dmk0210

Waze does not work well in rural and low traffic areas.

There are just not enough users to report and the data that is accumulated gets stale. (Cops are mobile)

Think about it: What is the percentage of people driving down a particular stretch of road that are Waze users? How many of them are actually going to report? How soon are they going to report?


The best solution is use both, along with vigilant situational awareness (which I very much hope you will be doing anyway if you are driving enthusiastically). Have fun, but be safe and aware.


.

Landru

+1,

Instant-on & laser have changed all the rules from the X & Ka band era. Early traffic radars were operated 'on' all the time which allowed detectors to detect in sufficient time/distance to adjust.
Not anymore.

Lastly, situational awareness is critical & grossly under-rated.
Lived in southern IN, there's a major E-W Interstate though very rural areas. I mean, nothing but corn/soy bean fields.
Very easy to assume one's alone on these stretches when the fact is/was one was anything BUT alone.
Air monitoring nailed more Corvetters on [that] stretch than I can count.

Had it not been for the fact I actually spoke w/ fellow Evansville-Newburgh Corvette owners (some had been nailed) I'd have made a mistake and paid dearly. Use the head, and, radar detecting tech.

Blindfingers

Swing over to the Radar Detector Forum and browse around. All of the major RD players are discussed. You can complete a questionnaire and get recommendations based on your needs.

www.rdforum.org

The current hot unit is the Uniden R1 and R3 series. But laser requires very expensive counter measures.

Also check out this site for unbiased testing and recommendations.
www.vortexradar.com

dmk0210

Aircraft speed monitoring is a tough one.

I need to keep the top down and get a scarf so I can keep my head on a swivel like Snoopy and the Red Baron.

Coyote Dave

Waze + and old Escort passport 8500 has served me well on a budget for years.

Landru

Sure is, in fact although I'd heard of aerial monitoring IN's the only place I'd heard/see aircraft actually used.
Personal rule-of-thumb: no matter how desolate surroundings may appear, no matter if you're traveling along alone or not?
Beware.

Most true pistonheads, be it a Corvette or otherwise, want to open-up their ride & such areas just seem the perfect opportunity.
It's also precisely for that reason such areas make for an excellent revenue source, justifying a more unconventional monitoring method because let's be honest. Pilots & their aircraft are not cheap.
And that's where using one's head comes into its own.

An old country boy singer once wrote a song, paraphrased: "Be careful of something that's exactly what you want it to be."
Like, deserted highways.

dmk0210

I read a perceptive comment somewhere on the Internet that went something like: "If something is fun and worth doing, someone, somewhere is unhappy about you doing it."

(though in these cases, I believe they are secretly very happy because cha - ching )

C6KWJ

HMannini

You may get a cheap detector but you won't get a discount on the speeding ticket! Get a Valentine, I switched from Escort and never looked back and after 15 years and two upgrades my V1 is like new.............Buy that one ^^^^^^^^^

Matthewstorm

Vet Interested

Excellent advise!

DealmakerC6

Going to chime in with a Waze review. The app is about 50/50 for me with police unit detection, but on I-10 Eastbound between Lafayette and Baton Rouge Louisiana the road is very prone to traffic snarl ups, and you cant tell until there is no place to exit and you're stuck in 45 minutes of traffic to get onto the Mississippi River bridge. Waze has saved me several hours of sitting in traffic by rerouting me through rural backroads BEFORE I can see the backup. So to me its a very useful tool, but I wouldn't bet my drivers license on it.

myredhead1

Good old whisky bay. Most dangerous stretch of I-10 in the country.

mikecronis

Still my go-to detector with the GPS function to remove falses. I have it. The Uniden R3 is hot right now, however.

TFFTBR

I went with this set up too. Only downside is some of the blind spot monitors or adaptive cruise sensors of other cars will set it off.

mikecronis

Some LEOs (Law Enforcement Officers) are more over-confident than others and may attempt to acquire a lock with a LIDAR not accounting for humidity, etc. and you'll get fair warning.

9500 series has filters in the MENU to avoid adaptive-cruise settings.

Birddog51

I’ve tried several brands of detectors and have found with side by side test that the Escort Redline will detect radar and laser at the longest distance from your car period. That’s the only performance that interst me.

buckmeister2

How the hell does it beat a non-active lazer that gets activated when pointed right at you???

mikecronis

I work with satellite lasing systems in space as my job. Here's how:

The laser (LIDAR) shot at you does usually hit the target and your detector will be set-off. Depending on humidity and distance, the return beam may not be strong enough for the LIDAR "gun"'s receiver to register. This can be usually due to degradation from distance in the air it passes through. The LIDAR beam photos are reflected off moisture particles.

A similar example can be shooting a toy cat laser through a layers of plastic, or a few bed sheets held vertically by a willing friend. The laser looses its strength as it passes through medium.

The humidity, pollen, dirty-air, etc. affects various wavelengths differently as well as the wattage of the LIDAR gun.

Back in the '70s, X-band radar guns were of high-wattage and not shielded (and have a large footprint) and guys were getting testicular cancer btw. X-band is almost not used anywhere in the US now (I think 1 or two local cops are still using it in a few states). Turning off X-band on your detector is a good idea to avoid noisy falses.

owc6

Before turning X band off, it's a good idea to find out if anyone in your area is still using it.

Two adjacent counties (Charles Co. & St. Mary's Co. MD) to mine (Calvert Co.) still use X. I drive there regularly, so I leave mine on.