Safely Evading VASCAR, Electronic Timing Speed Enforcement

Earlier this evening I stumbled into a VASCAR/electronic timing speedtrap at a rate well in excess of the posted limit.

Fortunately I noticed an unmarked cruiser--sitting dark in an adjacent gas station--during the time that I was between the two painted timing strips on the road.

I immediately turned on my high-beams to change the illumination pattern of my headlights and was successful at preventing an accurate time-track of my vehicle while not having to abruptly slam my brakes (I was too far into the speed trap for braking to have likely made much of an impact on my average speed).

Contrary to what some may believe, VASCAR and other electronic timing methods can be and are easily made by tracking the trailing portion of one's headlights between two points on the road (which can be timing strips or arbitrary stationary objects).

If you ever find yourself in such a speed trap, think of this technique as it may just save you as it did me, today.

For those of you who celebrate this holiday, please have a safe and enjoyable Thanksgiving and if you happen to be driving sometime in the coming days, remember they are out in force!

Veil Guy

Another Reason Why I Prefer To Do My Serious Long Distance Driving With Two High-End Radar Detectors

As many of you already know, I recently drove in a transcontinental rally (race) from Orlando, Florida to Beverly Hills, California.

While Roy and I often rotated radar detector combinations, when traveling at hyper speeds, my personal preference was to use both the Valentine One and the Beltronics STi Driver.

It's been my experience that driving with both radar detectors provides you with the best of both worlds.

With the V1, you gets:

• The very best laser detection available (in a windshield-mounted radar detector)
• Ultra-high level of radar reception ability
  
• Directional information of the source(s) of police radar/police laser
• One of the very best signal ramps in the industry (for quickly determining the severity of the threat)
  

With the Bel STi Driver, you get:

• Ultra-high level of radar reception ability
• Display of actual transmitting frequency (particularly useful for rapidly identifying real Ka threats)
  
• Auto-muting

With Both of Them in Operation, you get:

• The best of both worlds
  
• One other benefit (something that has now happened more than once) -- a check and balance system on radar reception.

And this time it was the Beltronics STi Driver which exhibited the reception issue (the last time it was the Valentine One, which turned out to be in need of a tuning).

During one of our radar encounters, the Valentine alerted to what appeared to be an approaching Ka source out in front somewhere. The entire duration of the radar encounter may have been in excess of 50 seconds. In not one of those seconds did the Bel STI Driver alert to the presence of Ka-band--remaining silent the entire time of the radar encounter.

Based upon the findings of a particular radar/laser enthusiast group, my conclusion was that the band in question was likely that of the less popular 33.8Ghz.

Had it not been for my updated/tuned Valentine, I would have not been alerted to its use.

I expect to send my Beltronics STi Driver in for a check-up/tune-up just as I did my V1 when it too missed a bona-fide radar encounter.

I know my handling and care for each radar detector could be better (I tend to leave them up on the windshield during the hot summer sun when I park).

For me, driving with two different high-end radar detectors (which have demonstrated to be compatible together) provides me an additional level of confidence while "seriously" driving for extended distances.

I expect to share more of my experiences of this cross country rally including some of the techniques I used to keep my ticket accumulation to an absolute minimum.

Veil Guy

Whistler Pro 78/ Whistler XTR-690 Updates Finalized

I am pleased to report today that the Whistler Group has finalized their enhancement updates to their venerable Pro-78 and XTR-690 top-of-the-line windshield-mount radar detectors and have generously decided to make these updates available at "cost" for existing Pro-78 and XTR-690 owners interested in having their detectors updated to the latest "REV C" firmware code.

To be clear, this update is entirely an elective one best suited for the "road-warrior" or "hard-core" radar detector user, as either of these radar detectors provide top-end performance in their current form.

Rev C provides the following enhancements:

Ergonomic:

Improved auto dimming function
Police laser voice alert sequence now in line with radar voice alert sequence
Added slight display hold to brief alerts to allow visual confirmation

Performance:

With POP OFF, improvement, most notably, to radar reception of USA bands (33.8Ghz, 34.7Ghz, 35.5Ghz) and European bands (34.0Ghz, 34.3Ghz), Gatso, and the polarized radar sources of Multanova and RAMET.

According to the Whistler Group:

Rev C has been released for the Pro 78 and XTR 690 and developed for our
international customers that do not require POP and wish to take
advantage of some performance increases when in the POP OFF mode.

It is Whistler's strong suggestion to operate the unit in the POP ON mode
for the USA and as such, the software changes will make no performance
difference vs. the previous revisions when operated in the POP ON mode.

The changes are not essential to the USA market however we will offer
the Rev C to our USA consumers that desire it.

There will be a flat fee of $20 to upgrade to Rev C to cover the cost of
the upgrade, process, and handling.

USA customer units will be returned with the same [shipping] priority that they were received with the return shipping charges paid for by Whistler.

International customers will be returned via USPS (typical 2-3 week return delivery).

In order to have your unit returned to you quickly and to evenly distribute this process across two locations, Whistler asks that Rev A units be sent to the Massachusetts address and the Rev B units be sent to the Arkansas address.

The Rev can be checked by holding the city button then applying power to the unit.

Rev A Units Send To:

Whistler Product Development
168 Ayer Rd.
Littleton, MA. 01460

Rev B Units Send To:

Whistler Repair Center
551 North 13th Street
Rogers, AR 72756

Please be sure to include with your unit; your name, address, phone number, email address and a cashier's check, money order, or credit card information to cover the $20 fee.

I would personally like to thank the folks at Whistler for being as responsive and as dedicated to supporting their customers in the manner in which they have.

For a nominal and very reasonable fee (as compared to other manufacturers), we hard-core Whistler fans have the ability to extend the performance life of our Pro-78 and XTR-690 radar detectors without being forced to purchase an entirely new model.

Please join me in expressing your thanks to Whistler for providing the highest levels of customer support!

Veil Guy