If you've ever had the joy of riding along, radar detector online, only to be pulled over by a hidden cop, then there is some news that you might have an interest in hearing. Many of the radar detectors on the market today are not as functional as they claim. In fact, many of them absolutely do not work under real, working conditions. This is due in large part to the development of new radar guns which the police have been only too happy to put into use.



The newer radar guns use a cutting edge radar technology that is called digital signal processing, or DSP. This new technique makes new guns so fast that they are always faster than your twitch reflex of hitting the brakes. By setting them at standby and waiting for a car to come into range, a policemen can lock on and measure the speed of a vehicle in less than four tenths of a second. You don't have to be a fortune teller to know who's going to get a ticket in that situation.

Coupled with this new speed is a lower power footprint that previous detectors. Modern radar guns use Ka band frequency, which uses a very high bandwidth, which is more than fifty times higher than previous, X band radar guns. This means that detectors have a much harder time finding the signal from radar guns. Now, detection signals can work anywhere in the spectrum available, and a radar detector isn't sure which will come at it. So it has to scan the entire length of possibilities, which takes time and reduces detection range, which means that they become less effective.

What's more, instead of having to measure the speed of each car individually, modern radar guns have a program which allows them to measure the speed of the fastest moving vehicle in their range. That means that even if you are hiding behind a semi he he he truck, the police will be able to find your speed. Tough luck, eh?

And things are getting rapidly worse. As the number of old style X band radar guns decreases and the new ones increase, the number of effective radar guns will go down as well.

So, now you will have to do some homework and check out the ratings available that treat radar detectors. Depending on your particular situation you may want to look for a detector that is rated highly for hi way driving. Or if you do most of your commuting in the city, then you may want a detector that has a well designed filter that will cut down on false alarms but not greatly lose range of detection.

Whatever detector you choose, you're going to have to live with the fact that detectors are going to have to continue evolving to match the continually evolving threat of radar guns, and that no one detector will keep you safe now, or forever.