Most people love having the luxury of radar detectors, myself included. But i get bored on those long interstate trips sometimes, and i’ve heard of a device that emits data at the frequency that radar uses. These devices can be used to set off radar detectors in the vicinity of your car, and they are supposed to be about the size of garage door openers. So my question is, is there any way to build a device like this out of household or easily bought products?? and i mean LEGALLY build it. My garage door opener will sometimes set off my radar detector, so it seems like maybe you could amplify that signal or something to ensure the detector goes off. This would provide endless fun on trips…hahaha.
For $135 you can buy a radar gun. I’m pretty sure that this would set off most radar detectors. Owning this device is surely legal, and I’m not certain that using it to set off other people’s radar detectors is illegal. You may want to check that out though.
If you’re driving: That tree jumping out at you would do it.
If you’re on the side of the road pointing it at people, while not appearing to be a cop: The big tattooed guy with the pissed-off expression, jumping out of that pickup with the gun rack, would do it.
I bought one of these devices about ten years ago at a local computer/electronics fair. It was about $10 and worked as advertised. It was the same size as a garage door opener with a button and an LED. Push the button and it sent fake radar signals for about 150 feet (~40 meters). I opened it up and (I didn’t know much about electronics then) it look a lot like the inside of a cheap radio. Sorry I can’t help too much concerning the actual components. Concerning the legality, well, I don’t see how it could be illegal (laws vary state to state, though). All it does is transmit a weak radio signal at the same frequency a radar gun does, which is the same thing a radar jammer does. I guess if a radar gun jammer is illegal in your state, this would be too.
In regards to the quality of entertainment; it was a blast! I remember being in a car drinking and driving into the city (we weren’t drunk, but underage. Getting pulled over would’ve been very bad) and freaking out my friend (and several other drivers) every few minutes by pushing the button when we got close to a likely cop hiding spot. Great fun until it was stolen…
First I have to question the concept that “most people” enjoy the use of a radar detector. Yeah, there’re a LOT of them, but I don’t think “most” people (by FAR) have one.
I don’t use them anymore. Every speeding ticket I ever got was while I was using a radar detector (except the last one, which was dismissed, so I won’t count it )
A true radar needs both a transmitter and a receiver, otherwise it’s just a jammer, and hence illegal in all likelyhood.
But, you could make one with a power supply (batteries or 12VDC), a couple of transistors, a diode or two, and maybe a timer if you want to get fancy. If you want a LOT of power, include the magnetron from a working microwave oven. You can probably find all kinds of instructions on the internet. You’ll also want to be able to transmit at police radar frequencies. I don’t know them offhand, but they’re on the internet, too. If you want to jam air traffic control secondary radar, use 9GHz or so.
As far as the SpeedCheck radar gun DEATH WARNING, is this just a company overreacting to possible lawsuits? I can’t imagine that this type of radar would put out enough power to cook anything or injure anyone without serious LONG TERM exposure. Anyone have the specs on this device, e.g., peak power, pulse width, and frequency, or continuous power?
I have this exact unit. It works well, but it does not have as long as range as a radar gun. This unit will not jam police radar. My advice is, if you want to bug the fuzzbuster maniacs on the highway, go on E-bay and buy a used radar unit. K-band is best because there are fewer false alarms on K-band and folks with detectors react more to a k-band alarm. Set the unit up in the back of your car, like where the 3rd brake light housing is. No one will see it back there. If you’re paranoid, put a baseball cap or large kleenex box over it. Something that would look normal sitting back there.
Next, run the remote control cable from the unit to the drivers seat. Hide the cord under the carpet or floor mats.
Now you are ready to play my favorite game: Trolling for Tail lights!
When Joe Speeder sails past you, hit the switch! His detector lights up, he slams his brakes on and drives paranoid for 5 miles thinking a state trooper just nailed him. Some folk pull the detector off their dash/visor and hide it under the seat. It’s hillarious watching their heads twist from side to side looking for the patrol car that just zapped them. You can drive them nuts!
:rolleyes: hey, some people golf. This is my hobby.
I’ve got to agree with Balthisar here. In my book radar detectors are about the most useless pieces of junk out there. I’m sure someone will correct me, but isn’t it fairly common for law enforcement to sit at the side of the road with the gun OFF, waiting for a likely candidate to come zipping along. Once such a sucker appears, all the cop has to do is flip the gun on and then all your precious radar detector can do is announce that you’ve just been tagged doing 90 in a 65 zone. “Thanks a bunch scrap of useless plastic. Not only didn’t you save me a ticket but now I’ve got those stupid rings on my windshield left by your useless suction cups that work about 50% of the time.”
This is not my idea of luxury. Luxury is driving a safe (from the law) 7 - 10 miles/hr over the limit and not having to worry about getting yanked.
Believe me, radar detectors are more trouble than they are worth.
No cop I know would ever park or drive around with the radar unit activated. All radar units have a HOLD button, and you don’t fire the radar until you have someone in your sights.
Also, while it is not illegal here to have a radar detector in the car, it is a red flag to the cops. Even if he/she intended to give you a warning before, the radar detector pretty much guarantees a ticket. This is based on two things: 1) you may have avoided a ticket in the past, so no breaks today, and 2) you are obviously someone with no respect for the law, and who has an intent to speed and get away with it.
While I have to agree, I would say that the point of a radar detector is not to ensure that you don’t get a ticket. Sometimes it might help, sometimes it won’t. Yes, officers often have instant-on capability, but the detector can still be helpful to you because it will often pick up the officer’s gun zapping someone else ahead of you. It is still your responsibility not to go too crazy (ie. 90 in a 65). People seem to expect radar detectors to be the end-all of their speeding problems. They’re useful devices, but if you use them incorrectly, or if you rely on them, they won’t help you.
You could jam radar. Just get a CB radio, turn it on an open channel, and tape the mic switch down. The massive RF signals will shut down any radar gun within a 1/4 mile vicinity. The guns have an RFI interference mode that will shut down the gun–rendering no reading–if there is too much electomagnetic voltage in the vicinity–to protect the electronics. Now if you got a linear amplifier (they are illegal btw), and did this, you could jam radar guns for miles.
Do you have any real evidence that this works? It’s really easy to filter out RF enegergy that’s not at the desired frequency. CBs are really low frequency, and microwaves (radar) are really high, making it that much easier to filter. Even taking harmonics of the CB into account, the frequencies are so far apart on the spectrum, no significant power would leak past a filter.
On the other hand, as a youngster, some punk-*ss ruined my CB with his linear amp in the next traffic lane.
From what I understand most radar guns have a a sensor that shuts down the gun if it detects to much RFI. This protects the electronics from burnout. The burnout can result from EM waves producing unwanted voltages on the sensitive circuitry.
Silo, my friend & fellow doper,no offense but this is the most untrue statement I’ve heard this year. This year being 2000. If it were 1979, your statement might be somewhat true. First of all, legal cb radios (not ones with linear amplifiers) only broadcast at 5 watts. You could put a broadcasting cb right up to a radar gun and the gun would ignor it. I know, I own a good radar unit, and I’ve also tried this with different radars some of my friends use in their employment !!! No effect.
Second, most traffic radar today use digital technology. Even a “kicker” (linear amplifier)has little effect on todays radar. Under your theory every radio & t.v. station tower would render all police radar useless. Anyone who has had the chance to “play” with a modern radar unit (one 10 years old or less) will be surprised at how accurate they are, and how hard they are to jam. The RFI indicators tend only to blank the radar in very rare instances. I truely hope you are not using your cb method, as you will find yourself in traffic court more often than you will like.
I’d never tried the method myself (I wouldn’t want the FCC all over my ass. ;)), though, I’d heard it in an electronics course once. Sorry if I posted an UL, but I think my statement at least renders true for the older analog guns.
BTW from what I remember, I thought even a 2-watt walkie talkie could interfere with a radar gun reading. Am I just losing it here?
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