Hello SF Hivemind,

I have a 10yr old Valentine, and on a road trip this weekend I saw constant K-band clutter nonstop for 5 hrs. I know much of the IR alerts aren’t laser either, but Ka and Laser are the most alarming/actionable.

WTF? Is it all the new car sensors? (I’d wager so.)

Would a Valentine firmware update help?

Have you done it and was it worth the $200+? (I’ve read mix reviews.)

Thanks in advance!

Yes.
Yes. When every GM SUV started setting mine off I was pushed over the edge.

And Yes. Did this to two V1s. As I recall one was new enough it was relatively cheap and they just upgraded that unit. The second was also "upgraded" which really amounted to a trade in allowance and paying a couple hundred for an entirely new chassis and accessories.

My third (in the age ranged of what you describe) was going to be so much for the upgrade/trade that instead I sold it on eBay for a couple hundred and put that towards a new one and came out much better than I would have with the upgrade/trade proposal on that one from Valentine.

You can go to their site, enter your serial number and it will give you what your options/$$ are.

Linky

Bad news is this apparently isn't forever. I've been by a couple Cadillac SUVs that have changed/added frequencies that aren't filtered and they set me off again, but nothing like before or what you describe.

Also traffic light sensors in Madison are using lasers which is super annoying, and likely not able to be filtered. Very fine point of focus though, so it goes off as pulling up but generally not while stopped unless you're in that just-wrong spot.

Yes, I did the same, upgraded 2 of my 3 Valentine detectors. Only the newest one was immune from all the added sensors on newer cars. It was well worth it to me.

Radar cruise control will only become more common, too.

quote:

Originally posted by DaBigBR:
Radar cruise control will only become more common, too.

Yup; mostly “instant on” but that still seems to generate an alert well enough.

Thanks guys, I’ll go pursue the serial number via that link provided. Much appreciated!

Damn - $289 for a replacement.

And no Bluetooth like our Passport (650?) which uses GPS for locking out emissions from constant on’s like speed signs and store doors, and connects to your cell phone for data updates on all kinds of stuff (speed traps, traffic, alerts etc). Hmmnnn.

quote:

Originally posted by SIGnified:
Damn - $289 for a replacement.

And no Bluetooth like our Passport (650?) which uses GPS for locking out emissions from constant on’s like speed signs and store doors, and connects to your cell phone for data updates on all kinds of stuff (speed traps, traffic, alerts etc). Hmmnnn.

Yep, and i'm in the same boat. I'm going to have to give this one a long ponder before I decide what to do with my V1.

After 15 years of using several units, I finally ditched the V1. Just got tired of all the false alarms. I had updated all my units and while it definitely improved, Still a lot of falses. While there is no questioning the long range detection capabilities, the lack of any updating drove me to the edge. About 3 months ago I switched to an Escort 360Max. It is not quite as sensitive as my V1 but the GPS lockout features are priceless. Also warns of red light cameras. I have been using the Escort for about 6 months now and I much prefer it to my V1.

I have become so accustomed to the arrows that I would have a hard time learning a new layout. I bought my first V1 around 1988.

quote:

Originally posted by Bluecobra:
I have become so accustomed to the arrows that I would have a hard time learning a new layout. I bought my first V1 around 1988.

I’m close to around that time when I got mine. Upgraded every so often. I did upgrade this year because of the constant chirping from blind side monitors and such.

I still believe in the V1. Kept me from getting a ticket in Arizona driving 100 mph on the freeway. Heard the chirp, slowed down; guy ahead of me got pulled over.

I’m hoping they switch to a usb-c connector however.

I switched mine to L (logic) mode and that's helped. It ignores k band radar unless it suddenly pops on at high strength.

I had my older V1 updated a year or two ago. Well worth it. Far fewer false alarms.

Having same problem with my Cobra. I am going to go through setup again and turn off K band. According to the manual and all research this will not turn of KA band or any others.

quote:

Originally posted by molachi:
Having same problem with my Cobra. I am going to go through setup again and turn off K band. According to the manual and all research this will not turn of KA band or any others.

While almost all the nuisance is in K, I'm also surprised how many radar units still are operating on this as well. I'd be very hesitant to kill K completely in the areas I drive.

Still using my Passport I bought in 1988. Gets the job done. I just hit the mute button.

Long ago ... I used to ignore X band, until I rounded a corner in Oregon and got popped with it. Circa 2002.

That being said I run my V1 in L mode.

I've used a V1 for quite some time. The most expensive "update" was the recent one to eliminate the false alarms from "side radar" in cars.

For those interested here is a summary:

-1st One = Serial # 32884xxxxx,

-2nd One = Serial # 19561xxxxx, traded in 1st unit for 2nd unit on 6june02, upgrade cost was $203

-3rd One = Serial # 28382xxxxx, sent in for POP update, upgrade cost was $75 plus shipping = $81.50, recd on 7june06

-4th One = serial # 68722xxxxx was in Cincinnati and traded in at their business. Cost was $309 w/ tax and done on 11june16.

Prior to using V1 I had an Uniden and then a Passport. The arrows on the V1 are indispensable!

There has been 5 hardware revisions and 41(IIRC) different firmware since the V1 inception. Hardware version 1.85 with FW 3.891 thru 3.8945, or newer HW 1.86 will have various versions of Traffic Monitor Filter (TMF) to filter out k falsing from blind side monitoring, anti-collision and lane departure systems. This in addition of further setting configuration will help reduce the falsing.

V1 with FW 3.892 or newer will support ESP which allows an optional Bluetooth LE dongle. This opens to door to V1's app like V1Connect, or third party apps like V1Driver (iOS), YaV1 (Android) and JBV1(Android). JBV1 is currently the most actively supported by its developer and the V1 user community. These apps allows features and control not available on the V1 like custom sweep, in/out of band behavior/filtering, alert handling behavior, GPS lockout/mute, etc. This makes the V1 a completely different and better performance detector. The drawback is you will need the BTLE dongle, the app and a phone which need to be used in conjunction with the V1.