Re: (DGBibo)
Nowadays, cops rarely use radar detectors (at least where I live - thats because cops like the extended range of laser guns here where they can shoot you from down the interstate and take time to hop in their car and get behind you. Cops in bigger cities may use radar more). Most have switched to laser/lidar guns that are instant on systems. And even if they used radar guns, they probably have the instant on radar guns that are also hard to detect.
With constant on radar, when cops aim at people in front of you, the radar reflections off of those cars come to your detector which beeps and tells you to slow down before you are hit directly by the cop's radar gun. And these guns emit a constant stream of RF waves, making it very easy to detect.
And I do not believe there are such things as radar jammers, because that would involve emitting an interfering RF signal, which I think would violate a variety of FCC rules (like when you read on the back of devices that it says it follows FCC rule 14 I believe, where it accepts interference but does not interfere with devices itself) - Someone correct me if I'm wrong about that.
With instant on radar guns, the cop has a trigger on his gun, and when you come close, he hits the trigger, and the gun then emits a signal which hits cars and comes back. But because of the reflective nature of RF waves, you are still likely to receive reflections off of cars ahead of you, and detect these with your detector, and slow down before hit directly yourself.
And when you see cops, you can tell what guns they have - guns with one or no sights on them, and often with a flat plastic front, are radar.
But if you see a cop with a gun that has two or three lenses on them, you know that's a laser/lidar gun. Laser works by when the cop hits a trigger, the gun emits an infrared laser beam targeted toward a reflective part of your car (eg white license plates, headlights, etc.), it hits your car, reflects back to the gun, and it figures your speed based on the doppler effect, just like all speed guns do. Problem with this is that the infrared beam doesn't scatter as much as RF does. So the beam often just hits the targeted car and goes back to the gun, and doesn't reflect too well to cars behind. So with a laser detector, you often might not detect a laser gun presence in the area unless hit directly.
However, it is possible to jam laser guns. By putting infrared LED's and around your car's hotspots (license plates, under your headlights, etc.), and wiring those up to a radar detector only and laser detector/jamming system, you'll be covered. You will be able to detect reflected RF gun waves and slow down before being hit directly with those, be able to detect laser gun reflections and slow down before being hit directly (that is, if you receive the reflections in the first place), and emit a jamming signal to laser guns when hit directly.
But as far as I know, laser jamming systems can be quite pricey.
I typed this whole thing out without proofreading it, so if something doesn't make sense, correct me.
Example of a radar gun (no sights, flat plastic front):
Example of a lidar gun with two lenses and no sight:
So I would advise you do drive around in police hotspots for a week or two, going the speed limit so you don't get caught, and slow down when you approach the cops so you can take a glance at the type of gun they have - it will be quite obvious to you as to if they use a radar or lidar gun. And based on your observations, decide on whether you simply need to get a radar detector, or a laser jamming system.
