Valentine One

[Thug]

JimV

Didn't you know you are not allowed to express your opinion or have a differing one from that of the usual suspects oh yeah... because failing to go with the flow with "those who know" will bring scorn and hypersensitive reactionary tones from others who have nothing better to do?

Please in future refrain from verbalising such intelligent comment and provocative statements which clearly have a different view. I trust this won’t happen again….or you could do what I do when the bullshit gets too deep and just tell purveyors of obtuseness to get fucked..Works for me

Cheers mate

 

[jestal]

While I respect your right to reach whatever conclusions that you want to, the notion that is a given that the V1 is the best is just silly. Jim

Sorry. I guess this statement is what got under my skin a bit.

Obviously there are a lot of sources of "data" about detectors but it seemed the question was aimed at what this forum's members thought about the detectors they used.

Without ever having used a V1 you really do not know how well it might work and how effective the arrows are. Seems like you are just trying to convince us that you made the right decision to buy something other than a V1. Trust me, the arrows alone are worth the cost of admission.

I do notice a trend among my friends and others who have bought a V1. They all hated to spend the extra $$$ for a V1 and contrived all sorts of rationals to purchase a different detector. Funny thing is that when they finally get a V1 they all wish they had saved the money they spent on earlier detectors and had bought the V1 in the first place. I personally have not run across a single person that has used a V1 that ditched it and bought something else to replace it. That in itself speaks magnitudes about how well it works. I do know people like myself that have a box of old radar detectors that were ditched in favor of the V1.

I would just like to save others the same experience and get them into the V1 to start with. Saves them aggravation and money and doesn't taint their opinion of radar detectors in general.

Another telling feature is that the V1 is the gold standard that all other detectors immediately have to "prove" that they are better than. This has been true for a decade. Seems like in every radar detector comparison the V1 invariably ends up at or near the top of the heap. No other detector seems that good that consistently.

Mine is far from a slavish devotion to a V1 like some people's attraction to a Harley that you compare it to. I have used a lot of different detectors over the years and found thru personal experience that the V1 works better. You haven't used one at all for years, picked up one based on other people's printed reports, used it a month and are arguing that people with a V1 are simply devoted to it because of it's name or reputation or something??? Come back when you've got several hundred thousand miles of driving with a detector and I will be glad to debate the subject with you. About all you know about detectors at this point is what you paid for yours.

The thing to be wary of with all the reports and tests is that those people pick up the detectors and test them and drive a 40 mile loop or something and write their rag. As mentioned, a radar detector is just another tool to tell you what is going on. It's readings and inputs can be very subtle on occasion and you really need to live with it for thousands of miles to start to learn how good it really is (or isn't). Once again, dismissing the input from people that have done that with a V1 and are willing to say it is the "best" ought to be a strong data point for you rather than try and invent some logic to explain their "fervent and exclusive attraction to them" as if they are idiots and just following the crowd.

One thing not mentioned previously about the V1 is that it never really is obsolete. You can send it in for updates as the state of the art improves. No other detector offers that level of support that I know of. I know some of the "updates" are not cheap but at least V1 supports their loyal customers where the other detectors seem to try and get your business based on the "value" ...i.e...cheap price.....of their units and then try to sell you the latest and greatest version next year.

V1's are also handy in that you can make your own cords and cables with telephone wire and telephone connectors. For a $5 tool at HomeDepot you can crimp up enough cables to put in every vehicle you own to swap the V1 around in without undressing the car or bike each time to take the application specific cables wtih it.

 

[S76]

Without ever having used a V1 you really do not know how well it might work and how effective the arrows are. Seems like you are just trying to convince us that you made the right decision to buy something other than a V1. Trust me, the arrows alone are worth the cost of admission.
I do notice a trend among my friends and others who have bought a V1. They all hated to spend the extra $$$ for a V1 and contrived all sorts of rationals to purchase a different detector. Funny thing is that when they finally get a V1 they all wish they had saved the money they spent on earlier detectors and had bought the V1 in the first place. I personally have not run across a single person that has used a V1 that ditched it and bought something else to replace it. That in itself speaks magnitudes about how well it works. I do know people like myself that have a box of old radar detectors that were ditched in favor of the V1.

I would just like to save others the same experience and get them into the V1 to start with. Saves them aggravation and money and doesn't taint their opinion of radar detectors in general.

Another telling feature is that the V1 is the gold standard that all other detectors immediately have to "prove" that they are better than. This has been true for a decade. Seems like in every radar detector comparison the V1 invariably ends up at or near the top of the heap. No other detector seems that good that consistently.

Mine is far from a slavish devotion to a V1 like some people's attraction to a Harley that you compare it to. I have used a lot of different detectors over the years and found thru personal experience that the V1 works better. You haven't used one at all for years, picked up one based on other people's printed reports, used it a month and are arguing that people with a V1 are simply devoted to it because of it's name or reputation or something??? Come back when you've got several hundred thousand miles of driving with a detector and I will be glad to debate the subject with you. About all you know about detectors at this point is what you paid for yours.

The thing to be wary of with all the reports and tests is that those people pick up the detectors and test them and drive a 40 mile loop or something and write their rag. As mentioned, a radar detector is just another tool to tell you what is going on. It's readings and inputs can be very subtle on occasion and you really need to live with it for thousands of miles to start to learn how good it really is (or isn't). Once again, dismissing the input from people that have done that with a V1 and are willing to say it is the "best" ought to be a strong data point for you rather than try and invent some logic to explain their "fervent and exclusive attraction to them" as if they are idiots and just following the crowd.

One thing not mentioned previously about the V1 is that it never really is obsolete. You can send it in for updates as the state of the art improves. No other detector offers that level of support that I know of. I know some of the "updates" are not cheap but at least V1 supports their loyal customers where the other detectors seem to try and get your business based on the "value" ...i.e...cheap price.....of their units and then try to sell you the latest and greatest version next year.

V1's are also handy in that you can make your own cords and cables with telephone wire and telephone connectors. For a $5 tool at HomeDepot you can crimp up enough cables to put in every vehicle you own to swap the V1 around in without undressing the car or bike each time to take the application specific cables wtih it.

That may all be true, but you have to admit, it doesn't look as good as the Beltronics or the Escort. I am a superficial person and in my opinion (and from my experience) the unit needs to look as good as it works. I have to go with a unit that is stylish.

 

[JimV]

While I respect your right to reach whatever conclusions that you want to, the notion that is a given that the V1 is the best is just silly.

Jim

Sorry. I guess this statement is what got under my skin a bit.

Without ever having used a V1 you really do not know how well it might work and how effective the arrows are. Seems like you are just trying to convince us that you made the right decision to buy something other than a V1. Trust me, the arrows alone are worth the cost of admission.

V1's are also handy in that you can make your own cords and cables with telephone wire and telephone connectors. For a $5 tool at HomeDepot you can crimp up enough cables to put in every vehicle you own to swap the V1 around in without undressing the car or bike each time to take the application specific cables wtih it.

True. I regretted saying "silly" after I had done it. I didn't intend to be perjorative. Once Rad made his comment, I decided to apologize rather than simply editing the first post.

Sure, the V1 has cool arrows. But can it tell you what voltage your charging system is running at? My car doesn't have a dash mounted voltmeter. The V1 is also very difficult to program without the manual. And can the V1 tell you what frequency the received signal is? Perhaps once I get some time with my detector I'll be able to tell if the received signal is the county sheriff or the state bull. AFAIK, the V1 can't do that. Pffft! So much of what these things do is the product of the DSP code running in them, I wish that there was some way to evaluate the DSP feature set. I've read posts by V1 owners saying that, even though they prefer the V1, that the BEL or the Escort generate fewer false alerts.

I think that the BEL and Escort units both use RJ-11 connectors as well so that's a wash.

Still, I don't have much current radar detector experience. I've been skeptical about even having one for 20 years. If I were reading this forum I would value your opinion more than mine because you have more experience than I. Its also why I didn't post anything claiming to know what's best. And I hope I don't end up selling mine at a loss on Ebay to buy a V1. But I still maintain that, while everyone agrees that the V1 is a fine unit, there is no global given that it is the best. That said, having read all of your other posts, I would put a lot of weight behind your opinion here.

However, even if V1 is the best, having a few serious competitors is good for all consumers of these devices. If Honda and Toyota hadn't come to America, would the average GM, Chrysler or Ford car have anywhere near the build quality that they do today? (OK, so maybe that was a bit of a potshot but, having grown up in Michigan, I think it is true.) As I recall, Mr. Valentine originally said that POP mode was crap and wouldn't work. But he added it to the V1 in response to competitive pressure.

BTW, if I end up junking the one that I have, I'm going to post in this thread admitting it so you can give me a stern "I told you so".

Cheers.

Edit: Here's a cool reason to own a V1, software that let's you log alerts to a PC. You could probably write some code to combine this with GPS data. Then go find a cop, note his position and make runs past him logging the data. Just imagine the cool plots that you might be able to come up with. :yahoo:

BTW, based on what I've seen in Japan, hopefully we'll see detectors here soon with integrated GPS. This allows you to have an upgradable database of speed cameras as well as to log locations where false alerts happen and have the detector ignore them in the future. Perhaps soon just having directional arrows won't be enough.

 

[radman]

I don't run a detector anymore, the speed in which cop tech was advancing was bankrupting my avoidence account rapidly, so I haven't had one since I retired the Escort, about 8 years ago. I owned one of the first ones out, the good 'ol Fuzzbuster, pre Superhet issue, in the 70's. It went off almost constantly in town, so was useless until in a rural area. Later ones were the Fuzz 2000, a Bearcat or two, until the original Escort came out. It won one of the first Car&Driver tests, by a big margin, and was the first detector to concentrate on eliminating falsing, the bane of detector ownership. If you couldn't trust the signal, you began to ignore it, until you were presented with a Welcome to the State of _______ Certificate. The Escort was the first reliable detector I owned, Vu meter and all. I liked it so much, that when it was stolen from my Rabbit GTI, I promptly spent another fortune getting another. It was designed by the creator of the V1. It saved me thousands of dollars.

I still have the knowledge gained from running detectors for 25 years though, and it has served me well. Instant on,used correctly, will still defeat any ELINT one may be carrying, and those who come to over-rely on a detector will still get nailed by a cop running in EMCON mode. I might run one again, and if I do, I won't hesitate to purchase the Valentine, he and I go way back, and I still consider him the best of the best when it comes to detect technology.

Edit: Though that8500 Escort looks pretty damn good......

 

[devanator]

Well thanks for the replies guys. I didn't know this was going to be this colorful of post.

 

[JimV]

The Escort was the first reliable detector I owned, Vu meter and all. I liked it so much, that when it was stolen from my Rabbit GTI, I promptly spent another fortune getting another. It was designed by the creator of the V1. It saved me thousands of dollars.

I still have the knowledge gained from running detectors for 25 years though, and it has served me well. Instant on,used correctly, will still defeat any ELINT one may be carrying, and those who come to over-rely on a detector will still get nailed by a cop running in EMCON mode.

Edit: Though that8500 Escort looks pretty damn good......

Rad, that Escort is the exact same one that I had. Until a month ago, it was the last one that I owned over 20 years ago. That unit must be where Mr. Valentine developed his affection for units built like a tank. It sure was great for the time. But I don't remember them having instant-on back then let alone LIDAR. I totally agree with your EMCON comment. No detector is going to save you from the stalker who is willing to be patient and wait for your speeding ass to go flying by or pick you out from behind the rabbit that you're following down the freeway. The WSP scared the bejeezus out of me twice last Thursday coming back from Pullman to Bellevue in WA.

Thanks for the memories. That picture sure takes me back.

Cheers.

 

[jestal]

I still have the knowledge gained from running detectors for 25 years though, and it has served me well.

Cheers.

Memories, hell. I still have one of those Escorts and actually still use it on my CBX....which is a museum piece itself. I made a semi-permanent mount for the old Escort on the CBX way back when and when I retired it I just left it mounted on the CBX. Since the CBX only serves poseur duties these days the old Escort adds a bit of nostaglia to the nostalgic CBX. It is totally period correct....LOL LOL

Rad, you are absolutely right in what you way about habits learned after I was thinking about it. I have learned a lot about LEO activity and speed traps from watching radar detectors for years. So much of the avoidance techniques that you pick up from the detectors comes naturally these days so the V1 is not what "saves" me quit frequently. It still goes off in an appropriate fashion, though and occasionally still beats the gut instinct.

I would agree that the V1 is not the most stylish of the lot but the fact that it hasn't changed in 20 years or so must mean that it is "shaped" pretty well. Not being a slave to fashion (just look at the little spoilers I added to the cooling gills on the fairing...LOL) that part of it doesn't bother me in the least.

I would say that over the years the most number of saves attributed to the radar detector is not from avoiding out and out speeding but from alerting me to the presence of an un-noticed cop just before I might have rolled thru a stop sign or pulled a hole shot or done some other stupid stunt. Since many cops, especially in the city or in small towns, leave their radar one all the time the detector will go off thus drawing attentiont to the cop sitting in the parking lot just before I tried to squeeze thru on a yellow or make a right turn on red when there was a "No right turn on red" sign sitting there I hadn't noticed.

 

[tripletango]

Think the best system out there is the Escort 8500 X50 with the laser shifter installed on the bike. The lazer is hard to beat!

Most modern detectors do a good job on all types of radars. The Valentine is rated highly as is the Bel and the Escort.

The lazer shifter is the icing on the cake.

It costs about as much as a small bike but they are worth it according to a friend that has one

The Escort was the first reliable detector I owned, Vu meter and all. I liked it so much, that when it was stolen from my Rabbit GTI, I promptly spent another fortune getting another. It was designed by the creator of the V1. It saved me thousands of dollars.

I still have the knowledge gained from running detectors for 25 years though, and it has served me well. Instant on,used correctly, will still defeat any ELINT one may be carrying, and those who come to over-rely on a detector will still get nailed by a cop running in EMCON mode.

Edit: Though that8500 Escort looks pretty damn good......

Rad, that Escort is the exact same one that I had. Until a month ago, it was the last one that I owned over 20 years ago. That unit must be where Mr. Valentine developed his affection for units built like a tank. It sure was great for the time. But I don't remember them having instant-on back then let alone LIDAR. I totally agree with your EMCON comment. No detector is going to save you from the stalker who is willing to be patient and wait for your speeding ass to go flying by or pick you out from behind the rabbit that you're following down the freeway. The WSP scared the bejeezus out of me twice last Thursday coming back from Pullman to Bellevue in WA.

Thanks for the memories. That picture sure takes me back.

Cheers.

Don't want to show my age but the first one I had was the original fuzzbuster!

 

[Toecutter]

So Devanator, why don't you try and arrange a group buy for the forum buddies?

 

[HIGHLANDER]

So Devanator, why don't you try and arrange a group buy for the forum buddies?

Valentine does not do group buys ! He never has and probably never will :glare:

 

[mmorgan24]

Used that old slab of an Escort from 86-92 and then purchased a V1 I guess in 95 or so. Never been without one or two since then - save me alot more than it's cost of $400 but like all tools it sometimes fails me. In traffic on the interstate it's just about fool proof. Love it! The arrows, ease of installation, remote display, etc - Thanks MIKE!

 

[jestal]

This post must have created bad karma.....

I popped over a bridge this morning on the way to work (in the car) and ran right into a performance award for 17 over. V1 told me of the laser as I was being clocked. Perfect example of being out in front of a group of traffic (dumb) and not paying attention over a rise. The road is a major artery with 5 lanes in each direction at that point and traffic normally flowing 70 or better as it is an open stretch with no intersections...more like an interstate than a surface street.

Fortunately it seems it is a bit of a revenue generating scheme for the town of Hazel Park police department as it appears. The cop was sitting just inside the border of Hazel Park itself as it transitioned from Detroit to Hazel Park. The middle of the bridge he lazared me cresting is the border of Hazel Park. Very sneaky. He actually lazered me just as I crossed into his jourisdiction.

No worries, though. He ignored the speeding violation and gave me a lesser traffic citation for "Impeding Traffic". No points, no notification to the Secretary of State, etc. but the fine is $150.00 !!!! Same as for 20 over the speed limit. Do they have a scam going or what? Nail "speeders" on a 5 lane wide section of a major artery where the limit is 40 (and the traffic normally flows 70) and then just give them a ticket for no points but $150 so they don't complain and/or fight the ticket.

Oh well. You play, you pay. LOL. As many times as the V1 has saved me you cannot beat laser used effectively.

I just will never live down the insult of getting a traffic ticket written for "Impeding Traffic"....or the irony of getting 17 over reduced to "impeding traffic." He really knew how to hurt a guy. When he handed me the ticket and told me what it was for I did get a laugh out of him by asking if he knew how fast the cars behind me were going if I was 17 over and was "impeding traffic"....

 

[Warchild]

I do notice a trend among my friends and others who have bought a V1. They all hated to spend the extra $$$ for a V1 and contrived all sorts of rationals to purchase a different detector. Funny thing is that when they finally get a V1 they all wish they had saved the money they spent on earlier detectors and had bought the V1 in the first place. I personally have not run across a single person that has used a V1 that ditched it and bought something else to replace it. That in itself speaks magnitudes about how well it works.

Exactly so....

 

[FJRMGM]

once you've used the V1 with the arrows you will wonder how you ever used a detector without them.

The V1 gives less false signals than any other detector I've used.

The V1 is also very difficult to program without the manual

Not sure what you are "programming" on the unit - it's pretty much plug 'n play.

 

[Bounce]

I do notice a trend among my friends and others who have bought a V1. They all hated to spend the extra $$$ for a V1 and contrived all sorts of rationals to purchase a different detector. Funny thing is that when they finally get a V1 they all wish they had saved the money they spent on earlier detectors and had bought the V1 in the first place. I personally have not run across a single person that has used a V1 that ditched it and bought something else to replace it. That in itself speaks magnitudes about how well it works.

Exactly so....

i can vouch for that. i had 2 different detectors after learning about V1. i had the last one modded to have an ear phone jack, too. then (not associated with a rally or certified ride) i got nailed in western texas for 92 in a 70! 6 months later (when the appeal, court costs, and probation were finally done) i spent the money and got the V1 that i should have had in the first place.

 

[radman]

Got my latest issue of "Police Fleet" magazine, and there is an ad you all might be interested in. Lidar Binoculars. The cop simply observes, locates, arms, and hits whatever they are looking at. Mag is at home, was gonna bring it in as it contains several new developments in technology, but forgot it. Will post manufacturer and info on the others later today or tomorrow.

 

[Groo]

Lidar Binoculars.

So the upshot for police officers versus conventional Lidar is ease of use? Don't they already have to "sight" the target a la a gun scope now, so this would just make it a bit easier to use?

 

[radman]

Lidar Binoculars.

So the upshot for police officers versus conventional Lidar is ease of use? Don't they already have to "sight" the target a la a gun scope now, so this would just make it a bit easier to use?

Yeah. They can observe traffic, and bang at leisure, IIRC. I'll see if I can come up with an online source for the material. The scary part is, they could just sit at a bridge or bus stop, and nail away using a personal radio to call up a waiting pursuit. :blink:

 

[red2kcbr]

Aw right, everyone take five minutes to rearrange their panties! It's plain to see they're all bunched up.

:clapping: