WREXY

This morning on my way to PATRA here in Greece I came across a speed trap. I was doing just over the speed limit and I spotted Mr Plod pointing his radar gun straight at me. I did not get pulled over, but my detector, Bel euro 550, did not pick up anything to my surprise. All of my bands are turned on including Ka wide as I've been instructed to do here in Greece.

Do you think the radar gun was not fired at me or is my detector useless here in Greece?

Wrexy.

Oppinions would be greatly appreciated.

Beastie

iTrader: (2)

I went through a laser trap here in Norway last week and the Euro 550 didnt utter a sound. I assumed that the laser wasnt being fired at the time, but with Wrexy's experience im not so sure.

The only positive sign is that the Ku band went off one day at a certain place but didnt go off the next day, so I guess there was a speed trap nearby?

Also none of the Gatso appear to be active here and ive driven through dozens. Admittedly not all have a flash fitted so not all even have the chance of being active.

I have the detector set on Scandinavia, but is this enough?

I know that some people have doubted the detector until they find a live gatso. This may be the case with me.

Beastie

IntegraR

Well Ive just sent back a NIP for 50 in a 30, but I can only assume I had it switched off or something, as it seems I was caught by the standard Gatso affair.

I do switch it off occassionally when Im around a load of shops, but I cant think why Id have it off when driving around?

Maybe it didnt pick it up, but Ive been through tons of them, and its picked them up,except for ones which I assume arent operating.

greeny

Could have been an induction loop or piezo triggered unit. These look just like the 'normal' Gatsos but don't use radar, they use a loop under the road surface, hence not detactable by radar detector.

Fortunately these aren't very common ... YET!

Adam M

have picked up a laser alert, but these are highly directional so if they arent pointing at you, then it wont pick them up.

Does anyone know for definite where there are piezo ones?

I have never seen any.

DT

On the laser theme, I think I've had a couple of falsies (only two since i've had it) couldn't see anyone anywhere. Any idea what would trigger them?

Chris.Palmer

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by Adam M:
<B>
[Snip]
Does anyone know for definite where there are piezo ones?
[/quote]

Come to Northants there are loads here.

Front facing (so don't flash - use infra film) made by TruVelo.

Ian Cook

Look like this

WREXY

Thanks for the info peeps,

I don't think the police use laser here yet. They use radar guns. The gun was pointed at me but my detector picked up nothing. Even if it was laser, if the gun was pointed at me, shouldn't my detector have picked up the signal? Unless he didn't shoot a beam at me.

On Friday on the same road I was in traffic and again a radar trap was set up. This time the gun was pointed at cars in the right lane, I was in the left. My detector picked up nothing. I thought they must not have been shooting a beam. But today when it happened again, I started to worry a little. Since I bought it, which was about 6 weeks ago, these are the only two times I've been passed a speed trap so I still don't know if it will pick up radar. It does pick up automatic sliding doors though.

I also have a Uniden RD3 XL and it did not once pick up radar when I went passed speed traps here in Greece. False alarms, yes. I thought the detector was stuffed, so I went for the Bel 550. The Snooper and Bel products are also sold here. I went with the bbs group buy coz they are very expensive here.

I'm not criticising the detector as I'm sure it is a great product, however I'm a little worried at the moment. Any more ideas?

WREXY.

Beastie

iTrader: (2)

Wrexy
if the gun was handheld then it wasnt a laser gun as they have to be set up on a tripod.Therefore it must have been a radar gun.
Beastie

WREXY

Hi Beastie,

I think radar guns are heaps easier for the detector to pick up than laser, as the beam shoots over a wider area than laser. So maybe the officer was not firing the gun as no one was going over the limit. I was a little over but maybe the officer judged I was not speeding and didn't fire at me. He was pointing it straight at me though even as I was going passed him as he turned towards me.

Cheers,

WREXY.

Neil F

DT

Laser false triggers can be caused by LED brakelights (I think you have to be quite close) and I've had a false trigger when an ambulance came towards me with blues and twos going; I guess it was one of the high intesity strobes?
Incidentally, I doubt I was being targeted from anywhere else as I was stationary at the side of the road.

neil.

dmel

Wrexy,
1. All K,Ka,Ku radar guns are PULSE ON which means that they will emit radiation only when the trigger is squeezed. Which means that your best hope is to catch a reflection from someone in front or that the officer is useless in target shooting.
2. Only very old X band radars (which were bought second hand by US Authorities) emit continuously and are used mainly in Northern Greece (Katerini). Needless to say you have plenty of warning.
3. Greek police HAVE bought laser guns. I have been targeted but not caught
4. I have the same detector as you and is much more sensitive (and better) than my older analog Uniden unit.
5. Korinth-Patra is the Greek police' favourite road...

Beastie,
laser guns do NOT need to be mounted on a tripod. There are handheld units as well. There are indeed units which include tripod and camera which are usually set on bridges above motorways and work without human intervention (I have seen it in England many times). In Greece they only use handheld laser because they prefer the road block technique.

Check the manufacturers

dmel

Wrexy,
1. All K,Ka,Ku radar guns are PULSE ON which means that they will emit radiation only when the trigger is squeezed. Which means that your best hope is to catch a reflection from someone in front or that the officer is useless in target shooting.
2. Only very old X band radars (which were bought second hand by US Authorities) emit continuously and are used mainly in Northern Greece (Katerini). Needless to say you have plenty of warning.
3. Greek police HAVE bought laser guns. I have been targeted but not caught
4. I have the same detector as you and is much more sensitive (and better) than my older analog Uniden unit.
5. Korinth-Patra is the Greek police' favourite road...

Beastie,
laser guns do NOT need to be mounted on a tripod. There are handheld units as well. There are indeed units which include tripod and camera which are usually set on bridges above motorways and work without human intervention (I have seen it in England many times). In Greece they only use handheld laser because they prefer the road block technique.

Check the manufacturers

Beastie

iTrader: (2)

Dmel
you are of course correct about laser guns not being required to be fitted to a tripod. But they do need some sort of stabiliation for targets over 400yards as 1 degree of variation of the gun will produce a large error on the reading.

Therefore most police forces mount it on a tripod because they can hide the police car better and the gun on tripod cannot be easily seen.

The laser guns can also use a rifle type shoulder mount or be sat on the wing mirror of the police car or steadied on the bonnet.

However the tripod mounting seems to be the preferred device as I have now seen in Korea/Scotland and Norway. I have yet to see it being mounted any other way.

I was stopped on the Korinth/Patras road a month ago, made my heart skip as id been belting it, however just a routine papers check. When I spoke English I was quickly shooed away. However it is clear that the Greek police are stepping up awareness to motorists as people seem to be getting more reckless. In three weeks I was stopped 3 times. This after years and years of going to Greece and never being stopped.
Beastie

WREXY

Cheers Dmel,

Thanks for that valuable information. So they have bought laser guns ay. Well well. That explains it then. Korinth - Patra is the favourite road alright. I always see them there. Also Argos - Nafplio which is my area, although since I bought the detector I have not seen them out yet. I wonder if they're using laser here yet. I have seen a speed camera, mobile one that is in Nafplio, before I got the detector. It was small, sitting on a suitcase like DJ's use for their turntables, on a tripod or table. They also fitted fixed speed cameras in Athens but they have all been removed now. A laser jammer is on the cards soon for me.

Dmel, do you know if the police here are also using the other bands apart from X and laser on handheld units? Am I safe with the Ka setting on wide?

Are you situated in Greece then m8?

Cheers,

WREXY.

dmel

Dear Wrexy,
my experience with greek police have taught me the following:
1. Around 60% of time they use K-band (24.125, 24.150 Ghz) handheld radars. This is very unfortunate because they are PULSE-ON and difficult to jam. Radar jammers do not work very well.
2. 20% of time they use the predescribed X-band (10 Ghz +/- 0,5 Ghz)handheld units. Piece of cake to detect...
3. 20% laser guns. I had experience with these in the motorway between Volos-Larisa. Virtually 0 warning unless you are very lucky BUT laser jammers do seem to work prety nicely .
4. They also use the mini-Gatso (portable Gatso) in Athens and elsewhere which uses the Ku band (13.45 Ghz)
5. Finally fixed Gatsos are starting to appear which work in K-band.

In conclusion, K-band is the most dangerous weapon against your licence. I don't have any experience with Ka (33-34 Ghz). I am not sure if they have it here. I tend to think not. I certainly have the Ka-Swide mode OFF but have turned ON the three individual frequencies (34, 34.3, 34.7 Ghz) to minimize false alarms.

Dimitris from Athens.
Safe motoring and assume that the 120 sign on the motorway refers to mph

dmel

Dear Wrexy,
my experience with greek police have taught me the following:
1. Around 60% of time they use K-band (24.125, 24.150 Ghz) handheld radars. This is very unfortunate because they are PULSE-ON and difficult to jam. Radar jammers do not work very well.
2. 20% of time they use the predescribed X-band (10 Ghz +/- 0,5 Ghz)handheld units. Piece of cake to detect...
3. 20% laser guns. I had experience with these in the motorway between Volos-Larisa. Virtually 0 warning unless you are very lucky BUT laser jammers do seem to work prety nicely .
4. They also use the mini-Gatso (portable Gatso) in Athens and elsewhere which uses the Ku band (13.45 Ghz)
5. Finally fixed Gatsos are starting to appear which work in K-band.

In conclusion, K-band is the most dangerous weapon against your licence. I don't have any experience with Ka (33-34 Ghz). I am not sure if they have it here. I tend to think not. I certainly have the Ka-Swide mode OFF but have turned ON the three individual frequencies (34, 34.3, 34.7 Ghz) to minimize false alarms.

Dimitris from Athens.
Safe motoring and assume that the 120 sign on the motorway refers to mph

Stelios

George and Mitso,

Targeted TWICE in the last month.
A. Patra to Olympia near skafidia.Over crest section fom 90 km to 60 km doing 123. Off the hook cause they only nicked me for seat belts as i was not wearing it to fetch a CD. Noticed hand held Laserx gun my snooper didnt blink (29.000 DRCS)
B. Korinth to Epidavros end of loutra elenis. 50(!) limit doing 93 as i overtook someone. Got me *only* for stepping on double white line. Again same laser gun again snooper snoozing.

So the smurfs are out only for money collection purposes. Really and seriously pissed off as on the Athens- patra highway (if one can call it that) all sort of tarzan boys overtaking left right under over etc. No police presence. Also they have roadblocks where it is 99% certain u goonna speed and they are out for the money. Also 2 months ago they caught me at Sygrou doing 102 at 90 limit with my bike.Same stories told by Elias also. I am absolutely disgusted. So take care out there.
Dimitri lets meet with wrexy and Elias sometime.

WREXY

Cheers Dimitri.

Thanks for that info m8. Very very useful information. Stelio thanks too.

I have already met up with Stelio, Elias (Athens) and Greg, who is from Scotland, but comes here for holidays. I still have to meet up with Jim from Thesaloniki. There is also another fellow that posts from Athens who has been on here since April I think, by the name of Geokat who we would also like to meet. Now there is also you Dimitri who we would certainly like to meet too. I had seen your posts but did not know you were from here. You and Elias are the longest bbs members of the Greeks. There could be more but you are the ones I am aware of. What do you think about a meet some time m8?

WREXY.

PS What do you drive Dimitri?

WREXY

Dimitri,

I just remembered, I knew fixed gatsos had popped up in various places here, but I was told they have been removed now. Is this information wrong then?

WREXY.

dmel

I am not really sure if they have removed the fixed Gatsos Wrexy. I think I have seen only one in Athens in Paraliaki near 'Eirinis kai Filias'.
Let's all meet up sometime. Which models do you guys have?
Dimitris MY99

WREXY

Dimitri,

I have the MY00 and here it is






Cheers,

Wrexy.



[This message has been edited by WREXY (edited 25 August 2001).]

Beastie

iTrader: (2)

I have MY99 RB5. I am thinking of taking it to Greece, depends how much pressure you guys put on me! Apart from going to Greece for my holidays, I also have an apartment in Nea Smyrni, Athens.

Beastie (Greg)



[This message has been edited by Beastie (edited 25 August 2001).]

WREXY

How's this for pressure? Next time we will not let you into the country without your RB5 Greg.

Wrexy.

Beastie

iTrader: (2)

OK WREXY if you put it like that!!!!
Beastie

If the Greek police are waving there laser guns about on the end of their arms, I would think that the accuracy of the reading could be successfully disputed in court. The whole point of the laser gun is that you can record a vehicle before it even sees you. The Greek police have obviously not considered this concept.

WREXY

Right Peeps,

The Bel Euro 550 did it's job twice today, here in Greece, saving me from plod and their radars. First time it went off at a trap since I received it 6 to 8 weeks ago.

I was on that same road today, as posted above and there was a speed trap, at the same place again today. As I came around the bend, my detector went off, indicating laser. I was doing over the limit and it gave me enough time to slow down. There were three cars ahead of me. The police fired at the first car and my detector went off. Then they fired at the second and third car and the detector went off again each time, before they fired at me and the detector going off again and then a couple of cars behind me, the detector doing the same again. The police had the laser gun resting on the top of their car door to get a steady aim I'd say. Last time, the officer was holding it like a video camera and I'd say they weren't firing it, which is why the detector did not go off. So confirmed, that laser is used here in Greece as Dimitri said and the detector does work and did it's job magnificently.

It did not end there though. As I got closer to Patra, the detector started to go off again fairly consistently with a few breaks in between indicating Ku band. This happened for around two kilometres before I saw Mr Plod sitting in his unmarked car, firing a radar gun from his window, seated, at the cars going past. Further down the road there were more police who would pull the speedsters over, after being radioed by the radar using police man. It was a piece of cake to detect, as the detector went off a couple of km before I reached the radar. There were also a few bends too. So it picks up, around bends too. Also there were cars ahead, which helped too, coz when he would fire at them the detector would go off. The detector had not gone off on this stretch of road ever before, so I knew there was something sus going on, so I slowed down.

So in Greece there are radar guns which work on Ku band also.

The detector, I am happy to say ,is not useless here in Greece and I now know why the Uniden would not pick up radar here. The Uniden could not pick up laser or Ku band.

Top Stuff.

Cheers,

Wrexy.

greeny

I drove up to Scotland last weekend, and there seem to be a good few gatso's on the A9 North of Perth (typically hidden behind signs!!). However my 550 only went off for one of these. Not a peep out of the other 5-6. Similarly on my way to work I consistently get a message from just one of the 3 Gatso's I pass (always the same one).

Are these things just never turned on or what? I could see no sign of these being induction loop or piezo (i.e. tarmac dug up).

Also on my way up the M6 I got 2 laser alerts, and regularly get these on the M1 going into Leeds. So as far as I'm concerned jury is still out on usefulness of this device.

WREXY

As far as I have read on here, the cameras that are turned off or have no film in them will not be picked up by the detector as the camera does not emit a signal.

Wrexy.

WREXY

If anybody wants to come to Greece with their car and radar detector, it would be advisable to turn all bands on. So far we have, laser guns, X, K, and Ku band radar guns and K band fixed cameras and Ku mini gatsos. Still have not come across Ka but with the large variety of radar equipment here you never know. It would be advisable to have this band on also.

Cheers,

Wrexy.