What is the range of a radar gun

[RTicUL8]

I got a ticket yesterday saying that I was going 26 mi. an hour over the speed limit, which is BS. (Yea-Yea, you say). But it's true - I wasn't speeding.

Here's my question. He said that he clocked me at a range of 9.5/10ths of a mile away. Is that even possible?

I guess I need to find out what type of radar gun he was using, but do you think that it can be effective that far?

What type of information would be acceptable in court to provide as evidence?

 

[RichP]

A mile away, man thats a long distance to aim a radar gun, laser is even harder, were there any other vehicles on the road with you at the time going either direction. If not you are toast being the only moving thing on the road. Was it a handheld or vehicle mounted ?? Wow, a mile, park on an interstate flat section and note where the last full mile marker was, at a mile you can't even identify the type of vehicle brand or even color. He must have been catching up his monthly quota, with the cuts in federal spending at the local level a lot of towns are downright HUNGRY for money....

 

[kc7bur]

A mile is stretching it. Radar will pick up interference. The hand helds I would'nt trust a mile out if I even get a reading. The 'Falcon' would do a mile but still. A quarter mile is a good distance. Fight this in court.

 

[trouble1]

Someone was really shy on thier quota for the day...or has a hard-on for you...In my experience, and I've had some, Radar guns are not even close to reliable at that distance...I'd be getting info about hte type of gun the cop was using, then getting a hold of the guns manufacturer...I really doubt they will tell u that the gun was designed to give accurate readings at that distance...
If there was anyone else on the road with you when you were pulled, I'd be somehow tracking them down as well...
I'm not attempting to start any wars here, I just personally would rather spend my money proving that they are writing BAD tickets, than paying a fine I dont deserve...

 

[RichP]

Thats the purpose of alot of these tickets though, when I got the first TJ I got the thing transferred and registered from NJ, got the plate and decided to use it for the day. No sticker in the windshield as you have 10 days to get it inspected. The damn parking authority gave me a ticket for 'no sticker, when I walked down the street to discuss this with them I got a bunch of crap and was told 'just pay it, it's only $15' wrong thing to say to ME. I drove back up home to the place I registered it, 45min one way, drove back down with the other half of the registration that they keep with the date and time and presented it. They grudglingly wrote it off. Then I asked 'since when do meter maids give tickets for inspection stickers' , 'well sir, [song and dance lasted about 5 minutes and was headed towards the patriot act and preventing terrorism, I was suprised they did not throw in a 'it's for the childern' line' and 'it takes a village' ] How do these people get jobs for crying out loud... Just keep in mind that these states, towns and cities are HUNGRY for money....

 

[RTicUL8]

I'm thinking of paying an attorney for an hour of their time to discuss the matter and get their opinon. And yes, I'm planning on fighting this one....

 

[Eagle]

Find out who in that PD services and certifies the guns. Subpoena the calibration records for THAT gun (the one that was used to clock you). Contact the manufacturer and ask them if it's good for a range of 1 mile.

I just read an article about the state troopers in Pennsylvania using the cheapest of the four major brands of radar, and how thousands of their tickets are wrong because the gun picks up alternator whine from 2002+ Crown Vic cop cars and reads that as 72 MPH -- regardless of your speed. I think the quote was "It'll clock a stone on the side of the road at 72 MPH." The manufacturer knows about the problem and has offered to fix it, but the PA troopers have elected to pretend there's no problem.

If I can find the link I'll post it in this thread.

 

[Eagle]

Genesis

http://forum.neow.net/index.php?showtopic=19668&hl=radar

 

[Danno]

the actual effective range of a good radar is over 135 miles ......at 30000 feet. Of course the dang radar patrol has not got into F-15,,,,yet! :rof:

 

[Eagle]

the actual effective range of a good radar is over 135 miles ......at 30000 feet. Of course the dang radar patrol has not got into F-15,,,,yet! :rof:

Is that the search radar or the targeting radar?

 

[jeepguy97]

Speaking of PA Troopers, and we have some fine ones , I, honest to God, saw one using a hair dryer the other day pretending it ws a radar gun but it did get people to slow down so.... :looser:

 

[Danno]

Is that the search radar or the targeting radar?

If ya can't "see" um you can't shoot them. These days so much of the ordinance is "fire and forget" that you practically are back in the landing pattern before the target augers in.

 

[Yucca-Man]

I got a ticket yesterday saying that I was going 26 mi. an hour over the speed limit, which is BS. (Yea-Yea, you say). But it's true - I wasn't speeding.

Here's my question. He said that he clocked me at a range of 9.5/10ths of a mile away. Is that even possible?

Nine and a half miles? How high off the ground was the gun? I seem to recall that at six feet above the surface you can see 6 miles or something like that. If it was at 0.95 miles that's still quite a distance away to discriminate a specific vehicle. Have you ever stood at a 500-yard line on a rifle range and noticed how tiny the silhouettes are? 0.95 miles is 1672 yards, and without a scope you're not going to know exactly what you're aiming at. Minute-of-angle comes into play as well; I don't know if it's even possible to hold a radar gun steady enough at that range to hit a car. It's nearly impossible to hold a rifle that well without a solid bench rest.

BTW - an Ordinance is the law. Ordnance (without the I) enforces those ordinances... :laugh3:

 

[Ed in North Ga.]

lets clear some smoke from the air-

If he *started* to clock you at 9/10s, and got multiple readings right up until you passed him, AND you were the only one in his sights(aka:left out to dry)....thats bad. Pay the man.

Aquasition of target that far out is stretching it- but if he clocked you more than once, what he`s saying is where he started to get returns on the radar at that distance-
That means he`s already measured out the distance....and that means speedtrap.

If you can get him to testify in court that he clocked you at 9/10s, and no less- and didnt get multple readings to verify (up to the time you jammed the brakes), AND there were others on the road around you- ya, thats worth a fight.

If it was a lonely road....well, everyone has bad days.

My pop, who used to be law enforcement, always loved to tell me the story of the North Florida State Troopers- their favorite trick, when they were bored, would be to get a group of cars speeding. Really easy, seeing how most people wont pass a trooper, but will happily follow one at the speed their running. Back in those days of 55MPH on the interstate, the troopers would get up around 70, with a line of cars happliy following-until the trooper would speed away, go over a hill, cut a 180, an flip on the radar. Bad Trooper!

 

[trouble1]

lets clear some smoke from the air-

If he *started* to clock you at 9/10s, and got multiple readings right up until you passed him, AND you were the only one in his sights(aka:left out to dry)....thats bad. Pay the man.

Aquasition of target that far out is stretching it- but if he clocked you more than once, what he`s saying is where he started to get returns on the radar at that distance-
That means he`s already measured out the distance....and that means speedtrap.

If you can get him to testify in court that he clocked you at 9/10s, and no less- and didnt get multple readings to verify (up to the time you jammed the brakes), AND there were others on the road around you- ya, thats worth a fight.

If it was a lonely road....well, everyone has bad days.

My pop, who used to be law enforcement, always loved to tell me the story of the North Florida State Troopers- their favorite trick, when they were bored, would be to get a group of cars speeding. Really easy, seeing how most people wont pass a trooper, but will happily follow one at the speed their running. Back in those days of 55MPH on the interstate, the troopers would get up around 70, with a line of cars happliy following-until the trooper would speed away, go over a hill, cut a 180, an flip on the radar. Bad Trooper!

Bad Trooper! My A$$!!!
That is called entrapment...That is illegal, and that should have been his job. And by the way, exactly what right did he have speeding in a taxpayer owned car...Again...by law, that should have been his job.

 

[Jeepin_rebel]

I got a ticket yesterday saying that I was going 26 mi. an hour over the speed limit, which is BS. (Yea-Yea, you say). But it's true - I wasn't speeding.

Here's my question. He said that he clocked me at a range of 9.5/10ths of a mile away. Is that even possible?

I guess I need to find out what type of radar gun he was using, but do you think that it can be effective that far?

What type of information would be acceptable in court to provide as evidence?

My old man used to run a tracking survice for trucking companys. He had a couple different setups. A radar gun or mounted will pick up the Largest Fastest vehicle first. As for laser you have to be aimed dead nutz to pick up on the vehicle. So i would call BS on the cop in court. But thats just my .02.

Ryan

 

[Ed in North Ga.]

Bad Trooper! My A$$!!!
That is called entrapment...That is illegal, and that should have been his job. And by the way, exactly what right did he have speeding in a taxpayer owned car...Again...by law, that should have been his job.

Well, since I cant vouche for the troopers who carried this out, And since my pop wasent involved- he was local poice/south, I cant really answer- the troopers in north florida were known to pull every rabbit out of the hat to get their quotas, an keep their jobs(shhhh, quotas arent to be talked about either)- very few I ever ran into were friendly back then- only intrested in doing their job, no matter how hard, or what it took.
Alot of people say Alabama troopers are the worst, but I think back in the 80`s, the North Florida guys would have made them look like good old boys.
An entrapment case probably wouldnt go over very well back then- the judge would have probably thrown it out of court, after you paid the fine first.
Now days, if you have a good lawyer, or know that something was amiss, an can convince the judge/jury that something, somewhere is wrong with what happened, you got a good case. too many people let it slide in todays world, when they can fight an win. All it takes is alittle time an effort- shoot, if someone took the time to write me up, i`d take the time to see them in court-thats only fair in my book.

 

[OT]

Bad Trooper! My A$$!!!
That is called entrapment...That is illegal, and that should have been his job. And by the way, exactly what right did he have speeding in a taxpayer owned car...Again...by law, that should have been his job.

What, you've never seen Super Troopers? I figure that's about as close to reality TV as they could get without calling it "Cops".

 

[basalt51]

Maybe I'm wrong, but when they use the term "clocked" don't they mean they timed you over a known distance and calculated the speed? Did he say he used the Radar gun or did he say he clocked you for 9.5 tenths of a mile?

 

[Ed in North Ga.]

terminology effect-
clocked-- radar/laser usually instant on, but can be several hits-usually several to "make sure"(they look for the highest#). Works better if your heading towards the gun an smileing so the radar can reflect off the chrome bumpers and your teeth. Doppler effect.

paced-- also timed, sometimes used by airplanes useing those white strips that run across the highway at right angles, but mostly just by sulking back in a car an watching the speedo for a given distance.

timed/distance-- old boy a-rith-ma-tik. One parks at one place, an radios ahead to the next, and the stopwatch starts.If you show up too soon, the calculation starts-you get a "driveing to fast for conditions" slip. Usefull on roads with many hills. This is the easier one to get out of if the judge is in a good mood, and you werent trying for warp speed.

Of those 3, the airplane survailance is the one thats got me stopped the most in my younger years in Florida- only because there were so many gray XJs an station wagons on the road. It was always a heartfelt experience to come to an overpass, and have 10 troopers sitting in the shade of it, all with their engines idleing, and drooling. that North part of the state was so boreing to drive through, you couldnt do 55- you`d have fell asleep at the wheel.