Radar Detectors

A More Than Sensible Detector… Beltronics BEL 980 Radar Detector Beltronics has produced a second rate performance, but first-rate value detector for many years. With the New 900 ...

Beltronics BEL 980 Radar Detector Technical Details:980 Key FeaturesDetection Mode:City / Highway modesDetection Area...

Thought I did enough research on this detector to justify spending the money for it, but was way off on my expectations. I got it for $268 online and was pleased till I put it in my truck. The thing will false over anything, and not just the annoying one and done beeps, but the kind that actually ramp up to 4 or 5 and then go away! What’s this?!? If I had bought an el cheapo brand then I could understand a false generated by another detector, but this was supposed to be a pretty nice piece of equipment. I am extremely unsatisfied with it. It’s to the point where I don’t even pay it any attention unless it’s absolutely screaming.

The other nagging issue for me is the City-X or City-All feature. City-X is pretty good. In city mode the detector gives a visual indication, but does not beep unless the signal strength of the radar goes above a set threshold. This I like. However, in City-All mode, you get the visual and a first beep for all bands and then clicks until the signal is gone. So when I go to City-All, now I have to listen to the X band beeping all the time. I personally think the City-All should work like the City-X and give only a visual alert until a minimum threshold is crossed, at which point the beeps should start.

The windshield mount is the worst design I’ve ever encountered. With all other detectors I’ve owned (more recently Escort and from my teen years cheap Unidens), the back of the unit has rubber pads that rest against the windshield that keep the casing stable and allow it to ride over bumps with the vehicle. With the Bel, you have to put the mount together, insert a set screw and then figure out a way to hold the detector in place while you tighten the screw to try and set the angle that the detector sits on the window. What this leads to is that the unit itself is just sort of floating about an inch away from the windshield and when you go over any type of bump, then detector bounces a good deal. I don’t think all this bouncing is an inherently good design from an engineering standpoint. I don’t like the fact that you let the radar just bounce around all the time. Seems like with sensitive electronics, you would want everything as stable as possible.

On the plus side, I like the digital voice feature. My wife hates it, but it’s not in her vehicle, so it doesn’t really matter. After reading through the manual once, it’s very easy to navigate through the user programmable menus.

Just for comparisons sake, I have a 3 year old Escort in my car that I would not trade for anything. I wanted to try to Bel unit to see if I could get any better performance for a better price. Unfortunately, I have found that this is not true, at least not with the Bel, and a new Escort 8500 on order for my truck.

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Tags: 8500, Beltronics, cheap, Escort, Uniden

Filed under: Radar Detectors Reviews