Road Angel / etc

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Tahrey1043
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Road Angel / etc

Post by Tahrey1043 »

When does the ban on (buying?) radar detectors come into force, and where's a good place to buy one of these?

Want to nab one whilst it's still possible to do so...
cyhliu
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Post by cyhliu »

Hmmm...yeah, I remember hearing that the radar ones will be banned but not the GPS operated ones such as Road Angel as they are termed 'accident blackspot warning devices' rather than speed camera detection...

Anyone else care to enlighten us all?
fishtoasty
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Post by fishtoasty »

i have a road angel the second version....

very good....

no false readings.....

can turn off annoying black spot warnings :)

Can update new spots of cameras via tin ter net

Ross :D
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Post by GroovyCarrot »

Hmm. Do the GPS ones pick up mobile units as well?
wul3er
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Post by wul3er »

I have the snooper s3 neo, Which you can turn off the accident and school warnings.

I also can update it via the internet, It picks up all but one of the different types of cameras and has no false warings unless you never update it.

The ones it picks up is the mobile one (ie guy at the side of the road), but there is 2 different types of these cameras one is a radar and ones is a laser. My snooper picks up 1 and not the other although im not sure which one it is. I can buy an add on that plugs into it and mounts behind the grill for £100 and that will allow me to pick up the one that i dont pick up now.

The snooper cost me £300 out of the littlewoods catalogue and is certainley one if not THE best thing i have ever purchased for the car.
Si_GTi
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Post by Si_GTi »

This week's Auto Express carried an article regarding the legality of these road angel et al devices for detecting cameras and so on. If anyone has a copy it'll tell you in there when the ban may come into force...

I left my copy on my desk at work on Friday afternoon :x

If no-one has discovered the answer by 8am Monday morning I'll post it up :)

Cheers
Tahrey1043
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Post by Tahrey1043 »

I saw an advert for it a couple days ago which is what reminded me of a previous thought "MUST get camera warning device next payday"... spesh seeing as the day-to-day transport no longer has a fear of 80mph... and payday had been and gone the day before ;)

Apparently it does pick up mobile cams, whether that's the laser ones only though who knows... which is pretty bloody pointless because by the time it picks up the laser gun, lets out it's little beep, and you stand on the anchors, you're already nicked. And of course useless against the radar operated ones if that's all it does (and who wants to run a sweepstakes on how long laser-operated guns will remain in force if radar detection is banned? not long!!! but at least that means you can rig up the old radar-scrambler job mentioned in jolly rogers cookbook.. it all starts with an old microwave, and involves a fair bit of aluminium foil for wave shaping and radiation protection)

Might be an idea to hit the 'bay and get hold of an older model, even if just as backup!
wul3er
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Post by wul3er »

I think the ones the picks up the laser detecters can pick them up well before you get to them giving you plenty of time to slow down if required.

The one i have can be adjusted from 500M to 100M. I have it set to 300M wich still give you plenty of time to get on the brakes.
13twelve
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Post by 13twelve »

apparently they pick up the diffused laser light rather than the direct laser light (a direct hit means your boned)
GroovyCarrot
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Post by GroovyCarrot »

Hmm.. surely once a laser has been diffused it's no longer a laser, and could be any source of light? Would have thought the thing would always be randomly bleeping at you at the slightest hint of a diffused laser beam..
Tahrey1043
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Post by Tahrey1043 »

well it does use a characteristic frequency and it doesn't diffuse by much --- would still appear fairly bright to a narrowband detector

still thought that they tracked you optically with a viewfinder and only fired it to get your speed however - once the thing's turned on, you're basically done for. sods. though if they dont aim right you may have a chance with snap reactions.
13twelve
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Post by 13twelve »

if they laser the car infront you'll know and have time to slow is the basic theory
jon_poloV
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detectors!

Post by jon_poloV »

I have had a few radar / laser gps detectors etc in the past........


1st i had the snooper 815s laser and rader detector. very good and i still think one of the best, but does not operate via gps. so doesnt pick up things which dont emmit radar.

2nd had snooper s6 neo r. This is snoopers best unit so far. This worked on gps had to pay £5 a month for subscription service, but when you used the phoeline, it also charged you like £1.50 per minute to update and took ages!!! so was costing a fortune to run. sometimes wouldnt turn on as too cold and so on. told me speed limt of the road when warned about camera. which was good.

3rd and currently..
I have new road angel. so far been very good got to turn the black spots off cos sometimes when caining it you do need new boxers when it goes of on a motorway.

All the above very expensive but i see it as a must, the fines you may get or the problems you may have if you were caught could lead to much higher costs. Having one doesnt mean you wont get caught but does mean that it helps not being caught. The best place to have one is when you are driving and you have no idea where you are and whats around the corner.

Jon
Si_GTi
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Post by Si_GTi »

Si_GTi wrote:If no-one has discovered the answer by 8am Monday morning I'll post it up :)
I never did find out what the state of play is... because it wasn't in Auto Express - it was in Redline, which has been sat on my desk all weekend :?
Radar speed detectors to be banned

As part of the latest Road Safety Bill, the use of radar-based camera detectors and jammers will soon become illegal. According to police, "They prevent speed enforcement cameras from operating and allow drivers to continue to speed past the camera site. Detectors and diffusers undermine the use of all speed enforcement equipment". No surprise really, because thats exactly what they're for...
Although the ban also covers anything that masks or obscures your number plate, this ruling won't apply to the more popular GPS camera detectors. So, if you do have a jammer, just keep it that little bit more hidden than you do already...
Source: Redline Magazine, Issue #86 Feb 2005

So basically, if you've got a GPS-based camera detector, you're OK. If it's radar-based, you could be breaking the law, once this bill is amended :|
Tahrey1043
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Post by Tahrey1043 »

"sorry guv, didn't know it was illegal -- i bought it from a shop plain as day a few months back, never mentioned to me that i wasn't allowed to use it like! i've just been using it to remind me of the limits and where the blackspots were........ 97mph? really? wow, i think i need this speedo recalibrated"

:D

there's enough cubbies that you could hide it in after all, or even integrate it with never-used dash lights (such as glow plugs LED on a petrol car) so the unit itself remains out of view

and of course, what's to stop you having 2? a radar detector (hidden), and a laser / GPS one in plain sight?

stops GATSOs working, eh? I'd like to see it feed one a dicky speed that made it trigger which i would plainly not be doing, eg 238mph :D
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