Radar detector

A radar detector is an electronic device used by motorists to detect if their speed is being monitored by police or law enforcement using a radar gun. Most radar detectors are used so the driver can reduce the car's speed before being ticketed for speeding. Only doppler radar-based devices can be detected — other speed measuring devices including those using ANPR, piezo sensors, and VASCAR technology cannot be detected. LIDAR devices require a different type of sensor, although many modern detectors include LIDAR sensors. Most of today's radar detectors detect signals across a variety of wavelength bands: usually X, K, and K_a. In Europe the K_u band is common as well.

Description

One of the technologies that law enforcement agencies can use to measure the speed of a moving vehicle uses doppler radar to beam a radio wave at the vehicle, and then infer the vehicle's speed by measuring the Doppler effect-moderated change in the reflected wave's frequency. Radar guns can be hand-held, vehicle mounted or mounted on a fixed object, such as a traffic signal.

Radar detectors use a superheterodyne receiver to detect these electromagnetic emissions from the radar gun, and raise an alarm to notify the motorist when a transmission is detected. False alarms can occur however due to the large number of devices, such as automatic door openers (such as the ones at supermarkets), that operate in the same part of the electromagnetic spectrum as radar guns.

In recent years some radar detectors have added GPS technology. This allows users to manually store the locations where police frequently monitor traffic, with the detector sounding an alarm when approaching that location in the future (this is accomplished by pushing a button and doesn't require coordinates to be entered). These detectors also allow users to manually store the coordinates of sites of frequent false alarms, which the GPS enabled detector will then ignore. Some GPS enabled detectors can download the GPS coordinates of speed monitoring cameras and redlight cameras from the Internet, which are contained in the Trinity database. An interstate traveller could receive an alarm when approaching the location of a speed monitoring camera.

Counter technology

Radar guns and detectors have evolved alternately over time to counter each other's technology in a form of civilian electronic "warfare". For example, as new frequencies have been introduced, radar detectors have initially been "blind" to them until their technology too has been updated. Similarly, the length of time and strength of the transmissions have been lowered to reduce the chance of detection, which in turn has resulted in more sensitive receivers and more sophisticated software counter technology. Lastly, radar detectors may combine other technologies, such as GPS-based technology with a point of interest database of known speed trapping locations, into a single device to improve their chances of success.

Radar detector detectors

The superheterodyne receiver in radar detectors has a local oscillator that radiates slightly, so it is possible to build a radar-detector detector, which detects such emissions (usually the frequency of the radar type being detected, plus about 10 MHz). The VG-2 Interceptor was the first device developed for this purpose, but has since been eclipsed by the Spectre III.^[1] This form of "electronic warfare" cuts both ways - since detector-detectors use a similar superheterodyne receiver, many early "stealth" radar detectors were equipped with a radar-detector-detector-detector circuit, which shuts down the main radar receiver when the detector-detector's signal is sensed, thus preventing detection by such equipment. This technique borrows from ELINT surveillance countermeasures. In the early 1990s, BEL-Tronics, Inc. of Ontario, Canada (where radar detector use is prohibited) found that the local oscillator frequency of the detector could be altered to be out of the range of the VG-2 Interceptor. This resulted in detector manufacturers responding by changing their local oscillator frequency. Today, practically every radar detector on the market is immune to the VG-2 Interceptor.

Radar scrambling

Although some companies advertise that their radar detectors can passively 'scramble' or 'absorb' radar (such as Rocky Mountain Radar), many or all of their products do not affect radar and laser equipment due to the low power intake from the device versus the high power that bounces off a vehicle.^[2]

It is illegal in many countries to sell or possess any products that actively transmit radar signals intended to jam radar equipment.^[3] In the United States, actively transmitting on a frequency licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) without a licence is a violation of FCC regulations, which may be punishable by fines up to $10,000 and/or up to one year imprisonment.^[4]

LIDAR detection

Newer speed detection devices use pulsed laser light, commonly referred to as LIDAR, rather than radio waves. Radar detectors, which detect radio transmissions, are therefore unable to detect the infrared light emitted by LIDAR guns so a different type of device called a LIDAR detector is required. LIDAR detection, however, is not nearly as effective as radar detection because the output beam is very focused. While radar's radio waves can expand to 85 feet (26 m) across at 1,000 feet (300 m) from their source, LIDAR's light beam diffuses to only about 6 feet (1.8 m). Also, a police officer targeting a car will most likely aim for the centre mass or headlight of the vehicle and, because radar detectors are mounted on the windshield away from the beam's aim, they may not alert at all. Lastly, with such a focused beam, an officer using a LIDAR gun can target a single car in close proximity to others at ranges of up to 3,000 feet (910 m).

Despite the advent of LIDAR speed detection, radar remains more prevalent because of its lower price relative to LIDAR equipment and the amount of radar equipment already in service.

Legality

Using or possessing a radar detector or jammer is illegal in certain countries, and it may result in fines, seizure of the device, or both. These prohibitions generally are introduced under the premise that a driver who uses a radar detector will pose a greater risk of accident than a driver who does not. However the 2001 Mori report suggests that radar detector users posed a 28% less risk of accident. The table below provides information about laws regarding radar detectors in particular nations. In 1967 devices to warn drivers of radar speed traps were being manufactured in the United Kingdom; they were deemed illegal under the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949.^[5]

See also

• Cruise Control
• Road safety
• Traffic enforcement camera

References