Beltronics Vector 940 Radar Detector

Over the years I have had radar detectors by whistler, Uniden and Cobra. The Beltronics 940 surpasses all previous detectors. I have gotten fewer false signals, greater range and earlier warnings with the 940.

The Beltronics 940 is what I consider a mid-priced detector. It surpasses less expensive detectors as expected. One great aspect though, is that the 940 keeps pace with more expensive detection units. I have a friend with the Beltronics 985 and we ran the detectors simultaniously and we found no real detection advantage of one over the other. Sometimes his 985 picked up the signal first sometimes my 940 was first to the punch. Considering the 985 retails for $100 more, that the 940 keeps pace is really nice. My brother has an Escort. The same test was done with the same results. Considering the Escort is $100 more expensive it is a feather in the 940's cap to keep up.

The 940 has 9 user selectable features.

1.Automatic or continuous audio alerts
2. Radar/Laser/SWS Digital Voice or unique tones
3.Safety Warning System on/off
4.Inverted Display option (for mounting the detector upside down if you choose
5.Audio/Visual Scroll fast/slow. Speeds up or slows down visual information readouts.
6.Autoscan travel mode
7.Normal Start-Up mode
8.Modifications Start-Up mode
9.Quick Start mode

The 940 Vector Series has a simple yet effective red LED display. You can choose from three brightness settings. Bright, Dim and Dark are your choices. I especially like the "dark" mode becauase at night the 940 cannot be seen from the outside of the vehicle while the detector is on.

The unit detects X, K, and Super Wideband Ka radar units. This covers all radar frequencies that are allowed to be used by the FCC. The 940 also detects the use of laser with both front and rear protection (assuming your vehicle has a rear window). One aspect of the laser detection of the unit is it gives a very distinct and attetnion getting alert for the use of lasers. Lasers are not used in a continuous manner. They are aimed at a particular vehicle and triggered manually. This makes the window of detection very short in duration. The attention grabbing warning is comforting because it lets you know to SLOW DOWN NOW!!

AutoScan and Highway modes are the two most sensitive means of detection. The unit alerts on weaker signals often giving you earlier warning in rural settings.

In the City X mode the unit raises the threshold cancelling out weaker X band emissions (Garage door openers, burglar alarms, motion detectors etc) often encountered in urban areas.

City All mode is used in areas of dense elctronic signals. It reduces the sensitivity to eleiminate falsing. In metropolitan areas this mode is preferrable. Tall buildings reflect radar emmisions from not only police sources but communicaton towers, antannaes and dishes(which seem to abound in large cities).

The 940 has user selectable audio alerts. These range from silent to subtle to ear piercing tones. You can manually set the detector to silence the audio alert once you've heard it. This keeps you from haviing to hear a continuous beep once you've been warned, just continue to glance at the display until the siganl disappears.

I really like that the Beltronics 940 Vector series has Shadow II Technology. This makes the unit undetectable by radar detector detectors (say that three times fast LOL). It makes the unit undetectable to the Interceptor VG-2, the most advanced radar detector detector. I travel in states where radar detector use is illegal (Virginia). The Shadow technology coupled with the "dark" display setting helps to minimize the risk of being caught with an illegal detector.

The 940 also features Motorola Digital DNA technology. This allows the unit to be upgraded if any new frequncies of radar are permitted by the FCC in the future.

For a unit under $200 this is an excellent value in my opinion. I feel you could do alot worse. compare featuers and price and you may agree that the 940 is a inexpensive peace of mind.