Having just purchased a fairly quick car, reading some of the older posts on here suggests a radar detector is both legal and useful for monitoring the boys in blue and their toys.

Can anyone recommend a good brand/model? most of the (english) info on the internet is over three years old.

cheers

tim

I'm not up on what band(s) japanese police are using now. If they've got laser, you're pretty much shit out of luck because if it goes off, it's because they just nailed you. But for KA, K, Ku or X bands, the Valentine 1 is still regarded as the industry standard. Having the arrows to show the location of the radar and the number to tell you how many cops are there gives this detector an advantage. I use one in California and Oregon and it's saved me a few times.

http://www.valentine1.com/

hairygateau wrote:Having just purchased a fairly quick car

What'd you buy?

hairygateau wrote:reading some of the older posts on here suggests a radar detector is both legal and useful for monitoring the boys in blue and their toys.

Yes, this is a good idea. It's first important to understand a bit more about how the cops here work so you know what you're up against.

First, speed traps here aren't the same as I was up against in Canada. I've never seen a cop hiding behind a sign here with an instant-on gun waiting to pick off motorists. I'm not sure that it never happens but in 15 years in Osaka I've not seen it.

So how do they do it? What I have seen is that the cops will set up a radar system on the side of a busy road with one cop sitting there to monitor it. Said cop has a radio and in my experience the radar is "on" constantly, not a system where he is picking off cars. When he sees a car speeding he radios the details to a bunch of cops standing further down the road who will flag you down and give you a ticket.

The result of this is that cops tend to use the same spots over and over for their speed "traps" because only certain roads lend themselves to this sort of setup. Most roads don't have enough space for multiple cars to pull over and for the cops to set up their ticket writing tables etc. Another result is that I have never seen a speed trap set up on a rainy day. Never seen one at night either come to think of it.

Recently I have seen some patrol cars with radar systems mounted on top of them under the light bar. I am not sure if these are constantly on or if they have started to use more instant-on systems. It still isn't easy for them to hide places and pick off motorists without being seen though, there just aren't many places in urban Japan that they could do that.

Next up are speed cameras. Speed cameras here are fixed in place, mounted on metal poles either beside or over roads. I suppose there may be mobile speed cameras but again this is something I have never seen (or heard of). I suppose it could come eventually... These fixed speed cameras use a couple of different methods to check your speed. Some use radar so you can tell if they are on or off (they don't leave them on all the time). Some don't though, they use sensors in the road to determine your speed. There is NO WAY to find these with a standard radar detector, and there is NO WAY to determine if they are operating or not (well, you could blow by them at high speed and watch for the flash, but...)

So what works for these non-detectable cameras? GPS. The good detectors all have databases in them with all the camera locations in Japan. They have a GPS receiver and will warn you as you approach a camera and tell you what type it is. The best detectors will know automatically if you are on the highway or not and only warn you about cameras that are on the type of road you are currently driving on.

The best detectors will also warn you when you're coming into an area where cops often run speed traps. Usually you can turn these sorts of warnings on and off so once you know where you are more likely to find a speed trap you can turn the feature off. My detector has multiple setup options so I can change its mode and it will tell me different sorts of things. I have a "local" mode that just warns me about radar. I have a "drive local" mode that warns me about cameras and radar, and a "drive" mode that warns me about cameras, radar, and speed trap areas and also tells me when the speed limit changes on the kousoku. There's also an "all on" mode that talks non-stop and about all sorts of shit (parking etc) that I really have no need to know about.

hairygateau wrote:Can anyone recommend a good brand/model? most of the (english) info on the internet is over three years old.

Whatever you buy it will be Japanese-only so you'll need to have someone help you figure out what the hell it's telling you at first (the warnings are verbal). You really do get what you pay for. The cheap models will false CONSTANTLY in the city so they aren't really worth buying. They'll drive you nuts and you'll ignore them which defeats the reason for buying one. Mine was about 40,000 I think and is a two-piece unit with the largish TFT display on the right side of the dash and the sensor placed in the middle. It's all hardwired into the car so there are no wires running around or getting in the way. It almost never falses and gives great information. It also has an option where I can pay a bit per month and get updates to the camera database over the Internet. I've not bothered with this as at least in Kansai they don't seem to be putting up much in the way of new cameras but if you drive on newer roads where cameras may still be added then it would be a good feature. (I can't remember the exact make or model that I have but if you're interested I'll go look.)


Finally, there is one other thing you need to be careful of, especially on the kousoku but to a lesser extent on local roads too. Cops often pace you here (or come up behind you and then hit you with a jolt of radar to get your speed). There are a LOT of ghost cars on the highways and they're getting a bit better about not standing out. The latest ones are large Toyota Crowns (black, white, silver are the colors I have seen so far). They have nice wheels, no obviously "wrong" antennas, and the back windows are tinted totally black. They look more like a yakuza car than a cop car. You really have to watch out for these as there is nothing a detector can do to help.

Thanks for the very detailed explanation. To answer your first question, have just purchased a Porsche 993 after a few months of looking.

I have been looking at a couple of Yupiteru detectors in Bic Camera - but one of my colleagues at work thought that a big auto-store (big yellow?) would have better selection. No big problem with japanese language warnings, I'm sure it only takes a few runs with a japanese co-driver to learn the important warnings. What make/model is the one you use?

Seriously though, I am no speed-demon; just I find the speed limits on open roads/expressway far too low, and the police unwilling to apply common-sense judging by anecdotes from friends and earlier postings on here.

hairygateau wrote:Thanks for the very detailed explanation. To answer your first question, have just purchased a Porsche 993 after a few months of looking.

Nice! I used to know a guy in Tokyo with a '98 993 Turbo. Fast car but he never really drove it that way.

hairygateau wrote:I have been looking at a couple of Yupiteru detectors in Bic Camera - but one of my colleagues at work thought that a big auto-store (big yellow?) would have better selection.

Yellow Hat or Autobacs probably have the best selections that you can go in and look at. They also have installation departments if you don't want to wire everything in yourself.

hairygateau wrote:No big problem with japanese language warnings, I'm sure it only takes a few runs with a japanese co-driver to learn the important warnings.

If you speak some Japanese now then you won't have any problems. If you don't speak any then it might take a bit of listening practice as they tend to speak in full sentences and with background alerts going off as well. The displays also show you basically what is coming up but if you're driving fast spending time to decipher a small TFT probably isn't the safest thing to be doing. ]What make/model is the one you use?[/quote]
I went and had a look and it's a Yupiteru Super Cat CR920si. It's about two years old now so of course has been replaced with new and better versions. I checked their web site and if I was buying one now I'd probably end up with an FM414si.

[quote="hairygateau"]Seriously though, I am no speed-demon]
The highway cameras in Osaka don't seem to go off until you are well over the speed limit. Passing them in a 60km/hr zone at 100km/hr doesn't set them off anyway. 140 would though, I have no doubt. The limits are very low though and this results in some serious fines (and suspension sometimes too) if you do get caught. Getting nailed for doing 160km/hr on a stretch of road with a limit of 80 will cause you serious, serious problems.

I mentioned Toyota Crown ghost cars before. They also use Skylines so that's another car to watch out for. You need to keep track of who you are passing and keep a regular watch in your mirror to see what's coming up behind you. If they get too close you're busted so it does pay to be aware.

FG Lurker wrote:
Finally, there is one other thing you need to be careful of, especially on the kousoku but to a lesser extent on local roads too. Cops often pace you here (or come up behind you and then hit you with a jolt of radar to get your speed). There are a LOT of ghost cars on the highways and they're getting a bit better about not standing out. The latest ones are large Toyota Crowns (black, white, silver are the colors I have seen so far). They have nice wheels, no obviously "wrong" antennas, and the back windows are tinted totally black. They look more like a yakuza car than a cop car. You really have to watch out for these as there is nothing a detector can do to help.

Saw a Legacy Wagon fukumen the other day...so not just sedans anymore either.

The fixed cameras seem pretty lenient too...never had one go off even at 110....I remember someone saying they were set to 120+. No guarantees though

Ketou wrote:Saw a Legacy Wagon fukumen the other day...so not just sedans anymore either.

Daaaaamn. Haven't seen one of those before. Any further details to share?

I'm sure it's the same system as the 'fixed' cameras mentioned above; but have heard of a system in tokyo where your number plate is scanned on entry and recognised on exit over a stretch of say, 1km. The elapsed time is used to work out your speed. Fairly hard to detect without GPS and a system of keitai based updates I would imagine.

Thanks again for your answers... FGL / Ketou, what are you driving?

hairygateau wrote:I'm sure it's the same system as the 'fixed' cameras mentioned above]
I figured these sorts of systems would come eventually but I haven't heard of them in Kansai yet.

hairygateau wrote:FGL / Ketou, what are you driving?

Nothing as exciting as a 993. I have a Legacy B4 spec.b. I bought it new in August '07 and put in various goodies like leather, good audio, and a sunroof. It's a good compromise for my needs at the moment.

Which 993 model did you buy?

I suppose radar detection is a nice gadget to have with you, but does anyone know about radar jamming? I am sure it's illegal to have but has anyone seen one before?

IkemenTommy wrote:I suppose radar detection is a nice gadget to have with you, but does anyone know about radar jamming? I am sure it's illegal to have but has anyone seen one before?

I've never seen a jammer on sale here but I imagine you can get them if you know where to look.

Radar jamming isn't really an effective thing to use in Japan as all the new cameras that are being installed use in-road sensors to calculate speed, not radar. Radar detection + GPS with a database of camera locations is the only workable solution here.

FGL - 1994 silver 993 Carrera. Tip-tronic rather than manual (i am a city driver). Was looking for an 'S' model but asking prices are very high; and times are not hard enough for negotiation.

I was very suprised about the amount of good condition cars here with very low mileage (compared to the UK where I am from). There is a huge air-cooled porsche otaku culture here, with very deep pockets. I hope that it's still present when I come to re-sell!

hairygateau wrote:FGL - 1994 silver 993 Carrera. Tip-tronic rather than manual (i am a city driver). Was looking for an 'S' model but asking prices are very high]
Cool. I hope you get out of the city from time to time and actually enjoy the car! This year was supposed to be the year I bought myself something similar but it is going to have to wait 'til next year I think.

hairygateau wrote:I was very suprised about the amount of good condition cars here with very low mileage (compared to the UK where I am from). There is a huge air-cooled porsche otaku culture here, with very deep pockets. I hope that it's still present when I come to re-sell!

I don't think the air-cooled Porsche fans will disappear anytime soon.

If you are going to put a navigation system into it I highly recommend the Pioneer Carrozzeria series. Far and away the best. The Fujitsu Eclipse is probably next down. I hear the Alpine ones are supposed to be good but I have not used one myself. Whatever you do, avoid Panasonic navigation systems like the plague if you value your sanity.

FG Lurker wrote:If you are going to put a navigation system into it I highly recommend the Pioneer Carrozzeria series. Far and away the best. The Fujitsu Eclipse is probably next down. I hear the Alpine ones are supposed to be good but I have not used one myself. Whatever you do, avoid Panasonic ...

You might get annoyed to hear oddly-pitched Chicago English in some Alpine navigation systems.
The built-in Alpine navi systems that provide engRish voice prompts (Benz and maybe Porsche) feature my digitized voice as the male voice option, muhahahahaha.

Interesting about the Alpine voice Taro! I'll have to give it a listen sometime if I find myself in such a car.

If I had the cash available (and was going to stick with having just one car) I think I'd buy one of these.

Taro Toporific wrote:You might get annoyed to hear oddly-pitched Chicago English in some Alpine navigation systems.
The built-in Alpine navi systems that provide engRish voice prompts (Benz and maybe Porsche) feature my digitized voice as the male voice option, muhahahahaha.

On a vaguely related topic, on TomTom GPS devices, you can now get Homer Simpson's voice giving you direction, although I would suspect that it might get old real fast.

http://www.tomtom.com/page/simpsons