Escort iX - Radar and Laser Technology

15
How Radar Works
Trac radar, which consists of microwaves, travels in
straight lines and is easily reected by objects such
as cars, trucks, and even guardrails and overpasses.
Radar works by directing its microwave beam down
the road. As your vehicle travels into range, the
microwave beam bounces o your car, and the radar
antenna looks for the reections. Using the Doppler
principle, the radar equipment then calculates your
speed by comparing the frequency of the reection
of your car to the original frequency of the beam
sent out.
Trac radar has limitations, the most signicant of
these being that it typically can monitor only one
target at a time. If there is more than one vehicle
within range, it is up to the radar operator to decide
which target is producing the strongest reection.
Since the strength of the reection is aected by both
the size of the vehicle and its proximity to the
antenna, it is dicult for the radar operator to
determine if the signal is from a sports car nearby or a
semi truck several hundred feet away.
Radar range also depends on the power of the radar
equipment itself. The strength of the radar unit’s
beam diminishes with distance. The farther the radar
has to travel, the less energy it has for speed
detection.
Because intrusion alarms and motion sensors often
operate on the same frequency as X and K band
radar, your detector will occasionally receive non-
police radar signals. Since these X band transmitters
are usually contained inside of a building or aimed
toward the ground, they will generally produce much
weaker readings than will a true radar encounter. As
you become familiar with the sources
of these pseudo alarms in your daily
driving, they will serve as
conrmation that the device’s radar
detection abilities are fully
operational.
How POP Works
POP works by transmitting an extremely short burst,
within the allocated band, to identify speeding
vehicles in trac. Once the target is identied, or
“popped,” the gun is then turned to its normal
operating mode to provide a vehicle tracking history
(required by law).
NOTE: According to radar gun manufacturers, tickets
should not be issued in pop mode.
How Laser Works
Laser speed detection is actually light detection and
ranging (LIDAR). Laser guns project a beam of
invisible infrared light. The signal is a series of very
short infrared light energy pulses that move in a
straight line, reecting o your car and returning to
the gun. Laser uses these light pulses to measure
the distance to a vehicle. Speed is then calculated by
measuring how quickly these pulses are reected,
given the known speed of light.
Laser is a newer technology whose use is not as
widespread as conventional radar; therefore, you may
not encounter it on a daily basis. And unlike radar
detection, laser is not prone to false alarms. Because
laser transmits a much narrower beam than does
radar, it is much more accurate in its ability to
distinguish between targets and is also more dicult
to detect. As a result, even the briefest laser alert
should be taken seriously.
There are limitations to laser, however. Laser is much
more sensitive to weather conditions than radar,
and a laser gun’s range will be decreased by anything
aecting visibility, such as rain, fog or smoke. A
laser gun cannot operate through glass, and it must
be stationary to get an accurate reading. Because
laser must have a clear line of sight and is subject to
cosine error (an inaccuracy that increases as the
angle between the gun and the vehicle increases),
police typically use laser equipment parallel to the
road or from an overpass. Laser can be used day or
night.