Civillian radar gun

I’m sick of some of these crazy drivers with radar detectors. Would it be legal for me to buy an old radar gun to set fuzzbusters off, thereby slowing those folks down. What is the law on civillians owning radar units? e
Especially here in Wisconsin?

I don’t know about the legality of owning a radar, but I think it might be easier to set off radar detectors than that. All you would need is an emitter - a simple beacon - on the right band and you could set off the detectors. I think this band is a shorter wave than radio (nearly microwave?) The police might not like it though, since I think it would have the potential to mess with their receivers, unless the radar detector bands were broader than what the radars were emitting in the first place…

Basically I have no idea what I’m talking about. I just think radars are cool.

I think it’s perfectly legal to own one. There are many sites on the web selling both enforcement radar guns and those built specially for sports (clocking baseballs, tennis balls etc.). What might be illegal is the use of one while in a vehicle. While scanners are perfectly legal in most states operating them in your vehicle usually isn’t. You might want to look into a cheap security system they usually have bits associated with them that set off radar detectors on occasion.

Or you could buy a Kawasaki Police 1000 and a uniform (hey, it works for funeral escorts!) and sit out on the street with a blow-drier! :smiley:

“I must leave this planet, if only for an hour.” – Antoine de St. Exupéry

Are you a turtle?

For years my brother-in-law sold radar guns to law enforcement. Whenever one of us would joke about buying one and using it to clock the police, he would put on his sternest face and say “You can’t buy one and you wouldn’t want one.” and close the subject. I don’t know if he meant they were illegal to sell to the public or whether the police would find ways to make life hell for us if they found one in our car.


I understand all the words, they just don’t make sense together like that.

I’ve seen kits in electronics catalogs for a transmitter that would set off radar detectors. It was billed as a fun highway game :wink: IIRC, it was under $40.

I can probably find a reference if someone’s interested. I’d guess if the power were low enough it would be a legal, unlicensed transmitter.

Arjuna34

Just get a button, wire it to your white reverse lights. When someone tailgates or comes down speeding, turn them on. lol, that is fun!

Whether or not it is legal to own a radar gun (or emitter), it is almost certainly illegal to use one. Radar is a type of radio signal, and it is illegal to transmit radio signals unless you have a license from the FCC or there is a particular FCC rule that permits that type of transmission without a license (e.g. CB radio).

Billdo’s correct. The FCC has a real problem with any “broadcast” on those frequencies except by cops actively using RADAR.

(Several years ago, Grand Rapids or Kalamazoo or some such place looked into buying broadcast units with that frequency. Their intention was to simply hang them on the back of billboards or place them in the weeds along I-96 or I-94 and let them scare drivers into behaving themselves. The FCC uttered a stern declaration of THOU SHALT NOT.)


Tom~

Bill, may I suggest asking for a statutory reference on that? I rather doubt that any emission of any radio waves in the United States is prohibited by law. I rather expect that such laws are focused on the unliscenced transmission of communicating radio waves.

And as a reminder for those here, PLEASE don’t just make statements of fact that you don’t have a reference for. It is precisely that sort of approach to ‘factual’ discussion that Cecil (and to a lesser extent the rest of us) are trying to fight.
California’s Vehicle Code outlaws “any device that is designed for, or is capable of, jamming, scrambling, neutralizing, disabling, or otherwise interfering with radar, laser, or any other electronic device used by a law enforcement agency to measure the speed of moving objects.” (Vehicle Code Section 28150) It makes no mention that I could find in the Vehicle Code of not allowing the ownership and use of a radar gun, though I suppose one could assert that such a gun is ‘capable’ of ‘jamming’ or ‘neutralizing’ a radar gun used by the police; I’m not a radar expert and don’t know what happens when two such devices are pointed at each other and activated.

Don’t those guns irradiate your balls?

Okay, how does one do this anyway? I always thought this would be great fun to have available on my car!

Okay, sorry to hijack…


“I can never give a ‘yes’ of a ‘no.’ I don’t believe everything in life can be settled by a monosyllable” *Betty Smith

Here’s something you’re probably not gonna wanna hear,

You, as a civilian, are not legally allowed to use a police type radar gun. The guns you see used at your local baseball game or dirt track are not of the same type. These type guns, manufactured by makers such as Bushnell, have far less power output and their beam is more constricted, as to clock a baseball. Police type radar guns have much more power, as some are capable of clocking almost a mile off. These type radars require an FCC license. Typically, this license falls under FCC part 90. Since it would be a travesty to license every single police officer in a department, there is a special provision made for police officers, which allows them to operate on this band, under their department FCC license that is issued for their two-way radio system. This is a type of “blanket” license which also covers certain types of low power VHF and UHF covert “wireless mics”.
Now, as a civilian, you have limited means of being able to use a radar gun. One, is to apply for a part 90 license for “Radiolocation” and provide the commission with a reason for your desire to operate a radar transmitter. Two, is to obtain an FCC Amateur Radio license (Tech and above Class) which will legally allow you to operate a radar on the 24Ghz band (on a secondary basis). Provided, you comply with identification guidelines with morse code ID every 10 mins. This can legally be in the form of “ON-OFF” CW transmission at a rate of 10WPM. Hopefully this will help you. DO NOT let your neighborhood local yokel catch you operating on these bands without proper licensing. They may LOCK YOU UP. At the very least, they will turn you over to the FCC. Also know, that even if you have priviledges on these bands, it is allocated as SECONDARY, meaning they have the right-of-way. YOU, the secondary operator, must take every means NOT TO INTERFERE with their operation. While it is VERY unlikely that you could ever “JAM” or otherwise interfere with another radar, even one of the same make, model and band as another radar, they could still make this claim. This information to my knowledge is accurate. Use of this information is at your own risk. All laws are subject to interpretation. This information, should be taken as such. Please review FCC parts 90 and 97 for further info.

Can zombies be clocked with radar guns?

Only really, really old ones.
Wow, ten years - that must be some sort of record.

We had one or two from 1999.

:confused:This is weird. One of my kids, or, more likely, my brother-in-law who was staying with us at the time must have posted this under my account. I certainly wouldn’t have asked this question.

28 years of law enforcement here. I know of no state law that prohibits anyone from owning a police radar unit. And W4MWLs’ warning is wayyy over blown. I know of no cops that would bother turning someone in to the FCC for having a police radar unit.

Now I have to spend the next few days asking who posted this.

I have seen cheap radar detector units set off by driving near the checkout at a 7-11. We always suspected that the barcode reader set the unit off.

No. It’s probably the automatic door opener. They use a low power radar unit (usually X band). It could also be the microwave ovens, but is probably more likely to be the doors.

Oh, ok. That makes sense.