Cobra iRadar for your Android phone

[Jeff]

I found this in a Crutchfield ad I got in the mail and I think I'm going to get one sometime soon. What do you think?

https://cobra.com/detail/index.cfm?nPID=242

 

[Venture]

I found this in a Crutchfield ad I got in the mail and I think I'm going to get one sometime soon. What do you think?

https://cobra.com/detail/index.cfm?nPID=242

That's pretty nifty.

The big bummer I see for motorcycle use is that the unit itself doesn't display any alerts, they are only on your phone. When I'm on the bike the phone would be in my pocket, and I'd still like the benefit of the central trap repository but would need external indication of the alerts somehow.

 

[Tremor38]

That's pretty nifty.

The big bummer I see for motorcycle use is that the unit itself doesn't display any alerts, they are only on your phone. When I'm on the bike the phone would be in my pocket, and I'd still like the benefit of the central trap repository but would need external indication of the alerts somehow.

Yeah, I definitely need the audio alerts. That's why I spent a little extra change for a GPS with an optional RADAR receiver that plugs into it. The GPS unit is actually built by a company known for their RADAR detectors here in Japan, so it already had all of the fixed stations overlayed on the map. There was a learning curve to study up on what the purpose of the various stations are, because this unit warns about the speed sensing stations as well as the camera only units that are designed primarily to track car thieves and such.

 

[Venture]

I'm not sure if this unit does it or not, but what is really needed is when the detector gets a real-world alert, it sends the location of that alert back to the central server so all other units can be aware in advance. Again, the marketing information doesn't seen to be specific on whether or not it has this capability.

I think there are iPhone/Android apps that allow you to mark detection locations for others to consume, but obviously that's not an automatic process. That's the beauty of having a unit do it for you - it's automatic. Heck, the unit could even report back when it DOESN'T get a real-world alert where somebody else did previously in order to keep the data fresh.

Perhaps it does do all this, but I don't think so.

 

[MotorcopBBQ]

Shame, us sneaky motor officer still come out of now when people least expect it.

 

[Tremor38]

Shame, us sneaky motor officer still come out of now when people least expect it.

Ooooo, you're a very scary man ??? ::025::

The trickiest ones here in Japan are the mobile stations that use a visual blind and point a very narrow-beamed radar at a right angle to the cars. In most cases, people don't know until about them they've already been nailed. The side lobes aren't very strong so it's hard to detect them.

I only use a detector on a bike because I have a natural tendency to speed up...so it keeps me honest.

 

[Venture]

Shame, us sneaky motor officer still come out of now when people least expect it.

Yep, burrowed down deep in a 25 MPH zone at the end of the month, right?

I only use a detector on a bike because I have a natural tendency to speed up...so it keeps me honest.

I think this is true for most everybody. I haven't owned a radar detector since I was 16, and that one turned me off to them because of all the false alerts it gave. I'm not planning to buy this one either, but I'm intrigued by the technology capabilities of a system like this.

 

[Dirt_Dad]

I haven't owned a radar detector since I was 16, and that one turned me off to them because of all the false alerts it gave.

I had a similar iphone app that was supposed to alert to known speed traps. Used it in the car and after trying it for about an hour I deleted it from the phone. Damn thing warned me every 3 to 5 minutes. It very quickly trained me to ignore it. Totally useless.