug into a controller mounted under your hood or under your seat if mounted on a motorcycle.
During our testing of this cheap and blatant Blinder knock off, the device failed to jam any of our laser jamming equipment! Carl and I both wrote up our reviews for this product and respectable dealers in the US decided not to carry them. We later found that the only websites foolish enough to carry these jammers were all based in the United Kingdom.
The UK SpeedTrap Guide then did a follow-up and published their own review of the First Strike and their findings:  ”The testing results were very poor and we would suggest that you NOT consider this product”
After all our published reports slammed the First Stike, most of the UK dealers stopped selling them after angry customers sent them back for refunds while including our test reports on the device.
Tonight I was surfing the web and found numerous websites that are selling these same counterfeit Blinder Laser Jammers in the US Market now being marketed as the M100 Laser Jammer and the M100 Motorcycle Laser Jammer and immediately recognized them as the same device that Carl and I tested!
To even make matters worse the following websites; RadarScramblers.com,  e-radar-detectors.com, radar-jammers-detectors.net, jammerstore.com,  radarjammers.tv are all using images “Stolen” from my StealthHog.com website depicting the Blinder laser jammers installed on my own Harley Davidson motorcycle (with my Arizona license plate “MC1MAZ”), as their own M-100!

Being a retired cop, I don’t like it when thieves steal my own copy written content material, so I’m in the process of filing a DMCA notice against RadarScramblers.com and the other websites in question, while also notifying their hosting company, Yahoo and Google requesting that their services be shut down until they remove my material!
My second wave of attack will include a letter to the Cheif Enforcement Officer of the Federal Communications Commission, notifying them that these websites in question are also selling Rocky Mountain Radar products that were found to be in type 15 violation of their rules.
My third wave if the images are not removed within 48 hours is filling a suit for DMCA violations.
In the meantime, buyer beware. If you’re considering purchasing a laser jammer or radar detector please do your homework and purchase these products from legitimate companies and not from some shyster  that sells counterfeit products and/or those Rocky Mountain Radar products that don’t work either.
If it’s too late, consider doing what customers in the UK did when they found out that they were ripped off. Contact your credit card company and request a full refund for being defrauded!

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Fireball Run Recap – It’s not the Destination, it’s the Journey.

It’s been over a week since I’ve completed the Fireball Run so I have had time to decompress and get back to the normal grind.  After replaying the adventure of a life time in my head and catching up on all the rest I missed, I now feel it’s time to review my coast to coast journey.
First off my co-driver Bob and I both felt that it was quite an honor to be one of the select few that were invited to participate in the Fireball Run’s “Race to Recover America’s Missing Children.”
Event organizers J. Sanchez and Martin Blake did an unbelievable job in putting such an event together; starting with getting national sponsorship from such companies as FedEx, GM, Clear Channel, RadarBusters and the Insurance Office of America, getting communities along the rally together as participants, planning out the rally from coast to coast, and putting together business professionals as participants in this event. My hats off to both!
The overall mission for the Fireball Rally was to bring national exposure in locating missing children with the Child Rescue Network and the assignment for each team was to place as many recovery posters out for each team’s sponsored child along the 3500 journey. Our child was four year old Francisco Rios – Carriere who was abducted on March 3, 2004 by his non custodial father.
At each stop Bob and I made along the trip, we took the time to speak with people passing out Francisco’s poster. In Beaumont Texas, my co-driver “The Veil Guy” even went that extra mile. While I was inside the local Walmart shopping for supplies, Bob stood outside and handed out over 300 posters to shoppers!
From day one at our starting point in Orlando, to the finish line seven days later in Hollywood Bob and I logged in over 3700 miles.
During our journey we logged 28 Ka band, 7 K band and 1 X band radar hits and one laser hit.
Even with all our high tech speed counter measure equipment that we had installed, we were not immune. On I-10 in Florida we were traveling well above the posted speed limit, when we spotted a trooper traveling on the opposite side of the highway after clearing a row of trees in the median. Bob reacted immediately in breaking as the officer simultaneously activated his instant on Ka radar gun. We were pulled over and given a good “butt chewing”, but it could have been worse if we were not paying attention to the road ahead.
Other drivers in the event were not as fortunate, even though it was stressed by event organizers not to be “stupid”.
One driver was arrested after being clocked at 145 in his Vett, and one team received three separate citations for speed all above 90!
Bob and I took the advice of a long time Cannonballer who placed third in the event after he related “I like 70, love 85 but never go above 90, that speed is jail territory!”
Our success in safely navigating the rally ticket free came down to a number of factors
First and foremost we applied a formula that I began using when I started teaching defensive driving over 20 years ago, my “Radar Roy’s Rules of the Road”
1: Know the exact location and speed of surrounding vehicles
2: Constantly scan the road ahead, as far as your eyes can see
3: Pay attention to the road surface
4: Watch oncoming traffic from as far away as possible
5: And lastly “watch out for stupid” who is stupid? Every driver on the road INCLUDING YOURSELF!
Secondly we applied all the techniques that I’ve developed in “How to Maximize Your Radar Detector” from proper mounting of the detector(s), properly interpreting the alerts of our detectors, paying attention to “clues” to other methods of speed enforcement devices such as the painted lines indicating Vascar or aircraft speed enforcement, keeping the detector in Highway mode for best sensitivity, and lastly reacting immediately and properly when an alert is given.
Third, Bob and I worked together as a TEAM! I’m not going to deny that The Veil Guy and I had our moments after being in the same car for seven days and driving over 3500 miles, but for the most part we worked together as a team.  The number one responsibility for the navigator was watching out for the driver. These meant watching ahead for hidden troopers and tell tale signs of speed enforcement, figuring out solutions to our clues for the rally and navigation.
The bottom line, you have to have trust in each other’s abilities, mainly their driving abilities. This was echoed by other Cannonballers who related if you’re with a driver that you cannot trust, you’ll be stressed and never rest between navigating and driving.
Speed Counter Measure Review
During our journey we tested the top radar detectors made today that included; The Beltronics STi, the Escort 8500 X50, the Valentine One and the RX65. I had also planned on testing the new Escort 9500i, however this unit was lent to another team that I sponsored and they had mechanical problems that left them at the starting line.
All the top radar detector’s performed well as expected, but early on I took I took favor to the STi’s ability to sniff out Ka band faster than the other detectors that were in our arsenal and used it as the main unit throughout the rally.
The Whistler Pro 78 also did a superb job during day four and when compared to the STi was just a little slower in reacting to alerts and only falsed one time.
The only radar detector that I felt was a disappointment was the Cobra XRS R7 as I found its falsing annoying and it totally missed a Ka alert of one trooper in La.
In New Mexico the STi and the Blinder M-27 both alerted to a laser hit, however we never could figure out where the officer was hiding. When both units alerted, we were 25 miles over the posted speed limit, which would had easily justified a very expensive citation. However after slowing down we were never given chase, so I can safely assume that our Blinder Laser Jamming system and the Veil stealth coating saved us in this encounter.
After being on both sides of this industry for over 30 years, I did find it surprising that the Mississippi State Police still used X band. I have often recommend to clients to turn off X band on their detectors unless they were driving in NJ or the southern parts of Indiana. I’m glad that I didn’t follow my own advice in this encounter, even though the patrol car was unoccupied.
Next Year’s Plans
Bob and I have been invited back to participate in next year’s rally therefore I have been thinking of devices that we would include with our radar detector arsenal along with plans to improve our scoring.
CB Radio: Just like the original “Smoky and the Bandit” several of the Fireballers used CB radios to communicate with truckers of impeding speed traps.
Beartracker Scanner: Several of the Cannonballers were also using the Beartracker Scanners that would alert of trunk mounted transmissions in the police radio spectrum.
iPhone: I had brought my iPhone and laptop computer that was equipped with a cell card to access the Internet to help solve clues while on the road. For all instances I found it much easier and more dependable (at least on this trip) to use my iPhone. Therefore next year, I’m leaving the laptop behind.
Over the last 15 years, I had received extensive training in defensive driving techniques along with high performance driving techniques from Bob Bondurant’s driving school and executive protection driving by the US Secret Service. However I admit that when I got on the track this year, I was very rusty. Therefore prior to next year’s rally, I’m going back to Bondurant to freshen my track skills and hopefully pull down some better times.
I’m also a diehard Harley Davidson enthusiast. No, I’m not thinking of running my Screamin Eagle coast to coast in next year’s rally, but would like to figure out a way to include it for some of the events. So I’m considering using my Harley Davidson Edition F-250 with my Screamin Eagle in the bed, and then perhaps run the bike on the track!

See you Fireballers Next Year!!!

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Fireball Day Seven – The Homestretch

Las Vegas to Los Angles
You could see it in all the contestants faces; relief, sadness, anticipation. The week long Fireball run was about to end.
For me the rally was a great opportunity to meet and know 150 people that I had never met before. Sure there were blow-ups; one sponsor threw a tantrum after the judges discounted his team’s bonus points and one team was caught cheating as one member at a checkpoint was emailing the photo to the other driver at check in. But all in all, during the rally the majority of the contestants played fair and had a great time.
This morning we lined up at the Henderson resort and the mayor joined us in our morning driver briefing. Then we were provided our sealed envelope containing the clues for the day with the mayor waving the green flag we were off to Hollywood.
As Las Vegas is a vacation Mecca, every day is rush hour so I had laid out plans to use surface roads to bypass the congested highway traffic. The only problem was that I didn’t plan for road construction and road closures and found this to be a fatal error, as we were one of the last cars out of Sin City.
After finally getting on the Interstate I opened our sealed envelope for our clues:
Clue one: Have your photo taken with the Mad Greek in Baker California.
Clue two: Proceed to the Route 66 museum in Barstow California and purchase a gift that will be donated to a children’s hospital
Clue three: Go the original “Casa Del Taco.” This chain of restaurants now has over 490 locations and is only second to Taco Bell in Mexican food flair. Here we would be given your next clue after you ordered at the drive through.
Driving this area of I-15 before, I recognized the Mad Greek as a Greek Restaurant in Baker Ca, just off the Interstate. I then used my iPhone to obtain the address of the Route 66 museum and programmed it into the GPS.
As we were going to be driving through one of the most congested areas in the US on our way to the finish line, I wanted to be sure that our detector of choice for this day would have the ability to filter out most of the false alerts but still have superior range and sensitivity against the CHP deadly K and Ka radar guns.
So as I rummaged through my extensive  arsenal of radar detectors that morning I had only one choice the Escort 8500 X50
Since first being introduced in 2005, the 8500 x50 has proven itself to be the best moderately priced and dependable radar detector ever made.
Alert One – Ka
South of Vegas at mp 65 on I-15 our 8500 gave its first warning of the day. Approximately a mile later in the south bound shoulder, we observed a Nevada Highway Patrol unit on the side of the road with another car.
Alert Two – Ka
At MP 8 on I-15 our 8500 alerted 33.7 Ka, just as we slowed down and crested a hill, a northbound NHP passed at high speed.
Just shortly after this encounter, we received a text message that the Black BMW (the same BMW that was stopped in Oklahoma twice and was not using a detector) had been pulled over on I-15 after finishing up their Del Taco stop and was cited for going 105.
At MP 1, we pulled off the Highway and went to a “Terrible Herbs” gas station to buy a California newspaper for our state sign photo. The clerk told us that they didn’t sell any California papers and the next station was fifteen miles down the road.
I went out to the parking lot looking in the trash bins by the pumps and found a Barstow newspaper. As we pulled onto the highway, the California welcome sign was on our right and we snapped our photo.
Alert Three – K band
As we continued on our leg to Baker on I-15 our 8500 alerted 24.1 K band. After coasting down to the speed limit, we spotted a CHP unit parked in the median facing our direction.
Twenty miles later, we pulled off the interstate into the small desert community of Baker and located the Mad Greek Restaurant. We had a bystander photograph us standing in front and we then took a short ten minute break.
Just prior to turning onto the highway in Baker, we noticed a two man CHP patrol car exit from the interstate I followed them to a gas station. Again working with the magic of my badge, I convinced the two reluctant CHP officers to pose for our trooper scooper photo.
Alert Four – K band
At mp 254 on I-15 our 8500 alerted 24.1. As we were driving on a flat desert highway we  allowed the car to coast down to speed limit and two miles later we spotted a CHP on the west bound shoulder with a pick-up,
At 12:45 PST we arrived at the Route 66 Museum and between Bob and me we purchased over $200.00 worth of stuffed animals and books to give to a sick child in the hospital. We then proceeded to the original Taco Bel restaurant drive through and ordered some cold drinks. Here the clerk told us that we had to go back to the location of the museum to find the Chamber office to obtain our next clue.
We arrived at the Barstow Chamber and I was provided with another sealed envelope with bonus point cards. I selected the following:
Bonus One: Drive backwards to Calico and take a photo of their cemetery
Bonus Two: Find the Banana Museum and take a photo
Bonus Three: Take a photo of Sammy’s Star
We headed back north twenty miles to the ghost town of Calico and located the Ghost Town of Calico and took a photo of the cemetery.
Utilizing my iPhone, we located an address for the Banana Museum in Hesperia California, programmed it into our GPS and headed back south on I-15.
Alert Five – Ka band
At mp 119 on I-15 our 8500 alerted 34.6 and we slowed down spotting a CHP on the side of the road with another pick-up truck a mile south.
Arriving in Hesperia we located the Banana Museum just as another Fireballer was pulling out from the parking lot. Bob got out and we quickly snapped a photo and we were back on the road headed for the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
As we entered the greater LA area, traffic was very congested so we backed off and drove with the flow of traffic. Our GPS was programmed for Hollywood and Vine and after passing a few small accidents with disabled vehicles on the highway, we finally turned off to the LA surface streets.
Arriving at the Walk of Fame, I found a tour guide selling flyers, handed him a ten and asked where “Sammy’s” photo was. He pointed a block down so I ran with iPhone in hand, snapped my own photo and headed back to our illegally parked car.
Our finish line was several blocks away at the Sofitel Resort. We maneuvered around traffic and fifteen minutes later crossed, placing twentieth for the day!
With the stress of the race lifted the other contestants loosened up and we began discussing our 3500 mile plus journey across nine states.
Batman and Robin also complemented the Escort 8500 X50 that we provided to them for the race, saying that the only time that they had gotten pulled over was by a trooper wanted to take a photo of the Bat Mobile for his son.
The Black BMW team related that the next time they ran a rally like this, that they were going to first look me up, so we could outfit their car commenting “What ever you guys sell must work and it has to be allot cheaper then three speeding tickets.”
In the coming days or weeks, after decompressing, I am will follow-up my seven day experience to discuss some valuable lessons Bob and I learned during this incredible experience.

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Fireball Day Six – Smack Into the Wall!

Track Day Two – Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Today was track day number two and the Fireballers headed out the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. At 9:30 m we had our driver’s meeting and were broken down into two groups; professional and intermediate.
I was scheduled to be in the intermediate morning group running against another two Beamers and an Audi. Prior to the timed race, we were allowed three low speed track runs to identify the line of the track.
As my group was the last of the morning races, I had the opportunity to watch the other racers and identify the tricky areas of the course and to speak with the professional race car drivers on how they maneuvered the two mile track. Turn one was the sharpest of the turns and was at the end of a half mile straight away. Several cars ran off the track into the gravel safety area as they braked and turned too late while entering this area of the track. I set up a visual marker on this turn where the more successful drivers were beginning their braking maneuvers and their turning apex.
I was the third car in my group of four and my only two goals in this race were to keep the car on the track and to keep enough distance between car four and myself. Each car had a ten second break between them from the starting line. The green flag fell and I was off. As lap one was not a timed lap, I took this as a final opportunity to test the visual markers I had made along the track. As I approached lap two, I opened up the 540i to full throttle on the straight away, set up my line for turn one and successfully maneuvered through this area. Feeling more comfortable I picked up speed for my final two laps and crossed the checkered flag on the straight away at 87 mph.
We then broke for lunch and Bob starting getting ready for his afternoon run.
Race one for the afternoon run was the sports class. Car number 29 was a 2004 Dodge Viper with team members Artie Malesci – Florida, Jeffrey Donovan – California and Rich Minga – San Diego. At this juncture of the rally they were ranked eight overall and second for sports car class.
After the warm up lap the race began and the cars were off. As the Viper was speeding up coming out of the final turn, the driver lost control and slammed into the cement retaining wall.
The front end of the Viper exploded upon impact sending engine parts and debris just short of the timing booth. The cement barrier was pushed back four feet and the Viper spun into the center field of the track.

Gasps streamed from contestants and bystanders while the red flag was waived to stop the race. An on seen ambulance that was parked on the opposite side of the wall drove infield as the driver stuck his hand out the window with a thumbs up, indicating that he was ok.
Track staff immediately went to work, first assisting the driver, then removing the oil and debris field on the track and then removed what was left of the Viper onto a flat bed truck.
Looking around at the Fireballers, I noticed many visibly shaken at witnessing such a horrific accident thinking they may have lost a fellow driver.
The Fireball staff shut down the race for an hour until they were able to recoup and have another drivers meeting. Several of the drivers in the intermediate class decided that they would drop after watching such an experienced team wash out into the wall.
Tonight we have a Fireballer party where we get to “gamble away” our accumulated points on the black jack table.

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Fireball Day Six – Home Court Advantage

Albuquerque to Henderson
This weekend kicks off the Albuquerque Hot Air Balloon Festival and as we were leaving the hotel we saw dozens of balloons already in today’s morning sky. Breakfast and starting line was at Saint Pius High School on Coors Blvd and Saint Joseph’s way. The morning school schedule was arranged to allow the students time to come out to see cars and crew.
The official count of entries for this years rally was at seventy five the evening of the pre-race. However eight cars, including my sponsored TransCon Ambulance dropped out from the starting line because of mechanical difficulties. Starting this morning leg we had forty eight cars left in the rally.
After we pulled into the parking lot, a group of students escorted us to their cafeteria where they served us a hot scrambled egg and bacon breakfast. After eating we came out to the lot just as the students were being released from their classes.
Once they laid eyes on the Bat Mobile, students twenty deep circled. Neil the owner and driver of the Bat Mobile fired up the rear jet engine (a large propane burner) and a four foot blue and yellow flame blew out of the rear. Neil then loaded up the rocket launcher and shot a projectile across the parking lot. All the students applauded and cheered.
The Albuquerque police department began mobilizing for their escort of our group while the Arch Bishop led the drivers and crew in prayer. The mayor of Albuquerque then gave a short speech and then started the race by waving the green flag.
The Albuquerque police had shut down northbound traffic on Coors Blvd. and all west bound traffic on I-40 (during morning rush hour) and we had clear sailing to the outskirts of town.
Being from Arizona I was very familiar with today’s route and even had a pretty good idea what today’s challenges laid ahead. At the New Mexico and Arizona state line I knew of several Indian souvenir shops that included the Chief Sitting Bull’s store and the Tee Pee Cigar store. I had commented to Bob and to the Blinder Xtreme team the evening before that I would expected one clue would be to find the chief and have a seat next to him.
I also figured that about lunch time we would be pulling into Winslow Arizona and commented that we would be standing on a corner in Winslow Arizona eating lunch.
As I was the designated driver for today’s leg, Bob as my navigator had the privilege to open the sealed envelope with today’s clues;
Clue One: find the big tee pee, put on a head dress and strip down to your skivvies and sit Indian style in front of the doorway.
Clue Two’s clue was on a prerecorded CD. Bob stuck the CD into his player and the Eagles song “Take It Easy” began playing.
We made a beeline for the state line while other Fireballers were trying to obtain clues on their laptops before they got out of range of the Albuquerque cell network.
I had hoped to do a comparison test of the 9500i during this trip; however my only Escort 9500ix radar detector was sitting on the dash of the TransCon Ambulance that had broken down outside of Orlando.
Also over the past several days, other Fireballers that were using some of those “cheaper brands” were impressed with our arsenal of the high end units and begged us to borrow them as over one third of the group during yesterday’s run were pulled over and cited.
So today our arsenal was whittled down to our old trusty Bel STi and the Cobra remote. We plugged in the STi hoping that we wouldn’t have another 33.8 encounter as we had the evening earlier, pledging that we would send the unit in after our return for the firmware upgrade.
It wasn’t far outside of Albuquerque when we received our first hit on 24.1 K band. A half mile later we observed a white Sheriff’s car east bound on I-40 moving in our direction.
At mp 48 on I-40 we received our first laser hit during the rally when the Blinder laser jammer and the STi went full alert as we approached an overpass. We slowed down and looked over, under and around the overpass and never saw a trooper, false alert?
At 11:40 MST we arrived at the Arizona New Mexico border pulled off the exit and drove to the Tee Pee Cigar store. Bob stripped down to his under ware, put on his cowboy boots and head dress and sat at the front door for his picture.
We then drove next door and picked up the Navaho Times published in Window Rock Arizona and took off for the Arizona welcome sign on the highway.
After snapping the welcome sign we headed for the corner in Winslow Arizona.
A few minutes after arriving into my home state, we received a text message that an Arizona DPS officer was sitting in the median at mp 305 running 35.5 Ka. At mp 307 the Bel STi gave a short alert of 35.5 and then again as we neared mp 306. The detector then remained silent as we approached, giving us a good indication that the trooper was using radar in instant on mode.
We entered Winslow at and I drove to the corner of 2nd and Kinsley and located the Fireball Staff tent. Before we could receive our stamp, we were told that someone from our car had to sing the tune that put Winslow on the map. I started signing and a member of the Winslow Chamber asked me to stop because if anyone heard me, they would take the town off the map, she then gave us our sticker.
We had a quick lunch and were then handed an envelope containing the location of the finish line of today’s leg, the MonteLago Resort in Henderson Nevada.
The evening prior my daughter Erin called me saying that she had broken her leg and was in the emergency room. She expected to be released later that night, but the doctor told her she would have to remain in bed until she could be looked at by a specialist on Monday. She now lives in Flagstaff, so I thought that I would quickly stop in for a visit.
Also while in Flagstaff I figured that we could stop by the DPS Northern Command Center to get our trooper scooper photo.
Just after leaving Winslow, at mp 130 our Beltronics STi alerted to 34.1 and a short time later observed a white Sheriff’s Office vehicle parked in the median. Then at mp 148 we received our second 34.1 and a mile later observed an Arizona Trooper parked in the median.
After arriving in Flagstaff we got on Old Route 66 and drove to the Arizona DPS center. A few minutes after arriving we spotted a trooper. I badged him requesting a photo and he obliged.
We then drove to the west end of Flagstaff to my daughter’s townhouse and paid a visit. She was glad to see us and we spent a few precious minutes relating the events of the past several days.
Heading back onto the freeway and Bob and I began discussing plans on how we could make up lost time, as now we were at the rear of the pack. As we were going to cross into Nevada at Boulder Dam, I knew that there were no stores in the area of the dam to purchase a Nevada newspaper for our state sign assignment. I called Bill, a friend of mine in Kingman and asked him to call around the area to find a store that sold any Nevada newspapers. He called back in a few minutes relating that the Flying J Truck Stop in Kingman had a pile of Nevada newspapers. I asked if he could call back and ask the clerk to put one on hold for me, as I knew that any Fireballer ahead would take the entire stack.
We had clear sailing on I-40 leaving Flagstaff. We did get a text message after leaving the town limits that there was a DPS trooper at mp 65, but we figured that he would be long gone before we closed the 100 mile gap. However at mp 66 the STi alerted 35.4 and there at mp 65 we spotted the officer.
We flew into the Flying J for our newspaper and surprised the clerk when we gave her a five dollar tip as we had the last Nevada newspaper left in the store.
At this point in the today’s run I commented to Bob that my legs were beginning to cramp from sitting behind the wheel the last five hours and asked if he would drive the remainder of the trip. He jumped behind the wheel and I took over navigation.
I knew the location of the report from prior trips into Vegas, but I was interested in seeing what our GPS would estimate our arrival time at based upon our location. I was surprised to see that my recently [...]

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Fireball Day Five – A Reception Awaits Us

Oklahoma City to Albuquerque
This morning after packing up the 540i “The Veil Guy” and I headed to the memorial site of the Farley Federal Building to pay our respects to the victims and the families of the Oklahoma City bombing. We parked just outside the memorial entrance and took time to read many of the hand held inscriptions that mourners have taped on the front fence, along with flowers and other tokens of respect.
We then drove back to yesterday’s finish line at Brick Yard Stadium, which today also served as the starting point. Lined up in front of the Fireballer vehicles were numerous motorcycle officers from the Oklahoma City Police Department and two local area news station remote trucks that were performing live interviews with other contestants.
After lining up our car, Bob and I walked up to the motorcycle officers and introduced ourselves. Being a retired officer and a Harley enthusiast myself, we quickly began swapping war stories. Mounted on each officer’s bike was the new Stalker 2 hand held radar gun. The officers also told me that they also use the Stalker laser guns, but because of the portability and small size of the Stalker 2, that this was their main weapon of choice.
The officers also confided with us to be careful heading into Elk City, as they heard that the Oklahoma State Patrol was setting up a large welcoming reception for us.
Oklahoma City’s Mayor gave led a morning prayer for the safe passage of the Fireballers, waved the green flag and we were off.
The motor officers provided a rolling escort for us to the on ramp of I-40, right smack into morning rush hour traffic.
Bob was the designated driver for this leg while I was the designated navigator. The detector selection today included the Bel STi and an Escort 8500 X50.
Once on the Highway I opened our sealed FedEx envelope for today’s clues.
Clue One: Get your lunch from the legendary “Big Texan” in Amarillo. Here you’ll need to kiss a cow, swim from Laredo to Amarillo, then convince Bobbie Lee to stamp your route book.
Clue Two: Built by the Swiss in 1966, it rises to 10,000 feet above Albuquerque and spans over 2.7 miles – it is the longest of it’s kind built anywhere in the world. Here we would be handed the location of the finish line.
Rules for this run were that we could not enter the town of Albuquerque prior to 5:00 pm (the start of rush hour)
Clue two was easy as I’ve been to Albuquerque many times before and immediately recognized this clue as being the Sandia Tramway. I fired up my iPhone for clue two and found Big Texan restaurant in Amarillo on Google.
After traveling about 30 minutes, we started receiving a solid hit of 35.5 on both the Bel STi radar detector and the Escort 8500 X50. About a mile later we saw three Oklahoma State Trooper cars setting up in the west bound lane.
One mile later we passed another trooper who was hidden, parked behind a bridge embankment. Our welcoming reception was forming….
An hour later, as we started entering into Elk City, both the Beltronics STi and the Escort 8500 indicated a 34.7 Ka alert, a half mile later we saw an Oklahoma Trooper parked in the median facing our direction. Then a few seconds later, the detectors began alarming 34.7 Ka. A mile further we observed an unmarked Dodge Charger parked in the median.
A mile after the Charger we then started receiving 34.7 alerts on both detectors and about a minute later we saw our third trooper in Elk City parked in the median.
Leon from team Blinder Xtreme then called us and said that an unmarked Crown Vic had just pulled out from ticketing another Fireballer and was ahead of us turning into the median. Just as we were getting the details, both detectors alerted again, this time to a 35.5 and we saw the Crown Vic ahead.
Leon also related that he had spotted a east bound trooper about three miles ahead of us that was not running radar and a silver Sheriff’s car running K band four miles ahead.
A couple of minutes later both detectors alerted 24.1 K band and then we observed an approaching Trooper eastbound on the horizon. A mile after this encounter the detectors lit up 24.7 and we saw the silver Sheriff’s car parked in the median.
Text messages were flying back and forth between Fireballers; five cars stopped at mp 109, Black BMW stopped at mp 38, white Audi stopped at mp 37. Bob and I thought at this point it was wise to pull off and get some gas and a cold soda. As we exited the interstate, we observed a white marked pick-up truck hidden on the side of the overpass.
After pulling into the station, the white marked pick-up pulled in behind us. We struck up a conversation as I peaked inside the car, I observed  a VASCAR unit on the transmission hump. I commented “You’re still using those old VASCAR units” and the officer replied “We use everything we can.” The pick-up left and we headed back to the den of Troopers.
We were receiving text messages that the black BMW that was ticketed in Elk City was closing the gap behind us, a few minutes later we received another message that they were again pulled over at mp 89.
As we approached mp 51, we saw the flashing overhead lights of a trooper. Passing, we saw that they had the blue vet with “We brake for Ka” sticker on the side of the road with a trooper.
At mp 50 we received a K alert at 24.7 and as we crested a hill, we spotted another trooper parked in the median facing our direction.
At 10:20 am, Bob and I crossed back into Texas and we found a new welcoming committee was forming. We were using a white Audi that ahead of us for our “rabbit.” At mp 165 the Escort and Beltronics unit alarmed 34.7 and almost immediately we saw a black and white Texas DPS trooper car pull out from behind a row of trees and giving chase to the Audi.
Team Blinder Xtreme called us again telling us that the Texas troopers had the Bentley and the SRT pulled over three miles ahead of us.
As we approached mp 0 in Texas both detectors alerted 34.7 and just ahead we saw a Texas trooper with a black car parked behind traffic cones.
Our first project after arriving into New Mexico was to find a New Mexico trooper for our photograph and a New Mexico newspaper for our state sign photograph.
Five miles into New Mexico we saw a trooper off the side of the road with a disabled motorist. We pulled safety off the road, parking a safe distance away from the officer and stepped out of our car showing my badge. I first asked if we could be of any assistance to him or the motorist and he thanked us saying that everything was under control. I then asked if he would allow me to photograph him and his patrol car, he gave he related that this was fine. Bob stood next to the officer and we got our shot.
We traveled another 25 miles until we came across our first gas station. We gassed up and got our New Mexico newspaper and headed back to the state line for our sign shot and then headed west for Albuquerque.
At mp 357 the detectors made their first alert in New Mexico on 24.1 K band. A mile ahead we observed a silver unmarked patrol car in the median.
As we entered the town limits of Albuquerque the Escort 8500 X50 alerted 38.8 while the Bel STi remained silent. Behind us was the Blinder Xtreme team using a STi and a Valentine One and reported a 38.8 alert.
A few seconds later we noticed an east bound Albuquerque Police Department vehicle.
A few months ago the Beltronics had a software revision that addressed this 33.8 issue when earlier models would sometimes block out alerts on 33.8 frequency based upon the threshold, filtering the alert as a false alert. The unit that we were using in our car did not have the 33.8 software revision, the Blinder Xtreme team had.
Being familiar with the layout of Albuquerque, we drove to the area of the Sandia Tram via county roads that were outside of the city limits. We then parked a few miles away from the check in location at 4:30 pm.
At 4:55 we drove to the lift area and took our photograph with the lift person and provided the location of the finish line, the Albuquerque Art Museum.
We snaked our way through rush hour traffic south on I-25 then west on I-40 to our exit and then processed to the finish line.
Today we ranked 14 out of the 65 cars running today’s leg, finishing 15th in overall points and 3rd in class.

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Fireball Day Four – Fried Transmission?

Houston to Oklahoma City
Day Four of the Fireball Rally started out with the Heart Stopper Breakfast, a Denver omelet, pancakes, biscuits and gravy. After chowing down, we headed to the morning briefing and checked in for today’s leg of the event.
We were handed our sealed FexEx express envelope that contained the clues for today’s run, instructed that we were not to open it until we were on the road. We knew that we would be heading up to the Dallas Forth Worth area so we contacted a member of the RadarDetector.net forum “Outrun” who lives in that area and made arrangements for his assistance in deciphering the clues.
Last night our overall team ranking moved to sixteenth place from third, after the track results. However other competitors were still impressed with our showing as Bob and I were both rookies, competing against veteran Cannonballers.
Today was my turn to burn-up the highway with Bob acting as navigator and we chose the Whistler Pro 78 and the Bel STi radar detector as the detectors of choice for today’s comparison.
After the morning briefing we lined up our cars and at 8:00 am the green flag was waved. As we were on our way, Bob opened the envelope and today’s first passage control point was the Dallas Lamborghini dealer, with our final destination reading: “Finding a boat house in Oklahoma City is like finding a needle in a haystack nonetheless, your mission is to lose the regatta and find the boat house, Once located find a boat to tow. You’ll then be provided an envelope containing the exact location of the finish line.”
We called “Outrun” and he was able to look up the address of the Lambo dealer and we programmed it into our GPS. Jason then said that he would try to figure out the clue for OK City stop.
Twenty minutes later “Outrun”called, saying that he was sure that it was the Chesapeake boathouse adding that after finding their address and telephone number, he called and they were being very evasive.
Having what I would consider the best in speed countermeasure equipment at our disposal, we had an edge over the other Fireballers. Therefore Bob and I decided to try our best to take back our ranking on the highway, prior to the next track event in Las Vegas.
Alert One – Ka
Just as I started burning up the I-45 Interstate, we received our first alert on the Beltronics STi on 38.8 Ka, with a second Ka alert on the Pro-78 ten seconds later. I slowed down and about one mile later we observed a Texas DPS unit on the southbound lane performing a traffic stop.
After traveling a safe distance away, I opened up the throttle “North Bound and Down!”
Several other Fireballers learned of our countermeasure equipment and related to us that they would try their best to position themselves a safe distance behind us, while we acted as their “Rabbit.”
False Alert Ka band?
The Whistler Pro-78 did remarkably well in filtering out false alerts when compared to the STi, as the only alert that I would even consider happened at mp 157. The Pro-78 lit up Ka full bar while the STi was silent. The alert lasted for approximately ten seconds.
There were no towers or buildings in the area that were visible, that I felt would cause such an alert. But to be sure I slowed down waiting for some response on the Bel STi but never received one.
Looking in the mirror at this point, I saw ten other Fireballer vehicles in my mirror, all staying behind and chatting on their CB radios.
When I felt that it was again safe from the previous alert and there was a break in traffic, I opened the 540i full throttle to distance myself from the pack.
Ka Alert Two
At mp 184 the Beltronics STi chirped a few 33.8 alerts which is normally an indication of instant on. A minute later the Ti and the Whistler then began chirping short bursts in unison. Three miles later, we spotted a trooper on off the parked in the tree line on the south side of the highway.
I had dropped down to a respectable speed at this point and checked my mirrors, no Fireballers were in site.
Ten minutes later, we began receiving text messages on our cell phone from other contestants, warning of the trooper we had just past and of a few others a few miles ahead.
Bob and I discussed if this was a ruse to try to slow us down, or a real warning of impending danger. Taking no chances we stayed with the flow of traffic.
We quickly learned that we fell for their trap as five Fireballers passed us in the slow lane.
As we were now entering a congested area, we allowed them to go while we increased our speed to the 80s level.
The congestion seemed to work in our favor as the other Fireballers got caught up and we were able close the gap.
Just as we were hair of taking back our front position, a vibration started in the engine area and we began hearing a loud grinding noise when I accelerated. I backed down to forty five entering Houston, hoping that we could limp into the Lambo dealer.
Fifteen minutes later we arrived at the Lambo shop while the other four cars that beat us were taking their lunch break. We contacted “Mike” the manager of the dealership and he related that he would call the BMW dealer around the corner and he would explain our situation and see if they could get us in right away.
As we pulled into the BMW Dallas service center, service writer Sue came out to great us with a small army of mechanics. Bob worked out the service details while the shops master mechanic pulled the 540i onto a lift and began plugging in computers. Another tech began checking fluid levels, and another began inspecting hoses! Bob and I looked at each other in amazement, as their entire shop became our very own pit crew.
The service manager Peter then came into the shop, offering us water or snacks!
The lead mechanic Phillip instructed his crew to check and replace several sensors and check various hoses and fittings. In forty five minutes, Peter had the BMW off the lift saying that the car was road ready and repaired. Sue had our address and credit card information and said that she would send us a bill after they figured out what to charge.
Peter commented, “We want our cars to lead the pack, so get out, drive safe and have fun.” We were back on the road.
We checked in with the Blinder Xtreme team for updates and he related that we were only twenty cars behind the lead car that were thirty five miles ahead.
We knew that these drivers would still need to get today’s Oklahoma newspaper for the state welcome sign photograph and to also find a Oklahoma State Trooper to photograph to gain bonus points for today’s leg. If we could figure out a way to accomplish these tasks in a timely manner, we would catch up and take the lead.
Alert Three – Ka
Just after leaving the Houston area, we received our next Ka alert on 34.7 on the Bel STi and a few seconds later the Whistler alerted Ka band. Approximately a mile later, we observed a Sheriff’s Office patrol car driving south.
Leon from the Blinder Xtreme team called us saying that they got today’s Oklahoma newspaper. They also related that the Oklahoma welcome sign was just past the state line, after a bridge and was difficult to see because an exit sign was posted right in front. Leon also related that there was a brick wall with “Oklahoma” text just past the sign and that other Fireballers were stopping at that for their photograph. Leon related that he would hide his paper in the area for our use.
We arrived at the state line to first recover the newspaper. As we did a Fireballer pulled up, snapped their photo at the wall and began running back to their car. I commented “That’s not a sign, that is a wall, the sign is back down the road.” The driver replied “You’re just trying to trick us and drove off.”
Fireballer rules state that the state signs must include a photo of the car, today’s state newpaper, and the driver. So we positioned ourselves in the proper position and snapped our photo. Just as we were walking back to our car another Fireballer pulled up asking to use our newspaper. Feeling charitable, I gave the co-driver the paper and the driver photographed his navigator without their car in frame. Knowing that their photo would not qualify, I asked for the paper back and we quickly drove off.
At mp 45 we were closing in behind a semi in the left lane. During the rally, we used the cover of other vehicles ahead to our advantage. As I was preparing to merge into the passing lane, the semi turned on [...]

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Day III – Tearing Up the Track (and maybe our car)

Last night our team “Smoky and the Bandit” finished up number three in standing for total points.
Today Fireballers headed out to the MSR Houston race track located in Angelton, Texas. During the nine day Trasncontential Fireball Rally, we have two track events, with the next being in Las Vegas Nevada.
MSR Houston is a private motorcycle and automotive race track offering advanced drivers training, track usage, race car development, and other necessities for to the racing enthusiast.
To compete in the Fireball track events, drivers must have prior track experience with certification and their cars must pass a pre track inspection.
Co Driver “The Veil Guy” received his training and certification from the NHRA while he was a drag strip enthusiast. I received my training at Bob Bondurant’s racing school at Firebird Lake in Phoenix, certified in executive protection and high performance driving.
We started the morning off with a driver safety meeting with the rules and layout of the racetrack explained.
We were then broke down into three groups; drivers with professional racing experience, drivers with prior Cannonball or Fireball racing experience, and the novice class consisting of drivers without race track experience.
Bob was scheduled for the morning group, while I was scheduled for the afternoon group.
There were a number of classes of such as; high performance, luxury, pickup truck, mid size and mussel car. Each class was then broken into groups not exceeding five cars.
Each group then had two practice runs with a track official leading the way driving the track’s line through the tight turns and corners. After the practice run we then briefed with track officials to discuss our final run.
The point run consisted of one warm lap, three race laps and then one cool down lap. Track times would not be released till later that night on the Fireballer website.
During the morning run, I stood in the pit crew area measuring speeds of the contestants in the short straight away with my Kustom Pro Laser. Speeds passing this area ran from a low of 55 to the high of 91 with the average speed around 74 mph.
I figured that if both Bob and I could feel comfortable getting the car up to at least 78 in this area, we would have a good chance of finishing the day with a higher point average.
During Bob’s run I clocked his speed at 76 in this area twice, putting us a little higher then average. However when Bob came off the track he seemed concerned about the car’s performance saying that he felt a strange vibration coming from the transmission and heard some grinding. The car was parked, allowing the engine to cool down for my afternoon run.
During my run during the warm-up and the first lap the car seemed to handle nicely and I passed the pit stop area while reading a speed of 77 on the speedometer. However as I turned into the next bank of turns the “check engine” lit up. Figuring that I didn’t want burn the car up, making our team ineligible for the remainder of the rally, I backed down while paying attention for engine noise or vibration.
After completing my run, we allowed the car to cool down and then a team member assisted us in resetting the car’s computer, while we checked all fluid levels.
Tomorrow we are off to Oklahoma City with our arsenal of radar detectors with a lunch stop somewhere around Dallas. As long as you’re not a Trooper, we invite you to watch for us along the Interstate.

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