The Valentine One programming options are very helpful. You see, the V1 is pretty chatty out of the box, but if you take the time to configure the settings properly, and especially if you pair it with some third party apps, you can quiet it down significantly and change it from one of the noisiest detectors around to one of the quietest while also simultaneously maximizing its performance. Here’s how to do that. 🙂
Permanent link to this article: https://www.vortexradar.com/2015/12/how-to-quiet-down-a-valentine-one-and-maximize-its-performance/
The Redline and Magnum are essentially the same radar detector, but the Redline is the one you’ll hear talked about all the time yet the Magnum can do the same thing at a lower price. Which one should you get?
Permanent link to this article: https://www.vortexradar.com/2015/12/differences-between-the-escort-redline-and-beltronics-magnum/
Here’s a flowchart I put together to help make the decision of which radar detector you should buy. It’s designed to make things as simple and easy for you as possible. 🙂
Next, here’s a little explanation for each decision in case you’re not sure which one you should choose, along with the latest pricing information for every detector.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.vortexradar.com/2015/12/easy-to-use-flowchart-to-help-you-pick-the-perfect-radar-detector/
So I’ve been having some issues with different radar detector mounts lately. My sticky cups have been falling off the windshield, exploding, or have been really bouncy. My V1 mount has been great, but over the years the suction cups have been aging and so it’s not sticking on my windshield as well anymore. I’ve heard great things about the Blendmounts over the years and while I prefer running my RD’s high up by my RVM, I decided to check them out. I contacted the company about getting a sample to review and they sent me a Blendmount suited to my car, plus mounts for a few different radar detectors and some MirrorTaps to power my RD’s. Let’s check it out.
Update August 2016: There’s been an updated version of the BlendMount released called the R Series. It’s a refinement of the original BlendMount. This review still applies, but you can read about the updated BlendMount here.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.vortexradar.com/2015/12/blendmount-review/
Valentine One vs. Escort Max360? Both are high end radar detectors. Both have arrows. Both cost hundreds of dollars.
The V1 has been around for ages and the main trick up its sleeve is arrows. Valentine has held a patent on the feature and Escort has long said that you don’t need arrows if you have better filtering because the detector will stay quiet if it’s a false alert and beep if it’s real. Well Valentine’s patent on arrows has expired and lo and behold, Escort has brought arrows over to their jack-of-all-trades detector, the Max2, and called it the Max3..60. The Max360 is loaded with bells and whistles and copies of many of the features (including the arrows) from the V1. Is it a better radar detector though? Let’s find out.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.vortexradar.com/2015/12/valentine-one-vs-escort-max360-head-to-head-comparison/
Band Segmentation and Custom Sweeps. They’re expert settings available on some radar detectors that can significantly help improve a detector’s performance. However, if you set it up incorrectly, you may inadvertently prevent your radar detector from alerting you to legitimate police radar which… kinda defeats the whole purpose of having a radar detector in the first place. You can wind up getting tickets while thinking you’re protected. Additionally, different detectors implement this feature differently and the specific way you need to program it may even vary depending on where you live, so things can be a little confusing. The confusion combined with the risks of getting it wrong leads lots of people asking how they should program the detector they bought for the area that they live in.
Since this gets asked so frequently, I figured it’d be good to do an article going into all of this so that we have a solid reference to understand exactly what’s going on, what the benefits and risks are, and finally how to program the detector that you choose for the areas where you live and drive. (Note: This is applicable only for the US and Canada. The principles are the same everywhere, but the frequencies you need to scan for vary abroad.) Continue reading
Permanent link to this article: https://www.vortexradar.com/2015/12/band-segmentation-and-custom-sweeps/
Ka Guard and RDR are filters that help our radar detectors filter out false alerts on Ka band that happen due to poorly designed radar detectors like older Cobras that leak RF signals, but how do the filters actually work?
Escort has a patent explaining their filtering technique for RDR that I read through some time ago to learn the details of what’s actually going on under the hood. 🙂
Let’s take a look at the general idea behind how the filter works and then take a look at the science and math as we watch some sample signals actually make their way through the individual components of a radar detector.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.vortexradar.com/2015/12/how-rdr-and-ka-guard-work/
This walkthrough shows you how I set up and program my V1 with YaV1 from a brand new install to help guide you through setting up yours. 🙂
Things you’ll need:
Permanent link to this article: https://www.vortexradar.com/2015/12/how-to-program-your-new-v1-yav1-from-scratch/
Here are the common radar detector acronyms and laser jammer terminology you’ll see when reading about countermeasures.
ACC – Adaptive Cruise Control. These in-car safety systems can sometimes trigger false radar/laser alerts on our countermeasures.
ALP – AntiLaser Priority. Currently the best laser jammer on the market. They are very sensitive, receive continued updates, and can jam both the older easier to jam guns as well as the latest lidar guns with anti-jamming technology. These are the current top pick for laser jammers. You can find them for sale online here.
ALPR – Automatic License Plate Recognition. Police sometimes have these camera systems for automated license plate scanning and tracking.
Bands – Police radar guns operate on different frequencies. A radar band is simply a range of frequencies. There are a whole bunch of RF bands. Different radar gun use different frequency antennas (higher frequency antennas like Ka band are smaller and more compact than lower frequency antennas like K or even X band.) For more information on what’s going on and why, as well as the significance of receiving alerts on various bands, watch this video.
BS/RDR – Band Segmentation and Radar Detector Rejection. Features available on some Escort/Beltronics radar detectors. RDR helps filter out false alerts from leaky radar detectors. Band segmentation is used to turn on and off different portions of the entire range of Ka band. Turning some segments off increases performance while also disabling frequencies which have only false alerts and no legitimate radar signals, something you may experience more of by disabling RDR. The equivalent in V1-land are Custom Sweeps and Ka Guard.
BSM – Blind Spot Monitor. Many newer cars are equipped with blind spot monitoring systems and depending on the make and model of the car, it can cause a radar detector to false alert to K band. Newer radar detectors have special filters designed to filter out false alerts from BSM’s, but not all of them can be filtered out. GM and Acuras are especially difficult to filter. These are one of the most annoying false alerts and the most challenging to filter out. A modern radar detector is recommended to help deal with these newer false alerts.
CAS – Collision Avoidance System. Many modern cars are equipped with a variety of collision avoidance systems such as automatic braking, smart cruise control, blind spot monitoring, and so on. These systems typically use radar, laser, and cameras to monitor what’s going on around the vehicle and some of these systems can cause your radar detector to false alert so it’s recommended to use a modern radar detector that has the ability to filter out many CAS false alerts.
CD – Concealed Display, especially the Valentine 1’s secondary remote display accessory. See this video to learn more about CD’s.
CM – 1) Countermeasures that you can use to avoid speeding tickets such as radar detectors and laser jammers. 2) Center mass, as in the center of your grill or front license plate area that officers may target with their lidar guns.
C/O – Constant On. There is where a police officer leaves their radar gun on the whole time while they are parked or driving around. This is easy to detect from a distance. Continue reading
Permanent link to this article: https://www.vortexradar.com/2015/12/radar-detector-terminology/
In different parts of the country they use different radar guns and laser guns. For example, in some areas K band is in use while in other areas it’s not at all and if you turn K band off in your detector, you can get rid of all the false alerts that you’d otherwise have to rely on filters to deal with. Very cool. Same thing with X band. Additionally, some places in the country use newer and more sophisticated lidar guns with anti-jamming technology. If you’re wondering what’s in use in your area as well as in other areas that you’ll be driving to, here’s the best way I’ve found to see what’s in use in what areas.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.vortexradar.com/2015/11/how-to-find-out-what-radar-bands-radar-guns-and-laser-guns-are-used-in-your-area/
Escort Redline 360c
($799)
Best for Set-It-and-Forget-It Drivers
Uniden R8 ($699)
Best Performing Radar Detector
Valentine 1 Gen2 ($599)
Best for Radar Detector Enthusiasts
Uniden R7 ($499)
Best bang for the buck with arrows
Uniden R4
($379)
Best non-arrow detector
Uniden R3Â ($299)
Best performance under $300
Uniden DFR7 ($199)
Best under $200
AntiLaser Priority ($1069 Dual, $1699 Triple TX BT HiFi)
The best performing and top laser jammer on the market
Stinger Fibers ($1825 Dual, $2525 Triple)
Tiny heads for stealthy installs, great for exotic cars, expensive, poor track record of updates
Adaptiv TPX ($949 Triple)
Best affordable laser jammer (Save 10% with coupon “Vortex”)
Uniden R9 ($3,999, radar and laser)
High performance radar detector & laser jammer combo
Radenso RC M ($2099, radar only)
Can integrate with ALP, integrated controller/display
Net Radar DSP ($689, $1179 w/ arrows)
Affordable custom installed radar detector, integrates with AntiLaser Priority
