Tested: Six Laser Jammers

(See our latest 2005 laser jammer test and learn how the newest jammers fare against both U.S. and European laser guns like the Jenoptic Laser Patrol and the Laveg.)

Count yourself lucky that the speed laser is more expensive and tougher to use than a radar gun. For if police used lidar (Light Detection And Ranging) technology as widely as they now use radar (there are about 100,000 radar units in the U.S. versus perhaps 15,000 lasers), the number of tickets issued each year would likely make a steep spike upward.

The laser is a major headache for any speeder targeted by its invisible light because the laser's tightly concentrated beam--it's barely more than three feet across at 1,000 feet--can pick out just about any target it chooses. (In comparison an X-band radar's microwave beam can be up to 250 feet wide at the same distance, making target identification difficult.)

Even the best detector is hard-pressed to spot a laser beam unless hit nearly dead-on. Our past tests for Automobile Magazine, Car Audio & Electronics, BMW Roundel, Corvette Fever and other national magazines prove conclusively that many detectors, regardless of price, offer no protection at all against lasers. Using a variety of target vehicles and varying target range from 2,000 feet down to as little as 200 feet, we found that when the laser operator took a bead on the front license plate--the favored point of aim for most officers--many detectors were unable to spot the beam at all when target range was 1,000 feet or less.

But while difficult to detect, the police laser can be very susceptible to interference. For example, most early lasers got confused if the target car's high-beam headlights were on, cutting effective range. For this reason a motorcycle was an extremely difficult target with its lack of vertical, reflective metallic surfaces and its continuously-on headlight which, ironically, would also be the best aiming point were it not already bombarding the laser with its own light waves. Unfortunately, the latest lasers are so good that even a motorcycle is fair game today, headlight or no.

There are over two dozen gadgets on the market that claim to foil lasers. They fall into three categories: license plate covers, passive jammers and active jammers. License plate covers are sheets of plastic, some of them clear, some tinted, and mounted over the plate. They're claimed to absorb and attenuate enough of the laser beam to chop target range. We have yet to see one that works.

Passive laser jammers like those sold by Rocky Mountain Radar are claimed to jam lasers by mixing so-called "white noise" with an incoming laser beam and reflecting it back at the laser, so confusing it that no speed is displayed. Our tests have proved that none of them works.

An active jammer transmits a powerful infrared light beam at the correct 904-nanometer frequency, hoping to make the laser unable to pick out its own return signal from the clutter.

So do these laser countermeasures actually work? To find out we gathered up six laser jammers for a full test. Then we spent a week testing them at our remote field-evaluation site 30 miles northeast of Denver.

(See our test of the latest laser jammer models at New Laser Jammers Tested)

They were mounted on a 2003 Chevrolet Suburban, chosen because its vast frontal area makes it an excellent target and the greater separation between the front plate and headlights makes it tougher for the jammer to provide total coverage.

With one jammer at a time powered-up, the Chevy was driven to a staging area 1,250 feet away. The lasers were placed on the opposite side of the two-lane county road, a position chosen to induce a three-degree angle to the vehicle's direction of travel. This also would complicate the jammers' mission since most of them concentrate the bulk of their light directly to the front. One laser at a time was used after being tripod-mounted to reduce the effect of operator shake and make the test regimen more uniform.

With the Suburban driven at a constant 10 mph toward the laser (past tests have proven that target speed has zero effect on jammer performance), we noted whether the jammer could reduce target-capture range from 1,000 feet to 450 feet, our threshold. This would give the driver fully 550 feet to notice the laser attack; in our opinion, anyone too dull-witted to react in that amount of time would deserve to suffer the consequences.
In all, it took us six man-days to run this test. With the results presented alphabetically, here's what we found:

BEL LaserPro 904 ($349.95 suggested retail)

The BEL LaserPro 904 is a four-piece unit: a cockpit-mounted display/control module linked to a pair of front laser transceivers and one for the rear. Installation was straightforward, aided by the use of snap-in connections and clear directions. The biggest challenge was to find a suitable mounting location for the twin front transceivers, a similar situation to what we found in the Blinder and Escort units. Although for the test we rigged temporary mounts using Velcro to avoid having to drill holes in our GM-owned press vehicle, for permanent installation we'd suggest positioning the units far enough back to keep them safe from both impact damage and prying eyes. And it's important to keep each unit as close as possible to the halfway point of an imaginary line drawn between front plate and headlight, providing equal protection for each.

The rear transceiver was a cinch to mount since it employs the license plate retaining screws. Once mounted, we aimed all of them parallel to the vehicle centerline and used the supplied bubble level to get them level with the ground. Like the Escort, the BEL had only two bare wires to be connected, one each to power and ground, making it one of the simplest to get hooked up.

A nice touch with the BEL is its diagnostics (also to be found in the Escort ZR3), tell-tale audio and visual alerts that warn of malfunctioning or improperly connected transceivers. In contrast, we struggled for nearly an hour to isolate a connection problem with the Lidatek jammer and a similar amount of time to troubleshoot a faulty ground connection with the Blinder M-10 Twin.

The LaserPro 904's visual alerts were easy to interpret and its piercing audio alerts impossible to miss, even in a noisy vehicle. Once powered-up, we found the BEL to be highly effective in jamming four of the five lasers, sometimes down to as little as 60 feet. The exception, the Stalker, was jammed down to 537 feet, still a remarkably consistent performance. For the price, we've never seen a more effective laser jammer than the BEL Laser Pro 904.

Blinder M-10 Twin ($300)

Like the BEL and Escort jammers, the Blinder M-10 uses two transceiver modules and, like the others, intends for one to be mounted midway between front license plate and headlight on each side, a scheme intended to provide coverage to both of these preferred aiming points.

Cockpit controls are basic, just a miniature on/off rocker switch and a piezo warning buzzer. There's no status LED; you'll have to take it on faith that the unit is powered-up and ready for action. When a laser beam is detected it shrills an alert and transmits a jamming signal until the threat disappears.

We found the Blinder M-10 to be constructed of good-quality materials and the transmitters are accompanied by a generous assortment of brackets and other hardware. Installation directions are adequate but it's up to the buyer to figure out how to get everything mounted on the vehicle, not to mention getting several yards of wiring and a handful of connectors correctly linked. For this reason we'd say installation is best left to an experienced technician.

The Blinder M-10 Twin jammed three of our five laser guns acceptably well but failed entirely to jam the Laser Atlanta gun and it could reduce the LTI Ultralyte LR's range by only 35 feet. Both of these guns had the latest anti-jamming software and it appears that Blinder may be a bit behind the technology curve. Until they catch up, we'd advise taking a pass on this model.

Escort Shifter ZR3 ($449.95 suggested retail)

Escort doesn't use the J word, choosing instead to diplomatically christen their jammer a "shifter". Terminology aside, we found it to be a tie with the BEL LaserPro 904 for user-friendly operation and ease of installation. Like the BEL, its twin front and single rear transceivers simply plug in to a junction box whose two wires attach to power and ground. The bulk of the installation time, as in the BEL and Blinder, is consumed by mounting the transceivers. Figure on a couple of hours for a proper job although it doesn't take a graduate engineer to get it done.

The Escort Shifter ZR3 uses the control/display module, sans a few features, from their high-end remote detectors and we found it to be the class of the field. Audio alert volume can quickly be adjusted using the simple thumbwheel control that also is used for power on/off chores. Better yet, the ZR3 can be linked to Escort's superb Passport 8500 detector using one thin cord with telephone-style connectors at each end. Once coupled together, the 8500's text display will spell out warnings of laser attacks and also tell you when it's doing its laser-shifting routine. Of the units tested, we found this to be by far the most elegant way of conveying information.

The ZR3 proved to be quite adept at confusing lasers, achieving a remarkable 99 percent efficiency rating against the five guns. In fact, had it not missed our 450-foot threshold by a scant two feet against the LTI Ultralyte LR gun, it would have scored a perfect 100 percent, the best jamming ability we've ever witnessed. If you want better protection against lasers, most likely you'll have to buy a judge.

K40 Defuser Plus ($299.95)

Unique by virtue of having its transceiver module integrated with a license plate frame, the K40's exterior hardware is fairly simple to install: Just bolt it on over the front license plate holes. If the vehicle's bumper is tapered, as was our Suburban's, you'll need to shim the bottom of the plate frame to keep it vertical. If remote mounting is desired, the transceiver can be removed from the plate frame.

With transceiver installed, the next challenge is to find mounting locations inside for the piezo speaker and red LED. Like some of the other units this is accomplished with butt connectors and spade terminals and using wire-crimping and -stripping tools. Not surprisingly, K40 recommends professional installation.

Another indication that K40 sells this unit primarily through car audio installers is the absence of a power-on status LED and on/off switch. Instead it's wired to the ignition and comes on automatically with the engine. At least it's supposed to. If it doesn't, you'll have no way of knowing that you're driving unprotected.

The Defuser Plus can be integrated with K40's remote detectors and this clearly was the design goal for this jammer. Used as a stand-alone model it suffers from the same lack of user amenities as the Blinder and Lidatek.

The performance of this unit belies the fact that it's the elder statesman of the bunch. It performed brilliantly against the old Kustom Signals ProLaser I, jamming it down to point-blank range. And it did well against the much newer Stalker laser, defeating it down to 273 feet. But when it faced off against the other three, the K40's jamming performance fell off the charts. It had no effect at all against the Laser Atlanta Speed Laser and only jammed the ProLaser III down to 984 feet. It succeeded in jamming the LTI Ultralyte LR, one of the top-selling models, only to 690 feet, a fairly unimpressive achievement.

Scarcely a few years ago the K40 Defuser Plus was one of only two active laser jammers on the market, making it a hot seller. But with newer, much more effective competitors on hand, we'd say it's time for K40 to invest some money in updating this product.

Lidatek Laser Echo LE-20 ($349.95)

Lidatek has been in the jamming business longer than anyone and the LE-20, like its forebear, the LE-10, employs a gallium arsenide laser, much higher in power than the LEDs used by its competitors.

The transceiver is a quality piece of extruded aluminum, nicely powder-coated and linked by a stout, water-resistant cable to a cockpit-mounted LED and piezo speaker. Like the Blinder and K40, various wires must be linked by crimp-on connectors and, like those two units, it has far more of a hobby kit appearance than the BEL and Escort.

But in one aspect it clearly scores a big win over the competition: size. The tiny transceiver, when laid on end, is smaller in cross section than a three-quarter-inch-tall stack of business cards. This makes mounting it a breeze--for the test we mounted the transceiver with Velcro, using shims to level it--and more important, makes it easy to conceal from inquisitive eyes. (Expect this to become more of an issue as laser jammer sales increase and the cops get wise to them.)

The controls for the Lidatek LE-20 are basic: a toggle switch for power and a red LED and ear-splitting piezo speaker for alerts. Unfortunately, there's no status light, meaning you'll have to take it on faith that the unit is powered-up and ready for business. In fairness, there is an audible power-up indicator so you'll know--at least when the vehicle is first started--that it's in good health. But if something goes awry once under way, the first indication of an electrical malfunction may come when a state trooper pulls up behind you.

One design touch of which we heartily approve is the LE-20's duty cycle: once it spots a laser beam it transmits for five seconds and then shuts off for one minute. At speeds below Warp level, five seconds is plenty of time to get down to legal speed and by shutting off automatically, you won't be raising the suspicions of the police officer by continuing to prevent him from getting a speed reading.

Lidatek was rushing to complete an early production run of the new LE-20 and could spare only a single transmitter for our test (a second transmitter is available for an extra $100). This may help explain why it failed so badly on our large vehicle, perhaps having been stymied by the challenge of shielding the big Chevy's substantial frontal area. Whatever the reason, the LE-20, although it detected each laser, proved incapable of jamming any of them, even when we shifted their aim directly toward the jammer on its perch just above the plate. We found that it sometimes prevented them from acquiring a speed at extreme distances--1,500 feet-plus--but at our 1,250-foot test range it failed entirely to do so. Having found the earlier Lidatek jammer to be highly effective, we'd say that either we got a bum unit or more likely, that Lidatek, like Blinder and K40, has been blind-sided by the latest anti-jamming software by the laser manufacturers.

Rocky Mountain Radar Black Widow ($389.95 suggested retail)

Credit Rocky Mountain Radar with creating the market for radar and laser jammers, never mind the fact that we have yet to see one of their products jam a police radar or laser gun. For more about that history see "FaceOff: RMR versus Escort" story.

The Black Widow claims to jam both radar and laser and mimics other multi-piece jamming systems by virtue of having a control/display unit in the cockpit linked to one front-mounted and a rear-mounted jamming module. (Actually, RMR calls them "remote units", apparently inferring that they both detect and jam.) But there are major differences. The control/display unit, for instance, has only a power switch and two rows of LEDs labeled "scrambler scanning". There's no provision for mounting it other than a strip of double-sided adhesive tape. Once powered-up, the LEDs light up progressively and endlessly in a clockwise pattern, at first producing an amusing light show before becoming unbelievably distracting.

The two remote units likewise have no brackets or attachment points, leaving it up to the user to figure out a method of mounting them, possibly through the use of Krazy Glue or duct tape. Each remote unit attaches to the display unit via household telephone wire and telephone RJ-11 connector. We also noticed that both modules were adorned with a large dab of clear RTV sealer at the point where the RJ-11 entered the module, as if someone was concerned about water intrusion. For our test we mounted one remote unit in the grille area of the Suburban, level with the ground.

It's a tall claim to be able to jam both radar and laser from a single small box, since these totally different technologies demand completely different jamming techniques. But we gave RMR's expensive jammer its due and made multiple runs against all eleven radar and laser guns on hand. The results were in keeping with past tests of RMR jammers: none of the radar and laser guns had the slightest difficulty in clocking the jammer-equipped vehicle. And at no time did the Black Widow indicate that it was being hit with a radar or laser. The control module did continue to reliably produce its light show, however.

Now we know why there are no brackets for the jamming transceivers: for all the jamming they were doing out there on the road, they could just as easily have been left in the FedEx box.

Click here to see test results>>