LOL!!!

 

I think my foglight detector just went off...

 

haha....good posts guys..thanks for the input...V1 it is

 

Does Val. 1 have POP?

 

This subject has been flogged to death on lots of boards...but here's my 2 cents. I don't have a V1 but one of my friends does and almost everytime I'm on the phone with him I hear the V1 beeping in the background....false alarms are out of control with the V1. You also get lots of false laser alerts from certain vehicles with LED tail lights. Not the case with Passport.

I've done several road trip caravans with others that had V1 and we had FRS radios and each time one or the other would get a signal, we talked on the radio. In general, they were very close in detection of range, but the edge clearly went to the passport. This was in California with Ka band.

Also V1 has no auto-mute mode so the false alarms are even worse. I must say, the arrows would be very cool.

But to the other poster that said Passport doesn't have bogey counter, you are incorrect, it does have that capability.

The big decision for me when I bought my passport 4 years ago was the size and shape of the V1...it was much bulkier and looked like a piece of lab equipment. It has since been shrunken, so its not as big of an issue.

Considering I got the Passport on sale for $249, I think I made the best choice. The V1 is what...$399? I'd rather save the $150 and put it towards a laser jammer, as laser is the big new threat and neither V1 nor Passport can help you much in that regard.

 

I wasn't aware that they "shrunk" the V1. I thought it was basically the same case as the one they introduced originally. If anything, I thought they had to make it a slight bit taller to accomodate the laser detection.

The V1 has three modes -- it sounds like your friend may not be familiar with them. I use "Advanced Logic" mode (capital "L") exclusively on my V1 and have very few false alarms. The way logic mode (small "L") works, it seems to me like that is the "auto mute" mode that you claim doesn't exist. Maybe I'm confused as to what auto mute is -- all I know is that the V1 does have more than one mode, you just have to know how to operate it.

Also, most V1 owners don't know this but there are some ways to customize your unit to allow you to change the way the unit behaves (for example, when it auto mutes, etc.). Click here for a link to Valentine's "How to reprogam" page...

 

Rudy, my new one is thinner than my older one. However, I believe it is thicker than the ones that were coming out two or three years ago. Can't be sure until I run across some of my buddies. TitaniumGray5 is right, though. It could be considered more bulky. Even so, I have mounted the new one to the right of the rear view mirror and both sun shades can be fully utilized. Also gives a good view to the rear which was a concern of yours when I posted a pic of my old mount on the left of the mirror.

 

I wasn't aware that they "shrunk" the V1. I thought it was basically the same case as the one they introduced originally. If anything, I thought they had to make it a slight bit taller to accomodate the laser detection.

The V1 has three modes -- it sounds like your friend may not be familiar with them. I use "Advanced Logic" mode (capital "L") exclusively on my V1 and have very few false alarms. The way logic mode (small "L") works, it seems to me like that is the "auto mute" mode that you claim doesn't exist. Maybe I'm confused as to what auto mute is -- all I know is that the V1 does have more than one mode, you just have to know how to operate it.

Also, most V1 owners don't know this but there are some ways to customize your unit to allow you to change the way the unit behaves (for example, when it auto mutes, etc.). Click here for a link to Valentine's "How to reprogam" page...
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Automute is a feature which turns the volume way down after a few seconds of an alert. It makes the occasional false alarm tolerable. Does the V1 have that? My friend says no.

 

I agree that the unit is somewhat larger and bulkier than the others and I guess they've reduced the size a little bit since the early days. Either way, I don't have a problem with it's size. Glad to see you are happy with your mounting location JDN. I have my EZ-Pass setup to be mounted where you have your V1. I slap my V1 in the windshield dead-center when I'm using it (in Pennsylvania, only the State Police are allowed to use radar so I only need my detector when I take trips on highways, etc.)

TG5, the "logic mode" (small "L") does something similiar to this. What logic mode does is use advanced logic to determine the likeliness of a false alarm. If it detects radar but thinks it's probably false, it begins the warning at the (adjustable) muted volume. If the alarm persists and becomes likely that it's a real threat, the alarm unmutes and increases it's volume to the main (adjustable) volume. Advanced Logic mode (capital "L") uses the same logic but doesn't bother you at all with the muted portion of the alert. That's the mode I've been using for many years without problems. If you click the link I posted on how to custom program the V1, you'll see even more options that help you tweak the automatic mute settings.

You mention that the auto mute feature "makes the occasional false alarm tolerable" and the way it's implemented in the V1, it's even more tolerable because you get it muted right away or not at all...

You can see the entire owner's manual for the V1 by clicking here. Page 9 (.pdf page 9) will explain the modes better.