 |
"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 |
|
Valentine One 2001
Radar Express supplied the unit to me for the review, it comes set by them to cover only K, Ku and Laser Bands, the others can be turned on if you want but they are not needed in the UK.  On the left is the new 2001 model on the right is the old unit. Very similar but the 2001 model has lost some weight. The footprint is the same. The Valentine one still comes with a windscreen mount, visor mount with one hand quick release, two power cables and hard wire box and cable. (This allows you to have a permanent power connection on your vehicle). All the cables connected via RJ-11 telephone connectors, a neat way of doing things and it became more apparent why when you see how all the accessory's link into the system. It's still a solid well-made unit with a quality feel. Its made out of die-cast magnesium and feel the business. The Valentine One 2001 still has the twin radar detecting aerials and twinned laser detecting diodes. The twin aerials one aimed forward and one rearward this gives it its ability to triangulate where the signal is coming from including the Laser signal. As you may know from reading the review on the original unit, I found to be very useful in practice it shows you where the signal is coming from so you know where to look. You can still use all the optional accessory's; Remote Audio Adapter, This gives you the ability to connect an earpiece and speaker, control the volume and computer settings, ideal for motorbikes. A concealed Display option mimicked the main display and allowed you to keep a lower profile by moving all the display lights elsewhere a very cleaver feature of the concealed Display was it connected to the cigarette power adapter via a slide mount or you can place it else where in the car with another mounting option. It all added up to a very neat package without masses of wires as well. The new unit is still designed for left-hand drive vehicles, (the display and buttons slant to the left), this is not a major issue but it would have been nice to have it flat on the front for us British drivers. One of the most obvious features on front of the Valentine One is the collection of three arrows, called direction indicators they are used to inform the driver where the danger is, front, back or sides. It's also the only unit that I've reviewed so far that can deal with multiple radar signals, the display on the front will display the No. 1-5 depending on the amount of radar signals in the area and LED's identify the frequency and signal strength. (This is a test we did on the old model but still stands for the new unit). This I found out was worth its weight in gold, we did a test using a Hand held gun and a Gatso nearby, all the other units just told me I had a signal, but not how many. The Valentine One told me there was two signals and where they were. As I passed the Gatso the arrows went from front to side and then to back but the front arrow stayed light telling me that there was another signal in front of me. The bogey counter also said that there were two signals on the K band. This situation would not happen often in real life but it's nice to know that this unit could cope, and in a real situation with a standard radar detector I would have thought it was just the Gatso giving the signal. The Valentine also has two volume control dials, one for Master volume and one for mute volume. The initial volume is used to warn you of the threat and then the unit goes over to mute volume, this is allows you set the volume of the remaining alarm. In the alarm mode the direction of the signal, the band of the signal, i.e.. K band and the strength of the signal are all displayed on the front to the unit. There are also three selectable computer modes used to identify radar signals and help reduce false alarm signals. Testing Times...
Laser Gun Test. The Laser gun was used in two ways, the first test was directly at the car with the detector in it, although the detector worked and was instant on alarm, if the officer used the first reading you were in trouble. However they often take a few readings so you may have a chance to slow. The second test was to have two cars in front and the operator target the first car and see if there was enough scatter for the third car to get an alarm, it was not a problem for the Valentine we had an alarm in all three runs. In our opinion you could get a warning or you could get nicked when it come to the Laser alert mode.
False Alarm Test.
False alarms are low and more than acceptable. it is one of the quietest units I know
Can we recommend it, YES, we can.It's still one of the best.
|
| What do we like. | What don't we like. |
|
|