RADAR QUESTIONS ? Will give you answers !

[Phil86]

QUESTIONS regarding RADAR and HIGHWAY TRAFFIC ACT (province of Ontario, Canada)
Will be glad to discuss with you !
Serious questions and will try my best to answer. Keep in mind that I'm not a lawyer !
Have been an APPROVED radar operator for 17yrs.
My answers will not affect my brothers whom have laid charges against you.. LOL !!
Mature and serious questions will deserve my attention !


Luv the MARKII :facesjump

Phil86

[StanS]

What are the long term health effects on your brothers from holding or being near powered
radar transmitters?

[Phil86]

Ya, heard lots about keeping radar guns away from you when sitting in cruisers...

Nothing proven yet... Playin' with the toys for years and no effect on me yet !!

Doing stationary radar with radar guns for years... Officers tend to put radar unit on their laps when doing notes after dealing with a violator. Never heard or seen any documentation that would prove to be "unsafe"

I guess it would be the same with any other apparatus/appliances with microwaves.... Play safe with the toys and use them for their purposes...

Phil :rolleyes:

[2slow4you]

I don't have a radar decector but I used to and my question spawns from this. I'm assuming US and Canada radar equipment is pretty much the same the model I had was a cobra that had some stealth mode because I'm assuming some police have radar-dectector dectectors.

I've also heard rumors from various sources back in Maryland that the police lobbied to keep front tags on MD cars because it helps them pick up car speed with the laser radar system... Not speaking for MD but since tags are reflective does it in fact help the police shoot radar?

[Andrew]

In april, when you see a Red MKII going down the queensway at mach 2, its time to goto Timmys! Hurry FAST!

[84SupraMD]

is there any speed that would jam a radar gun because it cant pick up how fast the person is going?

[batmobile]

`1

[ma71supraturbo]

I've also heard rumors from various sources back in Maryland that the police lobbied to keep front tags on MD cars because it helps them pick up car speed with the laser radar system... Not speaking for MD but since tags are reflective does it in fact help the police shoot radar?

Laser needs a nice flat target to reflect back. Radar is much more forgiving. It may help a little, but not much.

[ma71supraturbo]

Do those protective sleeves that fit over the liscence plate have any effect with the radar guns?

Is it harder for the radar guns to pick up cars with those protective sleeves?

They're not supposed to affect radar guns, they are supposed to distort photography taken so a photo-radar or red-light ticket might be avoided.

[ma71supraturbo]

Mature and serious questions will deserve my attention !


Do your radar units read in km/hr? How often do you *actually* bust out the tuning forks and calibrate them?

[MWebber]

Do your radar units read in km/hr? How often do you *actually* bust out the tuning forks and calibrate them?

I'm in the U.S. so the first doesn't apply to me.

I have a few friends that are local officers, I asked this one time (when that "beat the ticket" guys started) they said that they calibrate once before shift, the on average, every two hours while on shift then once after shift. (if they were STRICKLY on traffic duty, then they would do a calibration between each stop, anal, I know, but that's the department where I live).

This way of "beat the ticket" is usless now anyway.

as to the "too fast to read", the old OLD ones (that I know of) would blink at the higherst number they could read. now adays, they'll read what you are doing if it's a newer unit (like last 5-10 years newer).


All of this is obviously gun model and department specific.

Here's an idea... don't speed, they will get you eventually.

[scorpmatt]

Here's an idea... don't speed, they will get you eventually.

Thats some fine advice there. my first speeding ticket came before I got my mkii, 75 in a 55, one of the first cop cars I'd seen with the radar/laser tagger dash mounted.

[StanS]

Will laser range detection be decreased significantly if I tilt my front plate down about 20 degrees from vertical by using beveled spacers/washers?

[Dave A.]

What are the long term health effects on your brothers from holding or being near powered
radar transmitters?


Interesting point! How much power is behind a radar transmitter/receiver?? I have a gut feeling that not many are told the answer to this important question.
So.......how many watts?? How many male traffic cops are now sterile or show signs of radioactivity because of the use/misuse of such devices? Hmmmmmm!

Laser radar has made me nervous since the day it was put to use on public highways, etc.. I wonder how many of us have had our eyeballs penetrated by the laser beam being pointed in the wrong place??

Last question: What is the bandwidth and frequency of both types of radar systems?


<------- My homemade radar jammers are FCC compliant. :facesjump J/K!!

[Dave A.]

Will laser range detection be decreased significantly if I tilt my front plate down about 20 degrees from vertical by using beveled spacers/washers?



:hahano: Scientific minds all think alike! AFAIK, all highway radar systems use the Doppler Effect for measuring speed. So....why wouldn't tilting the front plate off vertical make a difference? ;)

[scarletlizard]

The sharp angles on a MK2 always reminded me of a stealth bomber/fighter.
Thinking I was "invisible" to radar, I've had a few tickets from lasers pointed at our front plate.
I'm going to try the angled effect, except upwards. Or, just put the plate on the dash and get a ticket for that instead.
Hhmmmm

[ma71supraturbo]

I have a few friends that are local officers, I asked this one time (when that "beat the ticket" guys started) they said that they calibrate once before shift, the on average, every two hours while on shift then once after shift. (if they were STRICKLY on traffic duty, then they would do a calibration between each stop, anal, I know, but that's the department where I live).

I've done probably 10 ride-alongs (I was a Police Explorer when a wee lad) and not once did officers do anything more than then gun "self check..."

[StanS]

"why wouldn't tilting the front plate off vertical make a difference?"

Reread the posting. It only talked about Lasers.

[Dave A.]

"why wouldn't tilting the front plate off vertical make a difference?"

Reread the posting. It only talked about Lasers.



Well, I would think that the laser radar would be most accurate if reflected off of a flat, vertical surface. Laser radar requires pinpoint accuracy of reflection off of a suitable surface. Laser equipment also operates at a higher frequency than more conventional microwave type equipment, thereby providing a faster response time (more send/receive operations per given amount of time).


The real kicker is the pulsed Instant-On radar systems. You can be very close to a speed trap w/o you or your radar detector knowing it and once the trigger is pulled, you're screwed.

[StanS]

"Well, I would think that the laser radar would be most accurate if reflected off of a flat, vertical surface."

You said it. That's why u tilt it. Most of the light doesn't reflect back to the gun.

[Dean]

Most (if not all) licence plates in North America now use special reflective paint. I used to sell some of the very special additives that got used to make these coatings. There are actually tiny particles in the coating that do the reflecting. Most roadsigns now use similar coatings. They reflect light very efficiently back to the source of the light, even at an angle. Check this out sometime when you are stopped at a red light at night with your turn signal on. Look at a road sign up near the traffic lights height and see if you can see it being lit up by your front turn signal. That's a pretty steep angle, but it will still reflect the relatively dim light of your amber turn signal enough for you to notice it. You can notice it even with other cars around with brighter headlights pointed towards it. The coatings work in such a way that the light is reflected back to the source, so the light from others headlights don't reflect back to you, only back to them. I hope that explanation makes sense.

What this means for laser is that tilting the front plate won't stop laser light from being reflected back to the police officer. It will reduce it a little bit, but won't have as big of an effect as you would think. Bummer.

[2slow4you]

Heh, that's why I don't ride with a front tag and my supra is flat black =-p As for my Silverado.... well I don't have a front tage for it (not required for WV) but my front bumper is chrome (dicked there).

I don't belive in the radar photo enforcement though. I got one of those tickets back when I was in the DC area. I was doin 57mph in a 50 keeping with the flow of traffic and got a $75 ticket which is absolute BS. You're in moderate traffic with cars all around if you slow down a little bit people are 1/2in from your bumper so I don't see that as fair. As for redlight camera yea they're nice but I didn't see any major effect on drivers around the Maryland area with them installed they still went through them like crazy. My only real beef with the redlight camera is that some of them were operated by non-government 3rd parties. Basicly an officer didn't go out and maintain the camera sites and collect the data from the station.

[StanS]

"What this means for laser is that tilting the front plate won't stop laser light from being reflected back to the police officer. It will reduce it a little bit, but won't have as big of an effect as you would think. "

Try a simple experiment. Take your plate off. Shine a light at it at night head on and then tilt the plate and see the reduction. (Use a Laser pointer to see the true effect) My plate's bent about 15-20 deg with a horizontal crease in it about 1-1/2" from the top. I came out of work one night with a strong buiding light shining at it. The difference on the two sections was dramatic. Also every bit of range reduction helps.

[Phil86]

Drivers !!

Clocked radar speeds on your vehicle as nothing to do with your front plate !
Plate or no plate, the radar device will get readings ....

Fooling around with your plates will only make photoradar a bit complicated.

BEWARE ! There is sections under the Highway Traffic Act of Ontario that will FINE you if you tamper with the plates !!!!

Plates can be seized for evidence, your vehicle will be towed at your expences...

$200.00 and up !!!!!
Can't beat the system !

Fiberglass(vets ...) cars and low-profile vehicles causes slow radar readings. By the time we see a reading on the device, there's a good chance you had the time to hit the brakes....

Be wise !
Follow the speed limit or go to a 1/4mile race track for $20.00

Phil86

[stevrock]

Ya, heard lots about keeping radar guns away from you when sitting in cruisers...

Nothing proven yet... Playin' with the toys for years and no effect on me yet !!

Doing stationary radar with radar guns for years... Officers tend to put radar unit on their laps when doing notes after dealing with a violator. Never heard or seen any documentation that would prove to be "unsafe"

I guess it would be the same with any other apparatus/appliances with microwaves.... Play safe with the toys and use them for their purposes...

Phil :rolleyes:

If you put a laptop on your lap, the heat build-up on your balls with cause some temporary damage (faulty swimmers if you will), potentially causing birth defects.
The laptop loses alot of heat through the bottom, and the heat already spewing from your body isn't going to help.

Your balls need to be cool to function right, which is why they're in your sack.

Therefor, make a woman hold your computer, they love sources of heat.