Frequency Band of Irish Radar guns..

Eurorunner

Anyone know what frequency band irish radar speed detection guns operate on??

FX Meister

As far as I know it's the same as the U.K.

528i

I'm sure its Ka Band, but get this - I picked up an X-band speed cop around donegal early last year, and that gun is generally considered outdated and restricted to north America only !

To say its influencing my decision on the new fixed install bel996R (my euro550 is a pain in the hole hiding it all the time) would be an understatement, as it only picks up so-called Euro bands (ie, K, Ka, Ku)

http://www.speedcameradefence.com seem to be ok price wise in that you don't pay the VAT if bought thru a southern registered company, although I'm not sure about the legality of the whole thing- it used to be ok to buy,own,eat but not use, now seems to be banned outright though, Anan (if anyone remembers him from motornet) had one confiscated enroute from USA at customs afew months after I'd bought mine, so I think they're onto them nowadays and you're restricted to purchasing in the UK, just remember they're about to be banned in the UK too.

Eurorunner

To backup what you both have said above, i got this response from a UK based retailer of such devices:

"Hand held radar guns and Gatso cameras
operate on K Band (4.05 - 24.25 Ghz). The Gardai also use laser guns
which are on 904 nanometres. These bands are the same as are used in
the UK although there are some video camera systems in England (SPECS
and Truvelo) which are not used in Eire. Our device will give
excellent protection against radar guns and GATSO cameras and
although it incorporates a laser warning, the only device which will
give full protection against a laser gun is a laser diffuser. When a
laser gun is used against your vehicle the operator obtains a reading
of your speed in less than one third of a second, too short a time
for you to react even if you get a warning. A diffuser stops the
speed from being recorded."

The only conclusions i can draw from the above is that i would be wasting my time if i buy anything other than a diffuser??
I was hoping something cheap and cheerful like this would work but it sounds like I would be throwing my money away if the above is the case. In looking at the diffusers, theres nothing cheap about them and its hard to justify the cost....

snappieT

Or you could not throw your money away and be human and drive within the speed limits...

Eurorunner

^^^The inevitable high moral ground comment. Now that we have that out of the way, can we leave this thread to further practical input.

528i

I thought it went without saying that you need a laser jammer also

You're looking at around €1,200 for adequate protection, or as the man says- stick religiously to the speed limits, the beauty of bels 996 is that it can be transferred easily enough onto a clutter bike also (cough not that im contemplating anything of the sort, leathers, ha, cough)

ps. those cobras are muck !!

Have a look at independent reviews such as http://www.autoexpress.co.uk [product-tests section] rather than that oul guff from retailers.

Eurorunner

It looks like I have brought that little investigation to a close. I read a bit further and as is usually the case, you get what you pay for. Those cobras are indeed muck as you quite rightly put it, and i'm not on the road so often or generally over the limit so often as to justify forking out 400/500 sterling...