Bel STI Ramp up Fix

[Virus]

I would wait it out. Radarroy and Mem-Tek are reporting that the ramp up on the new STi's is better. They noticed this the other day during the SML testing. I'm sure Mem-Tek will ellaborate when he gets a free moment.

[Xen0nFlash]

Are we talking about a new firmware update? Or a new model STi?

[MEM-TEK]

Originally Posted by Virus

I would wait it out. Radarroy and Mem-Tek are reporting that the ramp up on the new STi's is better. They noticed this the other day during the SML testing. I'm sure Mem-Tek will ellaborate when he gets a free moment.

Hi guys,

The bad news is that, although the audio ramp-up on the SML tested STi is somewhat different, it is far from fixed.

I have a A4M9 STi with a date code of 1007. Its audio ramp-up profile is as follows:

Signal strength 1 through 6: Slow beeps.
Signal strength 7 to max: Faster beeps.

The A6M9 STi tested at SML has the following audio ramp-up profile:

Very weak signal strength 1: Very slow beeps.
Solid signal strength 1 though 4: Slow beeps
Signal strength 5 to max: A faster beep-beep rate, short pause, beep-beep, short pause...

So, the audio ramp-up simply has changed to where it now gives you a different audio warning once the signal strength reaches and surpasses 5.

[tactical22]

thats still better than before with fast beeps 1-5 then faasterbeeps 6-9

I prefer a slower beep at the start.

Nice to see beltronics listening to us...it s a first!

[Xen0nFlash]

This is still hardly enough for me to put my trust in my STi to operate in dark and/or tech mode. I should not have to take my eyes of the road every couple seconds to have to see how many bars are there instead of just knowing how strong the threat (or false) signal is just by listening while safely watching the road.

I don't understand why it is so difficult for Belscort to make the audio ramp up linear on a RD unit of which they were able to do the seemingly impossible and make it invisable to all RDD's and with all these neat and new user-friendly options like the auto-dimming/lighting.

It sounds like something they just don't want to put time and effort into. And like I said, this is not just about performance, this is about driver safety (having to take your eyes off the road to get an accurate threat assessment on every alert).

I'm comparing this A6M9 "fix" on the ramp up to having your TV with the problem being that it shows everything in black and white and the repair center is able to fix it to a point where it shows only in Green and Red, and then says to you "There, now you got color, fixed! Next."

[Virus]

Originally Posted by tactical22

thats still better than before with fast beeps 1-5 then faasterbeeps 6-9

I prefer a slower beep at the start.

Nice to see beltronics listening to us...it s a first!

Trust me when I tell you it's not better. Sometimes it get stuck in the faster beep mode and even when it's at 1-2 will beep fast. I prefer my STi before the flash. How hard is it to get the ramp up linear.

[Xen0nFlash]

Originally Posted by Virus

Trust me when I tell you it's not better. Sometimes it get stuck in the faster beep mode and even when it's at 1-2 will beep fast. I prefer my STi before the flash. How hard is it to get the ramp up linear.

I think we need to start pounding on these guys with constant phone calls and bombaring them with emails until they get to the point where they say "Alright alright we'll do it, just leave us alone!"

The should not charge us a dime for this either I might add.

[Xen0nFlash]

Email to Bel Support- lets see what happens.

From: Jim
Sent: Thursday, July 10, 2008 10:33 AM
To: 'belradarsupport@beltronics.com'
Cc: 'belsales@beltronics.com'
Subject: STi Driver
Importance: High

Dear Bel Support,

First off I want to thank you for building such a well constructed radar detector, the Bel STi Driver. This by far in the Top 3 in terms of overall performance of radar detectors, along with the 9500i and of course our famous friend in the realms of radar detection, the Valentine One. It has also saved me from plenty of would-be speeding tickets within the last couple months of owning it.

However, I would like to bring an ongoing and well known issue with the STi driver, and that is the inconsistent audio ramp up. The audio ramp up is not in sync with the visual ramp up and is certainly not even close to the V1 or even perhaps the STi-R unit which it looks to be fairly up to speed.

This is not an individual problem as there are many other users on several radar/laser countermeasure forums who are having a similar complaint. Many other STi users have tried to reach out to you, but are feeling the push-back and/or denial of the problem.

Currently, I am using firmware version A4M9. The current ramp up is as follows for the A4M9 version:

Two braps or chirps per second when the signal strength meter is from 1-4.
One the strength meter surpasses bar 4 (5-9), the audio makes a big jump to 3 to 5 braps/chrips per second without maxing out to a sold “lock-on” noise when the signal strength is at full blast.

According to several sources from radarreviews.net, you have just released firmware version A6M9 which seemed to have certainly made adjustments to the ramp up, but not to a point where we can put our faith running our STi’s in Dark Mode and even Tech mode without making an accurate threat assessment. Your A6M9 firmware fix seemed to have make the ramp up go something like this:
Very weak signal strength 1: Very slow beeps.
Solid signal strength 1 though 4: Slow beeps
Signal strength 5 to max: A faster beep-beep rate, short pause, beep-beep, short pause…

This was done in several SML test runs.

Once again, although this is a step in the right direction, it would be extremely difficult for me or any good radar detector user to put their trust in the STi’s dark mode or tech mode state.

Mind you, the most important consequence to this audio ramp up problem is the safety issue in which we have to take our eyes off the road constantly to look at the detector unit for an accurate threat assessment reading, which are grounds for an auto-accident.

This radar unit has a list price between $450 and $499.00 on the market. I believe that the audio ramp up can be made linear just like the V1 but it does not seem to me and others that you are putting any effort into correcting this. Though I think it would be fair to correct this one issue at no charge, I still would go along with the fact of being charged a shop fee for my unit in particular since I did not purchase it through an authorized dealer.

I strongly encourage you to fix this matter and make the audio ramp up linear and in sync with the visual (strength meter ramp up). I strongly believe with this fix, the V1 (other than its arrow indicators and bogey counter feature) will be totally inferior to the STi Driver and give us the confidence to make accurate threat assessments without having to take our eyes off the road. All myself, along with other STi users are asking of you is to acknowledge this issue and to correct this fully, especially considering the price we have paid for these units. Once I am confident that you are able to correctly fix for this, I will be more than happy to send my unit in to you for the $60.00 repair cost to get this adjusted.

If you are interested in reading up on some of the complaints (and I strongly encourage you to do so), please visit Bel STI Ramp up Fix.

I thank you for taking the time to read this email and please do not hesitate to contact me via phone at ***.***.****, though a positive and productive reply to this email will do just fine. I am extremely confident that you are able to address this issue and do what you do best.

Best regards,

Jim
Proud Beltronics STi Driver user

[tactical22]

Here is a post re the STi R, it seems they still havnt fixed the STi R either...man Beltronics really suck...ill post my video in a min.

I was playing with a STi R yesterday and I can say the ramp up is even worst than the STi..what are these idiots at beltronics thinking?? are they not listening to us?? Do they not care what the customer wants??

It has a great ramp up from K0 to K3...then from K4 to K9 it has a full alert the same from 4 to 9 so you cant tell how close the threat is coming unless you are looking at the display..it is absolutly terrible! K4 has 2 different levels of alert for the same damn number! The sound speeds up but the number stays the same.

I really wish they kept the same ramp up going as K0 to K3 as it is great...then they go off the rails.

I have the latest firmware from what I have been told..but i am not sure how to check it.

On a positive note, the detection performance is even better than the Sti, it alerts alot earlier and when in City mode it falses less!

I will upload a video of the ramp up...

OK Here is the video, it is going off at a K band speed sin going in the opp direction to the sign

YouTube - Beltronics STi R Terrible Ramp Up

[Xen0nFlash]

Still no response...you know, you would think they would take at least $50 out of the $500 they rape us for the STi into quality customer service. Or maybe I'm missing something?