Trains, A roadside hazard ????

[chad thomas]

...Or so it would seem.

I bought a new radar detector last week and I just got around to reading the instructions today. I was suprised to find that there is an alert for trains. The manual says you can get a roadside hazard alert (like the signal for emergency vehicles, highway construction, ect.). 

Does anyone know about this? The instructions don't explain with any detail. I would assume that for the stated purpose there must be a 24 GHz beacon in some units.

It would be cool if the radar detector could give early warning of an approaching train (Like the traction controll system in the GP60s 

[Murphy Siding]

     That sounds like something on the railfan wish list.  Do you want it to tell you what type of locomotives are on the train too?

[erikem]

If I recall correctly, the Super Series adhesion control uses radar to measure actual track speed and uses that to determine wheel slip. Since maximum adhesion occurs with just a slight amount of slip, knowing the exact track speed is vital in maintaining adhesion.

[RABEL]

The  "alert" refers to rail crossing signals. I  have yet to recieve alerts from anything concerning the feature in seven years.

[chad thomas]

     That sounds like something on the railfan wish list.  Do you want it to tell you what type of locomotives are on the train too?

 

You bet...Speed, direction and axle count would be nice too.

 

Erik, Whatever type traction controll system (ex) SP & SSW GP60s have uses a radar for a true speed referance. I don't recall any other locomotives setting off a radar detector, but I suppose there are others out there.

 

Rabel, So it is suppose to be for railroad crossings? Mabee it's just me....but.... if you need a warning from your radar detector to remind you to watch for trains at RR crossings...well...mabee you shouldn't be driveing 

[RABEL]

Rabel, So it is suppose to be for railroad crossings? Mabee it's just me....but.... if you need a warning from your radar detector to remind you to watch for trains at RR crossings...well...mabee you shouldn't be driveing 

That's what it's for,a warning. Train approaching a crossing,not unlike the flashing lights.

Why would anyone think the general population would be interested in any other location of a Train? The Transmiters are supposedly at crossings not on the  Locomotives. Personaly I believe it's a foolish Marketing feature as it's use is non existent for the most part in any mode.

[Randy Stahl]

Any EMD super series locomotive emits radar waves, I do not see why a radar detector would not pick them up .

[RABEL]

Any EMD super series locomotive emits radar waves, I do not see why a radar detector would not pick them up .

The Detectors are designed to recieve specific bands(frequencies) of radio waves. Others are

rejected/blocked internally.

[erikem]

Any EMD super series locomotive emits radar waves, I do not see why a radar detector would not pick them up .

The Detectors are designed to recieve specific bands(frequencies) of radio waves. Others are

rejected/blocked internally.

It is possible that the radar used on the Super Series is running in one of the frequency bands used by police radars. That would allow use of components developed for police radar which would reduce system cost. 

[chad thomas]

Any EMD super series locomotive emits radar waves, I do not see why a radar detector would not pick them up .

The Detectors are designed to recieve specific bands(frequencies) of radio waves. Others are

rejected/blocked internally.

It is possible that the radar used on the Super Series is running in one of the frequency bands used by police radars. That would allow use of components developed for police radar which would reduce system cost. 

 

The SS traction controll system uses X band radar. There are only a few spots on the spectrum for radar (X, K, Ka and soon Ku bands) all the rest of that part of the spectrum is used by various land to land and satellite uplink / downlink microwave signals (TV, Radio, Data, telecom, ect.) 

[wabash1]

mine goes off telling train near by when the radio tranmission is close and strong. only had the detector gooff with this stament 2 times

[CNW 6000]

I have a train detector in my truck: me.  When I approach a crossing if I see a train coming, I stop. 

The 'hazard' alert would be useful for blind curves with a crossing or poorly lit ones.

[erikem]

The SS traction controll system uses X band radar. There are only a few spots on the spectrum for radar (X, K, Ka and soon Ku bands) all the rest of that part of the spectrum is used by various land to land and satellite uplink / downlink microwave signals (TV, Radio, Data, telecom, ect.) 

I'd be surprised if a radar detector didn't alarm on picking up an X-band signal (10.5 GHz). Also made sense to for EMD to use existing hardware instead of re-inventening the wheel (minimal development cost and benefits from larger production runs).

For quite a number of years, Microwave Associates (later M/A-Com) sold  X-Band Gunnplexer assemblies  for use in the 10 GHz amateur radio band. These could easily be made into a doppler radar for speed measurement by the addition of an audio frequency counter.

[inch53]

A little off subject, but many farm tractor, fertilizer spreaders, and chemical spray rigs use radar, to get true ground speed.

So, your detector may pick them up to.

[rrnut282]

Rabel, So it is suppose to be for railroad crossings? Mabee it's just me....but.... if you need a warning from your radar detector to remind you to watch for trains at RR crossings...well...mabee you shouldn't be driveing 

You're worried about his driving, if he needs a detector to tell him there is a train at the crossing, I'm worried why he is on this forum.