When it comes to long-range sensitivity to police radar and a defense solution against lidar, a custom-installed radar detector is your best choice. Not only do custom-installed detectors offer fewer distractions within the vehicle, they offer better range and more features to help you reach your destination quickly and efficiently. Let’s look at a few reasons why integrated or custom-installed detectors are the best choice for defending yourself against speed traps.

Radar Receiver Sensitivity

Radar receivers use a horn-shaped microwave antenna (or two) to channel high-frequency signals from the radar gun to a high-sensitivity receiver module. The best units on the market use a digital signal processor to analyze the output of the receiver and quickly and accurately extract information about the presence of X, K and Ka-band police radar.

As with any antenna, the size of the antenna itself plays a significant role in its sensitivity. Sensitivity describes how weak of a signal an antenna can detect. If you have a larger antenna, you can detect a weaker signal.

Because custom-installed radar detectors typically use larger antennae (which can be mounted to the front of the vehicle), they can detect weaker signals and provide longer warnings. Most high-quality radar detectors will detect radar guns at ranges of between 1,500 and 3,500 feet, depending on the radar gun being used and the system you have purchased.

Dealing with Police Lidar

Most police forces are investing in lidar guns as opposed to radar. Lidar is much more precise in terms of singling out a particular vehicle in dense traffic. Because lidar guns can measure the speed of your vehicle in less than half a second, there is no time for a driver to react.

Some portable radar detectors, on their own, include a lidar receiver and will provide you with an alert that your vehicle has been targeted by an officer. In most cases, if you are speeding, this means you’re likely to get a ticket. There is a slim chance that the warning was received as the lidar gun was targeting an adjacent vehicle, but with a beam pattern that is only 30 inches wide at a range of 1,000 feet, that’s unlikely.

Custom-installed detectors typically include a complete laser defense solution as opposed to a laser warning. A laser defense system detects the light signal from the police lidar gun, then transmits a scrambled beam pattern that prevents the law enforcement officer from measuring the speed of your vehicle. We have a complete article that explains how lidar defense systems work here.

Your mobile enhancement retailer will have the training and experience required to outfit your vehicle with enough lidar transceivers and ensure that they are mounted and aligned properly to provide excellent protection.

A Note on Custom Radar Installations

We’ve talked about keeping the interior of your vehicle tidy in the past. Companies like BlendMount offer some nice options for securing a portable radar detector to your rearview mirror, and your local specialist mobile enhancement retailer can take care of running the wiring to a switched power source for you.

That said, a custom-installed detector takes integration to an entirely different level. Displays can be integrated into a rearview mirror, your dash or the center console for a factory-installed appearance. Some shops, like Ai Design in Tuckahoe, New York, are printing entirely new mirror frames to integrate controls and displays for custom radar detector and laser defense system installations. Talk to the team at your local specialist retailer to find out about the options that are available for your vehicle.

Protect Your Driving Record with a Custom-Installed Radar Detector

If you want the longest-range radar detection available and a viable defense solution against police lidar, drop by your local specialist mobile enhancement retailer today and ask about their custom-installed radar detector options.

This article is written and produced by the team at www.BestCarAudio.com. Reproduction or use of any kind is prohibited without the express written permission of 1sixty8 media.

Over the past few months, we’ve talked about how radar detectors and laser defense systems work. Now it’s time to talk about the dreaded and often controversial DragonEye ECCM-equipped lidar guns and why they’re so difficult to jam.

What Is DragonEye ECCM?

Let’s break this down a bit. Based in Norcross, Georgia, DragonEye Technology is a company that develops electro-optical systems for the law enforcement industry. What does this mean? They make police lidar guns. They have two basic product categories: lidar speed measurement guns with and without a built-in camera.

Aside from the quality, accuracy and reliability of their products, DragonEye’s claim to fame is their anti-jamming technology called the Electronic Counter-Counter Measure (ECCM) system. ECCM was designed to prevent a conventional laser defense system from being able to disable DragonEye’s measurement system.

What Is ECCM?

In a conventional lidar gun, the emitting laser produces pulses of light and measures the time it takes for those pulses to be reflected back to the gun. Knowing the speed of light, the gun can calculate the speed of an object by analyzing the changes in reflection time for each pulse. For our discussion, let’s say that the gun sends out 150 pulses per second and expects to see that same frequency of pulses returned.

Laser defense systems on our cars and trucks are designed to detect these pulses of light and transmit additional pulses and varying timing patterns to prevent a lidar gun from being able to make a calculation.

When ECCM is in use, the spacing between the light pulses is somewhat random. We specify that is it only “somewhat” random because the gun needs to know when it emitted a pulse and be able to measure its reflection time. As such, there is a pattern, even though it’s complicated.

Again, purely as an example, a DragonEye Gun may start transmitting at 150 Hz (pulses per second), then ramp up to 1,500 Hz and back down.

Defending Against Variable Pulse Rate Lidar

A simpler name for lidar guns like the DragonEye Compact and DragonEye Speed LIDAR with ECCM enabled is Variable Pulse Rate (VPR) radar. Other guns like the Stalker X-Series, the Laser Ally lidar and the LTI TruSpeed also offer VPR anti-jamming modes.

It’s worth clarifying: It’s the frequency of the pulses that is changed, not the frequency or wavelength of the beam being transmitted. For most lidar guns, that beam remains in the 905 nanometer/331.26 terahertz range.

In order for your laser defense system to prevent a reading, the system needs to detect the algorithm used to modulate the laser pulse frequency and transmit a compatible yet scrambled pattern. The transmitted pulses can’t simply be random.

The Cat-and-Mouse Game

Manufacturers of laser defense systems such as Escort, AL Priority, Stinger and K40 are constantly working on updating their firmware to maintain compatibility with new firmware from the lidar gun manufacturers. Statements about which defense systems defend against which guns should be qualified with confirmation of the firmware on the gun. A four-year-old DragonEye gun that has never had an update is going to be easier to jam than one that just came off the assembly line or has just returned from recertification and updates.

If you are shopping for a laser defense system, visit your local specialist mobile enhancement retailer and talk with them about where and how you drive. If they are truly experienced in the laser defense market, they will be able to tell you what radar and lidar guns are in use in your area and help you select a solution that will meet your needs. As always, we want to remind our readers that the performance of a laser defense system depends significantly on the installation. A reliable and accurate installation isn’t cheap but it can be the difference between getting a speeding ticket and arriving at your destination without delays.

This article is written and produced by the team at www.BestCarAudio.com. Reproduction or use of any kind is prohibited without the express written permission of 1sixty8 media.

If you’ve ever driven past a speed trap or, worse, received a speeding ticket from a law enforcement officer using a laser gun, you may be curious about how these systems work. Also called a lidar gun, these speed measuring devices are not only very accurate, but they work quickly and reliably to let an officer know how fast you are traveling.

What Is Lidar?

Invented in early 1960s, lidar (which is short for Light Detection And Ranging) was designed to measure distances. Lidar devices transmit a series of infrared light pulses that are focused into a beam toward an object. The system measures how long it takes for that pulse to reflect back to the laser receiver (a second lens on the front of the device). Knowing that light travels at a speed of 186,000 miles per second, the computer in the device can calculate how far away an object is, based on how long it took each the pulse of light to return.

The first practical application for lidar was when the National Center for Atmospheric Research used it to measure clouds. In 1971, the crew on the Apollo 15 mission used a laser altimeter to create a map of the moon’s surface.

How Police Laser Works

Police laser guns use a series of pulses to calculate speed. If the operator points the gun at a stationary object, each pulse takes the same amount of time to reflect back to the gun. The system compares these reflection times and looks for a change. When there is no change, the unit will display an object speed of 0 mph.

If the time it takes for each pulse to return is decreasing, the gun knows the object is moving toward the operator. If the reflection time is increasing, then the object is moving away from the operator. The rate of change of signal reflection time is used to determine the speed at which the object is approaching (or moving away from) the operator.

While this sounds complicated, most lidar guns can perform these calculations extremely quickly, often in 0.3 to 0.35 seconds. This incredible speed makes it impossible for a driver to slow down before the officer knows how fast he or she is driving.

Police Lidar Accuracy

After inspecting the specification sheets from companies like Stalker Radar, Kustom Signals and DragonEye Technology, most laser measurement systems are rated to provide a beam width of about 2.5 to 3 feet at a distance of 1,000 feet. This accuracy allows a police officer to select a single vehicle for measurement, even in dense traffic.

In terms of speed accuracy, all of the above manufacturers claim that the speed measurement is within 1 mile per hour. Though perhaps irrelevant for a discussion of policing, most laser (and radar) guns have a maximum measuring speed of about 180 to 200 miles per hour.

Why Is It Difficult to Jam Lidar?

Laser or lidar jammers try to detect the pulses of light from the officer’s gun and determine the pattern being used. Once they detect the pattern, they transmit a similar series of laser pulses that are intended to confuse the gun and prevent an accurate reading. Laser jammer manufacturers are always working on software updates to support the newest anti-jamming technologies.

Protect Yourself with a Laser Jammer Today

If you are interested in learning about the technologies that are available for your car or truck to prevent officers from using laser guns to measure your speed, drop by your local specialist mobile enhancement retailer today. They can explain the solutions they carry and how they can install them on your vehicle. As always, we ask that you drive safely and obey all traffic laws on your next adventure or commute.

This article is written and produced by the team at www.BestCarAudio.com. Reproduction or use of any kind is prohibited without the express written permission of 1sixty8 media.