hey guys, im thinking about getting a radar detector. can anyone recommend a good brand? i think someone told me Bell or Valentine were the best ones. also how would i go about purchasing one since its illegal in canada? does anyone have one for sale? some info would be appreciated!

 

Either buy it in the States, or in BC - they are legal here.

 

they are legal in Alberta..........and Saskatchewan i think 2?

 

My brother went on a trip to New York, and he picked one up there. The thing with his though is that it only alerts you when the radar is on you....kind of pointless....But I think he may just be an idiot lol

 

They are LEGAL in saskatchewan. ILLEGAL in alberta. If a cop catches you in alberta with them, they make you back up over it. Im serious.

Radar dectors are worthless in the praries. Heres why: The dectors detect... RADAR. Now, if your in a heavily driven high way, lots of other cars around.. the detector can pick up some one else being scanned, because the radar deflects to you. Gives you a few seconds to slow down. However! If your alone on the road.. They have you before the detector even sees it coming. Most new radar guns get around them, anyway. Old technology.. not worth your money man. Save yourself some money and put it into fuel. If you stay at legal speeds anyway, you'll save on gas AND tickets

 

I got a cobra 11 band with lazer at target in new york (~70USD on sale a couple years ago)......works well but i only use it in the states....too scared to use it in ontario or quebec... i think there are big fines if they can find it in your car.

 

My cousin's porsche has a Radar/Laser Detector, and a Radar/Laser Jammer. In all the times hes been pulled over to see WTF is going on, hes never had anyone say anything to him about it. They are completely legal in Alberta. If they wern't legal, you couldnt walk into any store and buy them like candy. Expensive Candy.


Mmmmm Candy.

 

You're wrong... Perfectly legal here.

 

I have a VERY hard time seeing how a laser jammer would work, let alone radar jammer. I seem to recall Car and Driver doing a review and concluding that those features don't really work.

I read in the London Free Press about a man from MI who was nailed 5 times in a fairly short period of time for bringin/using his radar detector to Ontario. I always assumed that radar detector detectors weren't not used in practice, but apparently not.

Years ago my Dad had a radar detector. It definately worked.

Keep in mind that they improve the models constantly, so for instance a Valentine One of ten years ago is not the same as one today.

 

http://guysoflidar.com/faq.html#1

In Canada, only Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan allow the use of radar detectors.

 

The latest radar/laser detector and laser jammer results are out.

Radar/laser detectors:

http://www.guysoflidar.com/march-200...ctor-test.html

Laser Jammers:

http://www.guysoflidar.com/march-200...mmer-test.html


Spreadsheet of the radar/laser detector results:

http://home.comcast.net/~ccaeric6/GOL_averages_MB5.htm

 

Just confirming - radar detectors are legal in Alberta - you can walk into Future Shop, London Drugs, Walmart - just about anywhere really - and pick one up. As far as how jammers work, they broadcast back the same frequency radar or lidar as is detected - causing out of phase "noise" to try to prevent lock, or simply drown out the targeting device's returns. The problem isn't that they don't work, the problem is that they are generally illegal, as they are broadcasting/transmitting devices. Ones weak enough to not be regulated also wouldn't be very effective, if at all, so that may be where your remembrance of a Car&Driver article came from. I recall a CD test a few years ago with a guy's Corvette that he had equipped with some serious detection and jamming equipment - and it worked well, just a lot of risk if ever caught.

 

Detectors are most certainly legal here in Alberta, wheareas jammers (to the best of my knowledge) are NOT legal.

The best detector period is the Valentine One. The directional indicator alone makes it much more powerful than a typical detector and it has far better sensitivity also. I did a direct comparison with an Escort 7800 and the Valentine blew it away. Bell is not even in the same league. The V1 also has an accessory option that darkens the unit display and allows a second display to be place elsewhere in the car... Might come in handy for obvious reasons. My strategy would be to mount a Sat radio unit on the window in the center of the dash right beside it, so that the cop will think that what he saw through the window is the sat unit. Maybe you could even tuck it in underneath and with the blanked out display have it unnoticeable from even a close trailing position...