Camera Detectors- Advice

[plallu]

Hi Everyone, I would like to purchase a camera detector for my car and was wondering if anyone has any advice on what brand and model to go for? Want something that will pretty much cover everything ie fixed cams, hand held lasers etc etc

 

[whitenemesis]

MB promote the Road Angel range.

 

[npuk]

Do a search many previous threads about them.

 

[MicB]

Hi Everyone, I would like to purchase a camera detector for my car and was wondering if anyone has any advice on what brand and model to go for? Want something that will pretty much cover everything ie fixed cams, hand held lasers etc etc

I have satisfactorily used an Origin B2 for about seven years.....thoroughly recommend them. Hard wired in my SL and BMW. Their upgrade is the Pogo which I expect will be even better but is not compatible with my wiring nor the cradles so I have not upgraded.

Origin still support my B2.

Mic

 

[plallu]

Thanks for the helpful advice so far guys

 

[clegsr]

I just bought one of these: £40 including battery pack (lasts about 5 hours) so very neat, it just sits on the dash.

They use the pocketgpsworld camera database in th UK but it also works in europe.

inforad

 

[BaldGuy]

I have the Pogo Alert.... works for me..

 

[Alps]

Road angel "connected" updates itself and is pretty spot on

 

[harrisonland]

Hi Everyone, I would like to purchase a camera detector for my car and was wondering if anyone has any advice on what brand and model to go for? Want something that will pretty much cover everything ie fixed cams, hand held lasers etc etc

I've been using a Talex, which has served me well. Can be seen at www.talex.co.uk . Can also be combined with a laser detector which has served me well ;-)

 

[BTB 500]

Can also be combined with a laser detector which has served me well ;-)

Surely by the time a laser detector goes off they already have you?

 

[crockers]

Surely by the time a laser detector goes off they already have you?

Yes, true, but it does give you a nice brown trouser moment....

 

[harrisonland]

Surely by the time a laser detector goes off they already have you?

Not necessarily. I gather it takes around 3 seconds to take a reading and needs to target a flat surface - typically the number plate. If you're in traffic and the operator is using the laser it will reflect off other vehicles and surfaces and there will be scatter which is what the unit detects. If you're the only car on the road, I suppose there is a risk that the janitor won't have it switched on, so no scatter... In practice, it won't be worth their while to be stationed where there's no traffic though.

If you get a warning, the key is to slow down within a three second time slot so that a reading can't be taken while you're still speeding. Of course, there's the danger that you could cause a pile-up by rapid deceleration, but you'll naturally only be doing a few miles more than the speed limit 'cause you're a good guy.

The Talex is good - based on a daily updated database of notified speed camera locations, which the police are obliged to publicise in advance. However in practice, it tends to warn *far* too many times, as the janitors simply publish each and every 'hot-spot' every week. I don't use it for local trips because I already know where the potential traps are.

Tim

 

[tagnut]

I have to say I had a Snooper a few years ago and stopped using it for two reasons

1. It used to go off all the time when I wasn't even speeding - going past shops with automatic doors etc.
2. My responses became immune to it so all it was doing was telling me I'd just got a speeding ticket

Technology may have moved on but I find that if I am slightly over the limit I am usually alert enough to spot a camera. Then again I don't usually go that much over the limit so not a huge issue really.

 

[harrisonland]

I have to say I had a Snooper a few years ago and stopped using it for two reasons

1. It used to go off all the time when I wasn't even speeding - going past shops with automatic doors etc.
2. My responses became immune to it so all it was doing was telling me I'd just got a speeding ticket

Had that problem with a speed trap detector, too. Doesn't apply to laser, though, as movement detectors, such as shop doors etc don't use lasers.

Technology may have moved on but I find that if I am slightly over the limit I am usually alert enough to spot a camera. Then again I don't usually go that much over the limit so not a huge issue really.

Agreed. The detectors/database systems seem superficially like a good idea, but when you're using them regularly, you soon realize that they're only as good the weakest link - usually your response to them. Frequent alarms just breed apathy, so you become less inclined to react on them, which really defeats the object.

Tim

 

[BTB 500]

Not necessarily. I gather it takes around 3 seconds to take a reading and needs to target a flat surface - typically the number plate. If you're in traffic and the operator is using the laser it will reflect off other vehicles and surfaces and there will be scatter which is what the unit detects. If you're the only car on the road, I suppose there is a risk that the janitor won't have it switched on, so no scatter... In practice, it won't be worth their while to be stationed where there's no traffic though.

It may possibly take a gun a couple of seconds to display your speed, but AFAIK the burst of light emitted is something like a third of a second in duration nowadays. Not long enough for you to do anything about it.

There is also virtually no scatter with laser (unlike radar), and the gun only emits (as above - a very short burst) when the trigger is pressed to target a particular car. Basically your only hope is if the car in front of you is painted at long range (where the beam is wider). Then some of the beam will pass through the windows and potentially be detectable by you, provided your detector is mounted high up. At shorter ranges (more usual, particularly if they're using equipment that takes a picture) the beam is very narrow and will only paint the targetted area on the car it's aimed at (number plate, typically). In which case if it's aimed at you and your detector is high up, it won't even register that you've been nicked.

 

[harrisonland]

There is also virtually no scatter with laser (unlike radar), and the gun only emits (as above - a very short burst) when the trigger is pressed to target a particular car.

Hmmm. On reflection, I think you're right - re. scatter I was confusing laser with radar. Be that as it may, the system's worked well for me. Having said that, like I say, I mostly rely on my own attentiveness and not taking the p*** in avoiding getting caught speeding.

Like I said above, a detector seems a good idea, but once you've got one you realize it's not all as simple as you'd thought.

 

[whitenemesis]

Hmmm. On reflection, I think you're right - re. scatter I was confusing laser with radar. Be that as it may, the system's worked well for me. Having said that, like I say, I mostly rely on my own attentiveness and not taking the p*** in avoiding getting caught speeding.

Like I said above, a detector seems a good idea, but once you've got one you realize it's not all as simple as you'd thought.

So true! I flirted with a camera detector for a brief time but found myself worrying so much on wether it was detecting correctly I decided to trust my own observations!

 

[spcialeffects]

I'v just bought a Valentine one from germany with uk spec,Waiting for it to be delivered at the moment cant wait!! They always get a great write up and always get labled "the daddy" so lets hope this is the case

 

[harrisonland]

I'v just bought a Valentine one from germany with uk spec,Waiting for it to be delivered at the moment cant wait!! They always get a great write up and always get labled "the daddy" so lets hope this is the case

Let us know how you get on with it, won't you!

 

[219]

Hi Everyone, I would like to purchase a camera detector for my car and was wondering if anyone has any advice on what brand and model to go for? Want something that will pretty much cover everything ie fixed cams, hand held lasers etc etc

International Rescue have always fitted camera detectors to each of the Thunderbirds to stop The Hood taking photographs of their equipment .

Presumably your car is in some way classified too ?