Snooper advice?

[X5Sport]

I forgot that some black & white video camera sensors also work well in parts of the infra-red band, so can see the jammers firing. Which is of course how these Day/Night security cameras work....

And the van cameras are video cameras strapped to the laser speed unit rather than still frame cameras (as fitted to fixed cameras).

That must have been an unpleasant surprise for you...

[scooby1doo1]

Well back then the coper said I was the first in the uk to have been fined for having one fitted, and was going to make an example. Would have been bad if I was speeding but I always had the feeling what if in don't work. He tried to do me for speeding, but after watching the vid you can clearly see that I'm not going from point A to point B covering X amount of distance.

Them days a long gone now, got an X and getting older as slowed me down some what.


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[jeegnesh]

Ordered the Inforad K2 (free lifetime updates, uses pocketgpsworld database) comes with a 14 day guarantee so thought it's worth a shot. Will give some feedback after it arrives and used for a few days.

[pvr]

We will soon know about every camera location between yours and Sanj's place then

[X5Sport]

[quote=""scooby1doo1""]Them days a long gone now, got an X and getting older as slowed me down some what. [/quote]

I thought the same, but then I got the X6......and the power and performance are just soooooo tempting..

@Jeegnesh, be interesting to see how you get on with them. They look very er 'basic' compared to what else I have seen and used - and that is no bad thing nor supposed to be any kind of criticism. It depends upon what you want. All the bells and whistles, or just the odd bell..

If it does the job then for that price, well worth it and possibly even an absolute steal

[pvr]

Agreed. I am unprotected at the moment in the X but am not sure whether to use an iPhone app or not as it saves on cabling and general mess.

[jeegnesh]

Agreed and I'm really not looking for screens or in depth analysis, just want an audio tone to wake me up and something that uses a decent database for the updates. Fingers crossed.

[jeegnesh]

[quote=""pvr""]Agreed. I am unprotected at the moment in the X but am not sure whether to use an iPhone app or not as it saves on cabling and general mess.[/quote]
Thought about that too the iPhone that is, but battery drain and then holder for having is visible etc, seemed too much hassle in itself, the plan if the K2 works is to hardwire the power so it always in and on.

[pvr]

Do you really need to look at the screen though? The E70 has a USB charger for the iPhone in the cradle so charging is not an issue for me.

I tested the Road Angel for the free period it grants you, and it did seem to work and like you, I just want the unit to scream something when I approach a dangerous bit of road (like a 6 lane road going down a hill with a camera or trap at the bottom of the hill or so ).

[X5Sport]

AE also tested a few App based systems. The one they went for was CamerAlert (avail for iDevices & Android) and costs £19.99 a year (or £5.99 for three months). It has a satnav type display with you as a moving dot and hazard symbols on the screen. The map type system could hit your data charges if you are a restricted package I would think - that might be true for all of them?

Next was one called Cyclops Speedwatch which didn't do quite as well, although it still got a 'Recommended'. It charges £20.99 a year or £1.99 a month after the 30-day trial. Display looks like a standalone unit rather than a map.

The other two tested were Snooper Lynx and the Road Angel one but neither of them did well, with the latter one being particularly badly received which is a surprise considering their dedicated hardware units do well. The software is rubbish, and it missed two camera sites completely.

I have been keeping my Road Angel Vantage battery topped up using the glovebox USB port, but BMW have given me a slapped wrist for that! Not that it actually says anything in the book as far as I remember....

Bit surprised as the port is capable of charging and the unit only needs 300mA @ 5V which isn't exactly a lot. Most thumb drives need the same to energise and download the memory data from. I will be holding further 'discussions' with them...

[jeegnesh]

Downside of map based is the live data because you can't guarantee the data connection, if I used app based I would want it stored on the phone, it doesn't matter as I don't do subscription based I have tried some free versions and they are ok, but for lazy bones like me, I just want to get in and drive (alway late), no time to get iPhone and start some app, not to mention I probably won't bother half the time, hence why I need something always on. Plus my 4S battery is bad at the best of times definitely don't wanting to be adding the daily load of this and plugging in to charge that more manual work and wires

[jeegnesh]

So have had the Inforad K2 for a week now and have to say I am very very impressed, for anyone that wants a small, simple unit I would definetly recommend this and at £35 makes it even better.

Over the past one week, it has caught every camera and mobile spot, the alerts are directional so no false alerts to date, lifetime updates which is a simple update process and it has plenty of different countries if needed.

LIGHT ALERT - Each zone has different lights to indicate what type of camera it is, but in the current sunlight it's hard to make out, for me I don't care the point is it's some hotspot and there is a sound alert.

SOUND ALERT - The alert sound is also nice it beeps once you hit the zone, if you are under the speed limit then you hear no more till it beeps to say you have cleared the zone, if you are over the speed limit then it keeps beeping till you are under or have cleared the zone.

SETTINGS - When plugged into the PC, you are able to select from some pre-defined settings of how far in advance you want the alert and how far after the zone it should go off. You are suppose to be able to add your own POI's or spots but I have not tried or needed to use this as yet.

GPS - Picks up really quickly, within 10 seconds, sometimes just 2-3 seconds, once it's locked on it has never dropped. I also found I could place it in the speedo or center console and it still worked, very rare dropout from that position, but placed on the dash it's 10% solid.

BATTERY - Lasts around 5 hours. It's just like a USB pendrive pull the cap off and there is a inbuilt USB, so no cables that's nice, easy to charge and update without any extra cables. The downside is that you can't really hardwire this into your car, because there is an on/off switch so even after you turn the car off it would basically work on battery till it dies. The advantage I found is no need to buy one for the other car and it will work if I have it charging while using it, so I charge it occasionally if I forget and it's dead then use it anyway whilst it's charging via the center console 12v port. So it wasn't exactly what I wanted but has worked out really well and saved some money too.

In summary very impressed, but it's strictly for those that want something simple. (me)

[jeegnesh]

And off course some pics:

[535dboy]

I got my novus rider 700 yesterday too

Haven't used it much yet but seems ok

[Rusty]

Jeeg, at that price, could you not split the unit, disconnect the battery and hard wire from the usb on the pcb using a usb lead with the end cut off, position the unit by the rear view and run the cabling into the front but leaving enough cable to be able to plug a laptop in (in the car before you go down that route : p )?
A but more work but a cheap instal.

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