no Audi content (read at your own risk)

[Psycho Bob <honge@creighton.edu>]

WARNING!
WARNING!
WARNING!

There's isn't any Audi-content in this post. You have been warned.

Anyhoo, sometime ago I posted about a little widget that is suppose to
trigger all the radar detectors in your county. Well, feeling little bit
facinated, I ordered it.

And I received it just today. So during around lunch time, I proceeded to
inspect it. The housing is a hacked garage opener (a la Radio Shack part).
A switch, LED, and "outboard connector" is screwed to the side. Popping
the whole stupid thing open, one finds a small IC board the size of front
panel of the said housing. The IC board has 4 SMT resistors, 1 unknown SMT
thingie, one PNP (or NPN), one variable resistor, and one little doodad
presumably the microwave trasmitter. The whole thing should cost less than
$15 at Radio Shack (yeah, I paid $70 for the whole bloody thing).

So how does it work, you say? The manual states it operates at 10.500GHz
-- or so it says. Running to me car and powering up the Escort Passport
something or other (model 4500) and proceeded to turn on the Bug Zapper
II. The Passport lighted up like Christmas tree with continous tone -- X
band (duh).

So does it really work, like, at a distance? I popped open the sunroof
enough so the Passport can be wedged there (damn short cords). Still with
the Bug Zapper on, I begin to walk away from the experiment setup.

The manual states, "it sends out a microwave signal strong enough to
activate most radar detectors up to 3/4 of a mile away..." Sadly, though,
the real world seems to be cruel to the Cop Zapper II. At around 20 paces,
the Passport-on-the-opening-of-sunroof is barely beeping (one beep about
every 2 or 3 seconds). And few more paces, the alert stops -- although I
can still see one LED glowing on the detector.

Verdict? A junk -- this baby needs serious power-up diet plan. Well, I'm
returning mine. A fun little gadget in practice, though. The idea of
getting Real Cop Jammer is intriguing, so is the lunch my growling stomach
is aching for. Wonder why does That Cop Jammer needs $1000 for parts? And
I also wonder, is it healthy to have a microwave transmission near you?
Hmmm...

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