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Operation
DISPLAY AND MENU
OSP/Speed Limit
Signal Band Indicator
Front Signal
Strength Meter
• Signal Band Indicator
Displays the radar band of the alert:
-
X Band (commonly false alerts).
-
K band (used by police radar and false alerts)
-
Ka band (almost always police radar)
-
Laser (almost always police)
• Signal Strength Meters
Displays the signal strength, or how close, the
alert is. The more alert bars displayed, the
stronger the signal strength. The left meter is
front signal strength. The right meter is rear
signal strength.
Rear Signal
Strength Meter
Signal Counter
• OSP/Speed Limit Indicator
Over Speed alert setting, can be adjusted in the
Programming menu. Bluetooth icon will appear
here when paired to phone. Speed limit data
will appear here when connected to the Drive
Smarter app or your mobile Wi-Fi spot.
• Signal Counter
Displays the number of alerts being detected.
• Speed
Displays the current speed. When Speed
Display is off, displays the vehicle voltage
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Operation
UNDERSTANDING YOUR DETECTOR
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.
Because intrusion alarms and motion sensors often operate on the same frequency as X, and K-band
radar, your detector will occasionally receive non-police radar signals. These transmitters 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 device's radar detection abilities are fully operational.
How Laser (Lidar) Works
Laser speed detection is actually light detection and ranging (LIDAR). Laser guns project a beam of
invisible infrared light. The signal is a series of very short infrared light energy pulses that move in a
straight line, reflecting off your car and returning to the gun. Laser 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.
Laser is a newer technology whose use is not as widespread as conventional radar; therefore, you may not
encounter it on a daily basis. And unlike radar detection, laser is not prone to false alarms. Because laser
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 laser, however. Laser is much more sensitive to weather conditions than radar,
and a laser gun's range will be decreased by anything affecting visibility, such as rain, fog or smoke. A
laser gun cannot operate through glass, and it must be stationary to get an accurate reading. Because
laser must have a clear line of sight and is subject to cosine error (an inaccuracy that increases as the
angle between the gun and the vehicle increases), police typically use laser equipment parallel to the
road or from an overpass. Laser can be used day or night.
TSR Signal Ranking Software
Your radar detector includes an optional boost in false alert filtering software to eliminate excessive alerts
from erroneous K-band sources. One example of this is traffic flow monitoring systems. These systems,
which are becoming more widely used in several countries, generate K-band signals to measure the flow
of traffic on a given road. Unfortunately most detectors see this as a real threat and will alert you to it
unnecessarily. Our proprietary TSR software, intelligently sorts, ranks and rejects this type of false alarm
automatically. The result is ultimate protection without excessive false alarms.
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