The early 1990’s saw Safety Radar© introduced making radar detectors safety devices by warning drivers of road conditions, travel information, emergency vehicles, trains, and weather events, etc. SWS (Safety Warning System) touted some 64 messages while SA (Safety Alert) gave three. Both systems transmitted a modified K band signal at 24.100 GHz +/-100 MHz. The two formats are not interchangeable meaning some detectors will alert drivers with voice or an alarm to the SWS messages while others report it as K band. The is also true of Safety Alert. All detector makers make mention of either SWS or SA on their packaging and in their owner’s manual. Thousands of these transmitters are on our roads. The first published mention of Safety Radar© and such transmitters was made by SML in the November 1998 issue of Emergency Medical Services: The Journal Of Emergency Care, Rescue, And Transportation, Volume 27, pages 43-44, in the article Warn Them With Radar.
Many of these SafetyRadar© transmitters have been placed on ambulances, school busses, in work zones, or used as drones by departments of transportation and police agencies. SafetyRadar© transmitters are not alone here. Radar gun makers also make drones being Kustom Signals Inc. DRU series, Decatur Electronics SI-1, SI-2, SI-3, and Stalker Radar with their SpeedSensor. Drones transmit with at K band at 24.150 GHz or Ka Band at 34.7 GHz signal. There is one drone available on X Band at 10.525 GHz.
Vehicles with radar detectors were placed at a 1,000 feet cone from the SA and SWS transmitters. Transmitters were mounted on top of the light bar. We had wired the transmitters to transmit specific messages. SWS transmitted “Emergency Vehicle Ahead” while SA transmitted “Road Hazard Ahead.” Each transmitter was wired to a toggle on/off switch and triggered on for some ten seconds. Each detector was given two tries on each transmitter. All correctly identified and reported the transmission of the SWS and SA transmitters. Those stating they received SWS transmissions correctly reported it as “Emergency Vehicle Ahead” while reporting SA transmissions as K band. Those claiming to receive SA transmissions, correctly reported “Road Hazard Ahead” while reporting SWS transmissions at K band. The Valentine One detector makes no claims to receive SafetyRadar© signals and reported both as K band. Police officers observed, recorded, and triggered the SafetyRadar© transmitters.
