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"The UK SpeedTrap Guide"2008 - All you want to know..... |
Defensive Equipment Tests. All Contents are ©Copyright 2005 Steve Warren. Tests may not be republished without permission. All rights reserved |
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Target LE850
 Above: What's in the pack? One transponder, wiring loon, Control Box warning alarm, Security Screws and a very good set of fitting Instructions.
The Laser Echo 850 is not just another high quality product, its made without compromise. Built in a high quality aluminium case, very well sealed from the elements, very strong and easy to mount with all the fittings you may need. It costs £299.95 and is supplied with one transponder, one control box that can control up to three transponders it has a power on LED, warning LED's for each transponder, and a buzzer which is installed inside the vehicle this provides the audible alarm each time one of the detector transponders are hit by the laser beam of a police laser gun. A neat idea is the anti-theft security screws that are provided with this kit, most are in stainless steel and they also give you the tool to tighten them up with, which is nice if you are going to pay £300 for a bit of kit that sits on the outside of your car. This unit was however not designed as a police laser jammer, it was designed to be part of a remote control unit to open gates, garage doors or turn on lights, they sell it without the part for the garage door, you can buy this receiver as an extra if you want to and have the benefit of a jammer and an automatic door opener as well, it gives you a great excuse for the unit on the front of your car when an officer gives you a hard time. It offers complete protection against laser guns and video laser traps. The gallium arsenide laser-diode is the same found in police laser guns and is the only laser jammer to use it, other jammers often just use a lower cost diode that can still do the job but take more energy to do so. By using a gallium arsenide laser-diode the Laser ECHO can detect and scramble laser beam from 3,000 feet down unlike other jammers. The LE 850 detects a laser beams presence at the speed of light, finds the laser gun, and fires back a stronger signal than the vehicle reflects. The laser gun's computer can't compute the returned signal and gives the operator no speed reading. Installing was easy, composed of two pieces (the transponder and an control unit). The transponder contains a receiver/transmitter and should be mounted level and vertically near the licence plate or in the grill opening. The transponder is powered by the signal wire, which plugs into the back of the control unit. Connect the control unit to a switched 12 Volt DC input. When additional transponders are used, they also plug into the back of the control unit, this could be for front and back protection or so you can reverse into your garage. In the kit are plenty of screws, some Velcro to hold the control unit and a small bubble level to set up the transponder, we fitted it in about half an hour. Warning: Do not look directly into laser aperture when the transponder is firing. So did it work...... ? The unit fires an initial jamming transmission for 5 seconds and then requires 60 seconds to recycle before it is ready to fire again. This "time out" allows the gallium arsenide laser diode time to cool off. At 80 mph if the laser is fired from 750 feet, the jammer would protect the car for about 600 feet. This means the car is only 150 feet from the laser gun when the jamming stops and you are not far off shaking hands with the police officer. This is to give the driver enough time to slow down to a reasonable speed before you pass the officer, so that the officer simply moves on to the next target. We tested it with a ProLaser II and a LTI 20-20 with Video camera mounted on it, testing was done on a Kawasaki Ninja and a Mitsubishi Shogun. The ProLaser was used on the bike by Sheffield Police and Manchester Police tested the car. Both forces were sceptical and said it would not work, however they were wrong. They could not get a reading from the Kawasaki Ninja and neither could they get a reading from the Mitsubishi Shogun before the drivers had slowed down. One police officer was so impressed, he said would get one for his bike....! We did several runs and they tried very hard but to no avail. On the bike it was linked into the Bel 966R and gave a clear warning. In the car the control box went mad with a whopping 87 dB audible warning. 7 seconds may not sound much, but believe me you have plenty of time to slow, and once its shuts down automatically the officer starts to get readings again of your vehicle at the correct speed, this helped to remove some suspicion as you approach. The Picture Results   Above Left: LTI 20-20 Video Showing error code Above Right: LTI 20-20 Video Showing speed after LE 850 shuts down.
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