SLD920X radar detector/jammer - does it actually work??

I've had a kit of these (four in total, two in the front and two in the back) fitted in different vehicles over the last 4 years or so, and not once has it picked up anything!

The units were installed by SLD920X dealers, they are mounted just above the number plates, and the system passes its power-up tests.

I phoned up the manufacturer (or the UK distributor, I am not sure) asking them whether there has been a change in the lasers that the police use, making the product not see them anymore. The man was quite rude and gave me VERY short thrift, basically refusing to discuss it. They also could not suggest any way to test it other than to hire a laser speed camera.

On many occassions I have gone through one of the mobile speed traps, where the police have a camera either in the back of a van, or on a tripod. While I obviously hav eno idea if the system was running at the time, it didn't pick that up either.

Can anyone who has this product confirm it actually does anything?

This morning, it has failed to pass the self-test so I am wondering if replacing any of the units (very expensive they are too) is worth doing.

One more piece of data: about 2 years ago I bought a top-end radar/laser detector, mounted at the top of the windscreen. This has never once picked up any lasers, although it picks up radars all the time.

(Please, no silly suggestions to keep within speed limits)

Radar detectors were [theoretically] illegal until 1998, when a case determined that as they were only field strength meters and receivers, they fell outside the Wireless Telegraphy Act [~1948]. In any event only use was illegal, so TC's had to catch you with it on and they could be sold.

Not sure about laser detectors, but in any event for these the beam is aimed and the spot is only 60-90cm wide when it hits your car (TC's normally aim at the licence plate, because it is a good reflector and they need it in the picture to prosecute). They can be 400m or more away. One I examined had a

500mm Tamron reflex lens on the camera (so if I can read a plate at 75m this should easily resolve at 750m). You are unlikely to come across these on a regular basis. There is no easy way to test a detector, and if it is triggered it is probably too late.

All jammers are illegal because they transmit, although a child's windmill might [legally] confuse the receiver. You will be prosecuted for criminal offences if caught with a jammer.

Legislation before Parliament will make the sale, use and ?possession? of detectors illegal (FP with 3 points), but I am not sure when it comes into force. With four in your car you could get 12 points and be off the road.

OTOH GPS based systems that know where the cameras are will be legal. Whilst this won't show where the police have the laser van today, it will show Spec's, Vascar, Truvelo and a host of other types of traps that will not show on detectors, although I suspect that TC's will revert to radar as it is cheaper and easier to use.

Sellers are currently offloading stocks of detectors at bargain prices (£70 at Makro), ahead of the change in legislation.

Your radar detector should be doing something - my microwave leakage detector (useful for faulty ovens and spotting disguised masts) gets upset by the sun, cellphone masts and HT cables. It is also regularly triggered by pelican & puffin crossings (that have radar to detect cars and / or pedestrians), speed warning devices (popular in pretty villages) and live Gatso's (usually reflections off the car in front). If you kit is not picking these up then you were sold duds.

BTW the only time mine ever triggered on a trap I had not already seen (TC hiding behind a wall in north Wales) or knew about I was doing 25mph! So use your eyes - it will probably make you a better if not slower driver anyway.

I've got a Snooper SD715i radar & laser detector and I can't remember it ever having picked up laser in about 10 years. Having said that I believe that laser is much more difficult to detect (less scatter) unless it is pointed directly at you, by which time it's too late.

The unit does successfully pick up X waves (not used by the police now, I believe) from some supermarket doors and traffic lights and K waves from active speed cameras.

If your unit picks up X or K waves, then it isn't working imo.

Since it's legal to use a radar detector, but not a jammer, you might want to investigate claiming against the dealer for goods unfit for purpose. See Trading Standards website.

The way to go is to get a GPS based system, and since it's the same technology, you might as well get mapping as well - something like the well regarded Tom Tom Go.

Daytona

uk.rec.driving added

But there is an offence of obstructing a constable in the course of his duty, which was IIRC the cahrge successfully brought.

I have seen a description of these, but their operation can often be detected by misoperation of the police equipment (error messages, slly speeds displayed etc.)

Radar detectors work because the radar signal is scattered off of everything. Laser beams are very highly focused beams of light. Unless the police point the laser at the detector, it won't detect anything. They'll probably point it at your numberplate to get a reading of your speed, so your detector won't notice.

Probably because they know they're selling a useless product. A GPS database with known speed trap locations are a much better idea.

--
David Taylor

snip - hit return by mistake.

Whilst TC's have been buying more, they are still not all that common, and as already discussed need to be carefully aimed. Unlike a radar detector the narrow beam needs to fall on your device and be recognised.

I have seen a few of these and fell foul of one (but the police lost the paperwork). Look out for vans parked in lay by's etc. with a back door open. A favourite here in Manchester is too borrow a marked van with an orange light from the airport, park it up where the limit changes, put a couple of cones out (as a distraction and so it looks more like road works) and wait for the money to roll in.

No I am not a lawyer however from the web

Police charge man for blocking speed gun A thirty year old man from Staines has been arrested by Surrey Police for using a laser jammer device on his car.

It's alleged that when driving through a speed trap on the A308, the man used the jammer to prevent a speed reading being taken. His registration was noted by the recording equipment and police visited his home later that day to confiscate the device and arrest the man. He has been charged with obstructing a constable in the execution of his duty.

Casualty Reduction Officer for Spelthorne PC Mike Pritchard said: "I want to emphasise that these devices are illegal. People are under the impression that the device will jam the laser signal and that's all. What they fail to recognize is that the police speed detection device identifies that the vehicle is fitted with a laser jammer. The offence is recorded on tape and the vehicles are then traceable through the Police National Computer . "

There was another case on the M4 in Wales £1,000 fine - perverting the course of justice or similar.

Are you a lawyer, or an amateur brain surgeon???

The laser jammers transmit IR light. There is a law against transmitting RF (radio frequency; the wireless telegraphy act) but there is no law against transmitting LIGHT, of any wavelength.

If you are a real working lawyer, you will have access to the standard references and you can easily provide a reference so we can all look it up.

Your TV remote control transmits IR light, as it happens.

Radar JAMMERS would be illegal under the WRT; that's obvious. Which, without a shadow of doubt, is why nobody sells them in the UK. A radar jammer would be very effective indeed, and undetectable by any unmanned speed camera. A radar jammer would be the most effective anti speeding ticket device by far.

Anyway, my feeling is that the SLD920X is a dud product. Or, it has a failure mode which causes it to go dud while passing the power-up test, so the owner is not aware it is dud.

I must have gone through a laser in the last few years, 50000 miles, surely???

There's a basic fact I'm missing on this. Does the jammer jam all the time, or does it wait until it detects an incoming signal and then start jamming?

If it jams all the time, then it seems logical that it could be protecting you even though the detector portion is useless. In this scenario, I can't think of any way to know for sure whether the jamming part is effective.

On the other hand, if the jamming function is linked to the detector function, then it seems like it would be safe to dump the product. Afterall, if it hasn't warned you once in years, then it hasn't jammed once in years, and it isn't doing you much good.

I hope I am not stating the obvious here. But, hey, you asked. ;-)

--Mac

R. Mark Clayton wrote on Fri, 24 Jun 2005

17:15:48 +0000 (UTC):

LOL.

--
David Taylor

I understood there was a catch-all in the law which made it illegal to use any communications device (whether currently invented or not) without a licence.

I cannot give Chapter and Verse, but you might want to check before getting yourself into trouble.

--
~ Adrian Tuddenham ~
(Remove the ".invalid"s and add ".co.uk" to reply)
www.poppyrecords.co.uk

I hope he doesn't come round my way with one of those - bang slap in the middle of KU band, and likely to do in every LNB for miles (well metres anyway).

[...]

My Hero! :)

...so what frys modern stuff?

A

--
Trade Oil in ?

snipped-for-privacy@somewhere.in.the.uk.com wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Consider that a laser speed gun has a narrow field-of-view,about 18 inches wide at 1000ft. Then your laser jammer has to be in the speed gun's field-of-view,and deliver enough optical power to override the reflected power from the speed gun's high power laser diode.(>25 watts of peak power)

LED's are not going to do it,nor will a "jammer" mounted on your windshield.

At least the Lidatek jammer uses a laser diode,and mounts on the front license plate,the most common target for frontal laser speed measurement. I believe the headlight assemblies are the next preferred frontal target.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

Around here (in Arizona) we apply the rule of speed limit doubling ;-)

They were invented to make money. I even know of cases where speed limits were lowered when the photo radar proved unproductive.

A young man with an old mind ?:-)

Certainly not enough room ;-)

...Jim Thompson

--
|  James E.Thompson, P.E.                           |    mens     |
|  Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
|  Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC\'s and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
|  Phoenix, Arizona            Voice:(480)460-2350  |             |
|  E-mail Address at Website     Fax:(480)460-2142  |  Brass Rat  |
|       http://www.analog-innovations.com           |    1962     |
             
I love to cook with wine.      Sometimes I even put it in the food.

How can a suggestion to keep within the speed limits be silly??? Speed limits were put in place in this world for a very good reason.

If everyone kept to the speed limits, the police may not have introduced speed cameras in the first place. Then things like radar detectors/jammers would not have had to be invented.

Why do people want to speed whilst driving anyway? You get from A to B eventually no matter how fast you go.

Why not try removing the lead weight from your right foot. It'll make UK roads a safer place for all to use.

I think there's a time and a place for speeding in vehicles, and UK public roads ain't the place.

Which is?

I know some of them are safety related, but most seem to have very little relationship to what is a safe speed.

Mostly because they want to (a) get there sooner, and (b) drive at a comfortable speed.

There are only a fairly small minority of speeding drivers who drive in the way that statement suggests.

Well as far as I can make out, our speed limits are not obeyed more than most other countries are, and yet we have just about the safest roads in the world in terms of casualties per million passenger miles (or per million vehicle miles).

--
Alex Heney
Global Villager
... It\'s tourist season in Florida, bag limit two.
To reply by email, my address is alexATheneyDOTPLUSDOTcom

Yes, and they were based upon the performance & safety characteristics of contemporary cars. Modern cars can safely travel at much higher speeds, but this has been ignored by successive governments who are fearful of shroud-waving campaigners. The law has therefore slipped into disrepute.

Because lots of people enjoy the exhilaration of speed.

Daytona