Proof that the laser jammers work:
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Joined: Oct 2000
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From: Columbia, MD
Randy, Use of the same (or similar) laser diodes is an option we considered, but the expense is significant, as you suggested. Each diode is around $300 a PIECE, and you need quite a few to make the jammer feasible. I'm familiar with the system you mention...in actuality, the system runs the diode for 5 seconds and then shuts it down for a guaranteed 60 seconds. This must be done because they run the diode at such a high power level they would burn it out if they didn't turn it off. In most cases, they are cranking out a lot more power than the LIDAR gun itself.
So how does a LIDAR gun get away with using only one diode, you skeptics ask? Because the officer can collimate the beam and point it right at the car, making sure a very large percentage of the energy makes it to your car and back to the gun.
But when using the diodes as jammers, we no longer have the luxury of a nicely collimated and aimed beam. We have to practically flood the area in front of our cars with IR since we don't know exactly where the officer will be standing. Imagine you have a water hose with a nozzle on the end, and the water only has a single level of pressure. You can either shoot a really tight line of water at ONE person and totally soak them, or twist the nozzle to spray and merely dampen a large group of people. This is how things are when using a single diodes...you can either spray in one direction with a lot of energy, or spray all over with just a tiny bit of energy hitting each spot. To get that large group of people as soaked as the first person, we need to add more hoses set on spray (or in this case, more diodes aimed in various directions).
The Lidatek has a better than average chance of working (compared to other off-the-shelf units) if you happen to get the aiming right (they even specify in their directions rigorous explanations on how to aim the unit). But as mentioned, it's not a sub-$300 item. We have the option of making something that will work better than the Lidatek unit, but the price will increase accordingly.
So how does a LIDAR gun get away with using only one diode, you skeptics ask? Because the officer can collimate the beam and point it right at the car, making sure a very large percentage of the energy makes it to your car and back to the gun.
But when using the diodes as jammers, we no longer have the luxury of a nicely collimated and aimed beam. We have to practically flood the area in front of our cars with IR since we don't know exactly where the officer will be standing. Imagine you have a water hose with a nozzle on the end, and the water only has a single level of pressure. You can either shoot a really tight line of water at ONE person and totally soak them, or twist the nozzle to spray and merely dampen a large group of people. This is how things are when using a single diodes...you can either spray in one direction with a lot of energy, or spray all over with just a tiny bit of energy hitting each spot. To get that large group of people as soaked as the first person, we need to add more hoses set on spray (or in this case, more diodes aimed in various directions).
The Lidatek has a better than average chance of working (compared to other off-the-shelf units) if you happen to get the aiming right (they even specify in their directions rigorous explanations on how to aim the unit). But as mentioned, it's not a sub-$300 item. We have the option of making something that will work better than the Lidatek unit, but the price will increase accordingly.
Joined: Oct 2000
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From: RUNNING!:)
Un-educated question about the Lidatek and other Jammers that are similar.
Do these products have negative effects to Radar Detectors that are already in the car? Valentine 1 specifically?
If the answer is no... Consider "someone I know" interested in the group buy.
Do these products have negative effects to Radar Detectors that are already in the car? Valentine 1 specifically?
If the answer is no... Consider "someone I know" interested in the group buy.
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 1,294
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From: SW
[QUOTE]Originally posted by g-s2k
[B]Un-educated question about the Lidatek and other Jammers that are similar.
Do these products have negative effects to Radar Detectors that are already in the car?
[B]Un-educated question about the Lidatek and other Jammers that are similar.
Do these products have negative effects to Radar Detectors that are already in the car?
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 1,294
Likes: 0
From: SW
Randy do you have any thoughts on this unit?
http://www.beltronics.com/lp904.html
It can be had for $249 + free shipping from here:
http://shop.store.yahoo.com/sbhenterprises...llas904fre.html
I can't get the specs for it, but it did really well on the TV show I saw and speedzones.(http://www.speedzones.com/lasercounter/las...asercounter.htm)
Doesn't look as quality as the lidatek unit though.
http://www.beltronics.com/lp904.html
It can be had for $249 + free shipping from here:
http://shop.store.yahoo.com/sbhenterprises...llas904fre.html
I can't get the specs for it, but it did really well on the TV show I saw and speedzones.(http://www.speedzones.com/lasercounter/las...asercounter.htm)
Doesn't look as quality as the lidatek unit though.
Registered User
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 7,134
Likes: 3
From: Columbia, MD
Wow, lotsa questions...I'll try to remember them all.
As far as the aim angle is concerned...a small difference in angle from direct shot is acceptable, and will be shown as such in a court of law. At WHAT angle the court will throw it out will depend on how educated the judge is and how convincing any lawyers might be. For instance, if you were actually doing 70 mph and the officer was standing at a large 20 degrees off center, the gun would clock you at 66 mph, only 4 mph off. Most officers wouldn't stand so far away from the edge of the road as to make that large of an angle, but I wanted to pick a large enough angle to give an appropriate example...it's not THAT far off to make much difference. So you get a few mph shaved off of your true speed, but either way, you're going to get a large ticket.
Now, on the flip side, at 20 degrees, even the Lidatek system is going to be all but useless. As I mentioned before, the cone of IR light coming from the Lidatek has two options...it can either be a tight cone of high energy (which will only save you if the officer is standing very close to the centerline of your travel), or it can be a wide cone of significantly lower energy (which won't do you any good, regardless of where the officer stands). Lidatek has chosen to go with the tight, high energy beam with the downside of "You better hope that cop is really close to the side of the road or he tried to tag you at a large distance."
The better solution (from a ticket standpoint) is to provide a NUMBER of tight beams aimed at various angles to cover as much area as possible...of course, the downside is an increased cost from expensive diodes (or you could buy several Lidatek modules).
Since the system would not be outputting any energy during the majority of its operating lifetime, it will have no effect on your radar detector (at least the one in YOUR car). During the few seconds that the diodes ARE running, your detector will probably be going apeshit from the return signal off of other people's cars.
Filters on headlights are a non-issue. The filters job is to limit the frequency range of the incoming light...in this case, around the 904 nm range. The filter will limit the wide range of frequencies coming from your headlight to the 904 nm range, but by necessity, does not limit the energy in that range. It would make no difference if you were to put such a filter directly on the headlight itself, and in fact you will see similar filters on the jammers themselves...it provides an opaque view to visible light, but transparent to light in the 904 nm range (something similar can be seen on your TV's remote control...you'll see a dark red tinge to the light passing through the plastic case merely because it's not TOTALLY opaque to visible light, but it is highly transparent to IR).
Any other ?'s
As far as the aim angle is concerned...a small difference in angle from direct shot is acceptable, and will be shown as such in a court of law. At WHAT angle the court will throw it out will depend on how educated the judge is and how convincing any lawyers might be. For instance, if you were actually doing 70 mph and the officer was standing at a large 20 degrees off center, the gun would clock you at 66 mph, only 4 mph off. Most officers wouldn't stand so far away from the edge of the road as to make that large of an angle, but I wanted to pick a large enough angle to give an appropriate example...it's not THAT far off to make much difference. So you get a few mph shaved off of your true speed, but either way, you're going to get a large ticket.
Now, on the flip side, at 20 degrees, even the Lidatek system is going to be all but useless. As I mentioned before, the cone of IR light coming from the Lidatek has two options...it can either be a tight cone of high energy (which will only save you if the officer is standing very close to the centerline of your travel), or it can be a wide cone of significantly lower energy (which won't do you any good, regardless of where the officer stands). Lidatek has chosen to go with the tight, high energy beam with the downside of "You better hope that cop is really close to the side of the road or he tried to tag you at a large distance."
The better solution (from a ticket standpoint) is to provide a NUMBER of tight beams aimed at various angles to cover as much area as possible...of course, the downside is an increased cost from expensive diodes (or you could buy several Lidatek modules).
Since the system would not be outputting any energy during the majority of its operating lifetime, it will have no effect on your radar detector (at least the one in YOUR car). During the few seconds that the diodes ARE running, your detector will probably be going apeshit from the return signal off of other people's cars.
Filters on headlights are a non-issue. The filters job is to limit the frequency range of the incoming light...in this case, around the 904 nm range. The filter will limit the wide range of frequencies coming from your headlight to the 904 nm range, but by necessity, does not limit the energy in that range. It would make no difference if you were to put such a filter directly on the headlight itself, and in fact you will see similar filters on the jammers themselves...it provides an opaque view to visible light, but transparent to light in the 904 nm range (something similar can be seen on your TV's remote control...you'll see a dark red tinge to the light passing through the plastic case merely because it's not TOTALLY opaque to visible light, but it is highly transparent to IR).
Any other ?'s