Over the last month or so I've noticed--first when driving on 280 and now on 101 in the bay area--that my V1 goes off repeatedly, near every exit. I've noticed there are small boxes with a window on the front and a solar panel on the top, aimed at the road, on light poles near the beginning of every exit ramp.

At first I though they were put there to take pix of speeding cars, but the box looks too small. Then I though they're doing it to effectively make radar detectors useless since they're always going off. Now my theory is they're part of the system they use to report on traffic patterns--like you see on the news and some websites (like Yahoo maps)--they take speed measurements using radar guns, have solar power and probably send data back using cellular technology, so no expensive wiring is required.

Anybody else notice these? What do you think they are? Whatever they are for, they've succeded in annoying the heck out of me--constantly having to hit the mute button, plus I don't feel like my V1 is useful on those roads anymore.

 

It happens to me exactly all the way from Sunnyvale to Gilroy.

 

Here's what's going on:
http://www.radarbusters.com/news/cur...dar-drones.asp

 

Given that I drive on 280 & 101 a lot and these radar guns make my V1 go off every few minutes, I decided to program the V1 (using the instructions in the link below) so it auto-mutes K-band alerts (gives initial audible alert, then auto-mutes--but still shows visual alerts) for 10 seconds. I also set it so it unmutes if the initial signal is 4 lights or greater, or if the signal starts weak and increases to 6 lights. Apparently CHP uses Ka-band (not K-band) so it shouldn't increase my vulnerability, plus I still get the initial audible alert, and the visual alerts. After a few days of driving, it is so much better--no need to press the mute button every few minutes.

http://www.valentine1.com/lab/MikesLabRpt3.asp