Radar/Laser Detector Ban in FL??

[Rich Z]

The advantage of a laser speed gun (for the police anyway) is that the size of the "cone" of light that the gun emits is very small, even at a range like 1,000 feet (300 meters). The cone at this distance might be 3 feet (1 meter) in diameter.

So if the cone is 3 feet at a distance of 1,000 feet, what will it be at 4,000 feet? My guess is more than is likely to be able to pinpoint a specific car out of a group. Heck, try to handhold a rifle with a scope on it and keep the crosshairs on a target at almost a mile away. It is NOT easy to do.

[85vette]

Originally Posted by Rich Z

So if the code is 3 feet at a distance of 1,000 feet, what will it be at 4,000 feet? My guess is more than is likely to be able to pinpoint a specific car out of a group. Heck, try to handhold a rifle with a scope on it and keep the crosshairs on a target at almost a mile away. It is NOT easy to do.

This is true. Although the range is 4000 feet, the accuracy requires a tri-pod at that distance. They have them also, but I've yet to see anyone use one.

[Z06 Rocket]

Originally Posted by Rich Z

So if the cone is 3 feet at a distance of 1,000 feet, what will it be at 4,000 feet? My guess is more than is likely to be able to pinpoint a specific car out of a group. Heck, try to handhold a rifle with a scope on it and keep the crosshairs on a target at almost a mile away. It is NOT easy to do.

Which is why the effective range to identify the target vehicle, estimate the speed, then aquire a target tone is normally at max about 900 - 1000 ft. I would say that range is rare, and usually around 200 - 700 ft is normal. It depends on traffic conditions at the time along with environment conditions like weather, road curve, number of cars in the view or way of the laser, etc.... When the target is aquired the laser emits a tone then displays the speed along with the distance. The distance is shown in feet, and in some models with fancier processors they show tenth's of feet as well.

[Rich Z]

Yeah, the Valentine detector I bought claims it can detect laser, but I doubt it would be much use to anyone. Seems to me it's only purpose would be to tell you what method of speed detection was used to get you that speeding ticket......

[Guro305]

The banning of radar detectors is just plain gay any and everywhere.