Test Day #3 – 11 JAN 05 - (Tombstone, AZ to Sasabe, AZ)

We pulled up stakes at 1615 and headed towards our next destination.  The temperature was 65F and it was somewhat overcast.  Trip miles at the start of this segment were 736.

We continued with the comparison of the RX65 (left middle) versus the V1 v1.8 (center-right middle)

On Route 82W towards Nogales, Mrs.Veil Guy learned to drive a stick while I took the notes.

At mm44, the RX65 briefly alerted to POP radar.  The V1 remained silent and there was no sighting of a police cruiser at a trip odometer reading of 763.3.  Shortly thereafter, the V1 alerted to very weak K-band radar from the rear then to the sides for a couple of cycles while the RX65 remained silent.

Approaching the small town of Sonita, AZ and a precipitous drop in the posted speed limit we were alerted to an approaching police cruiser ahead on the opposite side using steady K-band.

The V1 alerted about 2-3 seconds before the RX65 Pro at ~45mph.  This was a real trap.  As we left the city limits, the V1 alerted twice ahead and once to the rear with very weak K-band at mm30.  At mm27, the V1 alerted to a very weak K-band from the rear for two cycles while the RX65 remained silent.

Later, as we approached the town of Patagonia at a speed of about 75mph, the V1 alerted about five seconds prior to the RX65 on steady K-band at a reported 24.176Ghz.  The source was an approaching unmarked police car in the opposite lane.  The town speed limit was reduced to 30mph, which we obeyed.

In both of these proceeding encounters, either radar detector would have provided sufficient time to safely slow down.

Two miles out of town, the V1 alerted twice to a very weak K-band ahead while the RX65 was silent.  Followed by a brief weak alert on K-band on the RX65 while the V1 remained silent.

As we were approaching the city of Nogales, the V1 alerted K-band at a strength of three for about three seconds.  The RX65 did not alert and no police officer was spotted.

Dusk somewhere in Southern Arizona

Leaving the city limits of Nogales on I19N traveling at about 60-70mph we got a Ka alert at 34.708ghz on the RX65 six seconds prior to the V1.  We eventually spotted the source which was a police cruiser hiding in the median dividing the highway just in front of an overpass and facing us.  Time of day was 1820 and it was dark. Even though the RX65 alerted prior to the V1, either provided plenty of time to slow down.  To put this into some context, the total warning time we received to the trap location was about 24 seconds traveling at 60-70mph.

Continuing on I-19N, we received a K-alert on the V1 followed by a K-alert on the RX65 by about one second while we were traveling at about 75mph.  The source turned out to be a speed sign located at a border patrol checkpoint.  Again, either radar detector provided plenty of time to react and slow down.

Security Checkpoint, I-19N North of Nogales - Jose of US Border Patrol, Sasabe, AZ

Later we met up with Jose, one of border patrol officers working the seam of the US and Mexico. He provided us directions to our final destination for the evening. At this point, we were in a very remote part of the state. No cell phone coverage here.

Even here, the V1 alerted (falsed) with brief weak K-band alerts while the RX65 Pro remained silent. We turned off the RX65 to see if it was contributing to this behavior and although the V1 didn’t report any additional K-band the remaining couple of miles to our destination we weren’t convinced that “crosstalk” was the reason.

Note: We investigated this further (running the V1 solo) and we still encountered a relatively frequent “false” rate of K-band.

At the conclusion of this day of driving, it appeared the RX65 had a slight edge over the V1 1.8 w/POP2 on Ka-Band (in Ka USA mode) while the Valentine appeared to have an edge over the RX65 in K-band (at the expense of more frequent K-band “falsings.”)

Again, in reality, either would have provided plenty of time to safely react and slow down to all of our encounters today.

We arrived at our destination, the Rancho de la Osa of Sasabe, AZ at about 1930. It was very dark out and quiet. Our dinner was waiting for us in our room and we started a nice fire in the room as the temperature in the desert this time of year gets quite cold in the evening.

Sunset at Sasabe & Cozy Warm Fire in our Adobe-Styled Room.

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