Just bought an Escort 9500i Red

[deltactu24]

I just bought an Escort 9500i red for $430 with the Smart Cord Direct Wire and I am extremely disappointed by it. I had a X50 red before and it worked great, I relied on it completely and it got the job done until someone smashed my window and stole it out of my glove box. However, it never seemed to pick up New Jersey State Troopers, but around my town, LEO use X, K, and KA bands so I can easily test out its sensitivity. Now, I understand that LEOs don't always keep their radars on, but today I drove around North Jersey and Central Jersey and my 9500i did not go off ONCE. It has failed to detect anything and I have driven past at least 15-16 LEO's today. I went into a town where they ALWAYS keep radar on and they use X band. I got nothing. The GPS is ok when I mark the location but why does it give me the distance away from the Speed Trap after I crossed it? What is the point of that? On Rt. 287 I marked every speed trap and the thing reminds me every 2 seconds. It gets pretty annoying. The TrueLock has done a pretty good job of locking out false alerts. But I hear there are issues it locks out actually police bands. Now, am I doing something wrong with the settings and thats why its not detecting anything? I blew by a state trooper standing outside his car and hitting people with the radar gun.

[CJR238]

Originally Posted by deltactu24

I just bought an Escort 9500i red for $430 with the Smart Cord Direct Wire and I am extremely disappointed by it. I had a X50 red before and it worked great, I relied on it completely and it got the job done until someone smashed my window and stole it out of my glove box. However, it never seemed to pick up New Jersey State Troopers, but around my town, LEO use X, K, and KA bands so I can easily test out its sensitivity. Now, I understand that LEOs don't always keep their radars on, but today I drove around North Jersey and Central Jersey and my 9500i did not go off ONCE. It has failed to detect anything and I have driven past at least 15-16 LEO's today. I went into a town where they ALWAYS keep radar on and they use X band. I got nothing. The GPS is ok when I mark the location but why does it give me the distance away from the Speed Trap after I crossed it? What is the point of that? On Rt. 287 I marked every speed trap and the thing reminds me every 2 seconds. It gets pretty annoying. The TrueLock has done a pretty good job of locking out false alerts. But I hear there are issues it locks out actually police bands. Now, am I doing something wrong with the settings and thats why its not detecting anything? I blew by a state trooper standing outside his car and hitting people with the radar gun.

congradulations! the 9500I is an awsome RD but takes time to get to know it.

The 9500I is impressively quiet but will give you real good detection range of real threats. Give it some more time, i just drove from CT to Atlantic city and my 9500I only went off in the city and 1 time to a laser save on the way home (yes thats right no falses for 3 hours). I didn't encounter 1 LEO ruining any radar in NJ (i did see them, about 4).
I get anywhere from 1/4mi to 3mi detection range depending if its a fairly striate highway or a windy road. Sensitivity on the 9500I is pretty impressive once you get use to how quiet it is.
The mark location isn't really the best for more traveled routs, its really for those ones you forget about because its on your trip to upstate NY.

If you have not yet you must read my thread below, and read it at least 2-3 times. I have tested and use 3 different 9500I's.

[deltactu24]

Yes, you were right. I was on my way to return the product when I got a KA alert from 1/2 mile away. Saved me greatly. After that I turned around and went home. I now have it hardwired and I like it. The TrueLock is AMAZING. You are right the Mark Location is not for most frequent roads. Like everytime I pass a location on a highway and then take an off ramp crossing the highway, the Mark Location features repeats itself saying that my speedtrap is ahead, however, i'm not even on that road. Also, it still has not detected a single state trooper and I drive by them everyday and there are a lot of local leo's that I drive by and i'm scared of instant on KA. Is there anyway to defeat this? or laser? I'll post some pictures of my install when I can.

[CJR238]

Originally Posted by deltactu24

Yes, you were right. I was on my way to return the product when I got a KA alert from 1/2 mile away. Saved me greatly. After that I turned around and went home. I now have it hardwired and I like it. The TrueLock is AMAZING. You are right the Mark Location is not for most frequent roads. Like everytime I pass a location on a highway and then take an off ramp crossing the highway, the Mark Location features repeats itself saying that my speedtrap is ahead, however, i'm not even on that road. Also, it still has not detected a single state trooper and I drive by them everyday and there are a lot of local leo's that I drive by and i'm scared of instant on KA. Is there anyway to defeat this? or laser? I'll post some pictures of my install when I can.

Good to here, its pretty surprising at how many LEO's just sit and not use there radar. Instant on is a killer for any RD, but a few tricks you can do to help prevent being the target is use a lead car (rabbet) and keep that car at least 1/4 or better yet a 1/2mi ahead of you so the LEO I/O him and you will get an alert.
Laser is another killer and if any RD goes off your usually toast. You could buy Escorts ZR4 laser jammer. Use a rabbet for this too in hopes you will get a reflection of laser, or the rabbet gets busted and not u.
Were you able to read my thread below about TrueLock?

[CJR238]

this is the TrueLock thread, it also has some other good info:


9500I Explanation & TrueLock Info:
Escort Passport 9500I TrueLock & Tricks Radar Detector Reviews - Radar Detector Reviews

[acp2008]

CJR238 -

"Need an Escort product? I have a friend with brand new 8500x50's and 9500I's available at special pricing. PM me if your interested."

I pm'd you about your Escort friend connection. Didn't hear back.

AP

[tactical22]

Hi,

I have been running a 9500i for about 4 weeks now and been doing some testing..I must say, I dont like it. I was considering getting a 9500ci but decided on a STi R as I just think the 9500i has too much filtering..it will ramp up then BAM full alert..I really hate that!

I have found it alerts simalar distance as the STi but with the different ramp up its hard to tell where the cop is.

Nice detector to look at with nice features but i just think the filtering leaves alot to be desired. I wish the STi had the K1-K4 ramp up of the 9500i but it dont

Good luck with it

[TSi+WRX]

Originally Posted by tactical22

Hi,

I have been running a 9500i for about 4 weeks now and been doing some testing..I must say, I dont like it. I was considering getting a 9500ci but decided on a STi R as I just think the 9500i has too much filtering..it will ramp up then BAM full alert..I really hate that!

I have found it alerts simalar distance as the STi but with the different ramp up its hard to tell where the cop is.

tactical, yours is the latest firmware 9500i, correct?

I agree that, overall, the alert ramp-up could be improved (mine is a 4307, with verified firmware update that addresses the ramp-up issue). It definitely seems to be a step "backwards" from previous Escort products.

Give it a few more weeks, though - despite having been an Escort/Bel guy for most of my driving life, it still took me quite a few weeks to adjust to the 9500i's alerting behavior.

As an "in-city" detector - which is my usage statistic for nearly 90% of the time - I really like it a lot, but I certainly can see how its filtering profile may make it not favored by others, particularly if their "non-LEO signal density" is not quite as bad as mine, here.....

[deltactu24]

Well I am sold on the 9500i. In all my years of i've never been able to detect a NJ state trooper and today it did! I drive the same route everyday and I have NEVER seen a LEO hiding in this one location until today. Surprising how State Trooper's use X band. I agree the ramp up is not like how it was on my x50. How do I know if I have the latest firmware that addresses this issue?

[deltactu24]

Originally Posted by CJR238

this is the TrueLock thread, it also has some other good info:


9500I Explanation & TrueLock Info:
Escort Passport 9500I TrueLock & Tricks Radar Detector Reviews - Radar Detector Reviews

I read the threat on thread on the truelock, but the graph makes me confused. I haven't used spec display yet because I am not sure which frequency the police band uses and which one the false alerts are.