Started using a detector again

[300S]

I do a lot of driving on rural, two lane Missouri roads, with some four lane rural roads thrown in. The MHP seems to exclusively use Ka band, which one of the three I have no idea, but compared to the old Whistlers, Bells, and even the late 2000's Cobra XRS something (I can't find it right now) this low line Whistler XTR 335 seems like it's magic on Ka band. On straight roads, I get Ka alerts so far away I think they are falses until I see the officer. There is a local grocery store with an X band door opener, and the 335 just blows the other old detectors I had away on range and sensitivity when I've made a few drive by tests.

The Whistler does misidentify the X band source of the grocery store every time, though, when placed in C2 filter mode. Usually it says it's a K frequency, sometimes a Ka, and it does cut the detection range of it more than half. I used the Whistler chat line to chat with Michael (I wonder if it was Michael B.?) and they recommended using the C1 mode. I tried that, and it does cut the range of the X band alerts in half without seeming to give up anything else.

I get the impression talking with Whistler, and reading about them, that Whistler is an honest company trying to make the best low priced detectors on the market. They don't pretend to be Bels or Escorts or Valentines, but even the cheapest detectors that Whistler sells will actually work, although the range of the Whistlers and their off axis performance is less.

My initial thoughts about detectors are this. If you are spending less than a hundred bucks then buy the Whistler, no question about it. Between one hundred and two hundred gives you a choice of the highest performance Whistlers and the lowest performance Betronics. At two hundred even you can buy a refurbished Bel XR-65 or Escort 8500 X50. Three hundred starts with GPS capable Bel 300 or 8500 X50 (the high end Whistler CR90 is a hundred dollars less). The worst buys in the detector world seem to be old used V-1's on Craigslist and Ebay that sell for within a few dollars of the four hundred bucks that will buy you a brand new, up to date Valentine V-1. Over four hundred belongs to the high end Bels and Escorts with hyper performance.

I mostly try to drive the posted speed limit, or within a few miles over. I've not got any tickets in fifteen years, and that one was an airplane trap. It's been twenty since a Missouri SHP gave me the instant on and my Bel (a high dollar one for that day) went off at the same time.

When I buy another detector, I want something better or I'll just run the one I have.

I'm not yet quite used to having a detector that will give an instant on warning on Ka, on a straight road, over a mile away. My cheapie Whistler 335 has done that. It even picks up the local X band grocery store source from the back side a good hundred yards, where the older detectors I had were deaf until I rolled right past it. I'm sure they aren't the best,,,,but even the cheapest Whistler XTR-335 is a usable detector and it's a Escort Redline compared with any Cobra and even higher end Bel detectors of many years ago.

[Lucky225]

You definitely have your head on your shoulders and seem conscious of the protection you're really being afforded You'll do fine here.