Radar Guns Blog: Radar Gun News, Radar Gun Forum, Radar Gun Products, Radar Gun Reviews, Radar Gun Information, Radar Gun Advises

I've written a number of posts about the sport uses for radar guns, with a handful about RC racing radar guns, but I don't talk too much about boat racing.

The Lake of the Ozarks Shootout is the largest non sanctioned boat race in the US. Over 75,000 people were in attendance this year to witness a bit of controversy. The current speed record for the Shootout is 209 mph, and a boat this year tied that same speed, although many in attendance believe the radar gun was not properly aligned and missed the true high speed of the boat, which the owner believes could have been as high as 221 mph.

A GPS unit on the boat showed a 221mph reading on one run, and a 215 mph reading on another. Either speed would have shattered the previous record.

The boat, called the My Way, made two runs where the radar speed trap didn't register at all, because the sleek aerodynamics of the boat and high speed make it difficult to get a reading, and the distance the radar gun was from the boat would also make it difficult to get an accurate measurement. All the reflective surfaces on water can play havoc with a speed detection device, although proper alignment should allow for a good reading.

Though no new records were set this year, the Shootout did raise funds for local firefighters and charities. Over $70,000 in donations were given this year.

Labels: boats, radar guns, radar uses

Labels: police procedure, police radar

Apparently bicycle safety is on the minds of radar gun users lately. Just two weeks ago I mentioned a new tool used to keep bicyclists safe that measures their speed as they cross intersections and adjust traffic light times to ensure they have enough time. Well, government officials are also starting to use radar guns to measure biking speeds to see if speed limits should be imposed on trails.

The argument for these new limits is essentially the same as those for why we have speed limits for cars on streets. Some cyclists ride too fast and might be endangering pedestrians. While injuries stemming from bike crashes are rarely as serious as those from car crashes, they occur in more remote areas where emergency vehicles and personnel struggle to reach. Head and neck injuries have to be treated as quickly as possible, and the injured person should not be moved prior to at least a preliminary examination by a trained professional. But what if they're in the middle of a park with no car access? It could take hours before paramedics arrive. Plus, if someone is hurt while alone, they could lay there hurt or possibly even dieing without anyone coming along to help them. The likelihood of being seen by someone else on a road is far greater than on a trail.

Slowing cyclists down by enforcing speed limits with a radar gun could prevent a lot of injuries. Dallas is currently measuring average speeds by mountain bikers and trying to determine how fast they should be riding. Just like a road, a number of factors are considered when figuring out speed limits. The number and sharpness of curves and hills, the quality of the trail ground, and the number of other cyclists and pedestrians on the trail are all taken into account.

So far Dallas is only testing, and they have not yet imposed any biking speed limits, but it'll be interesting to see what is decided. I assume it would be park rangers in charge of issuing speeding tickets to bikers on trails, and not police officers. It's funny to think of park rangers with radar guns.

Next there will be life guards at pools with speed detection devices, making sure kids don't run too fast.

I do think it would be fun to take out a sports radar gun and see how fast you ride your bike, so at the very least you can have some extra fun in the near future with your radar gun before a new law is passed making you slow down.

Labels: bicycle, radar guns, speed limits

I don't mean for this to be a public service announcement, but we're in the latter half of August now, which means school is starting up. Those school zone speed limits are going to be enforced again, and while I know many of you have gotten used to the higher speeds, please remember to slow down.

Police make an extra effort to train their radar guns on speeders in school zones at the beginning of the year. Not only do you not want a speeding ticket, but no one wants to hurt a kid, especially not for so slight a reason as trying to make a bit better time on your commute.

I just read a story about a group of parents who set up a radar gun with a led display screen similar to the Bushnell Speedster III and SpeedScreen, and in the few days before school began many cars were caught going 20mph or more over the speed limit. And, in a equally dangerous violation, many people were avoiding the specific school zone by driving down a side street, where the speed limit is lower, but the fines are not as high. Kids are still present, but drivers continue to speed. Some are traveling as fast as 40mph in a 10mph zone.

The parents who set up their speed detection device were illustrating a point to the local police. They want the school zone and nearby side streets consistently patrolled by police with radar guns, especially during the early morning and mid afternoon hours when kids are going to and from school.

I remember being taught as a kid to look both ways, but some kids run out into the street without looking. You don't want to be driving too fast to stop.

School is starting. SLOW DOWN!

Labels: Bushnell, police radar, school zones

This is a really cool story. And I'll give credit where credit is due. I found this story over here at Wired.com.

A physics professor from Southeastern Louisiana University recently watched a baseball game in which Cardinal's center fielder Rick Ankiel threw out two runners from close to the wall. Unfortunately, no one had a radar gun on the throw, but that would hardly stop a physics professor. I'm not going to go through all the math, but using Google Earth and video tracking software the professor was able to determine both throws were about 101 meters, and it took the ball about 2.84 seconds each time to get from the Ankiel's hand to the third baseman's glove. He factored in the curve of the ball, the uncertainty of his starting values, and air resistance and figured out the ball was traveling at a maximum speed of 123 mph.

Holy cow. I've never heard of a pitcher hitting that kind of speed.

The physics professor points out a few factors for why the center fielder could throw the ball so hard. First, pitchers only get one step, Ankiel took a couple. Also, while his throws were both on the money, the need for extreme accuracy is not the same. Ankiel didn't have to hit a tiny little strike zone, the way pitchers do. I'd guess that many pitchers could fire a ball at a far higher speed if they were just winging it in the general direction of a base. The professor didn't bring this up, but center fielders also don't have to throw the ball very many times in a game, and they almost never have to throw it that hard. Starting pitchers often throw over 100 pitches. I'd like to see anyone light up a baseball radar gun over 100mph over 100 times.

Still, even with all the excuses, Ankiel had two insane throws. I talk about using radar guns for baseball, golf, tennis and more quite a bit, but few people train radar guns on the center fielder. The next time you're at the ball park you might want to take a look at a long throw from the outfield. You might be surprised at the speed some guys reach. And I always thought outfielders just watched the dandelions grow.

Labels: baseball radar, radar guns

Most of us are pretty familiar with police radar guns. We slow down when we see a cop, and hope that we weren't going too fast. I don't tend to speed, but I'm more aware of how fast I'm driving when I see a police officer sitting by the side of the road. It seems like a fact of life when driving here in Illinois, and it's that way in 49 states, but not Pennsylvannia.

Currently, Pennsylvannia is the only state in the union where municipal police departments are not allowed to use radar guns to catch speeders. State police are allowed to use radar guns, but not local police. This doesn't mean the municipal police are completely unable to catch speeders, but their efforts are severely limited. In downtown areas it is nearly impossible for police to catch drivers speeding. The only system currently used is the ENRADD, or the Electronic Non-RADar Device. The system is bulky and expensive, and it requires two police officers to operate. Officers are set up on opposite sides of the road and clock cars between the two parts of the device. One unit was stolen in the last year, and another was run over by a car.

The main reason that Pennsylvannia Municipal Police Officers can't use a radar gun is politics. Over the last decade the issue has been bandied about, with no results. One State Representative feels he has the Transportation Committee Chairman's ear and may be able to get at least a pilot program going. A number of lives have been lost in the last year, many of which might have been saved had the drivers been driving slower. The pressure from these situations seems to have given pro-radar gun politicians enough leverage to get a program through.

I know no one likes to get a speeding ticket, but there's a reason for speed limits. The limits are meaningless if the police have no way of enforcing them, so putting some traffic radar guns in the hands of local police will help save lives. I'd say that's worth supporting.

Labels: police radar, radar guns

Radar technology is constantly undergoing improvements. While the accuracy and precision of the devices gets better every day, many of the advancements are due to engineers and designers coming up with new ways of using speed readings.

Consider a story I just read about a handful of California towns that are using radar gun-type tool to keep cyclists safe on the road. The device is called the Intersector, and it measures the speed of bicycles going through intersections. It's one of the few systems that can distiguish between a car and a bike.

It takes cyclists longer to get through an intersection than a car, and sometimes they are not given ample time to safely cross the street, so the Intersector acts as a speed detection device and extends the green light so that those on bikes are clear before the light turns red.

It's a pretty novel approach to keeping cyclists safe. Most people, when they think of bike safety, consider lights or reflective markers, such as the Nite Ize Ridelight LED Ankle Bicycle Lights or the Nite Ize Helmet Marker Band. Those are great for alerting drivers to your presence at night, but sometimes bikes are hard to see even in the day, especially at intersections, where there may be dangers from multiple directions.

The reliance on radar gun technology continues outside of what most people consider the norm for radar guns such as law enforcement and sports.

For more info on radar guns and the latest news and technology check back with RadarGunsBlog.com!

Labels: bicycle, radar guns

Labels: baseball radar, pocket radar

Down in Melbourne, Australia, Metro authorities have been working hard to improve the times of their trains. Metro took over the train system in 2009 and their punctuality has been abysmal, with numbers as low as 58.9% punctuality. Obviously, it's their job to get people where they need to be on time, so Metro has been making constant efforts to improve their performance.

The changes didn't take place overnight. Rather than making quick, temporary changes Metro focused on lasting improvements to rail lines, repairing lines and improving technology while also adjusting schedules to give the public a more accurate idea of when trains will arrive and depart.

A number of tools were used when testing the trains. CCTVs were used to see if there were any problems on the platforms that slowed performance, and radar guns were used to test the speed of the trains. You don't normally think of measuring the speed of trains with a radar gun, but because of technical errors on the line, the speed readings from the trains weren't trusted. Radar guns detected the train's speed more accurately than the train's internal sensor, so the engineers were able to better estimate arrival and departure times, and they could see where there were problems on the line affecting speed.

You don't normally think of trains when you use a radar gun, but almost anything you want to know the speed of can be measured using one, from race cars and baseballs to paintballs or arrows.

With the improvements Metro has made, train times have been far more accurate, with the best line punctuality at 98.62%. That's some improvement, and partly due to radar guns!

Labels: radar guns, trains