Sparkymart Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 Has anyone used or own a road angel or similar, are they any good and worth the subscription cost or can you recommend anything else? Cheers Martin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onliest Smeg David Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 I've had two Road Angel devices and was very pleased with them. However now many gps navs give camera/speed warnings as well as navigation, so personally I would go with one of these. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparkymart Posted July 16, 2014 Author Share Posted July 16, 2014 I was thinking more about a warning for the mobile vans that hide in laybys and the fact it has laser detection, I do agree with you about the satnav they do work well for fixed cameras Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John K Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 I had one of the Go Live connected TomToms that used a SIM card to allow users to report a mobile van (and do Google place searches). The camera warnings would then trickle through to the other TomTom users via the SIM card link to the servers. But it lead to so many false alerts that I spent more of my time reporting non existent cameras back to TomTom than I spent driving... And the problem with lots of false alerts is after a while you start assuming they are all false until... But I have now switched to a Garmin as I was not happy with the reliability of the TomTom software updates. FYI Not the map updates, they were fine, just the operating system updates. They regulary broke the Nav. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tricky Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 I've had two Road Angel devices and was very pleased with them. However now many gps navs give camera/speed warnings as well as navigation, so personally I would go with one of these. I agree with the above, I to have had road angels, they're very good but so is the latest satnav devices. My recently purchased Garmin has camera van locations in it too. The laser detection on the road angel is all very well but when then laser is detected it's too late because you've been done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dombanks Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 how does the laser detection work? i thought they were just a database of the locations and the ones that actively do the detection were those "garage door opener" aka jammer devices which are illegal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dibby Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 Had one a while ago and it went off at PIR detectors on automatic doors, reversing sensors, key plippers, it had a mind of its own. By the time it detects a genuine laser from a speed van it is too late, he's already got you. All it will tell you is that you've been done, the theory about picking up laser scatter from the cars in front is rubbish, mine never did. There are so many potential van sites about nowadays, if you slow down to the speed limit for every one, you might as well just drive at the speed limit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John K Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 "the theory about picking up laser scatter from the cars in front is rubbish" Totally agree and this really annoyed me a great deal when I saw these things being sold with these words in the adverts. Lasers do not scatter (OK not to the point that we can measure) that is what makes them useful. They reflect. The reflection may be scattered or fractured depending on the surface it is reflecting off. But in terms of the beam 'heading away from the gun' scattering, they don't... So the only person getting a ping from a detector will be the person holding the flipping laser or the person it is pointed at..! And yes, by the time you see the van he has long since got a bead on you... Lasers are very good over long distances. I know the TomTom system (and I assume Road Angel) work on a database of locations. The neat things is that with connected devices like TomTom drivers can report new locations to the database. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dibby Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 Yep, they really are useless. Even with locations on maps, does anyone want to gamble with their licence and bomb about everywhere at 100mph, only slowing down when the map beeps? The best form of defence is keeping your speed down and using your own eyes. My feet tend to stab for the brake pedal as soon as I see one regardless of how much under the limit I'm going. Camera vans are downright dangerous and must have caused no end of rear-end shunts from people slamming the brakes on hard. And when you've gone past one, you know it's safe to put your foot down for the next 10 miles and enjoy the open road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John K Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 "And when you've gone past one, you know it's safe to put your foot down for the next 10 miles and enjoy the open road." Be careful with this... I've noticed vans doubling up to catch exactly this sort of thinking LOL... OK cards on the table. I don't speed. I live in a village so I am mindful to keep the noise down and not rattle the locals when I go through any place in the country. 50 mph is about the sensible limit in the XFlow with no doors or sidescreens so 50's 60's and 70's are academic to me. I had a nasty car on car / head on smash 3 1/2 years ago in the last (emphasis on the 'last') Ford Mundane that everybody walked away from but shouldn't have and that scared the bejeezus out of me The smash was one of the reasons for getting an older Westie - you feel like you are hitting warp speed and you aren't even off the driveway. So detectors and warnings are a bit off my radar (pls forgive the pun) But I also don't preach to those who do - unless they come through my village LOL... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhett Turner - Black Country AO Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 I've got a tomtom and a subscription to the www.pocketgpsworld.com camera database, which it very comprehensive. they also smart phone apps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dibby Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 you feel like you are hitting warp speed and you aren't even off the driveway. My local blat is up over Welsh valley roads (we call them mountain roads, but not real mountains), exposed, you can see for miles, but bumpy as hell and sheep can pop out of nowhere. In the daily driver, with all the traction control, ABS, stability control, power steering and isolation from the outside world, I could easily hit 100mph along these roads. But in the Westie, 60 feels faster than a ton in the daily driver. 60 is more than enough, last time I was overtaken by a builder razzing the balls of his truck, cutting every blind corner. But if he hits a sheep in a truck he stands a much better chance than me in the Westie, I just backed off, let him past and let him get on with it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparkymart Posted July 16, 2014 Author Share Posted July 16, 2014 Cheers guys looks like I will be just as well sticking to my TomTom and keeping it updated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyonspride Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 how does the laser detection work? i thought they were just a database of the locations and the ones that actively do the detection were those "garage door opener" aka jammer devices which are illegal? I looked into this a while back..... The laser is infra-red, it would be technically possible to fit infra-red LED's to your car and set them to emit a pulse that would confuse the laser speed traps. However, the wavelength they use is near impossible to get hold of (it's smack bang between the two most common types) and where you can get them, your looking at paying A LOT of money. An alternative is to emit such a strong infra-red signal at the same frequency as the camera's auto contrast refresh rate, this would effectively blind the camera (as long it's a night vision camera) and stop it collecting an image of your car, because the camera wouldn't be able to compensate quickly enough to get an image, it would be constantly changing it's contrast from maximum to minimum and never finding a suitable mid point. I rigged up a large infra-red spot light on my dash (ebay £20) and tested it versus the ANPR camera's at my local super market, the one's where you have to select the image of your car on the screen. It didn't see my car at all..... So you might thinking "wow that's great", but here's the catch..... Those stealth tax vans are manned and if something suspicious happens, your likely to have plod at your door within a few days, ready to strip your car to pieces. The same goes for VOSA vans and Police ANPR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dibby Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 I bet they're not that hard to get hold of if you know where to look on the net ... or the darknet through TOR. If you can easily buy guns, foreign brides and drugs over the net with a few bitcoins in your pocket, you can buy a laser jammer. But as you say, a jammed signal will attract a flag on your car as a suspicious vehicle and someone will be around to investigate before long. Sparkymart: Even TomTom is becoming outdated if you have an Android phone. I'm finding the live traffic updates from other phones in the area and voice recognition are outstripping TomTom lately, and it comes free with your phone.TomTom have taken their eye off the ball lately, as market leader they got complacent and in danger of becoming another Nokia to me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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