Do You Have to Go Cordless?

Cordless radar detectors do solve the problem of dangling power cords hanging all over your dash and are very convenient for business travelers who want the extra benefit of having a radar detector to avoid traffic tickets in a strange city.

However one frequently asked question that we receive is how well a cordless radar detector performs in comparison to a corded detector.

In most cases the performance and sensitivity issues are very different as one of the top issues engineers have on their mind in designing cordless model is balancing the battery life with the overall sensitivity and performance of the detector itself.

As my main source of income today is being a consultant in Search Engine Optimization and Internet Marketing, I do fall into the category of a being a business traveller and this past week I was a guest speaker at an Internet Marketing conference in Connecticut after which I was visiting with a friend of mine in south Jersey before flying back home to Arizona from JFK.

The Solo S3 comes equipped with a lightweight carrying case, which slipped right into my carry on bag for this trip. Also included in case were an extra set of windshield mounts, a manual and two AA batteries.

Once in our rental car I was able to stick the unit onto the windshield and power it up in less than two seconds. The Solo S3 has the same power on sequence that their corded dash mounted units have and I found that their new high resolution OLED display is much easier to read then their earlier S2 model.

As we headed out of the city toward 95 north the unit alerted us on Ka band less than a mile ahead we spotted the white and blue SUV hidden on the side of the road.

A couple hours later we arrived in Bridgeport but before checking into the hotel we powered down the detector and removed it from the dash as to not invite any thieves.

The next morning we placed the unit back onto the dash and drove out to our speaking event. About a mile before the Bridgeport High School on North Road the Solo S3 began alerting to a K band radar signal. We made sure that we were maintaining the 25 M.P.H. speed limit as we approached our second officer on our trip.

After returning to our rental car and driving off, I noticed that they flashing green LED light was no longer active, serving as a reminder that the detector had shut itself down on its own. Once turning the detector back on we headed south to Toms River New Jersey.

The trip to the Garden State Parkway was pretty much uneventful but once getting onto the Parkway it was almost like every State Trooper in New Jersey was on the lookout as every ten miles or so we past trooper after trooper running Ka or even X band!

The Solo S3 did give us ample time warning during each of these encounters giving us plenty of time to slow down to the posted speed limit.

In summary the Escort Solo S3 by in far holds up to its claim of being the “top cordless radar detector ever made” in that they have been able to find an equitable balance of sensitivity and performance in a cordless platform.

However you may be asking yourself right now would I be willing to give up my corded Escort IQ or my 9500ix for the convenience of going cordless, no way!

The Solo S3 serves a particular niche market, someone that wants a small compact cordless radar detector with good performance, not those in the market for a radar detector that is long on range or has the extra benefit of GPS.

Being from the east coast and knowing my away around I didn’t need a GPS features on this trip, however when I do travel to an unfamiliar city I bring my Escort IQ which combines high performance radar detection along with a full featured GPS which I can depend on to get me to the front door of my destination ticket free.

So here is the bottom line, if you’re considering a cordless radar detector to avoid the cords, consider getting a cordless radar detector such as the Escort 9500ix or the 8500 X50 and hard wiring the unit instead. You will have a much better radar detector with much better performance.

However if you need something compact that is easy to move from car to car then by all means the Solo S3 as it lives up to its claim as being the Top Cordless Radar Detector made today!

• The public debut the Passport IQ and Escort’s Solo 3 radar detectors
• Laser Interceptor finally putting to rest the rumor about eye safety on their laser jammer
• And Laser Mask’s new diode based laser jammer.

In my review of the Passport IQ I called it a “game changer” in the fact it is the only high performance radar detector that combines full GPS capabilities along with blue tooth technologies. You can read my full review here.

In the coming week’s Escort will be releasing their new cordless model radar detector, the Solo S3 which will be replacing the current Solo S2.

In meeting with Ron Gividen from Escort at SEMA he provided a rundown of the features of both these units.

Ever since the release of the Laser Interceptor there has been allot of misinformation concerning the issues of eye safety with their laser jammer. So at the SEMA show Cliff Crane from Laser Interceptor allowed me to review a recent testing report by an independent testing company which basically gave Laser Interceptor a clean bill of health and is in full compliance with FDA regulations in this regard.

Laser Mask made their first SEMA appearance with their new diode based laser jammer.

I tested a prototype of this unit several months and I have to admit I was very surprised at its performance for being such a small unit.

Melvin Lee provides a rundown of three different  Laser Mask units that his company currently has under development.

When I was first introduced to the Passport IQ last at Escort’s headquarters last month I was so impressed that the first words out of my mouth was, “this is a game changer…” Escort has integrated the very best in radar detection technology into a fully functional GPS.

What Escort has done with the Passport IQ is basically create a device that includes a high performance radar detector that is on par to their Escort 9500ix, with a full color five inch display GPS while also offering optional bluetooth capabilities for hands free calling, live traffic reporting and also designing the unit so it can integrate with other services that are planned for the future.

For the past four weeks I have had the honor of being one of the first to do an independent review of the Passport IQ prior to the unit becoming available to the general public, here are my findings;

Radar Detection Performance:

How Escort was able to integrate a radar detector into the body of a GPS while still being able to offer a high sensitivity and performance in radar/laser detection is a story onto itself, as this was one of the most difficult engineering feats I’m sure the Escort engineers have ever faced.

During the past several weeks I have tested the Passport IQ against our own arsenal of radar and lidar guns in a controlled environment while also logging over 1200 miles in real world driving throughout the southwest.

In a nut shell, I would rate the performance and sensitivity of the Passport IQ on par with the Escort 9500ix and slightly below that of an Escort 9500ci.

In every instance during our real world driving test, the Passport IQ alerted almost at the same exact time as the Escort 9500ix. One particular alert that stood out was an instance of an Arizona Highway Patrolman operating a Ka gun in instant mode several miles in front of us.

Both units began chirping for a few seconds then stopped and then a few moments later they both began alerting again for a few seconds and stopped. I suspected from the nature of this alert that there was an officer up ahead operating his radar gun in the instant on mode by only activating his radar gun when he had his victims within range.

A few miles later my hunch proved correct as again both units went to full alert as I spotted the highway patrolman hidden in the median.

Photo Enforcement Capabilities:

This I would certainly say is one of the strongest points for the IQ as Arizona is littered with those photo enforcement cameras that snap your photo and send you a ticket in the mail.

One thing that stood out to me during my review that the Passport IQ only alerted to cameras that were in my direction that I was traveling, case in point Chino Arizona.

The Chino Police Department has several fixed photo speed enforcement cameras on each side of the highway at different locations. The Passport IQ only alerted to those cameras that were on the same side of the road that I was approaching and ignored those on the other side of the road that were not a threat.

What also impressed me was that the type of photo enforcement camera was also displayed on the GPS screen with its exact location; example red light for red light cameras and photo camera for fixed photo radar locations.

GPS Features:

I’ve owned several dash GPS units from Garmin and Tom Tom and one of my chief complaints with all of them has been that annoying “nag screen” that always pops up when you turn the device on. This “nag screen” will also pop up the first time you use the Passport IQ but what is nice there is an option from that point forward to deactivate it, which I have done.

The large five inch full color screen is very easy to read even in bright sunlight and the unit is very easy to program and will get you to the address or location you want to go to.

Overall Impressions:

Mounting: The suction cup mounting system that is offered with the IQ is very stable and capable of holding the unit in place on your windshield.

Menu System: There are three separate menu systems for the IQ making programming a snap. Simply touch and navigate though it’s simple and easy to follow menu system to program the advanced features of the radar/laser detector.Map features view maps and current location

-          Go To touch and go to create a route, get directions or find thousands of points of interest.

Driver Information: To Have this much data at your fingertips on a five inch screen is amazing!

-          Current vehicle speed and posted speed limit; Useful to know if you’re exceeding the posted speed limit in real time.

-          Mark Location; Is there a certain location that you would like to mark such as a speed trap in your area? Just press a button, the location is marked for future reference.

-          Current Location and Route of Travel; Stay on course to your destination with easy to follow voice and visual prompts.

-          Photo Enforcement; Alerts you of approaching photo enforcement cameras in advance.

-          Radar and Laser Alerts; Displayed with a bright red LED with numeric frequency of the threat displayed on the five inch screen. You can also select the type of audio alert from tone alert to full voice alerts.

Additional Features:

Optional blue tooth capabilities for hands free calling and live traffic reporting will be offered for the Passport IQ sometime during the 1^st half of 2011.

Potential Issues:

Guys, if you think that you can keep this detector all to yourself you are WRONG! Even though my wife is married to the “Radar Roy” she hates having a radar detector mounted on the dash of her SUV and hates all those annoying false alerts those other radar detectors have. So once she saw the Passport IQ her first question was where is mine?

Another issue is having the cord dangling down from your windshield into your cigarette lighter. Those of you that already own another Escort/Beltronics product who have hard wired your detector will be happy to know that the Passport IQ also uses the familiar RJ-11 power plug. Those of you that have never hardwired a radar detector and are interested in learning how, I would recommend that you watch our video on YouTube on how to direct wire your radar detector.

Overall Findings:

The Passport IQ is truly a game changer for the radar detector industry in that it combines a high performance radar detector, a GPS and more into one unit that easily mounts to your windshield.

What are your thoughts about the Passport IQ? Please have your voice heard by leaving a comment in the comment area below.

Drive Safe and Smart….

Since there has been allot of innovation in our industry and it seems that it has flew by Mike unnoticed.

Stealth to the Spectre RDD: The “famous brands” as you like Mike calls Escort and Beltronics were the first (and only company) to figure out how to defeat the Spectre RDD (radar detector detector) with their introduction of the Bel STi.

Mike did place a winning bid on Ebay for a Spectre RDD, but I can only assume it is sitting on his shelf in his lab collecting dust as his V1 can still be detected.

GPS Integration: Then the “famous brands” beat him the punch again with the integration of GPS into their radar detectors with their introduction of the Escort 9500i and the Escort 9500ix.

Long Range Sensitivity: Then last year that “famous brand” Escort company came out with their Redline radar detector which has longer range, sensitivity and filtering then the V1.

Now with 2011 a few months away Mike’s patent on the dual antenna system will expire thus turning his “extraordinary” radar detector as he calls it into ordinary.

But what really leads me to take notice of Mike’s lack of innovation these past years was this recent magazine advertisement that he ran.

It was the same ad that Mike developed over 15 years ago after attending one of Joe Sugarman’s training conferences and published way back then!

Hell, he didn’t even change the testimonials to freshen it up a bit!

Mike has become lazy driving around in his Porsche while his dusty old Spectre sits on his shelf and has reverted to running old magazine ads from 15 years ago.

Those other “famous brands” are famous because of one thing, they INNOVATE!

“Radar” Roy Reyer

One uninvited guest who crashed our event was the CEO of Laser Interceptor, Ivan.

Ivan related that he heard about our test and made a special trip with a new laser jammer that he had under development called the Laser Interceptor.

Ivan had a challenge, he would install a prototype quad head unit on our Freightliner motor home and he would guarantee me that it would jam any police laser gun that we put up against it.

We took him up on his challenge and I was amazed, jam to gun.

Once Ivan’s unit went into production I had to get one for my Ford F-250.

Laser devices in the USA are regulated by the Food and Drug administration and there are no federal laws on the books that specifically outlaw laser jamming devices.

However there are a number of states such as California, Colorado, Illinois and Virginia that do specifically outlaw the use of these devices within their states.

I would recommend that you check out the laws in your state or download my buyers guide at RadarRoysBuyersGuide.com to get a full listing before you install and/or operate a device such as this.

Also the Laser Interceptor is unique from most laser jamming devices sold today such as the Blinder and ZR4 in that it is rated as a Class 1M device.

These laser diodes used in the Laser Interceptor are much more powerful then the Blinder and the ZR4  and it will jam virtually every police laser gun manufactured today!

During the 2007 “Guys of Lidar” test we installed four Laser Interceptor laser jammer heads on my 45 foot long Freightliner motor home. To make matters even worse, you will notice during this video that I have a chrome grill along with a chrome mirrored finish storage area just above the cab of the truck.

Side bets were placed and the odds were all stacked up against my rig and the Laser Interceptor being able to have any effect at jamming.

In the first run we were targeted with the LTI UltraLyte 125 PPS laser gun.

Then on the second run we were targeted with the Pro Laser II laser gun

Then on the third run we were targeted with the Speed Laser gun.

All runs were jam to gun!

It was only during the last run where the “Guys of Lidar” pulled out all the stops and shot my rig with all three guns at the same time!

This was the only run where they were able to clock the speed of my rig as I was less than 500 feet of their location.

As I’m an “iron butt” rider, my Screamin Eagle Ultra Classic is outfitted with the very best in speed countermeasure equipment and I have it outfitted with an Escort 8500 X50, the HARD system and a chrome handle bar mount along with the Blinder M-27 laser jamming system.

My $900.00 dollar plus investment in outfitting my bike maybe a little out of reach for the weekend warrior’s who just want a good radar detector to give them the edge, so last week I installed the new Adaptive Technologies TPX motorcycle radar detector on Margie’s Sportster and we gave it a good workout these last few days.

The TPX system is the only radar detector that is currently designed and marketed for use on motorcycles.

There are several different types of mounts that are available from Adaptiv for use on your bike, the unit is water resistant so you don’t have to take your detector off when it rains, handles shock and vibration very well and has oversized buttons so you can operate the radar detector while riding.

It also has an external LED display that you can mount to your windshield or handle bar that will light up when the detector is activated or an external wireless speaker that you can mount inside your helmet.

During our test the last few days we found that the TPX was on par in performance as the higher end radar detectors from Whistler in that it gave us ample warning of police radar along our journey.

However, what I feel what makes the TPX Motorcycle Radar Detector System attractive to those of us who like to ride the open highway on our bikes is the price!

The TPX retails for $309.95 and you can accessorize the detector for your bike with the mount that will cost an additional $69.99, the visual alert $49.99 and/or the wireless headset for $70.00.

As the QI45 is built on the Escort 8500 X50 platform we found the QI45’s overall performance to be equal to the performance and filtering capabilities of the 8500 and the Bel RX65.

As this was my wife’s car one concern that she expressed when I told her that I would be replacing her dash mounted Escort was to make sure that this detector didn’t have a lot of “chatter” otherwise she wouldn’t use it.

After a couple days driving with the QI45 she told me that the detector had already saved her from one ticket and that she liked the fact that the display module was mounted in a location that was easily accessible to her, so when it did alert, she could easily press the mute button.

We also installed the optional Shifter Pack, which provided us with frontal laser jamming capabilities.

The following is my video review of the QI 45 with the optional Shifter Pack:

In my final review of the QI45 radar detector I rate the unit with my highest rating, Five Badges!

If you’re in the market for a remote mounted radar detector and laser jammer that is easy to install and will not break your bank account, then the QI45 would be a top pick!

Typical installs can take me a couple hours and more complex installs can even take days. So when I heard about the Escort Radar’s claim that the typical install for the QI45 was under 45 minutes, I was a little skeptical.

QI45’s name represents Escort’s commitment to develop a radar detector that any automotive buff could install in under 45 minutes. I.e.; Quick Install 45.

During our installation we also installed Escort’s Shifter Pack during this same install.

Prior to our install we read the user manual and install manual for both units in full and laid out our plans.

We chose to us an “Add a Circuit” to the positive wiring harness so we could plug into an accessory socket in our fuse box. We chose the radio accessory as the detector would activate when we started the car and then turn off when we removed the key.

We then removed the lower portion of our Toyota’s dashboard and installed the controller module by zip tying it to a bracket under the dash.

The front of the antenna of the QI45 has laser diodes for laser detection. Therefore the front of the radar antenna should not be blocked by the grill or any other object. We chose a location in the lower drivers side grill area.

We choose the upper bumper area of our Toyota to mount the two Shifter heads. As we didn’t want to drill into the bumper or grill, we selected 3M double sided automotive tape to secure both the radar antenna and both Shifter heads.

To the rear of the QI45’s antenna, there are two jacks to plug in the Shifter heads.  This is a great feature as typically the cabling for the laser jammer s must be run through the firewall along with the radar detector cable.

Care must be taken to align the plugs to the antenna by aligning two white dots. If this is reversed you could damage your system.

A little tip; tape over the head of the RJ45 plug prior to pushing it through the firewall, this will help protect the little plastic tab on the jack.

Next we installed the display module on the lower right portion of the dashboard.

We then plugged the three RJ45 cables into the controller, screwed down our ground and turned the key.

Within moments the QI45 came to life.

We screwed on the lower portion of the dash, made last minute adjustments to the laser shifter heads and closed the hood. Total time for install, 54 minutes!

The installation of the QI45 easiest remote radar detector install that I’ve ever made and I’m certain that anyone with basic automotive repair skills can do a similar install in under an hour.

During this year’s CES show I had an opportunity to play with the Pocket Radar and to interview Chris Stewart, The COO of the company.

Look for the Pocket Radar on RadarBusters.com this spring were it will retail for around $249.95