Which speed radar detector do you use?

Today, I will be talking about speed radar detectors but first of all, let’s all pray that the newly reactivated speed cameras won’t be flashing people randomly after the end of their “test” period. lol. As announced on Sunday, they were temporary turned off for “a slight technical mistake” but they are supposed to be back into operation in a “self-testing mode” as from Tuesday 28 May 2013 at noon.

Radar detectors

Most of you probably already know what is a radar detector but nevertheless, it is important to remind people that radar detectors might not be of any help in case a police officer points his laser gun directly towards your car. At this point of time, the device will have most probably already recorded your current speed. However, it works well (at least for you), if the officer is pointing at other cars around you.

Laser jammers

Unlike speed radar detectors, the laser jammers are mostly ideal for the hand-held guns. They will literally confuse radars by emitting light of another wavelength and as a result, the radar will show no or zero readings.

And if you have more money to invest to be on the “safer” side, laser jammers might be made for you.

Which features should you look for?

Without going into much details, I will quickly go through a few features that can be useful when choosing a detector :

• GPS technology to save or mark locations at a button press for the detector to warn you or ignore the location the next time you come in the region.
• Detection ranges vary depending on models, so you probably want to buy one which informs you long way ahead.
• Voice warning can be useful but sometimes annoying too.
• Filter modes (for example City mode to bring down the sensitivity level or ignore known signals emitted by different sensors).
• Radar-detector detector (RDD) are features featuring on some models that prevent detectors from finding your radar detector *yeah lol*.

Bands used in Mauritius

You must also ensure that your radar detector checks for the correct frequency bands used by the cameras and radars in Mauritius. For example, it has been reported that

• The new Truvelo speed cameras use both the K and the KA band.
• The old mobile cameras use the K band and
• The hand held guns use laser

Prices

Prices of speed radar detectors might start as low as Rs1, 500 for simple china-made models in Mauritius (and of course, cheaper online) while the laser jammers might cost around $1000 (unconfirmed price), again depending on models.

Which one do you use?

None of these devices are forbidden by law in Mauritius, at least not yet. But this might change with time, just like the use of headsets (and bluetooth ones) while driving. This also means that you won’t get any problems with the customs while importing them. And for those who missed the post about the map showing speed cameras in Mauritius, click here.

You are the most welcomed to share any additional information you know and also, the model you use (if you have one of course).