Driving Around Los Angeles: A City's Hidden Challenges

As we embarked on our drive around Los Angeles, we were immediately struck by the city's unique challenges. One of the first things that became apparent was how difficult it can be to intentionally find cops who are shooting radar at you. It seems like they're always lurking in the distance, waiting to pounce, but never quite standing out as much as one would expect. This experience highlighted just how hard it is to anticipate and prepare for potential speed traps.

Radar Detectors: A Valuable Tool for Drivers

As part of our test drive, we decided to put two radar detectors through their paces: the Valentine 1 Gen 2 and the unit in R7. Both units offered impressive features and benefits that made them valuable tools for drivers. The Valentine 1 Gen 2, in particular, impressed us with its increased sensitivity and ability to pick up softer signals. This made it a more effective tool for detecting potential speed traps.

The Valentine 1 Gen 2: A Reliable and User-Friendly Radar Detector

We were particularly pleased with the Valentine 1 Gen 2's user-friendly interface, which was enhanced by a mobile app that allowed us to adjust settings and access additional features. The app's intuitive design made it easy to use, even for those who were not tech-savvy. Additionally, the unit's Savi feature allowed us to set a threshold, making it easier to detect specific types of signals. Overall, we found the Valentine 1 Gen 2 to be a reliable and user-friendly radar detector that exceeded our expectations.

The Unit in R7: A Big Color Screen for a Brighter Display

In contrast, the unit in R7 offered a larger color screen, which provided an impressive display of data. This was particularly useful for those who wanted to see detailed information about their surroundings without having to learn a new language. The unit's ka-band strength also made it an excellent choice for drivers who needed accurate readings.

Comparison and Conclusion

In our comparison of the two units, we found that both offered unique benefits and features. While the Valentine 1 Gen 2 excelled in terms of sensitivity and ease of use, the unit in R7 provided a larger color screen and better ka-band strength. Ultimately, the choice between these two units will depend on individual preferences and needs.

Radar Detectors: A Tool for Safety and Convenience

Throughout our testing process, we were reminded just how valuable radar detectors can be for drivers. By providing real-time information about potential speed traps and allowing us to adjust our speed accordingly, these devices helped us navigate the road more safely and efficiently. Whether used in conjunction with GPS or on their own, radar detectors remain an essential tool for anyone who wants to minimize the risk of getting a ticket.

The Importance of Waze

One unexpected benefit of using a radar detector was the way it enhanced our experience with Waze. This popular GPS app provides real-time traffic updates and alerts drivers to potential hazards, making it an invaluable resource for anyone who uses it. By combining Waze with a radar detector, we found that we could anticipate and prepare for potential speed traps more effectively than ever before.

A Sad Note: The Valentine 1 Gen 2's Unfortunate Demise

Unfortunately, our testing process was not without its setbacks. Just four days after completing the video review, the Valentine 1 Gen 2 failed to power up in a subsequent test. This unexpected failure highlighted just how fragile these devices can be and left us wondering what might have caused this problem.

The Future of Radar Detector Testing

As we conclude our testing process for now, we look forward to revisiting the radar detector market in the future. With Valentine Research's closure due to the coronavirus pandemic, it remains to be seen when and if a replacement will become available. Until then, we'll continue to test and evaluate different units, ensuring that drivers have access to the best tools possible for navigating the roads safely and efficiently.

Final Thoughts

As we finished our testing process, we couldn't help but feel a sense of disappointment at the Valentine 1 Gen 2's premature demise. Despite its impressive features and benefits, this device had become an essential part of our driving experience. We'll be keeping a close eye on future developments in the radar detector market, hoping to find another unit that can match the Valentine 1 Gen 2's performance and reliability.

Stay Safe on the Roads

As drivers, it's essential to remain vigilant and prepared for potential speed traps. With the right tools – like radar detectors and GPS apps like Waze – we can minimize our risk of getting a ticket and enjoy a safer driving experience. Whether used alone or in conjunction with other safety features, these devices are an invaluable resource for anyone who wants to stay safe on the roads.

A Message from Our Friends at Vortex Radar

For those interested in learning more about radar detectors and their intricacies, we recommend checking out our friends at Vortex Radar. As owners of radar guns themselves, they offer valuable insights into the world of speed enforcement and provide a wealth of information for drivers who want to stay informed and prepared.

Stay tuned for future updates on radar detector testing and reviews, as we continue to evaluate and compare different units in pursuit of the best tools possible for safe and efficient driving.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enyou know guys in my career I have found myself on the side of the road with lights flashing in my mirror dozens of times sometimes I had it coming but more often than not I was just doing what you guys are probably doing every day going to work at a speed I found pretty reasonable did you know that one in five drivers get a ticket every single year but only 5% of drivers can test their tickets that means big business and big revenue for the police and the court system you're always better off fighting any ticket especially with the help of a professional but how do you find that professional especially if you get a ticket outside of your home city off the record fights tickets and misdemeanors for drivers all across the country when you book a case with off the record you're matched with an experienced local lawyer that handles your case from start to finish off the record has a 97% success rate and a money-back guarantee if they don't keep that ticket off your record do yourself a favor and always fight your tickets go to off the record calm / TST the link is in the video description or download the iOS and Android off-the-record app and enter code TST 10 do it now because the code will cover all your legal services through off the record for 3 whole years what up everybody welcome to an interesting sort of gadget episode of the smoking tire in my right hand the valentine one radar detector in use on my windshield in one way or another since 2005 in my left hand the Valentine one generation 2 I actually never thought I would see this and so we put the old one and the new one side by side on the windshield of the Volvo v90 me and Zack hopped in the car and we drove laps around LA looking for cops good morning everyone welcome to the 405 freeway typically where you see Zach and I driving but today we're going on a short little jaunt getting out of quarantine or escaping we're conducting essential business for many years Zach and I have been devout users of the valentine one radar detector myself in conjunction with ways in modern times and Valentine has a new one after twenty twenty something years the rock moved out of the way of the cave yes and a new valentine one has emerged and I I did a lot of driving at wall I don't typically use a radar detector within the city very often we have to go outside the city to the canyons and to racetracks or driving to San Diego Vegas our skiing and and they are still prevalent they are still helpful they still the price of a radar detector oh look at this hang on let's just go slow because there's a police officer on the right-hand side of the road with the customer as they say not shooting radar that looks like a person who's having a problem they both they're both on this cell phone but I'll be a good citizen and I'm going to mark it on ways reports that I mean good citizen mark on planes so we've got my old Valentine one which has been updated as factory recommended we've got the new Valentine one Gen 2 why it isn't called Valentine - I will never know and then we've got Vinnie's uniden or seven which our friends and four text said was a very good unit at the time they reviewed it just before the Valentine two came out did they tell you what this one's you know selling points word versus bees I didn't watch it but Vinnie watched the most recent comparison and ended up buying that one yeah and it has a night out the uniden has a nice color display like a full LCD display whereas even the new Valentine - I'm going to call it that even those knobs call have been helpful the Gentoo has an updated version of the OG valentine 1 display because the OG display is just some red lights behind the arrows and then a single digit got you know if you if you're at a baseball game and the score pops up like that's what it is it's right seven different little lit up lines like that's as complicated again but it's a language that when you learn the language it is actually incredibly communicative in a good way so the things about the Valentine one when it was new and even until now talk about the original it has great range yes it has the it had the arrows which were you know it was the only one with the directional arrows at a long time for a long time that was like that was like hey this life jacket has straps the other ones are just a ring where I was a huge advancement because at least in our opinion it was far more important to know where the radar or laser or whatever was coming from yeah then knowing then getting a signal a hundred feet or 500 feet sooner because if you don't know which direction is coming from I didn't think it was very helpful at all the mere presence of radar is not enough which is what like the passports advertised they were telling you about the presence of rare because your behavior is different depending on up here we go Valentine to picked up ka ahead got nothing on nothing to the other now it's a week a week ahead signal the Valentine to has a new type of signal processing software as well as a new magnesium case so in theory or it's they claim I should say that it helps process weaker signals that are further away we are in logic mode right now which is supposed to filter out some of the false ka cabe and signals that you get from like radar cruise control and collision avoidance systems because that well I do remember that being a big problem when those first really started coming on the market being really common on the highways is if you hadn't disabled some of the fans on your radar detector you'd get near infinity infinities were really big and you're those that like x-men go through crates and the FX's the infinity FX was the king of setting off your your cave and yeah that make you food yeah and so one of the things that I like about Valentine demented the original one for sure was that it would give you all of the information it could gather as money it was people who complained about it would complain that it was too sensitive give you too much information but if you dug into the user manual a little bit you could disable X and k-band individually so my valentine one is a ka-band detector only now there might be a community in America where the cops still shoot yes I'm not definitively saying that that doesn't exist but I have driven hundreds of thousands of miles across the country back and forth all over the place I've never once been hit by a van that was an actual cop ever extremely rare because I believe it's like X was developed first then k then ka so the cheaper system is going to be K or X and maybe there's some communities that didn't get you know the newer radar guns as they evolved but by now ka has been out for some of the comments will say it's five and out for 30-40 years and you know departments have probably all gotten the issued those ka radar at those ka speed guns yeah and also you're dealing a lot of laser here which a Valentine one or another radar detector doesn't really help you all that much with laser all of the technologies that a lot of the other companies use the GPS wearing if you if you get the same false k over and over and it'll filter it out like all that stuff to me just kind of dances around the fact that I would like all K sickness filtered out entirely and all X signals because to me those are not threats I didn't know you could do that like I've had a range radar detector since like 2000 I think and then I met you and you and Tom said oh you know you can turn off yeah X and K and it was like let's yeah I mean it was it was incredible because you don't realize how many sliding doors at gas stations run on one of those bands and set off every time you drive by and how many cars and their radar cruise and whatever collision detection systems use k as well and so not that this is legal advice if you do want all the information you can leave it on but in both the v1 and the v1 gen 2 you can deactivate them entirely you have to do it through a really funky series of button presses and knob turns in the one in the v2 there's an app and so you just go into the menus and uncheck them it's very very simple so other things with the Valentine and two I'm just going to keep going that the Valentine do that are really cool there's a module get called savvy and the module plugs into your obd2 port and it acts as the hard wiring kit for the radar detector it still runs a wire down the a-pillar into their right and so it's your hardwire kit but also it has a little scrolling wheel on it and so in another option that valentine is giving you to filter out bad signals you use the scrolling wheel to set a speed anywhere from 15 to 65 miles an hour and below that threshold it will only give you alerts at the muted volume so if you go listen v1 don't bother me under 50 I'm good it just won't so that's a great thing to happen that works with the old one too but it's a and if you want to use that feature in the app it has it with the app as well but then you can't hardwire right so you can hardwire and have the little box or if you bring your valentine to another car like we've got an oppressed car right now I can program through the app to have that feature which is great because there's a lot of cars that have cruise control and the decimal things can go in those menus and set the same morning you can say hey warn me if I am going five over or 70 miles an hour because you don't want to accidentally press the gas too hard into the end of that function does valentine to picking up multiple cabe and alerts body parts may be multiple cave and alerts with unit in and v1 not saying an on Santa Fe do we know is anything disabled on the unit oh that's just on it's on city mode gotcha so which i think is on an x-band kind of filtering yes yes now look LA is dense you know LA has a lot going on there's a lot of signals bouncing around so if you're watching this video from somewhere in Kansas and you live in a small town you don't have these problems you can use either Valentine 1 or Valentine 2 on one of their logic modes which filters out some of that stuff and you probably won't have problems if you live in a major metro area the problem with many radar detectors is too much information too many alerts you stop listening to them by deactivating X and K in my valentine 1 + 12 years if that thing makes noise I pay attention because it's so rarely makes noise yeah if it makes noise it's a cop that's not to say it catches every cop but if it makes noise it's a cop I mean that's where our about disabling those things and then you know they try to build in these systems where it's smart and it can make it just in here is how much is coming in and it tries to filter out what's important what isn't for a while it was better to just disable those things I think they said in the new one they've updated the processing power by like a hundred times so it might and we able to do a better job of taking it all that info and filtering things out but again it's it's leaning I think it's easier to just manually disable those things but it does have this logic mode that could try to sort it out for you I've been using the new Valentine for four or five days now it definitely makes a lot more noise in logic mode than my deactivated you know what I mean because all of the light-up signs in the your speed is 47 signs like all of that stuff does set off a signal now if the signal is like a weaker signal it gives you it does give you the muted one but it certainly makes more noise my other one in the city by Valentine one stays basically silent totally silent and so what I do like is that there like a man there like a company that just sells you undiluted barrel proof alcohol and then you can decide how much you want to dilute it down they give you a manual all right say if you mix it with these things yeah you'll get you'll get Jack Daniels yeah hooker you'll get these dip you know different amounts I'll oh yeah so so they what I like is I think they give you the option to have as much as much as possible right if I'm gonna go on a road trip cross-country I'm gonna leave Los Angeles and I'm gonna drive across cornfields for four or five days in the desert I want all that information whatever is out here you tell me but if I'm in the city I want you to filter out some of this garbage because I'm just trying to get to work and I only want to know if it's ka or a laser you know because that's gonna be a cop for sure and I've got my screen filled with ways which either of these two is not an infallible system but when you combine them and most of the time something comes up most of the time I think that's fit of the new one I'm just having that savvy knob and having the app like you have multiple ways in which you could kind of turn down the noise in the city but like if logic if you find logic mode is still too sensitive gift then you can just say look don't bug me if it's I'm going under forty miles yeah if I'm healing as surface streets of thirty-five like don't leave me alone yeah what do I need what do I need to be notified yeah so we're gonna keep running these and we'll come back to at the end of our 100 mile freeway drive and we'll let you know if one comes out as a clear winner or if you should sell your v1 and get the v2 or whatever we figure out yeah in our non-scientific test there's a cop right there yeah just with the construction crew was kind of yeah yeah I don't know if he's got radar on but anything you have to sit there just those exa if you sit forward with lights on okay the night time that's okay I might have been sitting there with the construction crew yeah all right so far so far kay only so far kay only cops are not delivering all right we're gonna we're gonna about-face this Volvo pretty soon but we are stopping first we are stopping first that a got both picked up came from a head unit it is first it was look it's the rate it's this your speed is sign on the other side so there sometimes that happens if you've never used one of these where the radar is firing this way and it gets other cars that are coming towards you in the bounces towards you we got multiple K's okay laser is so instant that you usually it goes off just to tell you you're about to get a ticket and it's pretty much what it's doing yeah it's notifying you like a summons before you get pulled over call it preach our motion so we're after yes I am you've been served we're stopping in Newport Beach at a warehouse or we will be picking up 50 Optima digital 400 battery tenders for Westside collector car storage Optima is going to be the official battery tender provider west cycloid car storage and being that we have a full-size Volvo wagon we can fit 50 battery tenders in the back so we're doubling it up we're going to load this thing up with battery tenders and then we'll do some more radar ring on the way back to Culver City anything I was deadly at time time between Uniden vtune from the cave and so if those are real cops that hopefully yes braids are Frias whipping while going for it it's maybe a good test of radar to be a person I stood on there's a highway patrol cruiser just merged mountain look right there I don't even know how they would get out disagree I think about that Portia then with that cop shoot the radar and then another cop comes to catch I think probably they call it hit if you'd say it so far in terms of actually showing where actual police are ways is winning these have made a lot of beeps and stuff about always will always win because you can zoom out and someone can mark a cop 30 miles down the road right look at it see that right but what we've seen are like a bunch of police on this Highway but like doing things that don't involve having a radar gun on right now that doesn't mean they couldn't catch you doing whatever you were doing true so like saying that right now plates is whipping I think you're right like when we started this whole thing I said I didn't like way that it use Waze because I thought that the navigation my past experiences was terrible which they've updated and I also didn't like relying on the kindness of strangers to tell me what or police ahead because if they don't people don't market then he might come around the corner there is a cop but you're right in this case people are saying like hey there's construction there's cops yeah and if they're not shooting radar that these won't pick that up and it's not it's not purely the goodness of their hearts either like people are really dumb and like Waze is made in a game like those points you can get points you can get like status being away didn't know that it's France so you're not doing it just to be nice you're doing it to play the game right the only ways you're getting likes yes you're getting ways like your ways like sways status yeah we got sport Forte both so we kept finding k-band but we couldn't find anything else but that wouldn't have been a good test I wouldn't have been a good comparison so Matt went out the next day he went for another Drive and had a little bit more luck okay final UK Valentine one gen2 was the first to pick it up unit is second to pick it up Valentine one had that by about two seconds there they both got it finally some ka all right where are you at that was opposed a fairly weak signal I only got one bar of K from each of them Valentine - and uniden both got it Valentine one I'm honest the Valentine - got it first it picked up the weakest signal solid for five seconds before the others did and then the others all picked it up at the same time later we learned some things driving around Los Angeles for about 250 miles the first of which is it's actually kind of hard to intentionally find cops who are shooting radar at you that not was standing so far in our experience the pros of the Valentine one Gen 2 are that it offers pretty much everything the one offered but more sensitivity for softer signals a quicker easier way to adjust it using the app which is a better interface than the knob although I do miss the volume knob you get volume buttons on top not quite as good as the knob I love the knob I missed the knob but the interaction with the app is really helpful plus you've got this Savi thing which you can set it a threshold and that works for either valentine 1 or Valentine - I think they've improved on the original one added some features that make it more user-friendly and they haven't ruined it at all it still works great it still speaks the same language as the Valentine 1 gen 1 did so I don't have to learn anything new it still works the same way and so far it's low sample size right I've only gotten a few ka hits so far but it does offer more sensitivity than the Valentine one the unit in r7 we enjoyed also pros of that one big color screen if you want that big color screen that's got it so it just really spells out you don't have to learn a new language you can put that in anyone's car and they don't need to know what that means it's it's ka-band strong like that you know so if you want that unit in was the best for that and offered in our testing this same range as the first gen Valentine 1 the second gen Valentine 1 seemed to offer a little more sensitivity than that unit in as well I can say that I'm happy I bought the Valentine one Gen 2 it is a good piece of hardware so far it seems to do everything they advertise that it does it's as programmable as the original unit but offers more sensitivity and more information if you want that as well which I like it's also a very little bit slimmer otherwise about the same size I am gonna keep using it and I hope we'll do an update somewhere down the road once I've got some more miles with it but that's just our early getting-to-know-you test of the Valentine 1 gen 2 radar detector and if you want to see the sciency version check out our friends at vortex radar they own radar guns and they do science over there and if you want to really get the intricacies of range then they'll probably have that for you in conclusion radar detectors especially used in conjunction with ways are still a very valuable tool that can still help you have more infrared information much more information at the times you might need it the last thing I will say about our test is that I was incredibly surprised at how useful of a tool Waze is on the freeway even more than ever especially because the thing that these radar detectors ultimately need is a policeman shooting radar plenty of policemen are out there on the highways doing their job in one way or another having a presence but not actively shooting radar maybe they're shooting laser maybe they're shooting instant on radar or maybe they're just manning a post a lot of those times neither radar detector told us that they were there but ways did successfully because they made it a game where people can earn points not out of the goodness of their hearts so use it all folks use a radar detector use Waze and if you are looking for a new one so far I'm pretty happy with the Valentine on Jen - thank you for watching and we'll see you later I bet you thought that was the end huh well no there's a sad PS to this story which is that four days after I finished shooting our test video the Valentine one gen 2 died I moved it from the Volvo v90 into the next press car we had which was the Porsche Macan turbo and when I plugged it in to the 12 volt it just got no power I tried multiple different power cords I tried multiple different plugs I tried multiple different cars unfortunately none of it worked and so my Valentine 1 gen 2 is going to have to go back to Valentine research to be repaired or replaced and they're closed as of May 2nd for coronavirus which is very unfortunate so we'll have to wait while I was working this thing was excellent I think it was my favorite unit I've ever used and it stopped working so unfortunately the saga continues and we'll continue our testing sometime down the road when I get one that works I and remember always fight your tickets go to off the record dot-com / TST or use code TST 10 on the off the recordyou know guys in my career I have found myself on the side of the road with lights flashing in my mirror dozens of times sometimes I had it coming but more often than not I was just doing what you guys are probably doing every day going to work at a speed I found pretty reasonable did you know that one in five drivers get a ticket every single year but only 5% of drivers can test their tickets that means big business and big revenue for the police and the court system you're always better off fighting any ticket especially with the help of a professional but how do you find that professional especially if you get a ticket outside of your home city off the record fights tickets and misdemeanors for drivers all across the country when you book a case with off the record you're matched with an experienced local lawyer that handles your case from start to finish off the record has a 97% success rate and a money-back guarantee if they don't keep that ticket off your record do yourself a favor and always fight your tickets go to off the record calm / TST the link is in the video description or download the iOS and Android off-the-record app and enter code TST 10 do it now because the code will cover all your legal services through off the record for 3 whole years what up everybody welcome to an interesting sort of gadget episode of the smoking tire in my right hand the valentine one radar detector in use on my windshield in one way or another since 2005 in my left hand the Valentine one generation 2 I actually never thought I would see this and so we put the old one and the new one side by side on the windshield of the Volvo v90 me and Zack hopped in the car and we drove laps around LA looking for cops good morning everyone welcome to the 405 freeway typically where you see Zach and I driving but today we're going on a short little jaunt getting out of quarantine or escaping we're conducting essential business for many years Zach and I have been devout users of the valentine one radar detector myself in conjunction with ways in modern times and Valentine has a new one after twenty twenty something years the rock moved out of the way of the cave yes and a new valentine one has emerged and I I did a lot of driving at wall I don't typically use a radar detector within the city very often we have to go outside the city to the canyons and to racetracks or driving to San Diego Vegas our skiing and and they are still prevalent they are still helpful they still the price of a radar detector oh look at this hang on let's just go slow because there's a police officer on the right-hand side of the road with the customer as they say not shooting radar that looks like a person who's having a problem they both they're both on this cell phone but I'll be a good citizen and I'm going to mark it on ways reports that I mean good citizen mark on planes so we've got my old Valentine one which has been updated as factory recommended we've got the new Valentine one Gen 2 why it isn't called Valentine - I will never know and then we've got Vinnie's uniden or seven which our friends and four text said was a very good unit at the time they reviewed it just before the Valentine two came out did they tell you what this one's you know selling points word versus bees I didn't watch it but Vinnie watched the most recent comparison and ended up buying that one yeah and it has a night out the uniden has a nice color display like a full LCD display whereas even the new Valentine - I'm going to call it that even those knobs call have been helpful the Gentoo has an updated version of the OG valentine 1 display because the OG display is just some red lights behind the arrows and then a single digit got you know if you if you're at a baseball game and the score pops up like that's what it is it's right seven different little lit up lines like that's as complicated again but it's a language that when you learn the language it is actually incredibly communicative in a good way so the things about the Valentine one when it was new and even until now talk about the original it has great range yes it has the it had the arrows which were you know it was the only one with the directional arrows at a long time for a long time that was like that was like hey this life jacket has straps the other ones are just a ring where I was a huge advancement because at least in our opinion it was far more important to know where the radar or laser or whatever was coming from yeah then knowing then getting a signal a hundred feet or 500 feet sooner because if you don't know which direction is coming from I didn't think it was very helpful at all the mere presence of radar is not enough which is what like the passports advertised they were telling you about the presence of rare because your behavior is different depending on up here we go Valentine to picked up ka ahead got nothing on nothing to the other now it's a week a week ahead signal the Valentine to has a new type of signal processing software as well as a new magnesium case so in theory or it's they claim I should say that it helps process weaker signals that are further away we are in logic mode right now which is supposed to filter out some of the false ka cabe and signals that you get from like radar cruise control and collision avoidance systems because that well I do remember that being a big problem when those first really started coming on the market being really common on the highways is if you hadn't disabled some of the fans on your radar detector you'd get near infinity infinities were really big and you're those that like x-men go through crates and the FX's the infinity FX was the king of setting off your your cave and yeah that make you food yeah and so one of the things that I like about Valentine demented the original one for sure was that it would give you all of the information it could gather as money it was people who complained about it would complain that it was too sensitive give you too much information but if you dug into the user manual a little bit you could disable X and k-band individually so my valentine one is a ka-band detector only now there might be a community in America where the cops still shoot yes I'm not definitively saying that that doesn't exist but I have driven hundreds of thousands of miles across the country back and forth all over the place I've never once been hit by a van that was an actual cop ever extremely rare because I believe it's like X was developed first then k then ka so the cheaper system is going to be K or X and maybe there's some communities that didn't get you know the newer radar guns as they evolved but by now ka has been out for some of the comments will say it's five and out for 30-40 years and you know departments have probably all gotten the issued those ka radar at those ka speed guns yeah and also you're dealing a lot of laser here which a Valentine one or another radar detector doesn't really help you all that much with laser all of the technologies that a lot of the other companies use the GPS wearing if you if you get the same false k over and over and it'll filter it out like all that stuff to me just kind of dances around the fact that I would like all K sickness filtered out entirely and all X signals because to me those are not threats I didn't know you could do that like I've had a range radar detector since like 2000 I think and then I met you and you and Tom said oh you know you can turn off yeah X and K and it was like let's yeah I mean it was it was incredible because you don't realize how many sliding doors at gas stations run on one of those bands and set off every time you drive by and how many cars and their radar cruise and whatever collision detection systems use k as well and so not that this is legal advice if you do want all the information you can leave it on but in both the v1 and the v1 gen 2 you can deactivate them entirely you have to do it through a really funky series of button presses and knob turns in the one in the v2 there's an app and so you just go into the menus and uncheck them it's very very simple so other things with the Valentine and two I'm just going to keep going that the Valentine do that are really cool there's a module get called savvy and the module plugs into your obd2 port and it acts as the hard wiring kit for the radar detector it still runs a wire down the a-pillar into their right and so it's your hardwire kit but also it has a little scrolling wheel on it and so in another option that valentine is giving you to filter out bad signals you use the scrolling wheel to set a speed anywhere from 15 to 65 miles an hour and below that threshold it will only give you alerts at the muted volume so if you go listen v1 don't bother me under 50 I'm good it just won't so that's a great thing to happen that works with the old one too but it's a and if you want to use that feature in the app it has it with the app as well but then you can't hardwire right so you can hardwire and have the little box or if you bring your valentine to another car like we've got an oppressed car right now I can program through the app to have that feature which is great because there's a lot of cars that have cruise control and the decimal things can go in those menus and set the same morning you can say hey warn me if I am going five over or 70 miles an hour because you don't want to accidentally press the gas too hard into the end of that function does valentine to picking up multiple cabe and alerts body parts may be multiple cave and alerts with unit in and v1 not saying an on Santa Fe do we know is anything disabled on the unit oh that's just on it's on city mode gotcha so which i think is on an x-band kind of filtering yes yes now look LA is dense you know LA has a lot going on there's a lot of signals bouncing around so if you're watching this video from somewhere in Kansas and you live in a small town you don't have these problems you can use either Valentine 1 or Valentine 2 on one of their logic modes which filters out some of that stuff and you probably won't have problems if you live in a major metro area the problem with many radar detectors is too much information too many alerts you stop listening to them by deactivating X and K in my valentine 1 + 12 years if that thing makes noise I pay attention because it's so rarely makes noise yeah if it makes noise it's a cop that's not to say it catches every cop but if it makes noise it's a cop I mean that's where our about disabling those things and then you know they try to build in these systems where it's smart and it can make it just in here is how much is coming in and it tries to filter out what's important what isn't for a while it was better to just disable those things I think they said in the new one they've updated the processing power by like a hundred times so it might and we able to do a better job of taking it all that info and filtering things out but again it's it's leaning I think it's easier to just manually disable those things but it does have this logic mode that could try to sort it out for you I've been using the new Valentine for four or five days now it definitely makes a lot more noise in logic mode than my deactivated you know what I mean because all of the light-up signs in the your speed is 47 signs like all of that stuff does set off a signal now if the signal is like a weaker signal it gives you it does give you the muted one but it certainly makes more noise my other one in the city by Valentine one stays basically silent totally silent and so what I do like is that there like a man there like a company that just sells you undiluted barrel proof alcohol and then you can decide how much you want to dilute it down they give you a manual all right say if you mix it with these things yeah you'll get you'll get Jack Daniels yeah hooker you'll get these dip you know different amounts I'll oh yeah so so they what I like is I think they give you the option to have as much as much as possible right if I'm gonna go on a road trip cross-country I'm gonna leave Los Angeles and I'm gonna drive across cornfields for four or five days in the desert I want all that information whatever is out here you tell me but if I'm in the city I want you to filter out some of this garbage because I'm just trying to get to work and I only want to know if it's ka or a laser you know because that's gonna be a cop for sure and I've got my screen filled with ways which either of these two is not an infallible system but when you combine them and most of the time something comes up most of the time I think that's fit of the new one I'm just having that savvy knob and having the app like you have multiple ways in which you could kind of turn down the noise in the city but like if logic if you find logic mode is still too sensitive gift then you can just say look don't bug me if it's I'm going under forty miles yeah if I'm healing as surface streets of thirty-five like don't leave me alone yeah what do I need what do I need to be notified yeah so we're gonna keep running these and we'll come back to at the end of our 100 mile freeway drive and we'll let you know if one comes out as a clear winner or if you should sell your v1 and get the v2 or whatever we figure out yeah in our non-scientific test there's a cop right there yeah just with the construction crew was kind of yeah yeah I don't know if he's got radar on but anything you have to sit there just those exa if you sit forward with lights on okay the night time that's okay I might have been sitting there with the construction crew yeah all right so far so far kay only so far kay only cops are not delivering all right we're gonna we're gonna about-face this Volvo pretty soon but we are stopping first we are stopping first that a got both picked up came from a head unit it is first it was look it's the rate it's this your speed is sign on the other side so there sometimes that happens if you've never used one of these where the radar is firing this way and it gets other cars that are coming towards you in the bounces towards you we got multiple K's okay laser is so instant that you usually it goes off just to tell you you're about to get a ticket and it's pretty much what it's doing yeah it's notifying you like a summons before you get pulled over call it preach our motion so we're after yes I am you've been served we're stopping in Newport Beach at a warehouse or we will be picking up 50 Optima digital 400 battery tenders for Westside collector car storage Optima is going to be the official battery tender provider west cycloid car storage and being that we have a full-size Volvo wagon we can fit 50 battery tenders in the back so we're doubling it up we're going to load this thing up with battery tenders and then we'll do some more radar ring on the way back to Culver City anything I was deadly at time time between Uniden vtune from the cave and so if those are real cops that hopefully yes braids are Frias whipping while going for it it's maybe a good test of radar to be a person I stood on there's a highway patrol cruiser just merged mountain look right there I don't even know how they would get out disagree I think about that Portia then with that cop shoot the radar and then another cop comes to catch I think probably they call it hit if you'd say it so far in terms of actually showing where actual police are ways is winning these have made a lot of beeps and stuff about always will always win because you can zoom out and someone can mark a cop 30 miles down the road right look at it see that right but what we've seen are like a bunch of police on this Highway but like doing things that don't involve having a radar gun on right now that doesn't mean they couldn't catch you doing whatever you were doing true so like saying that right now plates is whipping I think you're right like when we started this whole thing I said I didn't like way that it use Waze because I thought that the navigation my past experiences was terrible which they've updated and I also didn't like relying on the kindness of strangers to tell me what or police ahead because if they don't people don't market then he might come around the corner there is a cop but you're right in this case people are saying like hey there's construction there's cops yeah and if they're not shooting radar that these won't pick that up and it's not it's not purely the goodness of their hearts either like people are really dumb and like Waze is made in a game like those points you can get points you can get like status being away didn't know that it's France so you're not doing it just to be nice you're doing it to play the game right the only ways you're getting likes yes you're getting ways like your ways like sways status yeah we got sport Forte both so we kept finding k-band but we couldn't find anything else but that wouldn't have been a good test I wouldn't have been a good comparison so Matt went out the next day he went for another Drive and had a little bit more luck okay final UK Valentine one gen2 was the first to pick it up unit is second to pick it up Valentine one had that by about two seconds there they both got it finally some ka all right where are you at that was opposed a fairly weak signal I only got one bar of K from each of them Valentine - and uniden both got it Valentine one I'm honest the Valentine - got it first it picked up the weakest signal solid for five seconds before the others did and then the others all picked it up at the same time later we learned some things driving around Los Angeles for about 250 miles the first of which is it's actually kind of hard to intentionally find cops who are shooting radar at you that not was standing so far in our experience the pros of the Valentine one Gen 2 are that it offers pretty much everything the one offered but more sensitivity for softer signals a quicker easier way to adjust it using the app which is a better interface than the knob although I do miss the volume knob you get volume buttons on top not quite as good as the knob I love the knob I missed the knob but the interaction with the app is really helpful plus you've got this Savi thing which you can set it a threshold and that works for either valentine 1 or Valentine - I think they've improved on the original one added some features that make it more user-friendly and they haven't ruined it at all it still works great it still speaks the same language as the Valentine 1 gen 1 did so I don't have to learn anything new it still works the same way and so far it's low sample size right I've only gotten a few ka hits so far but it does offer more sensitivity than the Valentine one the unit in r7 we enjoyed also pros of that one big color screen if you want that big color screen that's got it so it just really spells out you don't have to learn a new language you can put that in anyone's car and they don't need to know what that means it's it's ka-band strong like that you know so if you want that unit in was the best for that and offered in our testing this same range as the first gen Valentine 1 the second gen Valentine 1 seemed to offer a little more sensitivity than that unit in as well I can say that I'm happy I bought the Valentine one Gen 2 it is a good piece of hardware so far it seems to do everything they advertise that it does it's as programmable as the original unit but offers more sensitivity and more information if you want that as well which I like it's also a very little bit slimmer otherwise about the same size I am gonna keep using it and I hope we'll do an update somewhere down the road once I've got some more miles with it but that's just our early getting-to-know-you test of the Valentine 1 gen 2 radar detector and if you want to see the sciency version check out our friends at vortex radar they own radar guns and they do science over there and if you want to really get the intricacies of range then they'll probably have that for you in conclusion radar detectors especially used in conjunction with ways are still a very valuable tool that can still help you have more infrared information much more information at the times you might need it the last thing I will say about our test is that I was incredibly surprised at how useful of a tool Waze is on the freeway even more than ever especially because the thing that these radar detectors ultimately need is a policeman shooting radar plenty of policemen are out there on the highways doing their job in one way or another having a presence but not actively shooting radar maybe they're shooting laser maybe they're shooting instant on radar or maybe they're just manning a post a lot of those times neither radar detector told us that they were there but ways did successfully because they made it a game where people can earn points not out of the goodness of their hearts so use it all folks use a radar detector use Waze and if you are looking for a new one so far I'm pretty happy with the Valentine on Jen - thank you for watching and we'll see you later I bet you thought that was the end huh well no there's a sad PS to this story which is that four days after I finished shooting our test video the Valentine one gen 2 died I moved it from the Volvo v90 into the next press car we had which was the Porsche Macan turbo and when I plugged it in to the 12 volt it just got no power I tried multiple different power cords I tried multiple different plugs I tried multiple different cars unfortunately none of it worked and so my Valentine 1 gen 2 is going to have to go back to Valentine research to be repaired or replaced and they're closed as of May 2nd for coronavirus which is very unfortunate so we'll have to wait while I was working this thing was excellent I think it was my favorite unit I've ever used and it stopped working so unfortunately the saga continues and we'll continue our testing sometime down the road when I get one that works I and remember always fight your tickets go to off the record dot-com / TST or use code TST 10 on the off the record\n"