Here is one-half of my Electronic Counter Measures System.
If you live in the Phoenix, Arizona area then you know about the speed cameras. They are usually referred to as Photo Radar but actually they employ piezoelectric sensors buried in the roadway and do a simple time-speed-distance calculation.
It’s not that I am a speed demon. For me at least, what happens is that I am going along with the flow of traffic, keeping a watchful eye out for hazards while rehearsing the points I need to make during the meeting at my destination, and ZAP!
Since the cameras don’t use radar, I needed something else. Some research on the Internet turned up several devices and the new Cheetah C100 looked like it would be the best choice. Cheetah has been around for a while, embedding the electronics in a rearview mirror. This new C100, about the size and shape of a pack of cigarettes is pretty new. Essentially, it is a GPS receiver. In it is a database of the locations of all speed cameras known to man.
It comes with a CD and a USB cable and can be updated over the Internet. Cheetah recommends updating the database once a month.
The C100 comes with some interesting features, some useful and others not-so-useful.
It can also warn you about the known locations that the mobile cameras like to use. Since they use actual radar, my ValentineOne should take care of those nicely and I turned that feature off.
It has a programmable ‘Overspeed Alert’, a speed at which it bitches at you no matter what. (It also knows the posted speed limit at each camera location and warns you if you are exceeding that speed.) What I would really like is this: We all know that the cameras around here will allow up to 10 mph over the limit so what I would really like is to have it sound the overspeed warning only when approaching a camera at least 10 mph above the posted limit. Alas, it can’t do that.
I also knows how to connect wirelessly to may popular radar detectors and verbally announce the radar warning. My V1 does an excellent job of that on its own.
It will tell you the time - big deal. It displays the direction of travel and your speed calculated from the GPS. Now you can know how fast you are really going. My speedometer appears to be about 1mph off.
Installation:
You can see that I ran the power cable down the side of the dash between the A pillar and the dash, stuffing it under the weatherstripping (The V1’s power cable is in there too). The C100 comes with a little rubber matt much like a thin version of a mousepad. I cut out a section of it the size of the C100 and siliconed it to the bottom of the unit.
How well does it work?
Perfectly. I’ve had it in the car for about a week, travelling the 101, I-17, and I-10. It has never missed a camera and always gives me plenty of warning. The C100 is smart enough to take my direction of travel into account so that when I am eastbound it won’t try to warn me about cameras designed to catch westbound traffic. (Some competors, I noted, don’t have this feature.)
June 8th, 2009 at 6:07 pm
Dave,
I am very interested in outfitting my car with 202 (Red Mountain) counter measures. But do I really need two detectors? Also about the Cheetah and the speed warnings.. if you can’t change the speed warning to 10 mph above it would be very annoying.
Bud
June 9th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
The Cheetah will tell you where the fixed cameras are. It will also warn you when approaching a location known to be frequented by mobile radar. You could get by with just the Cheetah, but it would not warn you when a random DPS unit is hiding behind a random bush.
And no, I can’t change the speed warning to 10mph above. The ‘Overspeed’ waring will ALWAYS sound when approaching a known speed camera location even if you are 1mph over the limit. and there is no way to turn than off.
June 12th, 2009 at 2:46 pm
Dave,
Cheetah C100 sounds pretty useful gadget. But is it direction sensitive?
In other words, if the camera is on eastbound lane and you are heading west, will your Cheetah still go off? I downloaded a Valley database with all speed traps and red light cameras and installed to Garmin. It’s even possible program what kind of alert you want to use etc. It works really well, but is unable to limit alerts for driving direction only. I think it’s why because it uses s.c. proximity alert, which is triggered by a set radius only.
Asked help from Garmin-no answer.
June 14th, 2009 at 1:17 pm
Jarmo: The Cheetah C100 IS direction sensitive. If I am eastbound it warns me about only the cameras targeting eastbound traffic.