Radar Gun in Vehicle

[lcmontana]

My brother just found a radar gun, and had it installed in his truck. Now I cant find anything specific in the MN statutes that forbids it, but Im wondering, either Im not looking in the correct place, or does it fall under some general equipment category? Maybe its not illegal at all? What are the rules in any state, not just Minnesota? I could use them for comparison.

=Joshua

 

[fmon]

Joshua,

What size shells does it use :?: :wink:

 

[INDY72]

Other than some curiousity from LEO's s far as I know its NOT illegal at all. Many News Crews now use radar guns to do stories like WLBT-TV-3's "Streets of Speed" series. You may get some funny looks, and interesting questions from police officers. As long as your not impersonating a law enforcement officer and pulling people over.. its legal as far as I know. Though if he is riding around zapping folks then calling them in like a highway vigilante of sorts... he will quickly make an lot of enemies LOL!

 

[nexus]

Man I'd love to have a SPEEDO installed in my ride.... That would be so cool. The fun part would be setting people's detectors off all the time with instant on..

HhahHAHha with my finger on tha button! BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEPBEEPBEEP!

 

[lcmontana]

Hes just having fun with everyone elses detectors. I live in Montana, and nothing is ilegal here. As soon as I get my TrailBlazer back, Im going to try and find one... he says its a blast.

I dont know about any of the specifics of it though, he didnt tell me.

=Joshua

 

[Chris-M]

I have an old KR11 K band radar unit. Used it a lot back in the mid-late 90's. Once I was running radar late at night, moving down a 2 lane road, and radared a NCHP trooper. He turned around and pulled me over ( I was driving an ex-NCHP 1985 Crown Vic of all things!). He asked me where the fire was and why I was going so fast. I asked him how fast, and he said, "you don't want to know." I found out that his radar had me at 130 something and I was only going 60. When he found out I had a radar gun he realized what had happened. Let me go with a verbal warning but no ticket and nothing was said as to why I had the radar unit.

I think you only need a license to use one if you are using it as a business tool to generate revenue. I was using it as entertainment and setting off radar detectors. I still have the KR11 but it doesn't work anymore.
Nowdays I use a handheld unit, battery powered 10 ghz oscillator about the size of a pack of cigarettes. Doesn't have much range but it works as a 'brake light activator' quite well. 8)

 

[flyingwolf]

Nowdays I use a handheld unit, battery powered 10 ghz oscillator about the size of a pack of cigarettes. Doesn't have much range but it works as a 'brake light activator' quite well.

And where might one come into possesion of one of these. Get the kids im my area to slow down a bit. there have been to many near hits way to many deats. (one would have been 1 to many to me but now we have had 2.)

 

[steener]

My brother just found a radar gun, and had it installed in his truck. Now I cant find anything specific in the MN statutes that forbids it, but Im wondering, either Im not looking in the correct place, or does it fall under some general equipment category? Maybe its not illegal at all? What are the rules in any state, not just Minnesota? I could use them for comparison.

=Joshua

Radar recievers may be regulated by the state, however, radar transmitters are regulated solely by the FCC under CFR Part 90: Private Mobile Land Radio Service. Therefore, you are unlikely to find any reference to radar guns in your state or local laws.

Some states do require proper certification of radar if they are to be used for speed enforcement. That's why it's important to remember that in the event you are stopped by the police for speed as detected by radar, to inquire as to the current status of the radar's certification.

There have been cases thrown out of court simply due to that fact the the department did not take the time to have their radar certified by an FCC licensed technician.

Just FYI.

 

[LarryN]

I would love to have one to nail the UPS guy with.

 

[INDY72]

LOL they are available through many mail order PS cats... not sure if Galls still has em or not.. they DO have a in car camera kit thats not to expensive.. and for those really HAMSexy types there is a digicam -w- software for PC so you can make "official" ID's....

WEG

 

[SCPD]

I have got an application in to the FCC for a license to operate on the three main radar bands used for speed enforcement. You MUST have a license for the band you are going to operate in. As far as certification is concerned, unless you are using the unit to write tickets for a law enforcement agency, there is no requirement. I live in Texas and have an email from the Texas Department of Public Safety that spells it all out. They are even legal in commercial vehicles. As long as you are using it for entertainment purposes and have an FCC license you are good to go. The worst part is the length of time waiting for the application to be processed. Mine was submitted 4\16\2004 and is still being worked on. It has to go through numerous reviews and the like. But when I get it you can be rest assured that my brand new Stalker DSR 2X dual antenna KA band radar unit will be pissing people off on I35 between Dallas and Laredo.

 

[Voyager]

My brother just found a radar gun, and had it installed in his truck. Now I cant find anything specific in the MN statutes that forbids it, but Im wondering, either Im not looking in the correct place, or does it fall under some general equipment category? Maybe its not illegal at all? What are the rules in any state, not just Minnesota? I could use them for comparison.

=Joshua

It's a transmitter and MUST be licensed by the FCC to be used legally. That goes for your police, too. You can have one, but if you ever use (transmit with) it, you're committing an illegal act.

Joe M.

 

[SCPD]

Is there an ECHO here????????

 

[pills]

Greyhound busses used to have em. Don't remember why but I remember seeing the signs on them.

 

[Voyager]

Greyhound busses used to have em. Don't remember why but I remember seeing the signs on them.

Could be interesting with a trooper trying to clock you and CAN'T due to the signal your transmitter is putting out. (assuming both units to be operating on the same band)

Joe M.

 

[flyingwolf]

digicam -w- software for PC so you can make "official" ID's....

Not to sure what to think about the Official Badges part. Though the first thing that comes to mind. "Badges, we dont need no stinking badges!".

 

[pills]

It was part of Vorad. Kinda cool concept. Supposedly reduced their accidents by about 25 percent. Now they use a different freq if they use it at all

 

[LGLHOOK]

Could be interesting with a trooper trying to clock you and CAN'T due to the signal your transmitter is putting out. (assuming both units to be operating on the same band)

Joe M.[/quote]

Couldn't that classifiy as a radar jammer???

 

[Chris-M]

And where might one come into possesion of one of these. Get the kids im my area to slow down a bit. there have been to many near hits way to many deats. (one would have been 1 to many to me but now we have had 2.)

I did a GOOGLE search and only came up with this:

>The Zapper from Electronic Rainbow is a 10 GHz oscillator, designed to
>trigger auto radar detectors. It is a small black box with a big
>red button on it, powered by a 9V battery. It is about $40 as a kit or
>$50 assembled.
>
>The unit works as advertised -- it easily sets off radar detectors from
>both in front of or behind the car. The only disappointment is that
>not many people seem to own radar detectors, maybe 1 in 25. Generally
>speaking, radar detector owners seem to be men driving late-model cars
>like Mercedes, Lexus, or Corvette.
>
>Electronic Rainbow, 6254 Lapas Trail, Indianapolis, IN 46268
>(317) 291-7262 fax (317) 291-7269

I've had mine for about a year, and I've given some away as gifts (which
were considered strange, but always turned out to be fun). I refer to
them as "brake light remote controls" -- somebody blazes past you at
about 80mph, and you look quick to see the telltale LED on their visor
or the hardware suction-cupped to the windshield. You whip out your
remote control (it really does look like a garage-door opener), hit
the button, and a moment later their brake lights come on!

There was one on EBAY several months ago, and it was up to $200! The manufacturer stopped making the kits years ago. I'll get some pics of mine tomorrow and post them here. I'll even do a small MPEG video of it in action, setting off my Valentine One.

 

[Voyager]

And where might one come into possesion of one of these. Get the kids im my area to slow down a bit. there have been to many near hits way to many deats. (one would have been 1 to many to me but now we have had 2.)

I did a GOOGLE search and only came up with this:

>The Zapper from Electronic Rainbow is a 10 GHz oscillator,

The differences are that those are relatively low power devices (maybe Part 15 - unlicensed) and are usually in the ham band, not the actual radar band. It's still close enough to set off a detector.

They are often called 'brake light testers'.

Joe M.