I have the passport 7500 and i was wondering what the display looks like if a LASER LIDAR beam from a cop is pointed at the car. Right now, after using the detector for 5 months i have yet to see a L on the display or anything of the sort. I've seen X, K, and Ka multiple times but after reading the Online Manual for the device, it says the distance for all of the bands and lists X, K, Ka, and Laser. I now assume that i was wrong saying that Ka and laser are one in the same. Has anyone ever seen anything other than X, K, and Ka? Thanks!

 

ive got the 8500 and i think we share LED displays..mine just lights up L A Z E R on the screen nice and bring indicating you are... trade up for a 8500 and grab a Lazer Shifter..

 

So it does show laser on the screen?

 

Yes it does. I got zapped before when I was using the 8500.. The displays says Laser and the thing just go crazy. Of course I didn't get a ticket

 

you gonna get the lazer shifter? i think i am....check it out on their website..interesting gadget.

 

I assume that this is the same on the 7500 am i correct? I reviewed them both on www.escortradar.com and they have similar specs. Do you guys have it on Expert Mode?

 

Yes i do have it on expert mode....its cool that way you can see lotsa info and dots Spend some time playing with it...its worth the effort.

 

i have the 8500, but personally i would get the V1

V1 just kicks assss, better angles for detections and can show more bogies

 

Yeah my friend has the V1 and its definately neat. I like how it tells you where the beam originates, so there is no looking around like a deer in the headlights trying to find out where the cop is. From what i've gathered online in the last 30 minutes, does the Laser not give you a strength? Does it just say LASER on the display?

 

no strength...i think because of the way it works...grab a Lazer pointer..same thing...if its on you...thats it...its very direct

 

first time my laser warning went off was on 85 in SC and it scared the snot outa me.....most hideous sound i've ever heard.

one thing w/ mine tho....get a lot of what seems like falses on K (once in a while Ka) on the highway. it never gets really strong like i'm rolling up on something and looking around it seems like i get it most while passing 18 wheelersand the like. y'all know of anything that would set this off? thought about sending it back and asking them to check it out.

 

I get that too man. At first i thought it was fake Ka's but recently i found something out about Phoenix, AZ. We now have PhotoRadar towers at lights, like the Red light cameras, except they are cylinder housings that do photoradar and if you are going 11 or more over the speed limit it will take your picture. I believe that most of my fake Ka's are from this.

 

good lookin out. so that'll solve the problem in the city, but on the highway tho? i mean, there'd be stretches when it's cars and trees and it'd still buzz.....that's why i think it's sumthin in them 18 wheelers. hey....you gotten a lil paranoid since you got it?

 

i have a 7500....i have seen LASER 2 times..wehn u see it..it makes a loud *** noise....i slammed on my brakes...and up ahead of me were some cops shooting the radar..wow...this thing helps

 

Dude..some tips NEVER SLAM on the brakes..its bascially an admission of guilt..down shift or what not...but dont slam on the brakes...a cop will know your speeding..

 

if the cop got you with the laser he will know right then and there if you were speeding or not.

the thing with laser you should keep in mind is when the alarm goes off more then anything the cop got you already. the only way to avoid it is to get the laser jammers, and yes these are LEGAL, jamming radar is illegal although. also with a laser the cop has to be at a full stop and aim and shoot you with it.

i have the 8500 for about a year now and never got shot with the laser, NJ state troopers just got them actually.

but a friend of mine had some crappy detector and the laser thing went nuts one night, well the cop pulled him over and he got a ticket. so just beware

 

Escorts Lazer Shifter will take care of legailty issues..check it out!

 

well its not like the company takes care of legality, its just that laser use and so forth is run by the FDA, so you can jam them or what have it and not be illegal. although it said on the site that some states may have outlawd the use of laser jammers.

as for me, $500 for something i would never use is not a wise investment. So far NJ only has a selected number of laser guns and use them on the major highways. until i get shot i'll save my $500 thank you

 

I agree, if your laser warning goes nuts, you just got nailed and if you were speeding and the cop feels up to it, you will get a ticket. Laser does not bounce off things like radar does so early detection will not be common at all.

I have a V1 and it works great, it has saved me a bunch of times. I'm considering shutting off the laser detection since it seems kind of useless. Plus it always goes off when I get near those new highway signs that give you traffic info. Sometimes the car in front of me will set it off with those led tail lights. For radar detection, there is nothing better than a V1, IMO.

Cabowabo

 

Actually, that is not entirely accurate. Laser (LIDAR)uses light to measure speed, so there has to be something on your car to reflect the light back to the lidar gun so it can complete teh speed calculation. If your vehicle deflects all of the light the lidar gun sends out, the speed reading will be blank. So if you have a dark colored vehicle with virtually no chrome it will be almost impossible for a lidar gun to obtain a speed reading on you. The only targe the cop will have left is your license plate or headlights. For these reasons, black corvettes and rx7s are virtually undectectable by laser (lidar).

 

how bout black maximas?....are they undectectable by laser (lidar)

 

I followed that link and now Im a proud owner of a tracking number for my 8500.
Thanks Phatman

 

you right in a sense, you want the car to absorb the light and not reflect it. the higher reflection will give the gun a more accurate reading. most states although have front plates and the cops generally aim for that first. a darkr colored car will absorb more light then a lighter color car.

also what Cabowabo, was saying about early detection is somewhat right. with Radar its more of a wide spread type of detection mode where it spreads the greatest area. the actual waves can be picked up as far as 2 miles away while the reading doesnt happen until you are within a 1/4mile range. laser on the other hand is something the cops has to shoot at a car and not just sit there with the gun on like they can with the radar. this alone will prevent early detection. also if you are traveling with a group of cars and you laser alarm goes off, 99.9% chance one car in that pack was just picked off.

 

I think with those GTO headlight covers its harder to be detected. Also I heard somewhere that the high beams make it harder to be detected. I've gotten like 10 Laser warnings, I think one was a cop. The others were a trailblazer taillights and when I drove by a firetruck with lights on. The legit one was when I was in a tunnel and 1/4 till the end I got a warning. When I got out, on the right side of the road I see a cop out of his car holding a gun.

 

I've been seeing this being sold on ebay.. What do you think of this Mini-D? MINI-D VS PASSPORT 8500

 

You're correct. It is the 18 wheelers. I've had a Passport 4500 for almost 10 years now. Still works beautifully! When anyone activates a CB radio, it emits an electromagnetic pulse. This pulse is being detected by the Passport (mine detects Ka). There's nothing you can do about it. It is in the same range as the real radar. Just be careful. Don't always assume it's a trucker.

Later.

 

Here is a link on how laser works. I found it on howstuffworks.com, a pretty cool site if really want to know how stuff works, hence the website name.

http://www.howstuffworks.com/question396.htm

Cabowabo

 

This is why I removed my front plate. Years ago when I had my Firebird I got busted for no plate. So I put it on for a while and noticed that my Escort 4600 kept getting hit with laser. When I took it back off it stopped happenning. Maryland is getting big on laser so I think I would rather take my chances with no front plate.

By the way I have a 7500 now and love it to death. I have had it for 3 or 4 years with no problems. I still have my 4600 that I use when ever I take my wife's car.