I copied this over from the 3000GT owner's website, where I'm also a member. I found it interesting. And yes, he's really a cop.

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Let me start this off by saying I am an Officer of the law. HA HA HA.

Secondly, I have never pulled over a fellow 3/S.

Ok. We do a lot of testing with Radar guns and radar detectors. Fortunetely I have done my own testing with my friends and my radar gun in my car. I know I work real hard. I have come to 3 conclusions.

1) The Valentine One is the best radar detector money can buy. Hands down no questions. By far the best reacting of the 20+ tested, and the only one that actually worked as well from behind as it did from front/side

2) When I am monitoring traffic, especially on highways, my radar gun is on sleep (i.e. not monitoring). When I see headlights I turn it on either just as they pass or AFTER they have gone by. 99% of radar detectors that say 360 degree protection are BS.

3) Just a sidenote. The rocky mountain radar combo, which is a detector/ scrambler actually works (70/30) with some radar signals. It sucks as a detector, but sometimes it stops the signal from actually working, and I believe it is legal in most states.

4) Lastly, I would say that if you do get pulled over for more then say 20 MPH+ (i.e. HUGE fine and points) I would always ask for a radar printout. Sometimes this is why an officer says he will give you a break from 15+ to 9+, because if a gun is not calibrated on schedule it can be off +/-5MPH. If they dont provide you with a printout then you have a means for dismissal if you fight the ticket.

Just a little Info for my 3/S people. Dont hate me because of my job, love me because of how I can help you.
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Radar printout? Lots of times the cop won't even let you look at the radar display.

 

I just bought the Bel Pro RX65, and it works well. It almost always alerts me before I see the police vehicle. I did a lot of research on the web before making this purchase. As others have noted, the top three are the Valentine One, Escort 8500 X50 and Bel Pro RX65. They are virtually even in their detection abilities. Each one may have a slight advantage at detecting one signal type better than the others, but overall there is no clear winner among these three.

I went with the Bel because it is available at a discount (I paid $245), while I could not find the other two for anything other than MSRP.

I just finished hardwiring it last weekend- much better than stretching the power cord from the windshield to the power outlet near the glove compartment.

You can't go wrong with any of these three.

 

Thats total BS Dave....

I have the optional "long distance" upgrade from V1,....extra antenna mounted to the roof, and I get alerts of cops from about 1500-2000 miles away, depending on weather and foliage....

 

Valentine 1 if you can afford it. If not, Bel. I have used them for 20 years with practically no problems. I have tried Corba and Passport and went back to Bel.

 

Are you nuts? You can't be posting this kind of stuff. It's TOP SECRET CIA technology - Area 51 classified info. This kind of thing is ultra sensitive military whiz-bang GI Joe gagitry. That thing will detect incoming hostile alien entities as far away as Alpha Centari. You are in BIG guano!

 

Bel must have come a long, long way since my first Bel. They were garbage - lots of falsing, went off at almost anything and everything and was in itself, a "dirty" detector. I haven't bought one in nearly 20 years.

 

What about a cordless unit that uses batteries? I'm not sure I want to hard wire (not portable/removable) and the wire hanging down totally sucks. Does V1 come cordless?

 

[QUOTE=xviper,Jul 12 2006, 11:25 PM]Bel must have come a long, long way since my first Bel.

 

I put both the V1 and Bel in my car for 2 months. My father was out of town for that time and I borrowed both his detectors. I ran 1 on each side of the rearview and they are almost identical. One would alert before the other almost always but you could never guess which one.

The bell actually seemed to alert sooner more often but not enough that it would make a difference.