Is there such a thing as a "Good" interior radar/laser detector unit?

[PhilDavid]

I'm thinking of setting up one of those interior radar/laser detector units and having it professionally mounted where the rear view mirror is. My question is if there there such a thing as a "good" device that will pick up radar and laser when the whole unit is inside the car. I know the windshield has a special coating so I wanted to make sure I'm not wasting money.

I realize the best setup is to have the sensors outside the car but that costs thousands and needs them to disassemble parts of the car so I'm looking for a less invasive solution that offers some level of meaningful protection. The other benefit I like is with the Uniden units is that they beep for speed cameras.

It's a pain to look at a Waze map and look for speed camera icons when not actively navigating so looking for a solution that will just beep/chime just for speed camera locations.

I'm thinking about buying an Uniden R3 or R7.

https://www.amazon.com/Uniden-R3-Ex...ZMJ4A9SP551T&refRID=8A2C694SZMJ4A9SP551T&th=1

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PJ2ZX6R/ref=psdc_2230642011_t2_B0743H6CSN

 

[Catbiscuits]

I used to have a radar detector and found I got many more tickets with it than not. Waze is a pain, but it works. Radar detectors pick up false positives all the time and if there's a cop below the crest of a hill with a laser (which is what all the cops around here use anyway) by the time the thing goes off, you will get a ticket. Do you have an android or iPhone. If you think you are in danger of being ticketed due to your speed, use Waze to navigate where you are going and have it give you audible alerts. Again, annoying, but I've found no better way to avoid being ticketed.

 

[Impala1ss]

I have a Valentine and get no false alarms. Has saved my bacon many, many times.

 

[VikH]

Most modern radar units have GPS to lockout falses. I do a combo approach with an Escort 360 Max and Waze. This works great.

 

[cypho]

There is no need for any aftermarket police detecting devices on a Tesla. Just double-click the gear selector as soon as you get going, and you can sit back and relax. You don't have to worry about traffic, police, or bears. Just keep an eye out for stop lights and make sure you don't accidentally end up 20 miles further down the road than you planned on going.

Obeying the law is many orders of magnitude more effective than any gadget at avoiding unwanted police attention. It doesn't cost anything, and autopilot makes it so easy to do. Seriously autopilot has totally eliminated my instinct to slam on the brakes every time I see a cop.

 

[2101Guy]

I used to really rely on my Valentine one setup (years back).
5 yrs ago I switched to Waze only due to excess falsing from the V1. (many cars use laser for lane detection, active cruise, etc). I would have needed to upgrade my V1 to latest model which prevents those falses (allegedly).

Instead..I switched to using Waze.

Zero tickets in 5 years using it..and trust me..I do, speed. Often.

 

[PhilDavid]

I just wish Waze had an option where you can keep the app running and it will just warn you for police and camera locations but in order to receive those alerts I need to be actively navigating somewhere. With most of my driving, I'm driving around town where I know all the roads and short cuts so don't need to be actively navigating to a destination.

I was considering the Uniden R3 mostly for the camera notifications as our area is infested with speed cameras every few blocks

I just need something that will beep at me about 10 seconds before approaching a camera and then be quiet. Is there an app anyone knows of that can do this so I don't have to go the radar detector route? I don;t want to clutter up the interior and it seems unless I go the full custom install route costing thousands there is no clean way to mount a Uniden R3 or R7.

Waze would have been ideal if it could give speed camera alerts when not actively navigating somewhere.
It's almost as if they've purposefully crippled Waze with the lack of customization options.

 

[VikH]

I just wish Waze had an option where you can keep the app running and it will just warn you for police and camera locations but in order to receive those alerts I need to be actively navigating somewhere. With most of my driving, I'm driving around town where I know all the roads and short cuts so don't need to be actively navigating to a destination.

Waze does this already.

 

[PhilDavid]

Waze does this already.

I just haven't been able to get it to warn me about speed cameras reliably when not navigating. Does it work for you reliably?

This is the primary reason why I'm considering getting a dedicated radar detector that has this capability.

A "feature" I find annoying with Waze is how it reminds you of speed cameras only if you are going above the speed limit and honestly I always drive around the speed limit but if I make a lane change I may go a bit over the limit if needed to not cut in too close to someone. With Waze not reminding me of a speed camera since I'm driving below the limit I can easily drive past a speed camera and accelerate a bit triggering a ticket.

I just haven't been able to get Waze to reliably always chime as I approach a speed camera, especially when I'm driving at or below the speed limit and not actively navigating.

 

[blackhawk]

Waze does this already.

Not for me on IOS, if I don't have a destination running, Waze is silent. Very annoying. Also, I only get audio notifications from Waze if I listen to Bluetooth music from my phone. The moment I switch to any Tesla music app, Waze goes silent again.

To answer the original question, to defeat laser you need a laser jammer. Police laser is instantaneous and aimed at the lower front of your car, usually your license plate. It has less 'spread' than a radar signal. Even if you could detect the laser up at the windscreen height, you won't have time to react. The laser jammer works by alerting you, while jamming the laser until you slow to the speed limit.

The stealth laser/radar installs on a Tesla look really amazing, almost invisible, but usually >$4k for a good one.

 

[PhilDavid]

Not for me on IOS, if I don't have a destination running, Waze is silent. Very annoying. Also, I only get audio notifications from Waze if I listen to Bluetooth music from my phone. The moment I switch to any Tesla music app, Waze goes silent again.

To answer the original question, to defeat laser you need a laser jammer. Police laser is instantaneous and aimed at the lower front of your car, usually your license plate. It has less 'spread' than a radar signal. Even if you could detect the laser up at the windscreen height, you won't have time to react. The laser jammer works by alerting you, while jamming the laser until you slow to the speed limit.

The stealth laser/radar installs on a Tesla look really amazing, almost invisible, but usually >$4k for a good one.

You describe my problems with Waze and why I'm looking for another solution:

• You need to be actively navigating some place for reliable alerts.
• May not alert you about speed cameras if you are going below the speed limit so you could momentarily accelerate without knowing you are next to a speed camera.
• And it's been this way for years. It's almost like they don;t want to offer enough customization to make Waze useful.
• Totally agree how annoying it is when you get alerts via Bluetooth even if you are not listening to Bluetooth in your car.

Yeah the stealth setups are nice but I don;t want to see the car dismantled and spend $4-5K. And I agree with Laser by the time you get an alert you are done, unless you have a jammer.

i would just settle for now for something that will reliably beep as I approach a speed camera no matter what speed I'm going and it seems the Uniden R3 can do this...

 

[ElectricTravel]

My question is if there there such a thing as a "good" device that will pick up radar and laser when the whole unit is inside the car. I know the windshield has a special coating so I wanted to make sure I'm not wasting money.

Some people have mentioned that newer cars don't have the metal coating on the windshield and thus don't block radar signals. I can't confirm, but that might be something to research if your car is fairly new.

Yeah the stealth setups are nice but I don;t want to see the car dismantled and spend $4-5K.

Would you consider a minor dismantling and less than $50 more than the cost of a Valentine One? If so, take a look at the writeup I posted here: Detailed How-To: Install a Valentine One radar detector behind the nosecone of a Model S

Near the start of that post, there is a section on checking the windshield to see the shape of the metal coating. You could do that and see if yours has any metal coating at all.

 

[Andy_TPA]

There is no need for any aftermarket police detecting devices on a Tesla. Just double-click the gear selector as soon as you get going, and you can sit back and relax. You don't have to worry about traffic, police, or bears. Just keep an eye out for stop lights and make sure you don't accidentally end up 20 miles further down the road than you planned on going.

Obeying the law is many orders of magnitude more effective than any gadget at avoiding unwanted police attention. It doesn't cost anything, and autopilot makes it so easy to do. Seriously autopilot has totally eliminated my instinct to slam on the brakes every time I see a cop.

since the dawn of radar detection units, from corolla to tesla forums there's always the one guy...

That being said I'm quite happy with waze, but I just wish it would alert me everytime there's a speed camera, regardless of the speed I'm doing.

 

[PhilDavid]

since the dawn of radar detection units, from corolla to tesla forums there's always the one guy...

That being said I'm quite happy with waze, but I just wish it would alert me everytime there's a speed camera, regardless of the speed I'm doing.

Yeah it is completely staggering how dumb the Waze notification settings are with regards to speed camera warnings. I mean do the developers of Waze not use their own software or do they run a special version of Waze that offers additional customization for alerts?

It's a brain dead of Waze to alert about speed camera warnings only if you are going over the limit with no option to always warn about upcoming speed cameras whether you are actively navigating or not.

If anyone else has any other ideas for some setup that will always reliably warn me of upcoming speed camera locations, please let me know. Where I live, the speed cameras are popping up every several blocks and they are basically being used as a source of tax revenue.

 

[Ostrichsak]

I was aware we HAD to choose between a radar detector or Waze.

I also wasn't aware it was such an important decision that we'd have proponents on both sides ready to do bodily harm in the name of their team.

I'm not sure if we have modern politics or the Savage battle between Team Edward & Team Jacob supporters manufactured to sell more Twilight tickets but civilization has become unbearably uncivil over the stupidest crap.

We need actual strife in this nation to give people a cause to truly get outraged over. This manufactured struggle over petty BS has become tiresome to say the least.

 

[PhilDavid]

I was aware we HAD to choose between a radar detector or Waze.

I also wasn't aware it was such an important decision that we'd have proponents on both sides ready to do bodily harm in the name of their team.

I'm not sure if we have modern politics or the Savage battle between Team Edward & Team Jacob supporters manufactured to sell more Twilight tickets but civilization has become unbearably uncivil over the stupidest crap.

We need actual strife in this nation to give people a cause to truly get outraged over. This manufactured struggle over petty BS has become tiresome to say the least.

Dear God. What on earth are you talking about or did you post on the wrong thread or the wrong forum for that matter, by mistake.

Could we please stick to the topic of discussion.

 

[Ostrichsak]

Could we please stick to the topic of discussion.

We basically just said the same thing: one a little more entertaining while the other a little more succinct.