Quote:
Originally Posted by Reliable1
What is a JBV1 of you don’t mind my asking?
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Mike Valentine (whom left Escort a couple of decades ago) does not believe in GPS based lockouts for radar signals detected as he feels the driver should be notified at all times given a police officer could be stationed near those false signals, e.g., radar based speed warning signs and catch you with your pants down. However, he does believe in a fully open API and publishes the specs on Github for 3rd party developers to utilize.
JBV1 is an Android based app that connects to a Valentine 1 via Bluetooth. In the Gen1 that was done via a separate Bluetooth module Valentine sold due to the Escort Patent for built-in Bluetooth. For the Gen2 given that patent has expired it is done via built-in Bluetooth in the detector itself.
The app is amazing and with it you get an additional set of eyes given it pulls in crowd sourcing events via the Waze API so you get alerted of law enforcement sightings, traffic jams, accidents, etc. without the need to run Waze. It will also auto-learn static radar signals from speed warning signs, radar pollution from shopping centers automatic doors, etc. Drive 3 times by any radar signal that is static and it will be automatically muted from that point on.
The app also utilizes a crowd sourced database for the nationwide deployment of red light and combo cameras (red light and speed detection) so the app will notify you of their existence a mile away from approach as it also runs a full Google maps based location service. Given that it knows the published speed limit for the road you are on you can leverage that in your "silent drive" settings, i.e., for me I have that for +8 MPH over the PSL. In other words law enforcement in my area will not stop you for that amount of excess speed so regardless of the radar signals detected the V1 will alert on them but JBV1 auto mutes the detector within a second.
You can also set custom "marks" for potholes which I use for my commute to work so in case I'm not paying attention the app will alert me they are coming up. The last thing I want is tire or wheel damage from some of the ridiculous potholes plaguing various surface streets in my area (I drive through Scottsdale and Phoenix with the latter way behind in street maintenance) so this helps tremendously in that goal.
There are many features I've never even used, i.e., a weather radar map you can overlay to help you navigate around heavy rainstorms on a cross country road trip. The power users whom drive through several states or counties have profiles set for each one according to the radar usage. Basically if you set the V1 to only detect valid radar frequencies vs the broad spectrum it extends the range of detection given it can "sweep" those defined ranges faster than having to go through all frequencies. The app will auto push those profiles to the detector as you cross geographical boundaries given the Google maps location.
For those with iOS apparently the V1 Driver app covers most of the features but JBV1 is the most feature rich application for Valentine detectors. Escort and Radenso have some of the same features built into their detectors. Escort will do the GPS based auto lockouts via learning as well, alert for red light and combo cameras, etc. but you have to pay for a monthly subscription to those services and ultimately their detectors do not have the extended range of detection in comparison to a Valentine.