What's up with all of the Laser?

[John_Dumke]

My Escort dectector has laser, which almost never goes off. It went off while in Death Valley twice this weekend, but I chalk this up to China Lake navel weapons station and planes.

However when I was going south on the 57 between the 60 and the 22, I saw over 5 CHP traffic stops and my detector picked up laser at least as many times.

Did OC CHP just deploy Laser? Does anybody know anything? This is very odd, as my radar detector has only picks up a laser signal at best once a year. And today it was going off non stop thru that section.

 

[Fairlaner]

yes but just for you.....

R

 

[ionbeam]

My Escort dectector has laser, which almost never goes off. It went off while in Death Valley twice this weekend, but I chalk this up to China Lake navel weapons station and planes.

However when I was going south on the 57 between the 60 and the 22, I saw over 5 CHP traffic stops and my detector picked up laser at least as many times...This is very odd, as my radar detector has only picks up a laser signal at best once a year. And today it was going off non stop thru that section.

Your laser alerts should have nothing to do with the China Lake navel site. In the past some radar detector users on this Forum have insisted that radio frequency (RF) has caused optical (Laser) falsing but IMO the odds of this approach zero.

You may indeed be the victim of rabid CHP activity. Then again, during the fall and spring when the sun angle is lower in the sky it promotes infrared (Laser band) falsing. The falsing can be exacerbated by 'strobing', a fast flickering of light as the sun flashes through trees and past poles. And finally, as radar detectors age their performance becomes more tightly tied to supply voltage inside the unit, so if the motorcycle supply voltage is low or varies it will cause lots of falsing in Laser band long before RF bands. I have had to disassemble and repair a couple of Escorts to fix this situation.

If the problem is within the RD unit, it won't get better over time. If the problem is overzealous CHP activity, that probably won't get better over time either. The only ways you may tell the difference is to send the unit back to Escort for testing/refurb or when you notice increased falsing in rural, CHP free areas.

 

[Hudson]

The other problem may be the laser cruise control, found in many new cars including Mercedes and Infiniti.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0EVesPJPXc&feature=player_embedded

It seems to be more noticeable in the past year.

 

[puppychow]

Probably because of this...

https://www.valentine1.com/lab/answeredalready7.asp

 

[John_Dumke]

The last time I rode my bike was about six months or even more ago. It is likely the release of the Mercedes and Infiniti's, explains the sudden occurance of laser.

I will try to pay attention to what might be setting it off.

 

[ionbeam]

Puppychow's link lends solid support to laser cruise controls and CHMSL (Center High Mounted Stop Lamp) on new cars adding to falsing. Those helpful people at Whistler have 'Easter Egg' functions in their Valentine that will let you turn off the laser detector, they describe doing this like this:

To diagnose my Escort's laser falsing I added one 3" piece of black electrical tape over the laser sensor and I still got lots of laser falsing. This can only mean an internal problem, not external infrared signals causing falsing.

 

[Geezer]

I have had to disassemble and repair a couple of Escorts to fix this situation.

I have an Escort X50 with this problem. Is there something us mere mortals can do to fix it or does it have to go back to Escort?

 

[ionbeam]

I have an Escort X50 with this problem. Is there something us mere mortals can do to fix it or does it have to go back to Escort?

Has the voltage display been showing lower voltage than when it was new to your FJR, or has the voltage been flickering more than it used to? What kind of a mount do you have, and do you use a weather cover all the time?

 

[FJRK]

While riding to work most days (To Beale AFB), my laser goes off with every spin of the flighline radar. If it is a coincidence, it is a consistant one. Annoying to the point of havign to turn it off. I hate that frikkin tone.

 

[Geezer]

I have an Escort X50 with this problem. Is there something us mere mortals can do to fix it or does it have to go back to Escort?

Has the voltage display been showing lower voltage than when it was new to your FJR, or has the voltage been flickering more than it used to? What kind of a mount do you have, and do you use a weather cover all the time?

The voltage reading seems about the same as always. It does flicker but I don't think it'd more now than when new. It is mounted on a dash shelf with velcro, and has a home made acrylic cover over the top and sides. It is wired to a switched source, one of the horn wires that was made available when I installed after market horns. It has has a few drops on rain on it.

 

[madmike2]

Mine used to give false laser warnings when I was riding "spirited".

There was a discussion about this a couple of years ago and it was profferred that something in the ignition or injector system was emitting a current that the X50 interpreted as a laser.

I don't remember if there was any consensus reached but I know my Escort gave a laser warning on top of Hwy 108, enging above 5k rps, on the throttle and nothing but boulders and pine trees in the surrounding countryside. No way it was a laser signal from another vehicle. The same acceleration test could cause the same laser warning so I accepted the theory that it was something generated by the FJR's electronics.

YMMV...and if it IS a real laser being aimed at you, it's not my fault!

 

[SacramentoMike]

A false negative can't be all that bad can it? I mean it can't hurt to slow down once in a while even if you aren't about to get tagged, can it? OTOH, as I understand laser, if they hit you and you're speeding, it's too late to slow down. If I'm wrong, maybe I should reconsider not having one, so somebody please tell me if I am.

And by the way, I happen to know the CHP does use laser, at least up around Monterey. Yep, definitely.

 

[McRide]

I had the same as Mad Mike.... radar activated under acceleration then it basically died. I sent it (Passport) in for repair and they replaced it with another unit. The problem has gone away so me thinks it might be some inherent internal breakdown.