One thing to keep in mind about K band is that many non-law enforcement radar sources operate in this frequency range, including automatic door openers and some blind spot monitoring systems on vehicles. This gives radar detector users less time to react (though modern radar detectors have largely neutralized this advantage). Since it operates on a higher frequency and with lower power output, K band radar is harder to detect at long distance than X band. In the law enforcement world, K band radar began to be adopted a couple decades ago as a higher-performance alternative to X band radar. Luckily for us, police K band radar operates strictly at 24.125 and 24.15ghz. K band radar is the chunk of radar frequency that stretches from 18ghz-27ghz. Check out the Radenso Pro M Radar Detector, with advanced Blind Spot Monitor (BSM) false alert filtering! False alerts on X band do exist, but they are rare compared to K band false alerts. X band radar guns require a larger antenna, X band is easy for radar detectors to pick up at long distance, and most of the X band radar guns that are still in service are bulky and frustrating to use. However, this advantage is outweighed by several significant cons. The main advantage of X band over K and KA band is that it is affected less by poor weather conditions. It does still exist, so we don’t recommend turning off X band in your settings – it is mostly found in rural areas, or in areas where police departments did not have adequate funding to upgrade to more modern radar guns. This is the oldest type of licensed police radar frequency, and is not widely used anymore. X band radar is defined as radar waves that fall between 8.0ghz and 12ghz, but law enforcement X band radar guns operate universally on 10.5ghz. If it picks something up, it will notify you so you can slow down with plenty of warning distance. Since we know that police radar uses these frequencies, your radar detector is always tuned into them and listening for signal. They are names for the frequencies that police radar (and sometimes false alerts) operate on. To use a simple analogy, X, K, and KA bands are essentially like the names of three of your favorite radio stations. In a very real way, your radar detector is basically a fancy radio receiver that is looking for the specific “frequencies” or “stations” that police radar operates on. Radar works the same way, just with waves that operate on a different frequency than AM or FM radio. If you tune your radio too low or too high, you won’t pick up any music – you have to have your radio looking for the right frequency. When you think of tuning into FM radio, you have many different stations that operate on many different frequencies while still being considered “FM.” Maybe your favorite station is 91.7, or maybe it’s 101.5 – either way, you are still listening to FM radio. You can think of radar waves just like any other type of radio waves – for example, when you tune in to your favorite radio station, you are tuning in to a specific frequency. Simply put, a radar wave is simply a form of electromagnetic radiation in between a certain set of frequencies. To understand the difference between radar bands, we first have to understand what a radar wave is. When you hear these alerts, it is generally best practice to slow down and visually scan for a law enforcement officer. When approaching a radar source, your radar detector will give you a voice alert that says one of three things: “X band,” “K band,” or “KA band.” Then, it will follow with a series of beeps that change in intensity to match the signal level of the threat. Nowadays, radar detectors have numerous settings to keep up with modern law enforcement technologies – and our Radenso detectors have over two hundred different voice alerts! We know that can seem like a lot to learn, but fear not – there are only a few critical alerts you really need to be familiar with, and they are probably the ones you have already heard several times. But let’s be honest – radar detectors have traditionally not been the most user-friendly devices. You’ve been driving with it for a while now, and maybe it’s even saved you a few times. So, you bought a radar detector – great! You’ve taken the first step towards more driving enjoyment and freedom.
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