To test false alert suppression we chose a two mile section of I-10 in downtown El Paso known for high false alerts. We have used this false alert course for over ten years. The course is heavily saturated with individual X and K band false alerts coming from shopping centers, convenience stores, and burglar alarms from many businesses. Ten different false alert locations were identified running the course with old and new radar detectors the night before the false alert test. We used a turn around to give a false alert total on the course of twenty possible individual false alert locations going both ways.
      Each detector was first placed in the highway mode. City filter settings of detectors reduces the sensitivity to X band. The Valentine One was set in the “A” mode for “all bogies.” Other detectors were then placed in the city filter position and then if so equipped in the No X and No K modes. The Valentine One was placed in “l” and “L” modes on subsequent runs. The Valentine One manual states; “In the Advanced-Logic (large L) , X-band bogeys that the computer has reason to believe aren’t radar will not be reported at all. To be fail safe, the computer will always pass extremely strong signals along for your judgment. This mode is particularly useful in metro areas.” The Valentine One is the only available dash mount radar detector with both front and rear facing radar antennas. It is the only one with directional arrows pointing to the direction of the radar gun. This arrow feature is extremely accurate and beneficial on non-false alert polluted roads like interstates. During our complete testing we used three Valentine One detectors with the following serial numbers: 3302040846, 4655130797, and 9184290895. This last serial number was used during our false alert test. Police officers accompanied all test vehicles and observed and recorded the number of false alerts of each detector in each setting. We wanted to see if the city filter reduced X band false alerts and if the No X and No K setting eliminated X and K band false alerts. We had seen the 9500i eliminated false alerts during our retail testing after they were identified and located by the on-board GPS system. We wanted to re-check the GPS eliminating false alerts in the metropolitan setting. Clearly GPS eliminated false alerts!

Detector	Run #1 Highway (A)	Run #2 City (L)	Run #3 No X (l)	Run #4 No K	Run #5 No X, No K	GPS
Valentine One	X, X, K, K, K, K	X, X, X, X,  K, K, K, K	X (4), K (6)
Whistler Pro 78	X, X, K, K, K	X, X	K, K	X, X	0
Whistler 690	X, X	Ka, X, X	K	X, X	Ka
Escort 9500i	X, K	0	0	0	0	0
Beltronics STi	X, X, X, X, X, X, X, K	X, X, X, X	0	0	0
Cobra XRS R9G*	X, X, X, X, Ka, Ka, Ka	Ka	Ka	0	0
Cheetah/X50**	X, X, X, X, X	0	0	X, X	0
Q3 RH SM***	X, X, X	0
Q3 RH SB3***	X, X, X, X, X, X, Ka (4)	Ka, Ka	Ka, Ka	Ka, Ka
Q3 RH SE***	X (13)	0	X, X	0

* Cobra has three levels of Audio Alert suppression called IntelliShield®. All are controlled by the detector’s remote control. In City X mode when the detector sees a X band signal a single beep is heard and remaining beeps are silenced. The X band alert is heard again when the signal strength reaches level 3. In City X+K both X and K alerts are delayed until the signal strength reaches level 2 on the detector. In City X Beep Off mode the Cobra blocks all X band alerts until it reaches signal strength 3. **The Cheetah was interfaced with an Escort X50 radar detector. If you input a specific speed as was the case with Run#2 where the speed limit was set at 65 mph, Cheetah eliminates all false alerts. In Run #3, No X and Run #4, No K the detector was told not to report X or K band alerts. ***Both the Q3 RH SM and Q3 RH SB3 have No X setting only resulting in their performance in Run #3 No X. The Q3 RH SE reported thirteen (13) X band false alerts in Run #1 and Q3 RH SB3 reported four (4) Ka false alerts along with six X band false alerts. The Valentine One reported four (4) X band false alerts and six (6) K band false alerts in the small “l” mode in Run #3. Valentine One’s Bogey counter showed 5 X band bogies, i.e. five radar guns or sources and 4 K band radar guns or sources in Run #1 in its All Bogey® “A” mode. In the large “L” mode it showed three bogies on K band. Valentine One can be set in No X and No K with requested factory settings.