Ok, I purchased an used escort solo 2 (cordless) and hardwire it to a 12v pw source so it's not running on batteries. My question is, this thing doesnt seem to go off at all when I pass cops. Does it only go off if they are pting the radar at u? I saw a motorcop the other day and saw that he had a radar gun to his side and pting at drivers that he feels are going too fast. So I pass the cop and not even a sound? The cop wasnt pting the gun at anyone at the time (just resting next to his side waiting) so is this normal? I remember a friend had a cheap radar one and the thing would go off all the time.

 

I have this radar detector.
If its low on batteries, it doesn't seem to work right.
Hell it doesn't seem to work right at all.
It just seems to go off randomly just to get you to slow down.
I've passed many cops without it going off.

 

You guys don't have much a clue how radar works..read your manuals. i HAVE THE Solo2, it works great.

to answer your question, yes, the cop must turn on it's radar for you to detect any signals, otherwise, it will just stays silent. What's good about the solo 2 is the capable to filter out false alarms, only give you a real threats, definitely watch out for "KA" band.

The best feature of the Solo2 is the wireless, if you are hot wiring the radar, then solo2 shouldn't be your best choice, V1 or 8500 covers more distance in radius, and more sensitive.

I've seen cops point some type of gun at people on the highway, but i think it's not a radar or laser gun. i thought it was some type of camera to see if drivers are on cell phones.

Nowadays cops are smarter knowing that a lot of ppl have one of those radar detectors, and most of the time, they don't turn on their radar until they suspect someone's driving too fast. Some cases, they just use laser to shoot.

Laser detector only helps if the cop isn't shooting laser at you. If he does shot at you, then it's already too late. If the cop is shooting laser at the car around you, snice laser can bounce around, and you happens to pick up the laser signal, the you are in luck.

 

I still don't think it works all that well.
I've been in cars with a Valentine and it seems to work much better.

 

The Solo is the best cordless model out there but it has no chance of detecting K band POP radar or Ka band POP radar and the range will never be as good as a corded radar detector.


http://valentine1.com/cordless/

"The SOLO S2's "High-Efficiency Power Management" is hardly rocket surgery. It saves the two AAs by putting the sentry to sleep more than 85 percent of the time. It just switches off the power-using detector circuitry.

A sleeping sentry can't possibly give early warning when radar is used in the instant-on mode. And it gives up all hope of detecting the POP mode."


http://www.radardetector.net/viewtop...=solo&start=15

For a few of the detectors, we did a second run, and the results seemed to be consistent with the first run.

Radar used:
Kustom Golden Eagle, 35.5 GHz.

Results in number of feet from source at which the detector alerted.

Valentine One v3.826
1072 Feet

RX-65 S7 v3.6, USA Mode
788 Feet

Solo S2 w/Cord
433 Feet

Solo S2 No Cord
421 Feet

Whistler 1788 w/Cord
93 Feet

Whistler 1788 No Cord
66 Feet

PNI Silver Bullet RX7600 w/Cord
72 Feet