FAQ: How does a radar detector use GPS?

GPS is the Global Positioning System. On some of the newer radar detectors, such as the STiR Plus, Passport 9500ci, Passport Max, Passport 9500ix and Smart Radar, there is a GPS antennae designed into the product. With the STiR Plus and the Passport 9500ci, the GPS antenna is a separate receiving antenna, which receives GPS location information from space satellites. By having a separate GPS antenna, these INSTALLED radar detectors can include a special feature that allows the remote radar detector module to include total electronic invisibility to radar detector detectors. This electronic invisibility hides the local oscillator frequency of the radar detector from the outside world, thus police can not detect a radar detector with electronic invisibility. The separate GPS antenna allows GPS information to be received from the satellites. It is not possible to have a GPS receiving antenna in a windshield radar detector that has total electronic invisibility. The standard windshield radar detector that has a GPS antenna built into the radar detector, such as Passport Max, Passport 9500ix and Passport SmartRadar Detector, can not have RDD electronic invisibility. And a windshield radar detector with total electronic RDD invisibility, such as Beltronics STi Magnum and Escort Redline, can not have a GPS antenna inside the radar detector. As a vehicle with a GPS radar detector travels down the highway, the GPS antenna receives planet earth location data (XY coordinates). The GPS radar detector then compares the actual vehicle X/Y location to a speed camera X/Y data map, which is stored in memory of the GPS radar detector. When the vehicle location gets within 500 yards of a known speed camera location, stored in the radar detector data files, the radar detector will alert the driver is up ahead. The stored, speed camera locations may be up to date or may not be up to date, depending on how recent the WEB download of the radar detector was completed. The WEB download is where the radar detectors is connected to a computer, allowing the owner to log onto the Escort Radar or Beltronics web site to update the speed camera locations of the radar detector memory. The GPS memory also serves a second advantage. When the radar detector with GPS detects a false radar alert, the false radar location can be stored in memory as a temporary ID, and when the same location and frequency is detected 3 times, then the false radar location is confirmed and stored in regular memory of radar detector “with GPS”. Radar Detectors that do not have GPS, can not provide theis feature, and only Passport and Beltronics offers this specific capability in 4 different radar detectors: Beltronics STiR Plus, Passport 9500ci, Passport Max and Passport 9500ix.