Cops Vs. Speeders; How Radar and Laser Jammers Work
Radar Roy is interviewed by AOL Auto regarding the legal issues of radar jammers and laser jammers and if in fact any of those devices work as the manufactures claim.
New Speed Counter Measure Technologies – SEMA 2009
Radar Roy reviews many of the new items showcased at the 2009 SEMA show in Las Vegas including the Blinder Laser Jammer, the Coyote photo radar system and the Escort Redline radar detector.
Our Best Buy Boycott Worked!!!
Users from RadarDetector.net and myself called on a boycott of Best Buy because they began selling the Rocky Mountain Radar products on their websites. These devices not only were declared illegal by the FCC, but they did not work as the manufacture advertised. Best Ruy responded to our boycott by finally removing the RMR products from inventory!
Best Buy is STILL Defrauding Its Customers, Selling Illegal Rocky Mountain Radar Products!
Best Buy begins selling the Rocky Mountain Radar scramblers and jammers from its website. As these devices are illegal and flat out don’t work the users of RadarDetector.net and myself call for a boycott of Best Buys stores as they are defrauding their customers by selling these products.
Best Buy Defrauding Its Customers, Selling Illegal Rocky Mountain Radar Products!
Best Buy begins selling the Rocky Mountain Radar detectors from its website. Radar Roy has tested these devices a number of occasions and has found them to be totally ineffective against jamming any type of police radar and infact offers a $50,000 reward to anyone that can show him one that works!
Radar Detector Laws Part II; Radar and Laser Jammers
Laser and radar jamming laws – Part two of Radar Roy’s video of radar detector and jammer laws in the USA and Canada.
Review of RMR C-475 Radar Jammer/Scrambler
Radar Roy adds the RMR C-475 to his list of Rocky Mountain Radar products which he is offers his $50,000.00 reward to anyone that can show him this product scrambling/jamming police radar and/or laser as the manufacture claims.
You can read Roy’s full review of the newest radar scrambler, the RMR C-475 here.
Cheap Ass Radar Detectors
For years I’ve been warning consumers about the dangers of purchasing radar detectors from unscrupulous dealers and distributors lurking on Ebay, Amazon and other fly by night websites that sell counterfeit radar detectors and jammers manufactured in Korea and China.
There have been countless times where I was contacted by a misinformed consumer who purchased what was advertised as being an Escort, Beltronics or Blinder product for half price and received a “knock off” packaged in fancy box with a fake operators manual with the manufactures name and product proudly displayed.
Then several days or months later they get pulled over for speeding because their counterfeited device didn’t alert or the product totally failed and then they call for warranty repair and find out they’ve been taken.
During this year’s CES show I scanned the outer fringes of the floor to seek out one of these manufactures and to my surprise found Tommy Chen from Rayee Technologies in China, who had an entire display booth filled to capacity with his counterfeit wares.
As I began questioning Tommy about his products he recognized the word “Radar” on my id tag and asked me if I sold radar detectors. Jokingly I replied that I used to, but I never sold “Cheap Ass Radar Detectors”. Tommy replied “Yes, we make cheap ass radar detectors”.
At this time I waved over to my partner and asked him to begin taping an interview with Tommy and asked him about his products.
As Tommy introduced his products to me in the video I glanced over into the display and to my amazement observed products clearly labeled as “Blinder” (Blinder is a registered trademark in the USA for Blinder USA who manufactures and sells laser jammers and is not affiliated with Rayee Technologies)
On another shelf I observed knock offs of Escort’s/Beltronics GPS based radar detectors such as the Escort 9500i, Escort 9500ix and the GX65. (Beltronics owns the patent for Radar Detectors equipped with internal GPS and Rayee Technologies is clearly violating this patent).
Then on another shelf I observed knock off’s of the Cheetah GPS Mirror and their new C-50 Speed Camera Alert system.
Then in my amazement in another display they had knock off’s of Rocky Mountains Phaser – C-450 scramblers (Mike Churchman would had been proud).
During my interview with Tommy and in literature he later provided from the company, the radar detectors are advertised as all being able to defeat the Spectre III radar detector detector, along with being X, K, Ka and Ku band and POP equiped.
During the second half of the video Tommy hands me an Escort 9500ix knock off and I flip it over to see the FCC type acceptance tag. With none being affixed (as required by law) I ask if his products were FCC type accepted and he related that they were.
At the closing of my interview I asked Tommy if he would be willing to send me samples of his products for testing and he related he would.
After my taped interview with Tommy I pressed for more information as where you would download the database for the GPS features, who made the database or if it was a “hack”, and if he was aware of his products infringing on trademarks and patents of US companies.
Tommy related that you had to go to their website in China to download the firmware/gps upgrades and yes that he knew that his 9500ix was infringing on Escort’s patent (however in all honesty, I cannot say that he understood a word I said, he would often say yes and repeat my question)
During this entire process I watched as other dealers/distributors who were making deals with other reps from the company making commitments for orders. Who these dealers/distributors were I have no idea, but I’m sure that you’ll be seeing these same knock off’s soon being sold on Ebay/Amazon and some of the rip off websites that target the uneducated consumer!
Buyer beware…..
SEMA 2008 – The Radar Detector Experience
A love for cars, trucks or anything else automotive is the founding principles for the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) trade association. For over forty years, this organization brings a diverse group of manufacturers, distributors, retailers, publishing companies, car clubs and automotive enthusiasts together each year for the world’s largest automotive trade show.
Several of the speed counter measure manufactures attend this week long event to show off their new wares and to network with others in the automotive industry.
Yesterday was opening day for the 2008 event and I felt that this would be a great opportunity to interview the CEO’s and/or engineers of the various radar detector and jammer companies to discuss their various products and their commitments to the industry and customer.
I first met with John Larson, the CEO of Escort Radar Incorporated. Over the past year Escort/Beltronics released three new GPS based radar detectors to the market, the Escort 9500ci which is high performance remote mounted radar detector and laser jammer combo; the 9500ix which is their dash mounted version; the Bel GX65 radar detector and their updated ZR4 laser defense system.
During our interview John stressed Escort’s commitment to the customer saying that they consider “the customer their boss” that they consistently seek input from the radar detector user to improve and develop new products. John revealed some of the new products that they are now working on saying they have several products in the works that will tie other automotive electronic devices into one central unit.
Next I interviewed Leon Gruner aka “Blinder Dude” the CEO from Blinder USA. Leon discussed their updated J16 version of the Blinder M-25 and M-45 laser jammer and their ability to remain strong in the speed counter measure market place for over eight years while others have failed. We also discussed our exploits during the Fireball Cross Country Rally and next year’s run from the west coast to east on Route 66.
Just prior to this year’s show, Don Norton the CEO from Cheetah USA gave me one of their new GPS based photo radar and red light camera alert units, the C100. I had an opportunity to test and review this unit in the Phoenix metro area just as the Arizona Department of Public Safety and Redflex activated sixty new speed enforcement cameras. Don and I discuss this new unit and how during a short eight mile trip it saved me from four of these new cameras and $600.00 in fines.
Cobra Electronics has also embraced GPS technology into their line of radar detectors. Tony, one of the lead engineers of Cobra introduces me to their 2009 line up. Tony who is a long time participant at the annual “Radar Detector Shoot Out” in El Paso, discusses their improvements in processing the incoming radar threats with their detectors and the free GPS update plan they offer.
Notably absent from this year’s show was both Michael Churchman, CEO of Rocky Mountain Radar and Raul Elguea their head engineer. At previous SEMA and CES (Consumer Electronics Show) I approached Raul with cash in hand and television news cameras rolling challenging Raul to demonstrate to me one of his radar jammer products in action in the parking lot of the Las Vegas Convention Center . During this interview Raul backed down saying “Our product will not work in a parking lot”.
During last year’s SEMA event Michael Churchman also was a “no show” at his company’s booth. However I did find him at a Las Vegas bar where we sat down to discuss my $50,000.00 reward that I offer to anyone that could show me a Rocky Mountain Radar jammer/scrambler that worked. When I asked why he and his company had refused to take me up on my challenge he first replied saying that my test was rigged. I reminded Michael that it wasn’t my test, that I (we) would higher off duty police officers to perform the test and if his product worked, he would receive $50,000.00. Again Michael refused to take me up on my challenge.
This video recapping Rocky Mountain Radar’s history in the radar jammer/radar detector marketplace was shot directly in front of their booth and their staff was invited to participate, but they refused.
Rocky Mountain Radar On The Attack
During the last couple of years I have had the opportunity to meet with Michael Churchman, president of Rocky Mountain Radar, and his engineering and sales staff at the annual SEMA shows held in Las Vegas.
Two years ago at SEMA I made a personal challenge RMR’s head engineer Raul to take me up on my $5000.00 challenge to demonstrate how their radar scramblers had any effect in jamming police radar to a network television crew that were present. I explained to Raul that we were set up in an outside parking lot with a crew of certified radar operators and if his radar scrambling equipment had any effect at all in jamming, that I would present to him on camera $5000.00. Raul declined the challenge saying “our equipment doesn’t work in parking lots.” I then invited him to choose any street in the Las Vegas area for the test and he declined on camera.
Last year representatives from Cheetah, Beltronics and I were at the Stratosphere lounge when Michael Churchman walked past our table in a somewhat inebriated state. We welcomed him to join us at our table and Mike sat down. Not missing a beat, Don the Cheetah rep, fired up the video recorder on his cell phone to record what he knew would be an interesting conversation. It was here when I told Mike that I was raising my reward to $50,000.00 to anyone that could demonstrate to me one of his radar scramblers in action in jamming police radar. Mike told me that my test was a scam, because it had to be performed by Carl Fors, another one of my cronies. I told Mike that this was not a condition of my challenge, that any certified police officer could do the test, however the radar guns had to be on the approved list of International Chief of Police and that the test had to be recorded. Mike first stated “if that’s the case, then I may take you up on it” but paused and said “no, I have nothing to prove to you, my customers and I know that the product works and that is good enough. You could raise the reward to a million, I don’t care, nothing you have done has had any effect on my operation and I’m not going to allow that to change.”
A few months after our meeting, the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) began issuing citations against Rocky Mountain Radar and its dealer and distribution chain for improper FCC type acceptance, illegal marketing practices and their devices causing interference to properly licensed radio equipment.
Almost immediately several of RMR’s long time dealers began dropping their products from inventory and radio stations stopped airing the “no more ticket” commercial. Most notable was Radio Shack’s decision to pull all of RMR’s radar detector products from their website only one week after they decided to carry the jammer product line.
Late this summer, I noticed a shrinking product SKU on their website(s) and in their distributor catalogs which to me was a flag that the company was in trouble.
But the single biggest red flag of RMR’s declining revenue stream was when I saw their 2007 SEMA display booth. Gone was the decorative display with shelves proudly showcasing the RMR product line with the Kustom radar gun shielded in plexiglass. Instead this year they had four roll up poster boards and a flat screen LCD with video clips of their products.
After noting my observations at the RMR booth I walked down a few booths to Blinder and began talking to their staff. A short time later I had a RMR rep standing in front of me holding a piece of paper and stated “Before you come over and harass us at our booth this year, read this notice from Mike and perhaps publish this on your website!”
The notice read as follows:
Rocky Mountain Radar
6469 Doniphan Rd
El Paso, Texas 79932
For our distribution and business partners:
In 2005 the FCC launched a destructive campaign to put us out of business prompted by our competitors in the detector industry. Familiar names like “Radar” Roy and Carl Fors, distributors and supporters of Escort/Bel inundated the FCC with complaints about our “jammers”. What is ironic is while they complained to the FCC that we were marketing devices that interfere with police radar they maintained websites that claim nothing we manufacture works.
In the process of the sham investigation by the FCC, they seriously compromised their offices and violated their own rules. They willingly and deliberately allowed themselves to be used as pawns by our detractors and the detector companies that they work for. As a result of the numerous citations issued by the FCC many of you have quit selling our products, or restricted sale to models not mentioned by the FCC. This has caused us considerable damage in the marketplace.
Rocky Mountain Radar has filed a lawsuit in the Federal District Court, Western District of Texas, El Paso Division, case number EP07CA0344 with six claims for relief including prohibitory injunction and damages plus legal fees. We fully expect to get the injunction within the next 25 days prohibiting the FCC from any further contact with any of our distribution and prohibiting them from taking any action on actions already brought. This will give our distribution chain protection from further harassment by the Federal Government while we force the FCC to follow their own rules. As soon as we receive the Court Order, you will be alerted, or you can check our website , www.RockyMountainRadar.com for updates.
As we grind through the Federal courts we will keep you posted and we do expect to be victorious. No agency should be allowed to conduct its affairs in direct violation of its own rules and no agency is above the law. We will not rest until we make that point in this action. There is absolutely no question of FCC guilt in ½ of our claims as they proudly admitted what they did in complete ignorance of their own rules. This, after we repeatedly warned them that they were breaking the rules and in direct violation of the process. This of course, exacerbates their duplicity as they blithely allowed themselves to be guided by our competitors. Rest assured that Escort/Bel will cry foul and that they had nothing to do with this, but they knowingly assisted Fors an Roy through the process. We are not sure of Whistler (a dying brand) or Cobra’s involvement.
Sincerely,
Michael Churchman President
During the next several days I kept a look out for Mike at his booth hoping to catch a few minutes with him to get further details of his pending litigation but he and his head engineer Raul were no where to be found, which I found unusual from conventions past.
I did pass on Mike’s letter to other industry insiders and all sharing the same comment in that it appeared to them that Mike was grasping at straws to save his company from the onslaught of the FCC for his questionable if not illegal marketing practices.
I have not had an opportunity to read Mike’s pending suit but find Mike’s reference in his letter that this suit would prohibit the FCC from taking any enforcement action against his distribution chain ludicrous. It is my opinion based upon my training and experience on being on both sides of the speed enforcement industry for over 30 years and also being a licensed amateur radio operator for twenty five years, that marketing of any device as being capable of interfering with lawfully licensed radio operating equipment in the USA is illegal under the Federal Communications Act.
Regardless of the products ability or inability to jam police radar the law is still being violated by his company and distributor’s claims as witnessed still on their websites and at this year’s SEMA convention.
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