Radar Guns Blog

Army Helicopter Pilots Get a Little Radar Help when Landing!

2012-02-16T13:23:00.000-08:00

I just read that the number one cause of Army aircraft accidents is snow or dust blinding helicopter pilots when they're landing. This makes sense, as anyone who has been near a helicopter or even just seen one taking off or landing on TV knows that they create an incredible amount of wind. While engineers have worked for years to minimize this danger, there's really no easy to prevent wind from kicking up dust.

These mini dust storms that envelope helicopters are especially present in Afghanistan, where there is such a large amount of sand and dust. They're known as 'degraded visual environments' in the military, and when a helicopter is coming in for a precision landing they often cause pilots to slightly lose their bearings and drift into small objects.

As there are more aerial missions every day, and many of these take place in areas that are not cleared for a helicopter to land, it can be extraordinarily difficult to land even in optimal conditions.

The Army's solution to this problem is radar! A new radar imaging system will allow pilots to see small objects on the ground such as rocks or equipment for smoother landings. This should save a lot of lives in the future.

The radar technology behind this is very similar to the imaging tech I mentioned a few months back when asteroid YU55 came so close to Earth. Basically, by sending out a single broad wave at the ground and measuring how long it takes for the wave to be reflected back, you can determine the shape of the terrain beneath you or a distant object thousands of miles from Earth like an asteroid. And all with the same basic tech found in a police radar gun.

Really interesting is the possibility that this new radar imaging technology could also have offensive capabilities. Though right now pilots avoid dust clouds, with this imaging tech they could actually try to get dust clouds to form, which would obscure an enemy combatant's ability to shoot at the pilot with any kind of accuracy. This is a very cool idea and would no doubt make helicopters even more effective in the Middle East.

I can't wait to see this new military radar tech in action! Stay tuned. I'll keep my eyes out for any video and link to it if I get the chance!

Don't fake Police Radar Guns, Especially on the Police!

2012-02-13T12:37:00.000-08:00

I just read a really funny report that shows the stupidity of some people. In Athens, Georgia, a couple knuckleheads decided to use a rolled up magazine and pretend it was a radar gun.

Yeah. Stupid.

So they sat on the side of the road, trying to make it look like they were measuring the speed of passing cars. Then they'd drive behind the car, flash their lights, pull up beside the car and mouth, "Pull over."

Yeah. Stupid. Two for two so far.

But what could possibly go wrong in such a situation? Maybe having an off duty police officer drive by. That might put a crimp in their plans.

Oh, and that HAPPENED.

What's the score? Three for three. Wow. This is amazing.

Anyways, the two idiots pulled up next to the cop and tried to get him to pull over, but, being an intelligent individual, he got on the radio and had backup come and pull over these two idiots.

This does bring up a good safety tip though. If a non-police car tries to pull you over by flashing their lights at you, don't pull over. This could be dangerous. You never know if it's a psycho or a criminal, or perhaps just a couple idiots with a magazine pretending to have a police radar gun.

One thing that really disappoints me is that of the few different places I've read this story, no one knows what magazine they were using in place of a radar gun. Rolling Stone? Time? MAD?

Probably MAD.

Shovel Races clock in over 70 MPH on Radar Gun!!!

2012-02-09T10:58:00.001-08:00

I think I've made it pretty clear over time that I really like finding new uses for radar guns. From swooping to hockey I'm always interested in new ideas for radar. Well, I just found my favorite way to mess around with a sports radar gun: shovel racing.

I've honestly never heard of shovel racing before, but it's apparently taken off a bit in recent years, and it has been around for about 25 years.

Essentially, shovel racing is like sledding or bobsledding, except that instead of using a larger sled you're sitting on a shovel. There are two types of shovel racing (at least that I've discovered so far) and they are both crazy and awesome.

The traditional shovel racing is you just sitting on a basic metal shovel with the handle sticking up between your legs. You push off at the top of the hill and fly downhill. Gravity does the rest of the work.

So how fast can you go? Oh, about 70 MPH!!!!!!! I'm embedding a video I found on YouTube of this awesome activity, and you can see how it combines incredibly dangerous speeds and next to no safety equipment. Sure, they're wearing helmets, and their suits look pretty sturdy and padded, but there are no airbags or seat belts. It's just you and a metal shovel, hoping you don't splat against the wall.

How do you stop? It looks like you fall off the shovel and scrape the ground with your hands. Some guys seem pretty good at it and can even stand up, sliding a little ways downhill and looking like the coolest dudes in the world while doing it. To say the least, I am impressed.

I like how they have an action camera attached to the handle of the shovel to give a better idea of the excitement you'd experience shovel racing. If I ever go shovel racing I'm definitely putting an Epic D1 Series Action Camera on my shovel. It'll give the doctors a better idea of exactly how I wound up in the hospital.

To get a radar gun to read 70MPH they must be on pretty smooth tracks, which seems to be the case in the videos. Plus, you wouldn't want a bumpy ride, as the shovel is in pretty sensitive area.

The other type of shovel racing is called Super-Modified Shovel Racing, and it takes the basic premise to the extreme. The Super-Modified version involves racers building an entire sledding device, usually complete with a crash cage and more safety features, and capable of similarly high speeds exceeding 70MPH. These sleds have to start with a shovel, but other than that you can really build what you want. They look like boxcar racers. It's pretty cool, and I saw some insane crashes. I'd post it, but I worry that the riders didn't all survive unscathed. It is definitely a pretty extreme way to get down a hill.

Check out the video below, and see how these guys are inventing new ways to clock speed with a radar gun!

Zdeno Chara Wins the NHL Slap Shot Contest Again!

2012-02-07T14:24:00.000-08:00

I'm going to start off by apologizing for missing this story until now. I love hockey, and the NHL just recently had their 2012 Skills Competition, with a number of great events to see who the best of the best is for individual skills in the NHL.

I wrote about the NHL Skills Competition a few months back, with a focus on the slap shot contest speeds, which was won last year by Zdeno Chara, who hit a slap shot at an incredible 105.9MPH!!!

Well, Mr. Chara has done it again, only this time he beat his own record. By nearly 3 MPH. Yep, Zdeno Chara lit up the radar gun with a slap shot at 108.8MPH. Yowza. That's insane.

I've seen MLB pitchers light up baseball radar guns with three digits speeds, but 108.8MPH is crazy. I would NOT want to be the goalie with a puck moving that fast at me.

You get to take a few shots, and your fastest slap shot is the one that's counted, and that's where this gets even crazier. Zdeno got the radar gun to read 106.2, 108.8, 106.9 and 107.0MPH. Every shot was good enough to win!

While this is really awesome, my favorite part of the NHL Skills Competition was the shootout. Specifically, it was the goal scored by Patrick Kane. He had a teammate put a Superman cape on him, and he wore glasses when taking a shot. But that's not all. The way he made the shot is destined to be remembered for years and years. You have to see it to believe it, so the video is embedded below. Enjoy!

New Automated Radar Gun Chasing You? It's a Prank!

2012-01-31T07:54:00.000-08:00

I apologize if anyone doesn't find this as hilarious as I do, but there's a Frenchman who is having a bit of fun with those automatic Radar photo booths. I'm not sure if he's protesting the radar cameras, or if he's just having a laugh, but I can't help but enjoy him running after people in his costume.

The guy in the radar costume is Rémi Gaillard, a French comedian and prankster. He's actually done some really cool pranks over the years, including one where he dressed up as a famous soccer player and took part in the winner's celebration after a big game. He was actually greeted by the President of France, Jacques Chirac!

Rémi is one of the most subscribed to comedians on YouTube, though he also gets in a lot of trouble. Many of his pranks have landed him in jail, including the aforementioned meeting with the President. I don't believe he's been arrested for the video below, but it's a funny commentary on these radar gun devices.

I know many people feel anger toward red light cameras, radar cameras and automatic toll booths, as they get in trouble and are caught doing something wrong, but I think most people get mad when they're caught, regardless if it's by a police officer or a computer system. Ultimately, most of us just want to get away with our minor infractions.

In the video below, Rémi wears a radar camera costume and takes photos of passing motorists, as most of them are surprised by his appearance, they slow down or stop, at which point he starts running after them. It's pretty funny. If a police radar gun ever got up and started chasing me, I'd be freaked out!

Oregon Department of Transportation Takes another Look at Speed Limits

2012-01-27T09:00:00.000-08:00

I've written a few times about how speed limits are set. For those of you just joining the conversation, it mostly boils down to the speed that most drivers are going. Essentially, most people drive safely. It has been calculated that roughly 85% of the people on the road will drive at or below a safe driving speed, and this 85% is what engineers use to set speed limits. It isn't a complex system. They go out there with radar guns for a few days, get a bunch of readings, and voila! We have a new speed limit.

Well, in Oregon, some city officials have asked ODOT (Oregon Department of Transportation) engineers to take another look at Highway 62. While the road itself is the same as ever, there are new business and other buildings nearby that have sprung up in recent years that necessitate a new take on the speed limit. The influx of more traffic, as well as the different visual layout of the road, may cause some to slow down on the road.

This makes sense. For instance, if I'm driving out on a country road with nothing but farmland on either side I'm going to go a lot faster than if I'm driving through a school zone or if I see some kids running around their front yard playing soccer. There's a far greater chance of a kid running out into the road when I'm near a school zone than driving past a cornfield. Sure, it's possible someone could step out from between two cornstalks and into my path. But the danger of this is far less, and even if I don't consciously think about it, I slow down when there's greater danger on the road.

The thinking of the city council members who want Highway 62 looked at again is that there's more danger of accidents on the road now that more businesses are in the area, and if there's more danger, there's a good chance that people are driving slower anyways, and the limit should be lowered to stop that other % of people who drive too fast. It's the 15% who speed that necessitate speed limits.

What struck me as odd about the story is that the Mayor and a few of the council members have stated that they may not be satisfied with the ODOT engineer's findings if it doesn't go their way. This I don't like. They more or less said that if the engineers do not agree that the speed should be lowered, they'll make appeals in different ways until they win.

I applaud their fighting spirit, and it's nice to see a politician actually dig in their heels, but speed limits are set scientifically. One of the ODOT engineers pointed out that if the speed limit is set too low it have been proven SCIENTIFICALLY that this will cause more accidents. An unnatural speed limit will throw a lot of drivers off, and this causes accidents.

City council members should by all means work toward what they think is right. That's exactly what I want from an elected official. If their constituents are pressuring them and they take a stand, democracy is working. Awesome.

The problem here is that some people are stupid, and they think they know everything. Heck, sometimes they're very smart people, but they just don't happen to have knowledge of a particular experience. I like to think I'm a pretty smart guy, but I can't claim to know how to fix a car. I changed my first tire three days ago. If my radiator isn't working, I take it to a mechanic.

The ODOT engineers know their stuff. They're the mechanics of the roads. Their whole job is to make sure the roads run smoothly. They have spent their lives figuring out how to make roads safer, and though it seems counter intuitive, sometimes this means RAISING the speed limit.

Crazy, but true.

Lower speed limits may look good to voters, and it may show a politician is capable of getting things done, but we all need to be careful what we ask for. I'd like to attached a jet propulsion engine to the back of my car and rocket down the road like Batman. If I had the money I'd probably do it.

I'd also probably get into a horrible car crash going 1000 mph. If only I'd listened to the people who know what they're talking about...

High Frequency Surface Radar Goes to Infinity & Beyond!

2012-01-25T13:31:00.000-08:00

Gather round, kids! Ol' Uncle Brian is going to tell you about yet another new Radar technology being developed. Radar has tons of uses. Clocking the speed of baseballs, cars and even asteroids. But radar also has it's limits.

One of these is that, for the most part, you need to have a line of sight visual of your intended target. A police officer can't measure your speed if there's a building between you and him. The same goes for baseballs, tennis balls and asteroids.

The reason for this is that radar works by sending out a radio wave, which bounces off a surface back to its origin. How fast the radio wave comes back as well as the change in its frequency can tell you how far away an object is, how fast it's moving, and, if you're really clever, what it looks like. Very cool stuff.

I did write a post a little while back about a radar gun that can see through walls, and while that's neat, it is only for short distances. If you're a government agency hoping to monitor the ocean, that system won't help.

So what stops radar from working on the ocean? Ships? Flying sharks?

Nope. The limit on radar, when covering an area close to the ground at long distance, is actually the curve of the Earth. At present, radar can only image out about 55 kilometers on Earth. While that may seem like a long distance, when you consider the vastness of the ocean, it's a drop in the bucket.

Canada doesn't like that. They want to be able to see WAY more than they can right now.

Their solution? High-Frequency Surface Wave Radar. Using a series of radar towers, this new radar tech broadcasts signals that follow the curve of the Earth. The Canadian government hopes to be able to get accurate readings out to 280 kilometers. That's a pretty serious improvement.

High-Frequency Surface Wave Radar has been around a couple years, and while it was tested a few years ago, the Canadian government pulled the plug on the system because it was interfering with civilian communications.

Fortunately, a few kinks in this radar system have been ironed out, and they should now be able to use the system without messing up your iPhone's signal strength.

This system will be used to stop terrorists and smugglers from entering Canada, and it can also be used to stop illegal fishing and find ships that spill oil or crash.

This is an interesting evolution in radar technology. It's not a completely different path for the tech, but it's also pretty cool and new. We have some of the best brands in Radar Guns such as Bushnell, Stalker and Decatur, and I know they're always upping their game.

Bushnell, for instance, just showed off some cool new toys at SHOT Show in Las Vegas. Not Radar-specific tech, but some really neat new items. I've been reading all about it on GearExpert.com. They're covering the show from top to bottom. If you like new tech, you should check them out!

Want to Jazz up your next Ski Trip? Use Radar to Measure your Schussing

2012-01-16T13:37:00.000-08:00

First, I have to admit that I have never actually skied. Or at least snow skied. I'm a competent water skier, and I can wake board, but I've never strapped on skis, taken a chair lift up a mountain, and shredded some powder.

I admit this because I'm sure I'm most likely about to misuse a handful or words common to skiers, and while I'll make every effort to be accurate, there's likely to be a slip up. Feel free to let me know in the comments and I'll make the necessary corrections.

Now that I've revealed my inexperience, let me tell you about some radar gun related news for skiers.

First, and this isn't the biggest piece of news but I think it's funny, so you have to hear it: ski patrollers on some slopes have been using fake radar guns as part of their plan to slow down skiers and snowboarders.

Apparently one of the more popular things to do when skiing is schussing, which is going straight downhill as fast as possible. Ski patrollers want people to slow down for safety reasons. No doubt falling is fairly common on a ski slope, and the faster you're going the further you'll bounce around and break things (like your bones) as you travel downhill.

I don't see why they don't get a real radar gun. I wrote a couple weeks ago about State Deputies Using Radar on Snowmobiles. The Decatur Genesis Handheld Radar Gun would be a great choice for skiers and snowboarders too. It's portable, accurate and durable enough for police use. I don't think the ski patrollers have the authority to give out tickets, though they may have been given that power by the ski resort, if guests agree to it in a written form. I doubt there are ski speeding tickets, but I suppose it's possible.

On the topic of ski speed, the other bit of news I just read about is an iPhone app that allows skiers to track their speed on the slopes. Rather than being used to keep speeds down, it appears that many skiers are using the app as a tool to fuel bragging. Most skiers try to see if they can approach the same ski speeds as the pros in competition.

I have to say it sounds nuts. I understand the urge, but the pros can get over 70mph!!! If you fall at the speed you're going to tumble a long ways, and while snow is relatively soft, you're still going to get banged around quite a bit, and you could get seriously injured or killed. And if the app is getting people to reach speeds higher than they're comfortable with it could spell ruin for a number of people.

I can drive my car over 100 mph, but I'm not a NASCAR driver, and my reflexes, as well as my car's performance, aren't up to dealing with sudden problems such as a deer jumping out in front of me.

The same thing happens on the slopes. You're schussing along at a high speed and a deer, or maybe another person or, God forbid, a child pops out from behind a tree. You're going way faster than you can handle and either hurt yourself, the other person, or both of you.

That said, it does sound like a lot of fun, and I've done similar stuff on bicycles or jet skis, so it's a bit hypocritical of me to condemn this practice. But as parents everywhere tell their children, "Do as I say; not as I do."

One thing that might be cool is if, instead of measuring your own speed using your phone you could have a friend with a radar gun testing your skiing speed at the bottom of the hill. As this is about bragging as much as anything, having someone else taking a reading and cheering you on would be more fun than just reflecting on your speeds at the end of the day.

Oh, and since we're on the topic of skiing, I also read this amazing blog post on proper skiing and snowboarding eyewear on the OpticsPlanetBlog. I may be a bit biased, but the writer is a really handsome, brilliant guy. He might also be me.

What? I'm multi-talented.

Do Traffic Lights Use Radar to See if You're There?

2012-01-13T11:00:00.000-08:00

I know a lot of you have been waiting with bated breath since my last post on grocery stores using radar for automatic doors. At the end of the post I mentioned looking into stop lights, and whether they use radar to see when a car is waiting for the light to change.

Short answer: No!

It turns out the way a traffic light senses that a car is waiting for a green arrow or light is an inductive loop. So what's that?

An inductive loop is a coil of wire embedded in the road. After the asphalt is laid, road workers come back and cut a groove in the road and install the wire. Often the disturbed piece of road is covered by white paint, but you can often see it, with a big rectangular loop in the middle of the road.

An inductor (the wire) is an electromagnet. But instead of being designed to draw in metal, it is there to see IF there is a big metallic object is nearby. Like, for instance, a car. The loop in the ground is a magnet, and if you measure the amount of inductance it will be far higher when a car is present. It doesn't take very much energy, so these magnets are left on all the time.

Don't worry, they won't mess with your electronics.

The reason for this, rather than a radar gun, is that it is more accurate at determining if a car is still waiting, and hasn't turned right. While a radar gun would be capable of measuring if a car has turned, it would be a more complex process than using an inductive loop.

These loops can be tricky for motorcycles and bikes. They may not have enough metal to trigger then, so I've seen bike-mounted magnets that will produce a greater amount of inductance than the bike alone.

So it turns out that traffic lights don't use radar guns to sense if a car is waiting, but they do have a pretty cool piece of technology for tracking cars.

Why does Your Radar Detector Go Off Near Supermarkets?

2012-01-09T11:36:00.000-08:00

There's a relatively new use for radar, and you've probably experienced it many times, and possibly in a couple of ways, without even knowing it! Those automatic doors at many supermarkets and stores are now using a form of radar to detect the presence of shoppers!

I know many of you are thinking that those doors have been around for a long time, and while they have, the tech behind them has changed over the years. Some still use the old standard of a pad in the floor to detect when a person approaches, which, while initially effective, can cause a lot of false readings, which makes the door open and close repeatedly, and in areas with inclement weather, such as Chicago, snow can render them almost useless.

To combat these issues, automatic doors have been upgraded in recent years to use similar technology to a radar gun. Many doors now send out a radio wave, which, if something moves in it's vicinity, changes frequency, and the change tells the door to open.

Unlike a baseball radar gun, which takes a precise measurement of the radio wave frequency to see how fast an object is moving, these radar doors simply wait for a significant enough change to open. The power is set fairly low, and the sensors are not as sensitive as police radar, as the door shouldn't open when a fly zips by or if someone walks past the door at a distance. The angle is also calibrated fairly specifically, with the sensor on the top of the door aimed down. If it aimed straight out the radio wave might bounce back from a great distance.

I looked into this because the other day the radar detector in my car when off when I was in the parking lot of the local supermarket. I looked around and didn't see a cop car anywhere, and the detector only when off when I drove past the front door. It was fairly weak, but it still registered. I'm going to look into whether the same thing is what some traffic lights use to sense if a car is waiting. Stay tuned for more posts in the coming days/weeks.

Boulder, CO Sets Speed Limits on Cyclists!

2012-01-05T15:43:00.000-08:00

I'm surprised to say that the concept of imposing speed limits on cyclists is going national. I've been reading reports on this for the last few months, and it appears that yet another city is about to impose greater restrictions on cyclists!

Boulder, CO is changing up the rules for crosswalks. There will now be a speed limit of 8mph for anyone entering or traversing a crosswalk. I'm pretty sure this doesn't just apply to cyclists, so runners who are really blazing along will also need to slow down before entering a crosswalk.

In addition, before entering the crosswalk any pedestrian or biker must activate the warning device to let cars know of their intention. The new rules aren't just for pedestrians, as drivers are now prohibited from passing a car that is stopped at a crosswalk.

These are curious times. On the one hand, this seems like extra rules for little-to-no benefit, and they seem to be more about trying to force people to pay attention and do what most of us would consider to be safe practices.

But isn't that what a lot of the rules of the road are? I've talked before about setting speed limits, and that one of the main factors considered is the speed that 85% of people drive at. So the limits are set based on what your average safe driver does naturally.

If I'm riding a bike and come to a crosswalk I slow down, and most likely so do most people. Unfortunately, there are some people who get so caught up in their exercise that they ignore the rules. We've all seen them on the highway. A couple times a week I see a guy blow by me going at least 25 mph over the limit while talking on his cell phone. I've even seen girls speeding while doing their nails!

In addition to giving police a greater ability to punish offenders, these rules are designed to give cyclists more rights. Previously, they had to travel under 2.5 mph to enjoy the same rights on a crosswalk as a pedestrian. If you've ever tried to ride a bike that slowly you know that it is incredibly difficult. They essentially had to stop and walk next to their bike to have the same protection as a pedestrian. The new 8mph speed limit will force drivers to be more aware of cyclists, increasing their safety.

Enforcement of these new regulations may prove difficult. Having a cop with a police radar gun sit at crosswalks to catch speeding cyclists seems like a waste of resources. More likely there will simple be a greater police presence at the crosswalks to remind people of the new rules. A lot of people would be mad if they started getting tickets when riding their bike.

I feel that bike police should be equipped with Handheld Police Radar to catch these speeding cyclists. Then the bikers will get radar detectors and mount them next to their little bell, and a fun time will be had by all.

Especially me. Cause I'll be on my Rollerblades, and we all know there are no rules when you're bladin'. Radar guns can pick up my speed, but they also show a little note to let the cops know I shouldn't be stopped. The note says, "Too cool to go slow." And the cops understand and just give me a thumbs up.

Toll Systems Used for Speeding Tickets? Not Yet, but Watch Out!

2012-01-03T09:56:00.000-08:00

I was just reading a news article about the Washington Toll System being able to accurately measure the speed of cars. I actually worked for a time for IPASS, which is the Illinois Toll System, and I can say that it is technically possible to see how fast a car is traveling on the tollway.

As of now, I don't know of any toll roads that are using information collected from tolls to issue speeding tickets. I know in Illinois police were not allowed to see the information, unless they had a subpoena, which I believe is the case in Washington as well.

I actually had a call once where a police officer called in to check on a stolen car. The car actually went through some tolls after being stolen, and the police were trying to use the information to find the thief. Unfortunately, only the owner of the car could access the toll information.

On another occasion a woman called to see where her husband's car was going. Since she was on the account I was allowed to inform her of the tolls. Thankfully, her husband went in the direction he said, so she relaxed and didn't have to yell at him about possible infidelity.

There are very specific rules about what this info is for. Police would no doubt love to get their hands on toll info to give out speeding tickets, but as tolls are not designed to measure speed the data cannot be trusted in the same way that a police radar gun can be. There's more that goes into issuing a speeding ticket than just the speed of the car. Road conditions also play an important factor, and sometimes other drivers can have an effect. For instance, if someone is tailgating you, you may speed for your own safety. If a police officer is present, the tailgater will get the ticket, and not you.

There's always a new speed detection method being put into use somewhere. Whether it's pneumatic tubes across the road or the tolls you pay every day, there's always some new method of finding out how fast you're going. Fortunately, our lawmakers have been pretty good about making sure police use only the best radar guns that have been designed for traffic measurement. You don't have to worry about speeding tickets from toll booths, but there are still police officers on toll roads, so keep your speed at a safe level.

Snowmobiling put on Notice - Radar Guns Clock Their Speeds Too!

2011-12-27T10:45:00.000-08:00

I'm always on the lookout for new ways to use a radar gun. I wrote a while back on Radar Guns for Swooping, or Skydiving, and I thought that was pretty cool. But as it's almost January and the temperatures drop and snow begins to fall, so a different use for radar guns has presented itself: snowmobiling.

There are two ways that radar guns are being used for snowmobiling. First, police radar guns are used by Conservation Officers and State Deputies on Snowmobile trails to make sure no one is exceeding the speed limit. This is a lot like those police officers using radar on bicyclists in Dallas, as there is a great need to make sure people are safe when out in the wilderness.

Snowmobiles can travel at speeds up to 150mph. That's crazy fast when you consider it's always on icy roads, and there may not be anyone to help you after a crash. You could be miles from the nearest person when you wipe out on your snowmobile, and if you're knocked unconscious or don't have a cell phone or radio you may not be able to call for help. Deaths occur every winter because of this.

Forest Rangers try to get out to the busiest snowmobile intersections with police radar guns to hand out warnings and tickets to keep injuries and deaths to a minimum.

The other snowmobile use for radar guns is more fun. A lot of snowmobilers like to check out their speed, and while they have on board speedometers it can be more fun to have a friend clock how fast you fly by. I'd suggest a traffic radar gun for this type of purpose, as they're designed for a vehicle, and the Decatur Genesis Handheld Directional Police Radar Gun would be a great choice. It can clock speeds from 12 to 200 mph, and it's pretty tough, so you shouldn't have any problems seeing how fast your snowmobile is traveling.

One thing to note is that heavy snow can affect the accuracy of your radar gun, so you'll want to do your speed testing after the heavy snowfall, not during it.

Look at that! Another cool way to make your radar gun useful!

Are Speed Limits set Lower than Drivers Are Expected to Drive?

2011-12-22T08:54:00.000-08:00

I wrote a post back in July about Who Sets the Speed Limits and How, but I just came across some news about a strange twist to this procedure up in Winnipeg, Canada. I won't go through everything from my previous post (as I expect you have no doubt memorized it by now), the basics are that speed limits are set based on the speed that 85% of people drive at on a given road.

So civil engineers set up a traffic radar gun that records speeds over a given period of time, and then consider the speeds over the length of a road. Sharp curves, hills and more can cause the speed limit to be lowered, but it's generally not too difficult to set speed limits.

This procedure was done in Winnipeg about 10 years ago on a number of roads, but city councilors decided that the speed proposed by the engineers was too high, and lowered it by 10kph. Their reasoning was, allegedly, because if they set the speed limit at 50kph most people would drive at 60kph, and so they'd be driving at the suggested speed limit.

I understand the reasoning, but I don't really agree with it, and it has been causing some problems recently.

Specifically, there have been a ton of traffic tickets issued by police officers strictly enforcing the unnaturally low speed limit on certain roads. If the speed limit is too low even safe drivers will find their speed unconsciously drift up. So though they're driving at a safe speed, cops armed with police radar guns are going to find a greater number of people are exceeding the posted speed limit.

There has been some uproar to have the speed limit raised, although I think it might be a good idea to at the very least put up a speed trailer for now, as it will remind drivers to keep their speed down. The Decatur OnSite 200 Radar Speed Display would be a perfect solution here, as it would not only help keep driver's speed down, but it also has tracking software to allow civil engineers to take another look at average road speeds to see if there's some room to increase the speed limit.

It stinks that some random bureaucrat could screw up roads for so many people based on faulty logic, but at least there are plenty of speed detection tools to allow the mistakes to be corrected.

Dodge Ram Police Trucks come Radar Ready!

2011-12-20T08:24:00.000-08:00

Police vehicles go through a lot of strain. Not only do they need to perform at extremely high levels, these law enforcement cars and trucks are designed to be tough as nails and handle other problems that many of us don't normally consider.

One such problem is excessively long idling times. Police cruisers, especially those equipped with radar guns, will often have to sit in the same place while waiting for a speeder to drive by. As starting a car is rough on the engine, police officers are trained to leave their cars on when they go to check on an issue. Most police cars are equipped with an 'idle switch' that can be toggled to leave the car on though the keys are removed. The vehicle can not be moved until the keys are put in, and this saves the car from starting and stopping dozens of times a day.

This excessive idling is bad for the battery and severely limits the life of the car, so when a car manufacturer is contracted to make police vehicles, like Dodge recently was, they add a bunch of extra features to make the cars and trucks better suited for cops.

Enter the Dodge Ram 1500 Crew Cab 4X4 Special Service Package. This pickup truck is a beast.

The 1500 Crew Cab comes equipped with 100,000 mile sparkplugs and an extra large oil cooler for those long times idling, and the electronics in the truck are outstanding. The lights and computer in a police vehicle drain the battery, and police radar guns can likewise take a toll on the power, so there's a 220 amp alternator, which gives a lot of juice to all the equipment police officers regularly use.

Those of you who don't have access to the suped up Ram 1500 might want to take a look at some of our other options for accessorizing you radar gun. Our police radar gun accessories include tools like mounting brackets and large digital radar display signs.

For sporting enthusiasts, our baseball radar guns are fairly energy efficient, but even they need a recharge once in a while. If you're away from a power outlet, a great option is a solar battery charger like the Brunton Explorer Foldable Solar Panel, which will give you energy anywhere the sun makes an appearance.

Whether you're a police officer in need of the best equipment available or a little league baseball coach who doesn't settle for second place, our radar gun gear will help keep you performing at the highest levels.

LIDAR Radar Systems Helping Minimize Energy Needs

2011-12-15T13:08:00.000-08:00

Radar and radar-style technology is always advancing. Most of my posts deal with these new developments and new ways of using radar because of how interesting this stuff is.

One form of a speed detection device is called LIDAR, or sometimes LADAR. It's been around for a little while, but it's uses continue to expand. LIDAR stands for Light Detection and Ranging, and it technically isn't a form of radar, it's just similar. To be classified as radar the tech actually needs to broadcast radio waves, but as a LIDAR is still a way of determining velocity, it is often lumped in with radar.

LADAR stands for Laser Detection and Ranging, and it's often called laser radar. But like LIDAR, LADAR is not a true radar system.

You can actually read a bit more about this tech on our LIDAR Facts page.

But what's the latest development with this cool radar-like tech? It has to do with wind currents. I've written about Doppler Radar before, but Doppler LIDAR is a bit different, and it's great for a really good look at where wind is coming from and it's temperature.

Knowing the speed, direction and temperature of wind is helpful for wind farmers, who need to perfectly position their turbines for optimal power creation. The amount of land these wind farmers can be greatly minimized if they can appropriately use the land. If the turbines are too close together those in the back won't generate much power, and if they're too far apart there will be wasted land.

If wind turbines are place correctly, the price of the energy will go down, while the wind farmers make more money.

Using a LIDAR system is a lot like using a police radar gun. You point it at what you want to measure, and it'll give you a reading. It's a bit more complex than that, but with a Doppler LIDAR researchers have seen that there is a cool area of wind directly in the wake of the turbine, with hotter, faster moving air at the ends and swirling around the blades.

As every location is different, it's important to get a reading on each individual wind farm. Overall wind speeds may be lower on one farm, allowing for closer placement. In more Southern areas of the US the higher temperatures may call for further placement, as turbulence from one turbine can potentially harm another turbine.

Police use LIDAR systems for traffic measurement at times, and while they're incredibly accurate, a regular traffic radar gun generally has all the necessary accuracy and consistency for speed enforcement.

There are a number of different radar gun-like systems used for weather forecasting, but it's interesting to see them used to help us get clean energy right from the air. It makes me wonder if there will come a time when sailors use a LIDAR Speed Detector to better chart a path across the ocean. I'm sure they use normal weather systems, but if they had a handheld LIDAR on board it might help them make better time.

Food for thought.

Golf Enthusiasts Builds His Own Range, but still needs a Golf Radar Gun!

2011-12-12T09:55:00.000-08:00

I just read a pretty cool story about a man in Baltimore who built a driving range in his backyard to practice his golf game. At 73 years old, Bob has taken his love of the links to another level. While he plays 18 holes 5 days a week, sometimes that just wasn't enough, so he looked at his one-acre backyard and decided to do some construction.

A number of mesh nets are around the perimeter of Bob's land, designed to catch the balls as he practices his drives and approach shots. He has both artificial turf and regular grass cut to multiple lengths, so he can simulate a number of different situations. He even tried a sand trap at one point, but it didn't work out as well as he planned, so he's going to make some improvements soon.

But it isn't just a driving range. Bob also has a putting green for practicing his all-important short game, and he's set up the area as a wonderful getaway in his retirement.

One thing Bob felt was missing was a radar gun. Any man who goes to so much trouble building a driving range isn't going to be sheepish when it comes to getting equipment, so Bob walked right up to a police officer sitting in his patrol car and asked if he wanted to clock Bob's speed!

The cop explained that police radar guns aren't really intended to measure the speed of golf balls, as they're too small. I think Bob might want to check out RadarGuns.com. We have a number of different golf radar guns that would be perfect for him!

For ball speed, I'd suggest the Bushnell Speedster III. This sports radar gun is exclusive to us, and it's fantastic for a number of different sports, from golf and baseball to tennis and RC racing.

For greater all-around improvements to your golf game, I'd go with the Sport Sensors Dual Mode Swing Speed Radar, which lets you measure a number of different factors for your golf game. You can measure your actual swing tempo and club head speed. Having these measurements allows you to get a better idea of what part of your game needs the most work. The more consistent and reliable your swing is, the more success you'll have hitting the green!

I think Bob's backyard driving range could greatly benefit from having a golf radar gun close at hand. What's even better is that you don't need a full range like Bob. If you have enough room to swing your club, you can get a look at your swing speed and make the appropriate corrections.

I hope in my retirement years I'm still healthy and active like Bob. I said he was 73 years old earlier, but it's more like he's 73 years young!

Updates to Military's Holographic Radars Saves Money and Increases Accuracy

2011-12-08T10:16:00.000-08:00

I wrote a radar guns blog post about 2 months ago about a new radar system that sends out radio waves in every direction at the same time to allow for faster and more comprehensive tracking of enemy boats and the origin of enemy fire. It's a really interesting new piece of radar technology, and it should help save some lives for terrorist attacks and guerrilla warfare tactics on the sea.

But I'd only heard about the defensive capabilities, as that seemed to be the primary function of holographic radar, but it also has great potential both for improving firing accuracy on the larger guns on a warship and minimizing the cost of training.

So how does it help? Well, by using a number of complex algorithms a holographic radar system can track smaller objects, even when there are a lot of competing radio signals in the air. The system goes by the name Land and Surface Target Scorer (LSTS), and it can show where explosive shells go off. What's especially nice about this radar system is that the Naval specialists can see how effective their aim is without needing to use explosive ordnance. An inert shell can be tracked as easily as a live round.

This will greatly reduce the cost of training Naval Officers, as inert shells are far less expensive, and there will be no need for a target boat, which in the past had to be sunk to see how effective a shot was. As these shells explode in the air to maximize the damage area, if the soldier knows where it lands, they'll be able to easily estimate how much damage would have been done to a vessel.

Training is also faster, as the LSTS radar system has successfully tracked one shot every three seconds, so sailors can make immediate corrections and see the effect. Holographic Radar can track a 5-inch shell moving at 1,000 mph. That's pretty cool. A police radar gun needs to be aimed directly at a car and generally won't get an accurate reading over about 200 mph. Granted, they're not designed for greater speeds, and I'm sure a police officer could eyeball a car moving over 200 mph and know it's speeding. Whether they could catch it or not is another story altogether.

It's kinda like using a spotting scope when you're sighting in a new rifle scope. You put the scope on your gun, take a few shots, and see how far off the bulls eye you are. After a few rounds of shooting and adjusting, your new rifle scope will be on target. As the rounds from a gunship go a lot further it's hard to see how accurate your shot was, so the holographic radar acts like the spotting scope. It lets you see if you're dead on or need to make some adjustments.

I doubt this tech will be coming to baseball radar guns in the near future, but down the line I have no doubt it could come in handy. Right now it's very difficult to measure the speed of an object that isn't coming directly at you or moving away from you. It can be done, but factoring in the cosine effect can be challenging, and doing so in real time is hardly feasible, especially for a baseball game. But imagine you have a holographic radar system. Then you would be able to get readings on all sorts of things on the field, not just the pitcher's speed. You could measure the speed of the batter's swing, or how fast the center fielder threw a ball to home. I actually wrote a post a while back about a center fielder's throwing speed clocking in greater than a pitcher. That speed was figured out by a physics professor. But with holographic radar the announcer could tell you how fast that thrown was in real time.

There'd be a number of great ways to improve player performance in baseball using a holographic radar gun. Just wait for this new tech to trickle down to the public. Right now it's saving lives in the military, but in a few years it might help your favorite team win the pennant!

The Radar Skill is becoming more Common in Video Games?

2011-12-06T13:31:00.000-08:00

I have a small confession to make: I'm a bit of a nerd, and I play video games. Today's games add in new features all the time to give gamers greater variety, and allow them to play in the style they prefer. One example of this that's becoming more and more common is a 'radar' skill.

In many games, from Call of Duty and Metal Gear Solid to Need for Speed, you can earn various skills that will give you an edge over other players. In tactical games like Call of Duty you could use the 'radar' skill to let you know where enemies are, which makes it easier to set up an ambush or possibly avoid detection completely. First Person Shooters are especially big with having a small radar screen, with many of them using sound as the impetus for positional awareness. This makes sense, as when playing a game you might not be able to tell where a gunshot comes from based on sound alone, but in real life a trained soldier can pinpoint the origin relatively quickly.

This isn't exactly like real radar, but the screen shows an image similar to an older Doppler radar monitor to allow you to see opponents.

For a closer approximation of true radar you should check out the Need for Speed series. These are racing games, so you're in a car racing against either the computer or other players online. To make the game more interesting, in some editions the developers make you a street racer, so from time to time you'll run into a police roadblock. These make it difficult to continue racing, so if you earn the 'radar' skill you'll be able to spot these roadblocks at a distance and hopefully avoid them.

It's sorta like using a radar detector to see where police radar guns are located so you can slow down and avoid a ticket.

Most games also have an included map, which works like a GPS device to show you where you are on the track, and the 'radar' skill just puts little lights where police or barricades are. Just like with a normal radar detector, there's a limit to the range so you have to be quick to fully avoid problems.

I can see more and more possibilities for radar gun-themed technology in video games in the future, with, perhaps, the 'see through the walls radar' that I wrote about a few weeks back used in military games to allow you to take out bad guys with extreme precision, or maybe a game with motion control that clocks your pitching speed with a simulated baseball radar gun. There are plenty of options, and they all have some cool implications for adding cool radar tech to to your favorite video games!

The Deadliest Road in Dubai is Getting Some More Radar Guns

2011-12-02T09:02:00.000-08:00

It appears that Dubai Police are cracking down on speeders. One of the biggest roads in the emirate, the Dubai Bypass, is getting some stricter enforcement of speed limits to try and keep the number of motor vehicle-related deaths down.

So how deadly is the Dubai Bypass? Well, in the last year, almost 12 percent of all road deaths were on the road. The reasons for this deadly nature on the road is primarily due to the size of the road and the apparent lack of speed enforcement.

The Dubai Bypass Road has six lanes, and because of how much wider it is than other roads, many drivers believe they can safely travel over the speed limit, especially when the road is less crowded, but they don't realize the speed limits were set based on how fast a person can drive in various conditions. Just because a road has extra lanes and there are few cars present, that doesn't mean the curves are any less sharp or the hills any less steep. These are serious hazards for those going over the speed limit.

Because of the dangers on the road, Dubai Police are upping their efforts to curb speeding. This increased enforcement has taken a few different forms. First, there will definitely be more police on the road with radar guns. All the other improvements won't matter much if no one is enforcing the law.

Dubai cops, armed with police radar guns, will be giving far less leeway to speeders, and the fines for speeding will be greater than before, with drivers who are speeding more than 60kph over the limit having their car impounded for 30 days, receiving a hefty fine, and getting points on their license.

That seems okay, but for someone traveling 60kph OVER the speed limit I'd suggest even harsher penalties. That's nearly 40mph over the limit. I'd think anything above about 10mph over the limit is excessive. Sheesh.

Fortunately, the Dubai Police Department is optimistic about their new efforts. They've had success lowering the mortality rate in recent years, and this is more of a continuing effort than a brand new initiative. No doubt with a few more radar guns in Dubai the roads will be a bit safer.

Brooklyn is Cracking down on Speeding Cyclists with Radar Guns!

2011-11-28T11:36:00.000-08:00

I wrote a few months ago about Dallas considering radar guns as a tool to slow down cyclists, whose road speeds had gotten out of hand. Well, it looks like Brooklyn may soon do the same.

In the last six months two Brooklyn women have been seriously injured due to collisions with cyclists. Both women were walking along paths that they've used for years, and in both incidents the women suffered brain injuries, with one women in the hospital for months, having only recently regained consciousness after a coma.

I was against using radar guns to enforce speed limits on cyclists before, but these are severe injuries. I'd thought the extent of the danger was maybe a few sprained ankles or some minor broken bones, but both of these women could have been killed.

Since neither woman was on a bike at the time, they weren't wearing helmets. There are clear rules that park officials enforce regarding bike safety, but they're mostly directed at keeping the cyclists safe. Forcing pedestrians to wear helmets isn't going to happen, but being in such close proximity to speeding cyclists might be cause for a few pieces of safety equipment.

These city parks have a number of things going against them when it comes to path safety. A big issue is that the trails are designed with a number of turns and dense foliage to help urban dwellers feel they've gotten away from the city for a little bit. The density of the trees does a great job of isolating people on the paths, but it also makes it difficult to see around corners, and cyclists traveling at high speeds don't have much time to hit the breaks.

Another problem is that while most paths have clearly defined areas for bikes and pedestrians, these designations aren't obeyed enough. And that comes down on both sides, with pedestrians often straying from their part of the path, giving cyclists little room and little hope of avoiding a crash.

At present there isn't very much being done to prevent bicycle accidents. Brooklyn police has been handing out pamphlets to try to inform people of the rules, and inconsistent signs are likely going to be removed in the near future. Many of these signs currently show the speed limit as 15mph, but the actual limit is 25mph. The inconsistency may be leading a number of people to consider the speed limit a scoff law, and since almost no tickets have been issued more and more cyclists are ignoring any limits on their speed.

The Parks Department is working on as many new measures as possible to help make the park safe, but ultimately it's going to come down to keeping people informed of the rules and making sure those rules are enforced consistently enough that people start obeying.

Enforcement will include police radar guns measuring speeds, as well as making sure that cyclists and pedestrians start paying attention to red lights at crosswalks.

I believe that it's everyone's responsibility to keep roads safe, but parks are filled with kids that may not know better or who forget to keep safe, and if one of these collisions happens with a kid, it could turn fatal.

I'll admit it: I'm coming around to letting the police use radar guns on cyclists in parks.

Say it Isn't So! Chicago Starts Using Speed Cameras!

2011-11-25T13:33:00.000-08:00

As a native of the Chicagoland area, I'm kinda disappointed in my beautiful second city today. Legislation has been passed that will allow Traffic Speed Cameras to be used in Chicago. For the time being this will only be in school and park zones, which is good, but it still feels a little like an invasion of privacy.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for anything that increases the safety of children. I'm not a father yet myself, but someday I hope to have kids, and I'll want them safe when they're at school or enjoying a day at the park. It's just that letting these Radar Cameras into the city might become a slippery slope to having them everywhere.

I don't think people should be speeding, but I feel there's a necessary human element to issuing traffic tickets. A police officer armed with a radar gun can take into account other factors on the road than just your vehicle's speed to say that you were traveling too fast.

For instance, here in Chicago we get a lot of snow. If the roads are really slippery then drivers should likely be under the speed limit for safety reasons, but these traffic speed cameras won't be taking these factors into account. I think how busy the road is, visibility and other things should also play a part, and they do with a police officer, but not with a lifeless camera.

Traffic radar guns are a great tool, and I like seeing police officers out there protecting me and other people on the roads. Laws should be enforced, but allowing the police or other government organizations this ability to look in on us at all times is a bit too Big Brother for my tastes.

I don't want this to expand. I want the police to enforce laws, but not at the expense of my privacy. Who's to say these speed radar cameras won't start tracking where we go and what we do? I'm not a criminal. I don't need to be spied on.

AESA Radar Tech Upgrading Fighter Jets Across the Globe

2011-11-22T08:40:00.000-08:00

As is the case for most technological advancements, the coolest stuff is used by the military first, and then after a few years generally filters down to the general public. For example, some of the smart phone tech you currently enjoy has been in use by military professionals for more than a decade, though you've just gotten that feature on your new iPhone or Android. GPS Navigation Systems were in use by the military far more than the public for years as well.

But this is a radar blog!

So what cool radar tech is the military using today? Well, it's called Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) Radar. It's been in use on fighter jets in the US Air Force for a little over a decade, and the basic concept has been around for a while, but shrinking it down has taken some time. So what does it do? A lot more than your traditional baseball radar gun.

First, it's important to remember that fighter pilots need a lot more information and function from radar than simply telling how fast an object is moving. They need to know the precise location of something in three dimensional space, speed, and their radar needs to be able to lock on and track the object. But, and this is important, they need to be able to do this consistently and without giving away their position.

The basic concept is the same as a regular radar gun. A radio wave at a specific frequency is broadcast, and after it reflects off another object it will bounce back to the radar gun, which can then measure a number of factors and produce data. I've talked before about how radar guns use the Doppler Effect to determine speed, so I'll let you read those for more info on that part of the system.

What makes the AESA radar system different is that it uses WAY more frequencies and broadcasts a bunch more radio waves to prevent radar jammers from working and trick radar tracking equipment so that the source of the radio wave can't be found. Tracking has long been a problem when using radar, which is why for many years ships and planes that employed the tech kept their usage to a minimum. As long as traditional radar is on and broadcasting radio waves, a separate receiver can find those waves and figure out where they came from. If an airplane is broadcasting constantly, it'd be easy for an enemy to track them, and the enemy could stay hidden, since they don't have to broadcast any radio waves to track other planes.

AESA Radar broadcasts a number of different waves at multiple frequencies, and then changes these frequencies constantly to make it nearly impossible to track. Since the AESA system knows what is being broadcast, it can receive the correct frequencies back and determine where other objects are, while staying relatively incognito.

In addition to its lower profile, AESA radar is much harder to jam. The normal way to jam radar is to see what frequency is being broadcast, and then broadcast a signal on the same frequency to make it difficult to accurately determine which is the correct signal. Since AESA changes it's frequency constantly, and in a (more or less) random order, it's nearly impossible to jam.

But how will this eventually trickle down to you? Well, I don't know how well AESA tech would work for a baseball radar gun, but police radar could definitely benefit from the system.

While very few cars (none legally) have radar jammers, there are a lot of radar detectors on the market. These detectors are legal in many states, and give drivers advanced warning when a radar frequency is being broadcast nearby. If police had these AESA radar systems in their town, they could constantly broadcast radio waves on multiple frequencies, setting off radar detectors and making it impossible to tell when or where there is a cop present.

Right now, AESA Radar Technology is a bit too advanced and expensive for police departments to use, but at a certain point I could see these type of systems (likely a stripped down version) in use in many places. These new radar systems go from saving lives on the battlefield to saving lives at home. Sounds good to me!

Storm Chasers target Snow with Doppler On Wheels Radar!

2011-11-17T14:43:00.000-08:00

Most people, when they hear the phrase, "Storm Chaser," think of people who track tornadoes. Thoughts of the movie Twister come to mind, with men and women running after some of the most dangerous weather known to man armed with little more than trucks and a prayer that the twister isn't headed directly at them.

But there's a new breed of storm chaser in town, and they're hoping to learn more about winter weather.

The Storm Chasing Utah Style Study (SCHUSS) is taking the Doppler on Wheels (DOW) truck out during snow storms to get a better look at what is going on inside of the storm. While the DOW was originally developed to study tornadoes, it also works well for looking at the inner workings of a snow storm. It sends out and receives radio waves on both the horizontal and vertical planes, which allows it to provide greater detail than the Doppler Radar systems used by the National Weather System. In addition to having more advanced radar technology than most systems, the DOW can also be positioned almost anywhere, including right in the middle of the storm, so the data provided is far more detailed and extensive than the data from other systems.

But what are some of the benefits of looking at snow storms? Well, the biggest thing seen so far is the 'transition zone,' which is the elevation at which snowflakes turn into raindrops. Knowing the exact height that this occurs is crucial to determining the amount of snow that will fall during a particular storm.

The difficulty in determining snowfall is especially great in Salt Lake City, where Lake Effect and mountain storms create unique weather patterns. The data collected will help weather forecasters predict upcoming weather with greater accuracy, which, in turn, will allow for better storm preparation.

The DOW radar truck has already been used to find new information on tornadoes, as it recorded the strongest wind ever in 1999. The top speed? 318mph! Holy Cow!

I don't think we'll be carrying the Doppler on Wheels truck anytime soon at Radarguns.com, but we do have radar guns used for sports that use the Doppler Effect to determine speed of moving objects, just like the radar truck.

Suped up Russian Speed Cameras May Soon be in the U.S.

2011-11-15T14:36:00.000-08:00

A new photo radar system that was originally developed in Russia may soon be in use in the United States. Canadian-based manufacturer Peak Gain Systems has taken the Russian design and created the Simicon Cordon, which has some impressive stats.

The Simicon Cordon can track up to 32 vehicles at a time, taking photos continuously, can scan the license plate and issue a ticket all at once. To minimize processing power, the included radar gun takes speed readings first, then when a vehicle is found to be speeding, photos are saved and scanned to issue tickets. A single police officer can watch the procedure and ensure that everything is working correctly.

Using this new system, it's possible that hundreds or perhaps even thousands of tickets could be issued per hour.

There are some concerns about privacy, as the system does take thousands of tickets, but it is this very aspect that the manufacturers feel makes the Cordon more than simply a speed detection device.

The Cordon can be used to track criminals, drunk drivers and perhaps even terrorists who are using roadways. Plus, the system can be modified in a number of ways, as laws are different in every state. About a third of US states have banned photo radar devices, while another third have said they're legal. The remaining third have yet to make a final decision.

In some states it might not be necessary to get a picture of the driver of the vehicle, so a car owner could potentially receive a speeding ticket when a friend was driving. Police radar procedures will have to be set by every individual department, which may alleviate many people's concerns, as some of the more invasive aspects of the system can be limited.

I'm not sure which states allow this form of police radar, but it would be interesting to see near my house, as there isn't a lot of traffic, but what cars do come by tend to be speeding. This small Cordon (about the size of toaster) can be put in most places fairly easily, and it could seriously help minimize traffic violations.