How Radar Works - Beltronics Vector 945 Owner's Manual

HOW RADAR WORKS

Traffic radar, which consists of microwaves,
travels in straight lines and is easily reflected
by objects such as cars, trucks, even
guardrails and overpasses. Radar works by
directing its microwave beam down the
road. As your vehicle travels into range, the
microwave beam bounces off your car, and
the radar antenna looks for the reflections.
Using the Doppler Principle, the radar
equipment then calculates your speed by
comparing the frequency of the reflection
of your car to the original frequency of the
beam sent out.
Traffic radar has limitations, the most
significant of these being that it typically can
monitor only one target at a time. If there is
more than one vehicle within range, it is up
to the radar operator to decide which target
is producing the strongest reflection. Since
the strength of the reflection is affected by
both the size of the vehicle and its
proximity to the antenna, it is difficult for
the radar operator to determine if the signal
is from a sports car nearby or a semi-truck
several hundred feet away.
Technical Details
Radar range also depends on the power
of the radar equipment itself. The strength
of the radar unit's beam diminishes with
distance. The farther the radar has to travel,
the less energy it has for speed detection.
Because intrusion alarms and motion
sensors often operate on the same
frequency as X-Band radar, your
occasionally receive non-police radar
signals. Since these X-Band transmitters are
usually contained inside of a building, or
aimed toward the ground, they will
generally produce much weaker readings
than will a true radar encounter.
As you become familiar with the sources of
these pseudo alarms in your daily driving,
they will serve as confirmation that your
's radar detection abilities are fully
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