In this article discover how a radar detector works and how it can save you from being caught while speeding. Speeding is a normal part of most the people’s lives. Sometimes speeding can be done to reach your workplace in time and sometimes just for fun.
But due to this speeding, you might have been caught and fined as well. To prevent such situations you might have searched for products. Mostly you would have come across a Radar detector when it comes to saving yourself from being caught while speeding. In the below paragraphs, you would find all the necessary information about these radar detectors.
What Are Radar Detectors?
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A radar detector is an electronic device that is used to detect if the speed of a vehicle is being monitored or tracked by the police or other authorities using a radar gun. The radar detector detects the invisible radar waves in the air that might be used for measuring the speed of your vehicle.
Whenever an invisible radar wave is detected by the radar detector, it will notify you immediately through audio or visual alerts.
You can then decide what action is to be taken i.e., slower your vehicle speed. There are various models of radar detectors available in the market.
They are broadly divided into two categories:
- Window mount radar detector
- Remote radar detector
Window mount radar detectors are electronic devices that are attached to a windshield with suction cups. They are so small that they can be fitted in your palm. The window detectors come with various benefits as well. They can be transferred from one car to another easily without any hassle. They can be taken with you anywhere and can be used on any vehicle that you ride on.
On the other hand, custom-installed radar detectors function similarly to window mount radar detectors. But they are different in their structure and makeup.
In remote radar detectors the antenna, control circuit, display, and speakers rather than being into a single unit are separated into several different modules. The modules are then hidden and integrated into the vehicle’s OEM-style.
How Do Radar Detectors Work?
Radars are used to identify the distance and speed of a vehicle. A radar device emits a radio wave and strikes the object in its path and bounces back to the radar device. The radio wave moves at the speed of light to reach the object.
The radar device is able to figure out the distance of the vehicle targeted by the time taken by the radio wave to hit the object or vehicle and how long it takes for the wave to bounce back to the radar device.
When a radar device is used to detect the speed of a vehicle, the radio waves frequency of the returned signal is altered. This happens because the car is moving.
If the car is moving towards the device from which the radio waves have been sent, the radio wave frequency increases because the return signal has a shorter distance to travel.
Coming to radar detectors, a simple radar detector identifies radar devices on the basis of the radio waves. A radar detector simply acts by receiving radio waves.
It picks up the specific frequencies of the radio waves used by the radar devices. The radar devices used by police have a wide area of radio waves but only tracks one specific target.
Radar detectors in a car pick up the radio waves before the car comes within the range of the police cars. This prevents your car from getting tracked and police radar guns are not able to get an accurate speed reading.
If you use a more advanced radar detector in your car they can not only detect police radar guns but can even alter the reading the police radar detector device receives by altering the frequency of radio waves. In such radar detectors, there is a radio transmitter which is specializes to emit jamming signals.
This means that the radar detector will emit additional radio signals along with the received radio waves to alter the accurate reading on the police radar device.
Tips Before You Buy A Radar Detector
If you don’t have a radar detector yet but you are planning to purchase one soon, make sure you go through these tips. These will help you to have a clear picture in your mind that which type of radar detector you wish to buy.
Make sure that you know the laws related to radar detectors in your state or country.
- Always prepare your budget beforehand. Radar detectors are generally expensive and the cost varies with the features it has.
- Choose a radar detector which is manufactured by well-known companies. Never go for local or cheap radar detectors as they can be less accurate in their performance.
- Decide whether you are going to take the help of a professional to install the radar detector on your vehicle or you know how to do it yourself.
- Look for a radar detector with a memory function and with a radar detection unit of a minimum of 100db. More sensitive radars are more beneficial.
- Enquire beforehand whether the radar detector has a long-range detector, large display, and voice feature so that you can customize them according to you.
- Always find out about the specifications and details of the radar detector. Also, make sure that you are aware of the pros and cons of the radar detector which you are going to buy.
- Consider buying the radar detectors online as online sites sell the best radar detectors at the best available prices.
- In certain states using a radar detector is illegal. For this situation, find radar detectors with certain extra features due to which the radar detectors cannot be trapped.
Final Talk
With the advancement in technology, you are bestowed upon with great devices. The radar detectors can protect you from getting caught and fined for speeding. The article aimed to provide you with details about the functioning of radar detectors. We believe that you should be aware of the technicalities of the devices which you use in your daily life. It should never happen that you are using a device and you do not know how it works.
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