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"The UK SpeedTrap Guide"2008 - All you want to know..... |
| Defensive Equipment Tests. This Page covers equipment that I have been sent and with the help of a few friends (inc. Police) we put under test, and we will give you our views on the products, not the salesman's views. Not all manufactures of equipment want us to test their equipment, wonder why...? So all not all the equipment on the market may be tested. If you have any equipment you have bought and you want to send us your views on how well it works or doesn't for that, let us know. Send your review or comments  All Contents are ©Copyright 2005 Steve Warren. Tests may not be republished without permission. All rights reserved |
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Lidatek LE 30 Laser Jammer
 Above: The New transponder
The LE 30 is still built in a high quality aluminium case, epoxy sealed from the elements, very strong and easy to mount with even more fitting options than the old unit. It is supplied with one transponder, Status LED warning diode, wiring loom with lots of cable and a speaker and now an interface unit to link it all together. The whole package has been thought about and is far neater and better presented. Cable ties, screws, electrical joints, a bubble level and a quite good and informative instructions. You should not need anything else.
It costs around £370 and if you plan to do a front and back protection you could be looking at getting up to three units. The owners manual does say that you should use one transponder to cloak small to mid size vehicles, motorbikes and vehicles with minimal front chrome. Two transponders will be needed for large cars, light goods vehicles and HGV's. Vehicles with excessive frontal chrome will also need two units. Ask the dealer for advice on this matter. Up to three additional transponders in total can be connected to the interface unit, this is a cost option. They are still using the gallium arsenide laser-diode this is the same found in police laser guns and is still the only laser jammer to use it, other jammers often just use a lower cost diodes that can still do the job but take more energy to do so and can suffer power fade over time. The LE 30 detects the laser beam from the police speedtrap and then fires back a laser signal in the police signal this then prevents the laser gun's computer from computing the speed reading. Installing was easy. The transponder contains a receiver/transmitter and should be mounted level and vertically near the licence plate or in the grill opening, it must have free view of the road in front, nothing should be in the way. You get supplied a small bubble level to make sure the head is in the correct orientation, this is very important and your vehicle should be on a level surface when this is done. Aligning the transponder is the most important part of the fitting, failure to align the transponder perpendicular to the line of travel could allow the laser gun to get a reading. The transponder is powered by the signal/power wire with a simple waterproof connector, which plugs in to the main wiring interface. The wiring loom is more than long enough for even the largest of cars. The brackets supplied give you all sorts of fitting options and given the head is so small it is very easy to find a discreet place to fit it. Take your time when it comes to fitting the unit, play with different places before you start making holes, decide what bracket or combination you will use. The best place is in the centre of the car front both horizontally and vertically and try to keep it near the number plate. Inside the vehicle you fit the on/off switch, status LED, interface box and speaker, the switch can go anywhere but try to get the status LED where you can see it. The speaker makes around 110dba so you can place it almost anywhere in a car but the LED and the speaker are not much use on a bike, my motorbike tester for the day pointed out that when you are riding the bike you have no chance of hearing the speaker and the LED is hard to see. Once fitted, you power it up with the on/off switch, within few seconds seconds you get a notification from the speaker and the warning LED that power is on (one beep/flash per transponder) to say all is well with the transponder or transponders and then the system goes into standby mode ready for jamming. Just like the LRC 100 the unit can only jam for a set length of time 5 seconds. Unlike the LRC 100 though the reset cycle takes 30 seconds after the jamming has taken place to allow the Laser diode to cool down, you are told that it is in recycle mode by an orange LED and after this it will then re-enter standby mode and confirms this by two beeps from the speaker. The auto cut out feature works well, it gives you enough time, 5 seconds, to adjust your speed during jamming. It then turns off allowing the police officer to get a speed reading after you have come down to the speed limit, other systems often require you to turn off the jamming system with a switch, this could be distracting. Warning: Do not look directly into laser aperture when the transponder is firing, yes I know its hard when you are driving but if you are testing it with a TV remote control its easy to look at the head. So did it work...... ?
We tested the jammer on three vehicles, a Ford Fiesta, Mitsubishi Shogun and R1 motorbike. On the Ford Fiesta and the Mitsubishi Shogun the transponder was mounted just under the front licence plate and on the bike it is mounted above the wheel under the fairing.
Tests were done on our test road both the Ford Fiesta and the R1 Motorbike were cloaked by the LE 30, even pointing at the farthest points of the car from the jammer and the same with the bike during jamming no speed could be obtained. The Mitsubishi Shogun however was a slightly different story. This was a large light and well chromed vehicle and it was not until we added another LE 30 to the Grill above the number plate did we achieve cloaking The LE 30 performs well and does what it says on the box. BE aware that if you have a large vehicle you will have to buy another transponder.
31sh August 2004 |
