Sharks and Radar - my take

[Mac]

The short answer to "Are those signs accurate?" is... maybe.

The radar used in the signs is more or less the same as police radar except it isn't subjected to a test before each use. So it might be accurate... or not. They don't care because nothing is recorded or used as evidence.

Your speedometer is also not tested and is subject to any changes along the driveline. New tires? Old tires? Change the diff ratio? Speedo goes WONK.

-Mac

 

[wishuwerehere82]

Went by one yesterday. My speed said 25, thier speed said 30. I always knew my ELECTRA read about 5 too slow. I have to try the Vette to see if it's invisible.

 

[Mac]

Executive Summary:

If you don't get a reading, they've turned the gain lower to avoid false readings.

-Mac

 

[curtis]

Mac, do you have a fee when you are called as an expert witness in speeding cases? The way I drive sometimes, I may need your help in court. Smoke those ricers.

 

[Mac]

As long as I'm still employed by the police, it would be unethical for me to act as an expert witness for defence but if you want informal advice to defend yourself, I'm always open to help.

-Mac

 

[wishuwerehere82]

Well, they moved the trailer to another street today and when I went through from the other direction my speed was ZE. I think that's 35 in the rearview.:L

 

[L82 Power]

Hey Mac - Do any of those advertised radar jammers even work????

 

[Mac]

It depends on which one you're talking about.

There's a few devices on the market which advertize deceptively which don't do anything. Those which actually transmit radar signal work, if they're set on the same band as the one the cop is holding. Be aware, however, that anything which transmits must be licenced so unless you've got a licence, you're illegal.

-Mac

 

[Rain]

there is a low priced (internet distrubuted) swiss army knife radar/laser/jammer out there that everyone should avoid.
They make the claim to pay your first ticket and will refund your money if not pleased.

As I was searching last fall, I found this brand on 80% of the web sites GOOGLE showed me.

Finally I found a magazine reporter who did a side by side test with this unit and others from Passport, Valentine, and such.

It failed miserably.

The report was granted a tour of the plant and an interview with the developer/owner.

They were indeed junk.. Did next to none of the features it advertised. OR if it did, it was sub par performance.

His quote was something to the tune of " we get less than 25% returned. Most folks buy it and just never need it so they assume its working." Something akin to a pet rock. The guy was shocked because he knew he was selling snake oil and getting away with it.

 

[lov-n-life]

Hey!

Maybe that's their chosen method of quality control for residents... if you can't spell our state name, you can't live here! :L

No, wait... Arkansas... never mind.

-Mac

I live here, but not by choice... home is where the military sends me... R-Kan-sass ain't all bad, oncen yous gets ust ta it.

 

[wishuwerehere82]

My Grandfather was the town doctor and had a dairy farm in Pine Bluff,AK in the 1920's-30's. It was the site that the Government built the Pine Bluff arsenal on. FYI.Never been there.

 

[dfw81shark]

In Dave McLellan's book "Corvette from the Inside", it had a section about how they were wind tunnel testing the C4 at Grumman, and he noted how much less of a radar crosssection it had over the C3. I don't know what this has to do with the subject, but it is interesting to see that the designers did pay attention to that.

 

[DRTH VTR]

I like those radar signs because I like to see how fast a reading I can get!