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…..
Cheap Ass Radar Detectors
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 […]
Fireball – Pre Ride Check In
Today was the first meeting of all the racing contestants and getting the cars decaled, inspected and checked in. I took this as an opportunity to checkout all the cars while my teammate the “Veil Guy” made last minute tune ups to our BMW 540i sport.
My first project was checking out all the speed countermeasure equipment that many of the cars were using and I was shocked and somewhat disappointed in what I saw.
First off entry into this race is not cheap, it costs over $10,000.00 for the full entry. The cars are not cheap either. There is an Aston Martin, a couple of Bentleys, a few Lambos, a Ford GT40, and couple of Ferrari to boot. But when it came to radar detectors I was shocked to see that some of these drivers really skimped in this area, counting six Cobra’s, one RMR C-450, and even a KAT!
I chuckled when I passed the car with the Rocky Mountain Radar jammer as he was bragging to another driver how his unit was able to jam out all police radar and laser thinking to myself “I wonder how many miles he is going to make it before he gets his first ticket and finds out what a POS detector he really had.”
There were many drivers however that did do their homework and two even mentioned that they had been reading my blog and forum prior to the race and did make some smart buys.
On the high end of the radar detector spectrum I counted four Bel RX65’s, four Escort 8500 X50’s, two Valentine One’s, one Bel STi and one Escort 9500i. One Aston Martin driver that identified himself as a Radar Detector net forum member took me to his ride to show off his Blinder M47, his Veiled headlamps and a SR7.
I then met with the owner of the “Bat Mobile” while he was in the process of installing his Escort 8500 X50 to the dual cockpit style curved windshields. It was certainly a challenge installing the unit above the rocket launcher and booster rocket switches.
Tomorrow at 7:00 am we line up and depart for our first leg of the race, Baton Rouge LA.
Check in tomorrow night for more updates.
CES – Day One
Over the past several weeks I was given the opportunity to test drive the new Escort 9500I radar detector from Escort. Part of the agreement I had with Escort, along with several other items that I am often given to try out, was not to disclose any information about their new unit until 10:00 AM PST today (the opening at CES).
So as the doors opened at 10:00 am, I was uploading my review of the 9500i and the upload finished at 10:01.
After the upload, I made a beeline to the Bel and Escort booth. There I met with Escort and we discussed my test drive of the 9500i. Overall I was very impressed with the 9500i and again, it will be my top pick for the 2007 detector line.
As to answer many of the user questions on radardetector net regarding many of their questions:
Laser Sensitivity: In preliminary tests with laser, the 9500i was in par with the Bel RX65 and Escort 8500 in laser detection. So I would rate the laser performance as good.
Stealth Capabilities: No, the Escort 9500i was not designed to have the stealth capabilities as the STi in defeating the Spectre. However the 9500i is VG-2 proof.
TrueLock Feature: My experience with the TrueLock feature in locking out false alarm locations is that the radius of the area that is marked as a false alert location is very small. Even if an officer was running radar on the same exact radar frequency as the device that was marked as a false alert location, I would suspect that the strength of the officers gun would give ample warning outside the radius of the marked location.
USB Port: Initially the USB port will allow the user to store and update marked locations of speed traps into their computer and will also allow users to share their information. Escort says that they also plan on offering “marked locations” to users so they can download a larger database. This USB port can also be used to do diagnostic testing and updating the firmware, however they will not commit to a time frame when this feature will be activated.
Sensitivity and Range: I didn’t have the time and resources to do a full scale range and sensitivity report on the 9500i, however I was able to compare it to the SR7 and the STi in real driving situations. The 9500i alerted further away then my SR7 and approximately the same range as my STi in Ka alerts. On K alerts all three were about equal. We will be doing the new tests in March with the 9500i and other detectors.
Availability: Initially I was given a target date around March, but my experience is to add another month after the first announced target date so that the manufacture can address last minute issues. Also another tester of the 9500i that I spent time with today, also suggested some other features that Escort could add to refine the final production model. So my best gut tells me that I would expect that the first production units will be coming out late April or early May, but again, that is my estimate, not theirs.
Cobra Electronics
Next stop was Cobra to see their new remote mounted XRS R7 and XRS R9G.
The first thing that struck me was two of the letters and the number they used in the naming one of these new remote detectors, SR 7, sounds familiar?
Also I was taken back by the ooohs and aahs that a couple of 12 volt installers were making about the units ease of install.
First off my opinion of their remote is that it really isn’t a remote mounted piece at all. The combo radar/laser antenna is designed to be mounted in the passenger compartment, on the top of the windshield, in the area between the rear view mirror and the passenger sun visor, or behind the mirror if room allows.
The display unit is wireless, and can be mounted to the dash area. The user would charge the display unit using either a remote charger or the USB port when it is connected to a computer.
The remote mounted radar/laser antenna can detect radar/laser forward and rear
Cobra told me that the user could also program false alert locations into their unit and would also allow the user to mark their own enforcement areas into the GPS as the 9500i.
I was also told that at this time no testing by any outside reviewers have been done with their new unit (including Car and Driver)
Whistler Group
Stop three was the Whistler group to see their new line up that includes their new dash mounted high performance XTR690 and the Pro 78.
Whistler told us that the XTR690 and Pro 78 are equal in performance, but that the XTR690 would include a compass. They also said that both units would be similar in performance as the higher priced Bel and Escort products.
Both units were very sleek in design, however when I pulled out my camera, I was told that no photos were allowed at this time of their showcased products.
Rocky Mountain Radar
What would a CES show be without visiting the hucksters at RMR and saying hello.
However as I did my preliminary intel on their booth several times prior to making my grand entry, I noticed that both Mike and Raul were both M.I.A.
A few minutes prior to making my rounds at RMR, RacerX (a member of the radardetector.net forum) was perusing their wares. On the east side of their display I began checking out their display and I didn’t notice any new items from their radar/laser jammer arsenal that they were planning on marketing.
As I circled around to the northend, Debbie Petty saw me and stepped next to a new RMR employee “That’s the guy that is offering that $50,000 reward on our products” and as I turned her stepping back to warn the other RMR employees working the booth that were standing next to RacerX. Debbie then pointed to me and said “That’s Radar Roy, that asshole”.
Speed Measurement Laboratories
Carl Fors and I then met up for dinner after the show. Carl was also one of the select few that tested the 9500i prior to CES and we both compared our notes and overall we both agreed that the new Escort unit was a revolutionary new unit and that its performance was excellent.
Carl did say that he was planning on making some major changes to the date and testing procedures at this years test and that he would be sending out a notice soon.
Carl also told me of some new police equipment that he knows is being tested.
During the Boston National Chief of Police Association show, MPH had a protype of a Ku gun they were “tossing around” and he also heard rumors of a new laser gun that is under final development from another manufacture that he could not give any details on, but felt that it was a winner for the police side of the industry.
Review Escort 9500i Radar Detector
The Detector of the Future is Here!
In late December, visitors to industry leading RadarDetector.net were asked to describe their visions of what radar detectors would be like in the future.
Some of the most common responses from detector enthusiasts included:
More sensitive Laser Sensor
Easier programming
GPS to detect False Alerts
Frequency counter
Auto mute
USB dataport
All these points would make ideal improvements the majority of users would love to see. As fate would have it, almost at that moment, I received one of the first Escort 9500i radar detectors. After giving this new Escort a complete testing and evaluation, we were delighted to find it had all the “future” features people were asking for in our poll.
Escort’s new GPS powered Escort 9500i radar detector provides permanent relief from false alarms, including automatic door openers, motion sensors, and other radar based sensors. At the same time, it allows the user to program and/or download safety camera and speed trap locations directly into the unit.
The features of the Escort 9500ix include:
• TrueLock feature that permanently eliminates false alerts by location and frequency
• Autosensitivity Mode provides real-time radar performance based on vehicle speed, plus Highway and City settings
• SpeedAlert feature provides an instant view of your vehicle speed during an alert
• Mark Location feature allows you to instantly “mark” known speed traps, cameras and other places of interest
• Voice announcements provide instant audible feedback for easier programming
• Auto Volume feature automatically increases the alert volume in noisy conditions such as a loud radio or road noise
• Easy to use Preferences allows you to customize up to nine features
• Ultra Bright Alphanumeric display with 280 LEDs
• Expert Meter tracks and displays up to eight radar signals simultaneously
• Spec Display provides actual numeric frequency for any radar signal
• Selectable radar and laser bands (on/off) allow you to customize which bands are being monitored (X band, K band. Ka band. Ku band, Laser, POP, SWS)
• Allows you to backup your Truelock data and other software related functions
Driving Impressions:
The first thing any seasoned radar detector owner wants to do is drive to all the local “false alert” hot spots in their neighborhood. That immediately reveals one of the weak spots for any detector.
My first stop was a local CVS Pharmacy that has a pair of automatic door openers at the entrance. As I approached the store, my Escort SR7 remote radar detector was at full alert in K band, but the new 9500i was completely silent. My first thought was of disappointment, thinking this particular 9500i was a bad unit.
But then I remembered the manual mentioning the 9500i’s autosensitivity mode. This lets the detector adjust its sensitivity (city/highway) based upon your speed. As I was creeping along at only 15 m.p.h., the detector lowered the sensitivity to city driving. I switched the detector from automode to highway, and the 9500i was at full alert.
To program a false alert location, you press the mute button three times on either the detector or the smart cord. Pressing the button the first time mutes the audio of the detector. Press it a second time and the display reads “lockout?” Pressing it a third time makes the display indicate the location is “stored”.
Next stop was a Shell Mini Mart located a few miles away. Since a highway passed directly in front of this location, I figured I could test the autosensitivity mode at both highway speed and low speed.
I switched the detector back to automode and drove past the Shell station at 55 m.p.h. Both my SR7 and the 9500i alerted at approximately the same time on K band.
Making a U-Turn, I drove past the same location again, but at 25 m.p.h. Again my SR7 was at full alert and the 9500i was silent until I was directly across from the entryway.
I pressed the mute button on the 9500i and the detector went silent and the GPS location was stored.
I made one more pass by the Shell Station at 55 m.p.h. The 9500i remained silent, while the SR7 was at full alert.
With a Little Help From Police
Being a weekend evening, the local police department, sheriff’s office and highway patrol were all involved in a D.U.I. traffic saturation patrol. That meant there was a lot of opportunity to test the range and sensitivity of the 9500i.
The range and sensitivity of the 9500i was stellar as it gave plenty of warning more than a mile away, even with the approach having a number of curves and hills.
At the last radar “fishing hole,” I coaxed an officer friend of mine to park across the street from the Shell Gas Station. He parked in a car dealer’s parking lot to run his Falcon K band hand held. My interest was to confirm that the 9500i would alert to another radar source at this location, after earlier marking the location as a false alert.
I approached the officer’s location at normal highway speed. At over a mile away the 9500i began alerting to the officers K band radar gun and the signal strength graph increased as I approached. The 9500i was at full alert on the officer’s radar gun as I passed, even though I had previously marked the spot as a false alert location.
The Paradise Valley Police Department in Arizona was the first agency in the nation to deploy automated traffic safety cameras back in 1987. Since then, other agencies in the area have seen the profitability of these devices and followed suit with installation of their own photo radar and red light enforcement camera programs.
The following afternoon, I headed to Scottsdale and the Phoenix area to mark off several of the safety camera locations and see how the 9500i alerted.
The City of Scottsdale installed a number of speed enforcement cameras on the 101 Loop that were operational for a nine month evaluation period. During this period, the City of Scottsdale projected their efforts generated an additional one million dollars in revenue. At this time, the cameras are still operational, however they are not issuing any citations until the evaluation is complete and the city council votes to maintain the program.
These speed enforcement cameras are also unique in that they do not use radar or laser to measure a vehicle’s speed. Instead, they use sensors embedded in the pavement. This makes these cameras totally undetectable to all other radar and laser detectors.
As I approached each of the six camera locations on the 101 freeway, I pressed the mark button on the 9500i. At this point the 9500i displayed “Mark?”. Press the mark button again and you’re prompted to assign it a label as either being a Speed Trap, Camera or Other location. Then by pressing the mark button a third time, the GPS coordinates are stored in the 9500i’s memory. Since these were all camera locations, I marked them off as camera locations.
After marking all the 101’s camera locations, we went back to see how the 9500i alerted. Traveling at a speed of 55, the 9500i alerted with a voice prompt one mile away. Then the unit’s display counted down the distance in feet until I reached the camera.
When I slowed down to a speed less then 50 mph in the approach to camera locations, the 9500i reduced its notification automatically to a half mile away.
Next we marked several school zones and other known high enforcement areas as “speed traps.” Again, at each of these marked locations, the 9500i sensed our speed and adjusted the distance of the location accordingly.
Review of Other Features
AutoVolume Feature
One new and very cool addition to the 9500i is the AutoVolume feature that automatically increases the alert volume level when the ambient noise in the vehicle (or on motorcycle) is too loud because of music, wind noise or perhaps even a nagging back seat driver.
The AutoVolume feature was very handy when I did my test drive with the 9500i installed on my Harley Davidson Ultra Classic. In highway cruising the 9500i could easily be heard above the roar of my Sreamin Eagle exhaust and when I slowed down for city driving, the detector lowered the volume accordingly. I also was pleased to find that the 9500i interfaced with the HARD Escort system from Legal Speeding when giving radar and laser alerts. However, I was a bit disappointed to also discover that the HARD would not alert when the 9500i gave warning of marked speed trap or camera locations.
USB Port – Interface Software
Another Industry first is that the 9500i is the only radar detector that has a USB data port that will allow you to back up and store marked and true locked locations to your computer and to allow you to merge data with other users.
Audible Alert and Voice Prompts
The 9500i has both audible voice and tone alerts. The audible warning for radar or laser will start with a tone followed by a voice alert of the band. Meanwhile, the display indicates your vehicle’s present speed. The detector display will then indicate the strength of the radar signal, and a few seconds later, automute. Each of the four radar bands (X, K, Ka, Ku and POP) and laser have their […]
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