I don't find fault with the detector, only your terminology. When the V1 alerts, it is telling you there is a radar signal of a specific band being received. Granted, it may not be an officer, but a Piggly Wiggly extrance/exit door instead, but that merely points out how sensitive the V1 is. I would rather have a longer disatnce to target warning (i.e., higher sentivity of the V1), than be surprised (i.e., lower sensitivity of all others). Also, I have the option of decreasing the warning level sensitivity with the V1...are you able to INCREASE your sensitivity with any other detector? No.

People say the V1 "falses" because it can give them more information than they wish to know (a radar signal is being detected). However, I would always rather have too much info than not enough...the extra sensitivity the V1 has may make the difference between catching that Smokie just over the hill with instant-on who just tagged the motorist a mile ahead of me.

I'm not here to convince you one is better than the other. As with anything in life, it's a series of give and take. You prefer a warning to have a much higher percentage chance of being an actual officer (less sensitivity), and I wish to have as much warning as possible (more potential falses). Our detectors do what each of us wishes them to do in the way we wish them to do it...no arguments there.

 

This is all....YOU GUYS FRIGGEN SUCK!

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by MacGyver
I don't find fault with the detector, only your terminology.

 

There is little problems with the K40's ability to detect signals from great distances.
In fact, in one independent study, the 850 model ranked number one of all units
tested. When Joe and I were coming back from Homestead, right around Mirimar
my detector went off and I immediately slowed down while he kept going. About two, maybe two and a half miles up the road there was a state trooper parked on the southern stretch of
the road. Whether or not his 8500 detected anything as he got closer I'm not sure (I would assume so, it's a damn good unit) but he did say it didn't go off when mine did.

Since we've done a good job at hijacking the thread, I might as well quote from
http://www.speedzones.com/ with regards to sensitivity issues. If you have a few minutes, it makes for a good read.

Judge Reginald Stanton, New Jersey Superior Court, 1998 mandated
no laser speed reading past 1,000 feet would be acceptable evidence of speeding due to the laser gun's beam divergence. In the moving mode, radar's range is dramatically diminished compared to operation in the stationary
position seldom giving a speed reading past 1,000 feet. Why then have a radar detector with a range of five miles?
To be effective, a radar detector must have a minimum warning distance at least five times the normal targeting distance
of 1/4 mile. This would be 1.5 miles.This allows for safe speed adjustment and ample advanced warning.
Many times, extremely long range radar detectors are prone to increased false alerts. To achieve such long range reception, the
sensitivity of the detector must be increased inviting more false alerts. In this scenario, the driver is told of multiple radar gun
encounters. What a paranoid situation! The chances of you being targeted by more than one radar gun simultaneously would be the
same as you being the first human to walk on Mars!

I actually considered the V1 when buying a detector but when I talked with my
brother, he said the top five ranked detectors (as the site above proves) all work
well within the 1.5-mile parameters so at that point, he recommended those that
filter the best. Upon further research, from what I could gather, that unit turned
out to be the new K40. Not only does it have insane distance capability, but its
improved circuitry falses significantly less than most detectors that are pulsing
signals from 2+ miles away. The fact that they pay my speeding tickets if I'm
caught was the deciding factor. If the V1 is so confident of it's ability to deter
tickets, they would match the K40's offer but as my brother said, "there is no
way they are going to do it because it falses to the point where many drivers simply stare at the arrows and dismiss the warning as just another false." To quote him one more time, "I've handed out plenty of radar tickets to drivers with a V1 mounted on their windshield."
I agree with you, each of our choices have particular strengths and weaknesses
but the directional arrows that Mike Valentine touts as being the "piece de resistance" of the V1 are arguably the most overhyped feature in radar detector
history. Less than 2% of all tickets issued come from behind and from the side.
Paying $400 for a detector that picks up a signal from 3 miles away over one that costs $285 (8500) that picks up the identical signal from 2 miles away I guess is a personal decision. For me, I chose the one that picks up the signal from two miles
away that also pays my tickets (all of them) for a year if I'm caught speeding with
the unit turned on (unless I'm DUI or in a school zone).

Be that as it may, drive safe either way and if during a group drive, my 850 sets
off your V1, as long as you're in front of me, I'll have no problems letting you be
my eyes and ears.

 

I just realized I should probably follow up my responses to s2ki.com threads
with a follow-up one titled "Russ' Crib notes."

 

Radar detectors are for sissy's! Be a man, take the punishment, live on the edge. Now exuse me, I have to put my court dates in my Palm.