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About time that I posted my intro post..
I've been a somewhat active member of this community for some time now but I have yet to post my first real intro post. Hence, I will use this slow, cold, and windy (here in the North East US) Sunday afternoon and do so!
Like many of you, I have found my way here on a path to pass time and enhance and pass on on my knowledge as well experiences. Over the years, I have had a few hobbies that involved communication within online communities. I've learned that you end up getting to know people at various levels and even though you may never meet that individual for they may even live across the globe, a bond and friendship is built amongst the regulars. It's always good to be part of a group of individuals with different skill sets, experiences and overall personalities where you can share your thoughts as well as learn from each other.
My foray in CMs started when I was 19 (approximately 13 years ago) and purchased my first Passport 8500 unit through a friend that worked at Best Buy. I was able to use his employee discount which brought my purchase price on the $300 detector to just around $190.
The main reason for my purchase at the time was that I had a girlfriend who lived approximately 4.5 hours away and I would be making that trip on a bi-weekly basis for approximately 2.5 years. This trip brought me from Massachusetts, through the lovely state of NY and then onto the coast of New Jersey where I followed the Garden State Parkway all the way down to exit 67 (right off the exit then a left .. for anyone interested)..
My 8500 served me well as I did not receive any speeding tickets while using it as a tool alongside my intuition (only an illegal u-turn in Jersey since they do not have U-turns.. weird state ..) I decided to upgrade when the word about POP started to become the talk among radar detector advertisements.. I fell for the hype when one day I was passing by a state police officer and he was standing outside of his car and I could tell he was shooting at me without my detector making a peep. Of course, this was LIDAR but I incorrectly believed that it was POP that my detector failed to pick up.
So I naturally, sold my 8500 on Ebay for about $200 (to someone in VA actually) and purchased my first detector directly from Escort. This was the BEST windshield model that they had at the time (not taking into account any Bel S7 Models which I know many of your are fond of).. The 8500 X50 (Grey S7) which was able to pick up the infamous POP as well as was upgradeable for ALL future radar bands!
The X50 also served me well for many years.. I graduated college with a BA and MA in Accounting.. managed to land a decent job which required to have me travel to and from clients and again the detector was always good to me.. I did have an I/O scare where a NY officer nailed me going 69 in a 50 with I/O k band.. but he simply let me go.. Good guy.. told me to take down my detector however.. I put it back up once I entered MA..
By now, I knew a bit more about detectors and knew that POP was dead and the biggest threat out there for me personally was LIDAR..
In 2012 I purchased my first new automobile which finally had some cajones. Up until that point I had a few older Volvo's and Subaru models.. Nothing too crazy but 260 lb of torque and 240 or so HP on the new car.. This puppy finally moved.. I now found myself being able to accelerate much quicker than I was used to.
Slowly my patience started to run out for left lane hoggers.. I found myself quickly accelerating to high speeds in order to pass them which I knew was leaving me open due to my outdated radar protection and complete lack of laser protection.
At this time I was closely following RDF as well the escort forums..
When word came out about the Max, I was excited enough to place a pre-order.. I also reached out to BRD on RDF and inquired a bit regarding the upcoming AL Prioirty and once I saw that the pricing was going to be a bit over my budget and that at the time, there was no real advantage compared to LI, I decided to go with a dual head LI system. I also liked the fact that I could purchase the BMW/Vertical heads for my car.
Thinking back, I probably should have waited and gone with the AL's but it was the best decision at the time for me and after getting it installed over a span of a few weekends with a very good friend of mine.. i wouldn't want to undo the install unless I absolutely had to.
Here are a few pictures of the install.. It took some balls to take apart my brand new car but I trusted my buddy and we did it together so why not.. we went for it..
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So here we are now.. now I've decided to foray into the world of dash cams (as some of you may know from a previous post).. but I have yet to install my dash cam system as personal time is hard to find with my newest addition to the family, my 1.5 y/o daughter. Pic below -
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Also, my trusted friend has been quite busy with his own life so getting our schedules together has been a bit tough.. I'm actually looking at installing the SmartRadar as well as the dash cam in one shot.
Thanks to everyone who is still reading.. I know this was a long one.
A few updates.. I Never married the girlfriend, just put on a lot of mile son the Subaru I had at the time... and I ended up voluntarily quitting RDF.. and found my way here last spring..
