AutoScan versus Highway Mode...A Closer Examination.

As some of my friends and close followers [of my postings] already know, I recently drove to Atlanta, GA and back from Philadelphia, PA, to attend a conference with my good friend and business associate RadarRoy (of radarbusters.com).

Instead of flying, I decided to drive it -- all in the name of testing the latest radar detectors (including new models from both Whistler and Cobra). I managed to take copious notes on my traveling experiences and will include a summary of them in my upcoming blog postings and our full-review entitled "the ultimate radar detector review 2007." Our trip included a journey through Virginia (where radar detector usage is still banned in Draconian fashion) -- you can guess which radar detector we used for that portion of the trip. We also managed to visit our friends at Cricket Ventures (buyradardetectors.com) in Rock Hill, SC.

It's going to take a bit of additional time to compile all of those experiences and post them. That is something that is in very short supply of late since a lot of things are going on both in my personal and business life. (For example, my sister is tying the knot this weekend and the pre-wedding activities, alone, are demanding on what little time I have).

As you may already know, I recently purchased another retail model of the Beltronics STi Driver, which brings my current ownership count to two units. Once I got familiar with the operation characteristics of both them (on both an absolute and relative basis) I decided to take a unique approach to empirically examining the actual effect of operating the radar detectors in AutoScan mode.

One particular reviewer -- Craig Peterson of RadarTest.com -- has mentioned the use of AutoScan mode (in terms of generally quieting Bel's and Escort's detectors 'even more') but has not gone into depth about its utility and generally recommends to drive with the radar detectors in Highway mode when on the highway -- to maximize their effective performance by minimizing filtering. All other tests with which I have read (such as SpeedZones.com or GuysofLidar.com), either in print or on-line, always focus on performance of their tested radar detectors set in Highway mode (or in the V1's case -- all bogeys mode).

But since the default settings of Beltronics and Escort radar detectors are, in fact, AutoScan mode, I felt it was high time to really explore, in depth, the actual effect of running their detectors in AutoScan while driving on the highway and around town.

And what better way to do this than with two BEL STi Drivers running concurrently.

First things first: Establishing a Base-Line with both BEL STi Driver Radar Detectors

Before I could really explore the effect of AutoScan, I have taken a few weeks and about 3500 miles of driving with both of them in Highway mode. In this manner, I was able to accurately access the intra-model performance production variances of each radar detector.

My conclusions are the latest STi Driver that I purchased is slightly "hotter" on X-band and Ka-band reception (at least on the observed frequencies of 33.8Ghz, 34.7Ghz, and 35.5Ghz) while not being quite as "hot" on K-band reception. These performance variations are relatively small (about 1-2 seconds max between each radar detector) and not completely consistent. In other words, the new BEL STi Driver doesn't always beat my other STi Driver. But, it does enough times for me to draw these basic conclusions.

Empirical Findings of AutoScan mode (BEL STi Driver)

After several weeks of close examination of each radar detector (run in AutoScan and Highway modes) and many additional miles I believe I have formulated some opinions which may be helpful for you to determine whether AutoScan is the right mode you or not.

It appears that AutoScan mode effectively reduces sensitivity to both X-band and K-band by a very little bit and reduces sensitivity to non-police Ka-radar bands while not effecting reception performance to (at least) the three U.S. police radar Ka-bands (33.8Ghz, 34.7Ghz, and 35.5Ghz). To the contrary it appears that reception performance may actually increase (slightly) on those three police radar Ka-Bands relative to their Highway setting counterparts.

I write effectively because I believe their is much more to AutoScan than merely "dialing-back" sensitivity to certain radar bands. I believe the detector still receives the signal but it may be doing some additional processing to "squelch" the initial reporting of weak X, K, and non-essential Ka signals that normally would register about a 0-3 signal strength level. It may also be that the (listening) sweeping pattern (remember a radar detector is a very specialized radio-scanner) may be altered so that an AutoScan'd radar detector may actually focus a greater amount of time on Ka (in the case of the STi Driver, at least) at the slight expense of both X and K-bands. Or it may be a combination of all of these. Regardless of how Beltronics actually accomplishes their advanced filtering, the ultimate effect, is slightly reduced sensitivity to X and K and non-essential Ka.

And I do mean slightly...nothing really dramatic...just enough to eliminate some of the observed variance advantages of one detector over the other.

The benefit to all of this advanced filtering is a quieter radar detector! Gone are are a good number of X and K "falses" one often receives with a high-end radar detector when traveling on the highway by interchanges and adjacent shopping centers. Gone too are the occasional Ka-falses which occur from other cheap radar detectors which leak RF (harmonics in the wide Ka-band) at frequencies like (a reported) 33.458Ghz.

AutoScan does not appear to have any adverse impact on the Beltronics STi Driver's ability to report multiple and simultaneous radar encounters. Each radar detector seemed equally adept at identifying concurrent encounters of X and K-band regardless of the filtering mode selected.

So the trade-off appears to be a very slight reduction to both X and K reception -- in some cases -- for getting an even quieter detector which falses even less frequently. Having driving with Valentines for many years, I am really warming up to the quieter nature of the Beltronics STi Driver since it really doesn't appear to come at the expense of extreme sensitivity to real bona-fide police radar traps. Too much sensitivity without advanced filtering becomes painful over time and your mind can start to do its own filtering (eg; ignoring) which may not be a good thing.

Empirical Findings of AutoScan mode (BEL RX65-Pro and Escort 8500 X50)

Over the years I have examined the performance of AutoScan mode relative to Highway mode on both the Escort Passport 8500 X50 and the Beltronics RX-65 Pro radar detectors and although I haven't published anything, I have formulated some opinions which I will share with you now.

AutoScan appears to have a very interesting effect on the Escort Passport 8500 X50 (of which I own four -- two blue and two red). It appears that K-band reception actually improves slightly where X and Ka reception is affected similarly to the Beltronics STi Driver.

The Beltronics RX65-Pro detector doesn't quite seem to be affected to the same degree as the Passport 8500 X50 (at least in terms of K-band reception).

I suspect these performance variations in operating modes may be tied to an altered sweeping pattern for listening. In the instance of the 8500 X50, the detector may have allocated more time to listening to K-band relative to X and/or other parts of the Ka-band that are not police radar. The Beltronics, in general, feels a little quicker and as a result performance changes are somewhat less noticeable.

Conclusion

At least for now, I am going to continue driving with my STi Drivers with POP-OFF and AutoScan on (which is their factory default operating mode). You may want to try the same -- for your own edification -- you may actually prefer it.

Regardless of which mode you use, it's good to know that both Beltronics and Escort are continuing to push the envelope on super-advanced filtering modes -- that have minimal adverse impact of genuine police radar reception -- to deliver their owners the most enjoyable high-end radar detector ownership experience possible.

I can't wait to see how the Escort Passport 9500i matures over time!

Veil Guy

How (I Think, in Part) my BEL STi Drivers Occasionally Outperform my V1s in RADAR (not LIDAR) Reception

I continue to notice, that on occasion, my Beltronics STi Drivers outperform my Valentines and I believe I have formulated a possible reason for this that may go beyond simple model to model variance that is inevitable in production.

While my V1s tend to consistently outperform my STi Drivers from the rear and extreme sides (likely due to the antennae [one rear-facing] and their relatively large/wide shape(s) that uniquely are housed inside a Valentine's casing) my STi Drivers appear to occasionally alert sooner to police radar sources that are farther down the road which more directly face my vehicle front. (These are the kind that I am most concerned about when I drive on the highway).

And I think that this is probably due to the actual design and shape of the STi Driver's front facing horn antennae. It almost feels like these radar detectors "look" at [frontal radar sources] objects with a 600mm telephoto lens versus the Valentine's 550mm lens. At least that is the impression I am forming after many many thousands of driving miles with each.

While the V1's dual antennae arrangement and radar/laser locating arrows are awesome and unique, this design also tends to create a higher initial false rate from the side or rear, as well, so it is to some degree a double-edged sword.

The STi's somewhat "narrower" field of view appears to naturally assist in spotting radar slightly bit farther out, in some cases, while at the same time tending to false a bit less to other radar sources which emanate from shopping centers and outlet stores that are routinely adjacent to the highway. This is true even in "highway mode" and has nothing to do with the advanced radar signal processing that this radar detector is capable of.

It appears the both the Beltronics STi Driver and Valentine 1 provide stellar reception sensitivity in controlled test chambers, however the performance, to which I am writing, goes beyond mere lab numbers and these differences may only be observed in actual use with all the signal-reception-imperfections that real-world environments provide over an extended period of time -- which don't occur in a "vacuum."

This is why we pioneered our unique approach to long-term radar detector testing against real police radar speed traps. Some aspects, of radar detector performance, can not be revealed with mere performance charts.

Next week, we will be driving to and from Atlanta, Georgia, along I-95 and continuing our long-term evaluation of the top-performing best radar detectors.

How to achieve 'jaw dropping' performance from the Beltronics STi Driver

It's pretty late Sunday night and I just got back from a day's worth of driving testing out the relative performance of both the Bel STi Driver (vA4.M9) and the Valentine One (v3.826) and I am pleased to share my recent experiences with you.

I have now driven with this detector for several weekends over recently and have accumulated almost 1600 miles on this new detector and all I can say is, WOW! What a difference a year makes. It's very clear to me that the 'boys' at Beltronics know what they are doing.

The very first model I drove with showed a solid detector in the making, but appeared to be in some need of should we say, 'some sorting out.' Well. it appears that in the interim of 12 or so months, that Beltronics did just that - they sorted this detector out. I have driven throughout four states with this detector - Florida, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania - and have encountered all forms of police radar with this detector (X, K, Ka (33.8Ghz), Ka (34.7Ghz), Ka (35.5Ghz) with most of the speedtrap encounters being of the instant-on kind and I believe it's safe to say that the Bel STi Driver's performance on these fronts in many cases appears to actually exceed the performance of the mighty Valentine One, particularly on X & K band and particularly with this detector set at its default radar reception operating mode of POP RADAR detection OFF*.

In this mode we have found that we are being notified sooner and farther away from known drone radar sources than with the Valentine One and on a regular basis.

Even without POP mode enabled, we are finding that it's X-band reception performance outperforms the Valentine One sometimes dramatically so - for example, we once received a full seven second plus advanced notification - to an instant-on speedtrap using X-band on I-195 Westbound outside of Trenton, NJ. A seven second advantage to [the Valentine One on] an instant-on trap - when one is traveling at 85-90mph - is pretty huge. To be sure, those types of margins didn't and don't always occur and oftentimes they essentially tie, but to see these types of advantages appear more the once over the course of three weekends and about 1600 miles is notable, indeed.

Valentine has pretty much dominated X-band performance, historically, with the RX-65 Pro almost essentially equaling it in many cases. With the new STi Driver, it appears the Beltronics has actually raised the bar a bit on this reception frequency and its is simply breathtaking to behold, really.

Both K-band and Ka-band reception appears to benefit further by leaving POP disabled on this detector. K-band reception also appears to exceed, on a regular basis, the capability of my Valentine One. We need more time with Ka encounters before forming an opinion, but I am going to look forward to putting some serious miles on this detector to ferret out those details.

Does that mean, to me, that the Valentine One is going away any time soon? Not on a bet, but it is truly marvelous to experience this level of performance from another radar detector manufacturer. I always liked the Beltronics RX-65 Pro from the first day I drove with it and it is quickly becoming apparent to me that Beltronics is not going to sit on its laurels in any way shape or form. They are pushing the envelope and we enthusiast drivers are the beneficiaries.

Forget about the stealth-nature of this detector (immune to VG-2 and Stalcar/SPECTRE III RDDs) - that's just a nice bonus. The levels of performance this radar detector is achieving is absolutely stunning!

My recommendation to the serious driving enthusiasts out there, is add this radar detector to your arsenal, now.

We'll [You'll] have more, when we get it...

*Thanks to Steve (co-founding member of the Guys of Lidar) - who suggested that I try out the latest version of the STi Driver on highway mode with POP disabled - I can share these results.

Beltronics (BEL) RX-65 Pro Aging Extremely Well

The more I drive with the BEL RX65-Pro from Beltronics, the more I appreciate this sleek radar detector. This detector is thoroughly sorted out, in my opinion.

It consistently provides Valentine-like performance across all the radar bands I encounter on the highways while providing superior ergonomic qualities at the same time. The diminutive RX-65 Pro remains one of my favorite radar detectors of all time.

Veil Guy