Road Angel Review

[Talkingbollox]

Dave, glad you thought RA's an impressive piece of kit. Were you allowed to keep the demo device? Or have you sent it back?



Cheers

[Dave]

Unfortunately not, but I will have another one later when the laser alert is available, I've requested a much longer period

[mshah]

Any news on when the laser upgrade will be available for you to review?
_________________
<br>
--> Milan

[Dave]

I have one now! . I've had it for about a week sitting on the windscreen. Although I haven't picked up anything. Basically the laser unit picks up very strong infrared pulses which is what the laser guns generate (apparently) and this should pick them up and immediately it will start the display flashing. You can test it yourself by using a remote control for a TV or Video to check it's working.



The laser alert is supposed to also pick up signals from the back of some of the camera vans, but time will tell I guess.



I think the laser alert on it's own is a little overpriced for what it is (I'll take some photos and will add it to the review). But if it does what it says it does, and it gives you a fighting chance of hitting the brake then it's got to be good.

[Privateer]

Is laser alert really that useful?



I say that because I've heard that it takes just 0.3 seconds to get an accurate speed reading with a laser unit. If that figure of 0.3 seconds is correct then it's impossible to react - let alone slow down whilst driving on a public road and concentrating on other road users and dangers.



For the record, in addition to the SatNav system, I run a Morpheous Geodesy GPS unit and a Bel Euro 550 radar detector. The Radar detector also has laser detection capabilities but I certainly don't rely on it.



If you're worried about laser then there are only two forms of defence:

1. Slow down! ;-)))

2. User a laser Jammer. E.g. LRC-100



Regards,
_________________
Robert.
iPhone 6s Plus, iOS 14.0.1: iOS CamerAlert v2.0.7
TomTom GO Mobile iOS 2.3.1; TomTom (UK & ROI and Europe) iOS apps v1.29
Garmin Camper 770 LMT-D

[Talkingbollox]

I did raise the question as to how I can tell the laser alert is working and Blackspot's response was to point and fire all the infra-red remote controls you have at the laser alert.



I haven't done this and haven't been caught on the road so can tell if the device is effective or not.

[Talkingbollox]

"can" should read "can't" - sorry!

[Dave]

Robert, from what I've read on various speed camera sites it does take a fraction of a second providing the gun is aimed at you and it's reflecting back and not scattering. But, and here's the big but, it's standard practice so I'm told to take two readings for prosecution for it to stand up in court, as the Police have to prove it wasn't an incorrect reading, so re-aiming to take another shot (or moving arm, and pressing button) can take several seconds, so although they may have you on the first laser, I think they have to prove it. OTOH it may be total rubbish, I've had about a dozen laser guns pointed at me, luckily I've been under the speed limit all, or I wasn't prosecuted if I was over the speed limit.



To test the laser alert is functioning, I had it on my desk powered to the mains, plugged in the laser alert and because Infrared was enabled on the laptop after about 30 seconds suddenly the Road Angel started going beserk. You'll also find it does this if the Road Angel is powered on and you slowly plug the laser alert into the AUX socket.

[Dave]

We've just completed the full review of the Road Angel GPS Safety Camera detector from Blackspot Interactive. The Road Angel not only is a full camera detector, but also a GPS Receiver. For all that don't have a Road Angel, it's a pretty impressive product! For those that do, we have a little bit press breaking news you'll be interested in at the end of the review!



The full review is available here.

[Z3]

is now USB connected and not serial.

I was a bit miffed that on buying the unit saturday morning, had to register before being allowed to update, which wasn't done until after the bank holiday!!!!

Has anybody actually connected a RA to a PDA for GPS? I have an O2 XDA and wante to check it out

[clivers]

only connected mine to my 3970 a couple of times but it works ok

got the lead from holux

[grimbo]

I'm using a 2210 and Road Angel with a lead from Holux.

Works fine - no problems.

[technik]

I used to use the Road Angel with my Ipaq2210, but now I use a CF Globalsat GPS.

To connect the Road Angel, I bought a serial synch cable from Ebay which didn't have a moulded 9-pin plug on the end, and then unsoldered the male plug, and refitted a female 9-pin connector with the wires reversed as required.

[technik]

[jmbillings]

I tried my "new" road angel with teletype gps on my pocket pc today. An interesting, weird problem: Althoguh the teletype GPS Screen shows my lat/long ok, the sats screen says position not fixed - at least 4 sats needed. Fair enough, as mentioned the Road Angel unit doesn't output full NMEA gubbins.
End result was that teletype showed my position on screen, but this never moved. If I refreshed the screen somehow though (by either zooming/panning) then my position updated. This meant for the trip today where I actually needed it, I basically had to drag my finger across the screen of my pda every mile or so to update the map and my position! I'll email Teletype about it, not expecting much joy though. Anyone else had similar problems with other packages?

Also, I tried the remote control trick to test the laser alert, but nothing happens - I was using a Sky TV remote. Does it need more umpf, or is it likely to be dodgy? I tried the front and rear sensors...

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