In 1984, eight years after his Escort radar detector started busting fuzz, Mike Valentine—the radar fanatic behind the V1—was bought out and signed a non-compete agreement. He then founded Valentine Research and set off to design the G-Analyst, a device that measures lateral acceleration. His G-Analyst helped drivers gather data from their best efforts on the track—and revolutionized amateur suspension tuning practices. When the non-compete contract expired in 1992, he began work on a new radar detector—the Valentine One.
While other radar detectors share their design language with ski-boots, the V1 delivers old-world charm; it is a clunky bent slab of metal with a solitary knob on the end. The interface is simplicity itself; turning the knob and its collar powers the unit on and adjusts the main and auxiliary volume, depressing it during an alert puts the volume down to auxiliary, and holding it down cycles through the dectection modes – logic, weak logic, and “all threats.”
The V1 is made in Ohio out of magnesium. The magnesium case shields the temperature-resistant electronics from electromagnetic interference from other devices, allowing maximum sensitivity. Front and rear sensors make possible the ballyhooed arrows which inform drivers of threat locations.
The V1 picks the whole spectrum of threats—K, Ka, X, POP, Ku and Laser—and is very sensitive. Indeed, if you look at the independent tests car magazines occasionally conduct, there is never any question that the Valentine is vastly superior to its competitors (admittedly, the tests don’t include super-high end $1000+ detectors). And the “threat-count” indication is a must-have feature. If a convenience store triggers the unit each day, and the next day you see that the device is detecting two sources, you know there is a threat nearby.Mike Valentine has also elevated the science of interpreting radar warnings. The interactive stories on his V1 demo page (click the
button and then mouseover the red text - with your speakers on) are recommended reading even for veteran detector users.
My dad reckons his V1 has easily saved him its cost in tickets over the last few years, and it has saved him a fair amount of time on the road as well.
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