Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 (Tek) 9/28/84 based on 9/17/84; site tekig.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxt!houxm!mtuxo!mtunh!mtung!mtunf!ariel!vax135!cornell!uw-beaver!tektronix!tekig!johnr From: johnr@tekig.UUCP (John Rettig) Newsgroups: net.auto Subject: Re: (A Sermon on) Radar Surveillance Message-ID: <2689@tekig.UUCP> Date: Mon, 19-Aug-85 00:02:14 EDT Article-I.D.: tekig.2689 Posted: Mon Aug 19 00:02:14 1985 Date-Received: Sat, 17-Aug-85 13:44:18 EDT References: <2493@pegasus.UUCP> <1456@peora.UUCP> Organization: Tektronix, Beaverton OR Lines: 45 > ... It seems to me that laws like this make the police > look foolish, since they are nearly unenforceable. How would > they show probable cause for searching your car for a radar > detector, or even pulling you over? The technology is there. Simply look for the local oscillator leakage that all superheterodyne units emit (albeit within FCC compliance "as of the date of manufacture". Most good detectors, for example, have what is referred to as a "Radio Shack filter"; this is special circuitry to recognize the (excessive) leakage in the Radio Shack unit, which tends to trigger false alarms in other units, for example. It would not be difficult to turn such technology to other uses such as the author suggests, though I must admit I am not qualified to comment on the legal aspects. > ... How much time should the > police spend looking for illegal radar detectors? A more appropriate question is "How much time * will * the police spend ...?" Speed traps are a major source of revenue for many small to medium municipalities or counties throughout the U.S., and radar detectors are one of the most effective means of avoiding citations. Given the legal basis for detection, confiscation, and arrest, I have no doubt that a significant effort would (at least initially) be used for exactly this. > ... How would > they prove that a device was for detecting radar and not the > leakage from your microwave oven for instance? With the exception of some motor homes (which in my prejudiced viewpoint couldn't get a speeding ticket if you dropped them out of a C5-A), cars don't carry operating microwave ovens. More seriously, if an operating detector * was * sensed, an officer could probably get a search warrant and look through your car. If operation only was illegal, it might be a stickler to prove you * were * using it, however if posession as well were illegal, you've had it.