Friday, May 1, 2009

Principles of Traffic Radar Operation

While most people get the gist of what a radar gun is and what it does, it can be very helpful for many reasons if they understand the principal of traffic radar operations so that they know exactly what they are up against. The radar guns that are used are actually a Doppler radar which can help people tell how fast an object is going. While the gun does give the speed it will not give the location of the object, such as a car or any details of the vehicle. It works by a radar beam that is projected out when the gun is pointed at the vehicle.
There are basically 2 types of radars that are used with one being a hand held gun and then there is the kind that can be mounted. It is said that the radar gun was first around in 1954, being used for the first time in Chicago. Bryce K. Brown is the actual inventor. There are many people that purchase and use radar detectors so that they can tell if there is a law enforcement officer ahead of them with a radar gun. This is to help them avoid speeding tickets but keep in mind that many states have laws against using these radar detectors. In fact there are some police radars that have a detector on it to tell if a person is used a radar detector.
Radar guns are simple to understand as they are run by radio transmitters as well as receivers which send and receive signals. The signals that they send out are made to bounce off of the object they are pointed at and then return to the receiver with the information of what the speed is. The signal that is sent out is usually a radar beam and it helps to calculate the speed when the vehicle crosses the path of the beam. There are many types of radar guns out on the market today for instance they will come in either hand held, moving and even stationary models.
Two of the most common types used to traffic violators is the hand held which are battery powered and the mounted or stationary model which is fixed right to the dash of the police car. The mounted ones will either have one or two antennas and are used when the police car is parked. This allows them to sit in their car and track people as they go by. If they are equipped with a moving radar then the police officer can actually track the oncoming speed as well as your speed when you are driving away from him or her. This goes for cars both in front and behind the police car so it is important to watch your speed no matter which way you are driving.
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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mike_V_Cathey

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