dkozin's Full Review: Cobra Electronics ESD 6050 Radar Detector
I got this radar detector (Cobra ESD-6050) at Cyberrebate, it is supposed to be free there after the mail-in rebate. It sells elsewhere for as low as $50.
There are two reasons why I got this detector:
1. Price – since it’s free (or costs $50), it is a good deal and with some luck will pay for itself by helping me avoid just one speeding ticket.
2. I was really anxious to see if the technology works. There is a lot of talk in car magazines about radar detectors (they usually say that Valentine One is the best one), but not much real information on how effective they are at their primary responsibility, which is (whatever the manufacturers say) to help you avoid the speeding ticket.
I usually don’t exceed the speed limit by more than 10-15 miles an hour. Here, in California, cops don’t usually do anything about people who exceed the speed limit by less than 10 mph (exceptions happen). In the city I try not to exceed the limit by more than 10 mph (it might be too dangerous, there is a lot of people on the streets that should not have gotten the driver’s license at all), on the freeway – sometimes up to 20 mph, if conditions allow.
Thus, the primary goal is to get protection from radar and laser devices at the freeway.
Bands
The ESD6050 is called “6-band extra-sensory detection” by the manufacturer. Here is the list of signals it detects:
1. X-Band Radar (10.525 GHz +/- 25 MHz) – the oldest radar band – you can get false alarms from your detector on the X-Band driving by the source of microwave radiation – shopping malls, phone companies’ central offices, etc.
2. K-Band Radar (24.150 GHz +/- 100 MHz) – the newer radar type
3. Superwide Ka-Band Radar (33.4-36.0 GHz ) – the newest radar type, there are now false alarms there.
4. “Laser” (300 THz-375 THz) – devices that measure the vehicle speed by the means of laser pulse. There are no false alarms, but if the laser hits your car (usually the license plate), it is too late.
5. “Safety Alert” signals (24.07, 24.11, 24.19 GHz) – a useless band. It operates in the K-and and the sources are supposed to be installed on trains, emergency vehicles, and such. But they are rarely installed anywhere and thus bear no advantage.
6. VG-2 detection (11.4 GHz - 11.7 GHz) – the VG-2 is a “radar detector detector” that police uses to detect the presence of a radar detector (since they usually leak some radiation). The ESD6050 claims to detect VG-2 and prevent them from detecting the unit. Note: the use of radar detectors is legal in the US, except several states.
Installation
The detector itself is very compact (4oz.) and can be installed either on the dash or attached to the windshield with the supplied mounting bracket with two suction cups. The main objective is to position the detector so its view is not obstructed by the windshield wiper or the shade band on top of the windshield. I had to attach mine somewhat to the right of the lower part of the windshield. The power cord goes to the power port or cigarette lighter port.
Display and Controls
The main problem with ESD6050 is its display – it uses five LEDs to show the mode and detected band. Here they are: Power, X, K/Ka, L/W and C (City mode). The unit also uses different sounds to indicate the detected band and mode. But the fact that the detector uses LEDs instead of an LCD display and that K and Ka band are indicated by the same LED is inconvenient.
Additionally, L/W indicator is used for three purposes. The manual says that it illuminates when:
1. VG-2 detector is activated,
2. "Safety Alert" signal is detected
3. Laser is detected
So the only way to know what the "danger" is would be to listen to the sound signal - they are different for different kinds of "danger". The only problem is that the manual does not say which signal means what.
The top part has 2 buttons – Mute and City/Highway mode selector. There are two Mute modes – auto mute (after 4 seconds) and manual mute. The City mode lowers the detector’s sensitivity in the X-Band. The signal strength is indicated by the rate of the sound signal.
On the left side, there is a on/off/volume control switch.
In Action
So far I noticed the following (as soon as I get more information, I’ll update this section with it):
1. During city driving, there are frequent X-Band false alerts, which can be cured by switching to the “City” mode.
2. Today I got an K/Ka alert, I double-checked my speed, just to be on the safe side, and sure enough a couple of blocks down the road I saw a police cruiser. Since my speed initially was within the limit, there is no way to tell how my chances would fare if I was driving faster.
The main problem with radar detectors is the fact that you don’t know how effective they are until you get the warning going at least 20 mph higher than the speed limit and manage to slow down (or fail) before the radar (or lidar) gets the reading.
True, you get a warning, but you never know what happens faster – you get a warning and manage to slow down or radar picks up your speed and you get a ticket. Another possibility – sometimes police uses radars (and lasers particularly) in the pulse mode, when your detector picks up the strong signal right away, but it’s too late to do anything.
In addition, there are other means to monitor your speed – video measurement, police can follow you and check the speed, etc.
The bottom line
I would not expect that the radar detector will allow you to change your driving style and allow you to drive faster and avoid tickets – sometimes it will help, sometimes it wont. However, as an extra measure of protection it is a good choice (did I mention that ESD6050 looks cool and high-tech?). And considering its low price, relative to a ticket you can get, it is definitely a win-win solution. Just don’t get too confident with it.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
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