Looking for good beginner Radar units and insight for a newbie

[Karston]

Looking for opinions and insight on what inexpensive radar setup I should buy. Interested in any and all info that may help. I’ve been browsing eBay (only place I could find them) and it seems the fairly priced units are Kustom golden Eagles, decatur and MPH units. Stalkers seem expensive...I found a complete dual stalker setup locally on Facebook marketplace for $375... I was only a year late. Seller forgot to delete the ad and apparently I was the only person in a year that messaged him about it LOL. I really would like to get a KA setup but open to K band. I also would like the fastest target feature but it seems those units are usually more expensive, so that’s not a necessity. I plan on testing my RL360c against the miscellaneous radars that I buy and sell locally for fun, and go out and run radar on other vehicles to get a better idea of the “kill zone”.

Also, I understand this is not the classifieds section but if you have a good setup for me for sale, let me know!

Thanks in advance!

 

[NorEaster18]

Getting a unit that does both K and Ka can be really good. My Decatur came with two 35.5 antennas and then I bought a K Band Directional antenna for it from a member here. It just senses which antenna is plugged in and uses them with no fuss. I really like the gun for both testing and playing around with, especially because it's probably the most common radar I see in my area. It's good to get what you see most often if you can, as you can test against your main threat and get a feel for what LEOs in your area see when clocking you.

I know older Kustom Golden Eagle units can accept both Ka 35.5 and K band antennas. @ARkaband has one with both. MPH Pythons can run X, K, and Ka antennas. However, I feel like I read somewhere that while the radar itself will transmit a signal with any antenna plugged in, it will only give readings with the antenna that the counting unit is made for. I'm not sure about that though (@DC Fluid @Brainstorm69 can you guys confirm?)

If you're starting, you may not want to go full out with a dash mount radar. Handheld units are very easy to use, especially for testing. Stalker ATRs and Kustom Talons tend to be pretty cheap and plentiful, however they may not come with all of the sophisticated features that more modern radars come with (fastest mode, directional capabilities, etc).

Finally, it's always worth being careful with what comes up on Fleabay. It may not always work as advertised and even if eBay helps you get money back, the hassle can sometimes just not be worth it. From my experience, it's best to go with a very transparent seller, especially if they are willing to send a video of the unit operating.

Good luck!

 

[OBeerWANKenobi]

Like @NorEaster18 , I'd also recommend a Kustom Talon 2 as a good choice for a handheld. Later, if you'd like a K band gun, you can get a Kustom Falcon HR that uses the same handles and accessories as the Talon 2. Both are good guns to test against. The Talon 2's go for a bit less than the HRs.


I've got a Kustom Golden Eagle with two antennas, one tuned to 34.7 one at 35.5 that I'd let go if you're interested. I recently acquired a KGE2 to replace it.

 

[DC Fluid]

I can confirm that my MPH Python II is a K Band control unit, and it is accurate with the K Band antenna only.
I have a Ka 33.8 and it measures speed of by a % of the frequency difference, and it is easy math to measure your patrol speed against the gps and then the ratio is the same for every speed recording.
But you won't have the display read correctly.

I have the Golden Eagle 35.5 and tuned one of the antenna to 34.7. Both antenna read correctly still.

 

[Brainstorm69]

...MPH Pythons can run X, K, and Ka antennas. However, I feel like I read somewhere that while the radar itself will transmit a signal with any antenna plugged in, it will only give readings with the antenna that the counting unit is made for. I'm not sure about that though (@DC Fluid @Brainstorm69 can you guys confirm?)

MPH Python II can shoot any of X, K or Ka. Counting unit will give a speed reading for each, but it will not be accurate if the counting unit doesn't match the antenna (i.e., Ka counting unit with Ka antenna).

Of course, seeing that @Karston is in Plano, all he's going to see around here is Stalkers on 34.7.

 

[Riptide]

I've got a Kustom Golden Eagle with two antennas, one tuned to 34.7 one at 35.5 that I'd let go if you're interested. I recently acquired a KGE2 to replace it.

I have the Golden Eagle 35.5 and tuned one of the antenna to 34.7. Both antenna read correctly still.

woah woah woah, hold up, what black magic is this that I clearly missed?

 

[OBeerWANKenobi]

woah woah woah, hold up, what black magic is this that I clearly missed?

There's a few threads on it around. It's pretty much as simple as opening up the antenna and turning a set screw.

https://www.rdforum.org/threads/85943/

 

[Brainstorm69]

I can confirm that my MPH Python II is a K Band control unit, and it is accurate with the K Band antenna only.
I have a Ka 33.8 and it measures speed of by a % of the frequency difference, and it is easy math to measure your patrol speed against the gps and then the ratio is the same for every speed recording.
But you won't have the display read correctly.

I have the Golden Eagle 35.5 and tuned one of the antenna to 34.7. Both antenna read correctly still.

@DC Fluid - are you sure about that? I would think that the reading with the 34.7 antenna should be off by a little.

 

[DC Fluid]

@DC Fluid - are you sure about that? I would think that the reading with the 34.7 antenna should be off by a little.

I can't see a difference between antennas switching front 35.5 to rear 34.7 with both out the front of the truck both read correct patrol.
Both antennas read correct with 2 tuning forks.
Am I missing something?

 

[OBeerWANKenobi]

I think it depends on how the particular radar gun works. If it samples from the emitter when making the comparison for Doppler shift, I would think that changing frequency wouldn't make much of a difference. It's possible some guns just use a hard frequency number though?

 

[Brainstorm69]

I can't see a difference between antennas switching front 35.5 to rear 34.7 with both out the front of the truck both read correct patrol.
Both antennas read correct with 2 tuning forks.
Am I missing something?

Are you using a 34.7 tuning fork with the 34.7 antenna?

I think it depends on how the particular radar gun works. If it samples from the emitter when making the comparison for Doppler shift, I would think that changing frequency wouldn't make much of a difference. It's possible some guns just use a hard frequency number though?

I know the MPH Ka counting unit assumes a 33.8 antenna is being used, and therefor will read slightly off for 34.7 and even moreso for 35.5. Not sure about Kustom Signals.

 

[DC Fluid]

Are you using a 34.7 tuning fork with the 34.7 antenna?


I know the MPH Ka counting unit assumes a 33.8 antenna is being used, and therefor will read slightly off for 34.7 and even moreso for 35.5. Not sure about Kustom Signals.

Nope, just the OE forks for the 35.5.

 

[Brainstorm69]

Nope, just the OE forks for the 35.5.

I'll bet that's why you are getting the correct reading on the 34.7 antenna. I did the same thing with the MPH and thought it was reading the 34.7 and 35.5 antennas correctly because I was using only the 33.8 tuning fork. When I used the forkfor the correct frequency, it was off. If you don't have a 34.7 fork, you can use the Radar Verifier program I've uploaded to this post to test things out.

 

[DC Fluid]

I'll bet that's why you are getting the correct reading on the 34.7 antenna. I did the same thing with the MPH and thought it was reading the 34.7 and 35.5 antennas correctly because I was using only the 33.8 tuning fork. When I used the forkfor the correct frequency, it was off. If you don't have a 34.7 fork, you can use the Radar Verifier program I've uploaded to this post to test things out.

So I redid my evaluation that I hastily did previous, but changed up how I measured speed.
Instead of seeing that the antennas were close to GPS speed and assume it was so close it was unaffected, I this time held a steady speed and switched antennas F/R 35.5/34.7 quickly and noticed 1 to 1 1/2 mph difference at 55 mph.
I'm happy enough with that for my use.
Video:

 

[Brainstorm69]

So I redid my evaluation that I hastily did previous, but changed up how I measured speed.
Instead of seeing that the antennas were close to GPS speed and assume it was so close it was unaffected, I this time held a steady speed and switched antennas F/R 35.5/34.7 quickly and noticed 1 to 1 1/2 mph difference at 55 mph.
I'm happy enough with that for my use.
Video:

I'd have to check again, but I think that sounds about right for the difference between 34.7 and 35.5

Post automatically merged: Jan 9, 2021

I found my old post that documents the difference on the Ka frequencies with my Python II using an antenna tuned to each.

https://www.rdforum.org/threads/85943/post-1240906

 

[Karston]

Thank you all for the replies. Very good info from all of you. I have a few questions regarding a few units I have found for sale.

1. Kustom Raptor RP-1. dual K Band antennas, wired remote. no tuning forks, seller has several sets and wants $250 plus shipping.

2. Decatur Speed Trak. dual antennas and remote. no tuning forks. seller wants $150 plus shipping, only 1 available.

2. MPH python 3 and python 2. remote, dual antennas included. no tuning forks. No info on if they are K/KA band antennas yet, probably K. Seller wants $150 plus shipping for each set and also has several of each available.

Of these, which would you guys go with and why?

Also, I wanted KA... it says online the RP1 is offered with K and KA, Is it possible to get a set of KA antennas and its just plug and play? If not, is it possible with any of the others I listed?

Thanks for your help guys. Hope to get my own unit soon.

 

[Brainstorm69]

Thank you all for the replies. Very good info from all of you. I have a few questions regarding a few units I have found for sale.

1. Kustom Raptor RP-1. dual K Band antennas, wired remote. no tuning forks, seller has several sets and wants $250 plus shipping.

2. Decatur Speed Trak. dual antennas and remote. no tuning forks. seller wants $150 plus shipping, only 1 available.

2. MPH python 3 and python 2. remote, dual antennas included. no tuning forks. No info on if they are K/KA band antennas yet, probably K. Seller wants $150 plus shipping for each set and also has several of each available.

Of these, which would you guys go with and why?

Also, I wanted KA... it says online the RP1 is offered with K and KA, Is it possible to get a set of KA antennas and its just plug and play? If not, is it possible with any of the others I listed?

Thanks for your help guys. Hope to get my own unit soon.

Just out of curiosity, where did you find Raptor units for $250? That's a good price from what I've seen in the past. I might even be interested in one myself.

 

[OBeerWANKenobi]

Yeah, that sound like an antenna-only price maybe? I mean, I'd buy it right now for $250!