Safe Speed Forums

Have been asked a few times about camera detectors both GPS and those that 'detect' anybody here use them?
If so what makes and models and what do people here think of them?
Any good or a waste of money?

Thanks

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"Safety Camera Detectors"? "Camera Detectors" which keep you "Safe"?

This is what I think of them. (copied from a post I made on PePiPoo)

To detect Truvelo, Peek, RedSpeed and SPECS (all fixed devices which do not emmit any RF/laser light) you need a GPS style detector. There is no other way to detect them.

To detect fixed Gatso installations and M25 style gantry cameras you can use either a GPS detector or a radar detector.

To detect mobile laser guns you need a laser detector or GPS detector with a list of mobile sites.

To detect portable gatso devices you need a radar detector or a GPS list which includes mobile sites.

To detect a hand-held radar gun... do they still use these? Same as portable gatso.

GPS based systems have a GPS receiver which tracks your position, given a clear enough view of the sky. The unit also has a database built in with the locations of known fixed (and sometimes mobile) camera sites. It can tell from your location and direction of travel if you are heading towards one of these sites.

Problems with GPS devices: The database has to be kept up to date. This usually involves removing the device from your vehicle and plugging it into your telephone line or computer (USB). Of course "computer" does not include anything I have at home, namely a few Linux machines and Macs. I have not seen any ethernet or wireless LAN based ones yet, otherwise I may have one. Needs clear view of sky while operating. Database is only as good as the data entered in it.

Problems with laser detectors: Laser light has a habbit of *not* scattering all over the place (unlike radar which bounces all around quite hapily) so these detectors are possibly not as useful as you might think; once it goes off you've probably been hit.

Problems with radar detectors: They detect the presence of radio signals at somewhere around 24.1 GHz ± 25MHz. That's about it. Traffic light and shop door sensors also use this frequency. Plenty of false alerts.

Problems with GPS databases of mobile sites: The sites are not always occupied. Again with the false alerts.

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Andrew.

My Tom Tom Go works with a Mac

Oh re-he-heealy? I'll have to look out for them then...

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Andrew.

Yep - I "swing both ways" when it comes to operating systems so only buy stuff that works with Mac OS as well as Windoze

It seems these days that the main contenders are the Road Angel and the Origin B2. Both have similar feature sets, and have optional radar detectors and the ability to connect to laser jammers (which have since been made illegal).

The major difference between the two is one of style and personal preference. The Road Angel is a single unit that sticks to the windscreen. This means you have to find a position where you can see it and where it can get a GPS signal, the laser detector also needs to be able to see out of the windscreen, though this isn't a major worry since laser detectors are crap anyway.

The Origin B2 is a smaller unit that comes with a wiring harness and a separate GPS antenna and laser detector that can be located wherever you like. I have my GPS antenna located on top of the hazard light switch under the dashboard, since it works fine through plastic, and the laser detector above the rear view mirror. The main unit is in front of my instrument cluster, partially obscuring the rev counter (I can't see the needle until I go above 2000 RPM. Oh well.)

Both units are powered by the cigarette lighter, though since the lighter -> B2 cable is separate from the main wiring harness and can be replaced, a lot of people have cut it off and hard wired it. Personally I just have an extra 4 ciggy lighter sockets located behind the radio.

There's also the B2 Solo which is basically a B2 with the GPS antenna built in, and instead of having a wiring harness, there's 3 or 4 sockets in the side for the power, laser, radar etc. I personally would find this less convinient, since the normal B2 only has one connector built into it's cradle.

If you regularly use multiple cars, or want the simplicity of a single device with only one thing to plug in to anything, the Road Angel is the obvious choice.

If you dont change cars too often, prefer a neat install and are prepared to spend more time on the initial setup then the B2 is the one to do for. If you're happy to fiddle behind the dashboard then it's possible to end up with no wired visible.


The other option of course, is the various user-created databases for TomTom and other PDA based navigators, such as those from pocketGPS.co.uk. In my experience the quality of these databases is not as good as the ones in my B2, especially when it comes to removing sites that no-longer have a camera.

This doesn't need radar or PC intervention...

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