How Radar Works; How Pop Works - Escort RedLine Owner's Manual

Radar

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.
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.
POP
Because intrusion alarms and motion
sensors often operate on the same
frequency as X-Band radar, your RedLine
will 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
RedLine's radar detection abilities are fully
operational.
How "POP" Works
"POP" mode is a relatively new feature for
radar manufacturers. It works by
transmitting an extremely short burst
(approximately half a second) within the
allocated band, to identify speeding
vehicles in traffic. Once the target is
identified, or "POPPED", the gun is then
turned to its normal operating mode to
provide a vehicle tracking history,
(required by law).
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Laser
How Laser (Lidar) Works
Laser speed detection is actually LIDAR
(Light Detection and Ranging). LIDAR
guns project a beam of invisible infrared
light. The signal is a series of very short
infrared light energy pulses, which move,
in a straight line, reflecting off your car
and returning to the gun. LIDAR uses
these light pulses to measure the distance
to a vehicle. Speed is then calculated by
measuring how quickly these pulses are
reflected given the known speed of light.
LIDAR (or laser) is a newer
technology and is not as widespread as
conventional radar, therefore, you may not
encounter laser on a daily basis. And
unlike radar detection, laser detection is
not prone to false alarms. Because LIDAR
transmits a much narrower beam than
does radar, it is much more accurate in its
ability to distinguish between targets and
is also more difficult to detect. AS A
RESULT, EVEN THE BRIEFEST LASER
ALERT SHOULD BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY.
There are limitations to LIDAR
equipment. LIDAR is much more sensitive
to weather conditions than RADAR, and a
LIDAR gun's range will be decreased by
anything affecting visibility such as rain,
fog, or smoke. A LIDAR gun cannot
operate through glass and it must be
stationary in order to get an accurate
reading. Because LIDAR must have a clear
line of sight and is subject to cosine error
(an inaccuracy, which increases as the
angle between the gun and the vehicle,
increases) police typically use LIDAR
equipment parallel to the road or from an
overpass. LIDAR can be used day or night.
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