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INTRO
So I’ve been wanting to do some testing of the R7 in City mode and in Adv with K=30% to see how it compares to other arrowed detectors, and I finally decided yesterday to run up to my Van Alstyne course and just get it done. A very spur of the moment decision.
DETECTORS
Bushnell Velocity Speed Gun
COURSE
Well, you've seen it before, it’s the Van Alstyne course in Van Alstyne, TX. I did things a little differently and turned the course around so the radar source was at the high school and the start was down the road. This was mainly because the place I normally put the radar gun was quite overgrown with weeds, etc., and we are getting into chigger season here in Texas. It was much easier to put the radar gun on the mowed HS grounds. The brick wall I set it on was angled about 20 degrees across the road (which made detection distances much shorter), but I did want some difficulty to the course anyway. The radar gun was also a little over 100 feet off the roadway. Here are some pics to help visualize things.
And here is a video of the course (V1 first run) [please ignore the time/date stamp, I think my capacitor has finally bit the dust in my dashcam and it won't keep the date after its sat overnight]
RESULTS
Front Detections K-band (Table by Detector, Table by Ranked Avg, Graph by Ranked Avg)
Commentary Front Detections K-Band
Rear Detections K-band (Table by Detector, Table by Ranked Avg, Graph by Ranked Avg)
Commentary Rear Detections K-Band
FINAL THOUGHTS
As I said in the intro, I was interested to see how the R7 in City and Adv K=30% would fare against the V1 and Max 360 at full strength. In general, I think it did pretty well. In this test, the V1 and Max 360 were nestled just in between R7 City mode and Adv K=30% on the front detections. However, the rear detections showed the V1 to be the clear leader in rear detection in this test. I was surprised the R7 in Adv K=30% wasn’t able to match the V1 in rear detections given the front detection results. But the R7 in City was the equal of the Max 360, which is saying something.
I will end with my usual admonishment: This is just one test. Don’t base your opinion of a detector on just one test. You need to look at various tests, by various people, at various times, on various courses to try to get to a complete picture of a detector. So make sure to look at as many tests as you can, and find out as much information as you can so you can make an informed opinion about a detector.
So I’ve been wanting to do some testing of the R7 in City mode and in Adv with K=30% to see how it compares to other arrowed detectors, and I finally decided yesterday to run up to my Van Alstyne course and just get it done. A very spur of the moment decision.
DETECTORS
- R7 – (fw R7 124.124.111 beta) – City mode and Adv mode K=30%, Ka narrow, K wide, KF on, TSF on, K Block on, MRCD off, X-Band off.
- V1 – (fw 3.8945) – Custom sweeps (a single set of sweeps as close to 34.7 and 35.5 +/- 100 MHz as possible), TMF2 on, X-Band off.
- Max 360 – (fw 1.10 SN 79xxxxxx) – Hwy mode, TSR off, X-Band off.
Bushnell Velocity Speed Gun
COURSE
Well, you've seen it before, it’s the Van Alstyne course in Van Alstyne, TX. I did things a little differently and turned the course around so the radar source was at the high school and the start was down the road. This was mainly because the place I normally put the radar gun was quite overgrown with weeds, etc., and we are getting into chigger season here in Texas. It was much easier to put the radar gun on the mowed HS grounds. The brick wall I set it on was angled about 20 degrees across the road (which made detection distances much shorter), but I did want some difficulty to the course anyway. The radar gun was also a little over 100 feet off the roadway. Here are some pics to help visualize things.
And here is a video of the course (V1 first run) [please ignore the time/date stamp, I think my capacitor has finally bit the dust in my dashcam and it won't keep the date after its sat overnight]
RESULTS
Front Detections K-band (Table by Detector, Table by Ranked Avg, Graph by Ranked Avg)
Commentary Front Detections K-Band
- The R7 (Adv K=30%) led the way with three pretty consistent detections, but didn’t get the longest front detection of the day, which went to the V1.
- The V1 was next, at 89% of the average R7 Adv K=30% detection. So pretty close. Its longest of the day detection helped its average.
- The Max 360 was not far behind at about 87% of the average R7 Adv K=30% detection.
- The R7 (City mode) brought up the back-end of front detections, as you might expect. But not by much. It was still able to squeak out 81% of the average R7 Adv K=30% detection. And considering it was going up against a V1 and Max at full K-band strength, not a bad showing at all.
Rear Detections K-band (Table by Detector, Table by Ranked Avg, Graph by Ranked Avg)
Commentary Rear Detections K-Band
- The V1 whupped the field in rear detection. It lost the signal on each of its runs at around the same point as the other detectors, but it was the only detector that then reacquired the signal after that point, for an impressive margin of victory (about 50% longer than the others).
- The R7 (Adv K=30%) took second place, but I was surprised by how little it beat itself in City mode (a mere 2% of the leader’s average.). With the gun 100 feet off the roadway, and some vegetation between the radar and the road, it apparently made for a tough rear detection scenario.
- The R7 in City mode did well enough considering it was able to just beat by the Max 360 by the very slimmest of margins (virtual tie).
- The Max 360 brought up the back although in a virtual tie with the R7 in City mode. Frankly, I expected more of it, given that it has done pretty well on K-band tests in the past.
FINAL THOUGHTS
As I said in the intro, I was interested to see how the R7 in City and Adv K=30% would fare against the V1 and Max 360 at full strength. In general, I think it did pretty well. In this test, the V1 and Max 360 were nestled just in between R7 City mode and Adv K=30% on the front detections. However, the rear detections showed the V1 to be the clear leader in rear detection in this test. I was surprised the R7 in Adv K=30% wasn’t able to match the V1 in rear detections given the front detection results. But the R7 in City was the equal of the Max 360, which is saying something.
I will end with my usual admonishment: This is just one test. Don’t base your opinion of a detector on just one test. You need to look at various tests, by various people, at various times, on various courses to try to get to a complete picture of a detector. So make sure to look at as many tests as you can, and find out as much information as you can so you can make an informed opinion about a detector.
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