Product Update: Laser Atlanta Speed Laser

Seven years after first appearing in this country, by 1997 a second generation of speed lidars--more commonly dubbed lasers--had arrived. Lighter, smaller, less expensive and more wieldly than their older brothers, the new hardware promised simplified operation and greater versatility.

Each is battery-powered, eliminating the substantial weight and restricted movement imposed by bulky power cords. Like their progenitors they are software-driven with powerful microchips that afford an extensive menu of user-selected options, everything from a choice between peak-speed capture or continuous speed updates, to the setting of minimum and maximum values for speed, range or both. Each also sports a serial port for downloading data or interfacing with laptops, speed displays, digital cameras and other peripherals.

Aside from their considerable accuracy at reading speeds (plus or minus 1 mph) or range (some models promised plus or minus one inch at 500 feet), a few can map accident sites or crime scenes, calculate the volume of a mountain of coal or other minerals and serve as lower-cost surveyors' tools, giving them a superior cost/benefit ratio compared to their forebears.

Priced at up to a third less than first-generation models, we were curious to see if the lower prices might also mean compromises in performance. To find out we examined their user- friendliness and ease of operation, the quality of their audio and aiming systems and their overall usefulness on the road. Each was operated in typical field conditions: on low-speed city streets, on 75 mph-zoned rural interstates, on multi-lane urban freeways. We used them at night as well as during daylight hours and learned some surprising truths about the behavior of some optical aiming systems after dark. All told, we lived with each laser for over a month. Now here's a look at one these second-generation units.

Laser Atlanta Speed Laser

Although technically considered a second-generation design, the Speed Laser is actually more like Generation 2.5, closer in size to the first-generation Kustom ProLaser I, ProLaser II and Laser Technology Inc.'s Marksman but lighter, better balanced and also battery-powered. Its removable battery-handle contains a pair 6.3-volt NiCds that is good for 8 to 10 hours of near-constant operation. A corded battery-bypass handle allows it to be operated on a vehicle's 12-volt power.

The rear of the case is dominated by an LCD window and a membrane-covered keypad. Aside from showing speed and range, the large LCD also displays a menu of setup options and operating parameters like minimum and maximum speeds and range. At the bottom it has a slot for a 2-megabyte PCMCIA data-storage card, a unique feature and useful for capturing traffic survey statistics or other data. Supervisors fond of number-crunching or micro-management can use the card to faithfully record the number of times during a shift and at what time of day an officer pulls the trigger, along with the number of attempted and successful hits and the target speeds displayed. (Hey, sergeants have to keep a handle on what their guys are doing once they leave the station, right?)

The SpeedLaser's Head-Up Display (HUD) is somewhat similar in appearance to that of the first-generation Kustom Signals ProLaser I and ProLaser II and its field of view proved wide enough to permit a visual speed estimate while tracking the target. A setup menu option displays speed and range alternately in the HUD during target acquisition. We liked it, although we suspect some officers will prefer speed-only, the better to acquire a longer tracking history.

Like competing units, the Laser Atlanta SpeedLaser gives a distinctive "quality chirp" that denotes how near the gun is to acquiring a target speed; it becomes a continuous tone to confirm target acquisition. We found the red aiming reticle easy to hold on-target and thin enough in profile to avoid covering the target vehicle at extreme range, as did some of the other units.

The reticle isn't sensitive to eye relief and permits the laser to be held in a wide variety of positions, making a shoulder stock unnecessary for most operators. (Hand-held, we routinely hit departing targets at ranges beyond 7,800 feet and up to 4,000 feet on approaching mid-sized cars.

Heavy rubber padding protects each end of the case and full-floating circuit boards inside help prevent damage from sharp impacts. It's rugged enough that for a demonstration video we produced on lasers, with camera rolling (and with the encouragement of Laser Atlanta management) we dropped the borrowed Speed Laser onto concrete from atop a 10-foot step ladder 11 times. And it shrugged off the first 10 hits with no damage save for a few scratches. On the very last impact the HUD glass came adrift, but the unit continued to function normally. (For the record, the Laser Atlanta survived 10 more hits than any other laser we've ever dropped, and those were accidents. Each was a single hit, dropped from waist level onto the road surface. Both units stopped working, an event caused in each case by a circuit board that came adrift. Bottom line: this laser is bulletproof.)

On the road, the SpeedLaser proved very forgiving of operator shake and at typical target range, under 1,500 feet, faithfully acquired a target as quickly as the operator could squeeze the trigger. Like the other units, it transmits continuously as long as the trigger is depressed, until the target is acquired. For a new speed it must be moved off-target or the trigger released, and the sequence repeated (real-time speed-update mode is a menu option).

In 1999 an Obstructed Mode menu option was added, allowing the laser to ignore the effects of vehicle glass, nearby foliage and other common sources of interference. Once engaged, it allows the Speed Laser to shoot through glass as if it doesn't exist, with no apparent reduction in target range.

In 2002 Laser Atlanta scored an industry first when they introduced Stealth Mode, claimed to be able to outwit any radar/laser detector. We tested it and it works well against many detectors and most jammers. Chief design engineer Ben Landry is an ex-military electronic countermeasures guru and Stealth Mode probably took him no more than a few weeks to perfect. Meanwhile, the Laser Atlanta remains the only police laser that can defeat nearly any laser detector.

Laser jammers are another matter. See our full-color, eight-page New Laser Jammers Tested: Part II for the in-depth story on laser jammers. It includes complete test scores, even noting each vehicle's most vulnerable point of aim--headlight or front license plate/grille area--and other test details, plus our evaluation on the jammer's ease of installation and ergonomics. Also featured: a Honda CBR 1100XX ultra-stealth motorcycle equipped with a jammer and with the trick Laser Veil anti-laser coating applied to its brightwork and headlamp.

You'll also want to take a look at Lasers: How They Work, Where To Find Them, one of the most popular of our best-selling Speedtrap Secrets series of special reports that gives the inside scoop on how the enforcers use laser and radar against you.)

Although arriving late to the party, in performance and overall competence we found the SpeedLaser the equal of the LTI UltraLyte, Stalker Laser and Kustom Signals ProLaser III in target-acquisition speed, target range, features and overall utility. Its only competitive drawback is its greater size and weight.

Both both issues have since been addressed with the Speed Laser S model, a significantly shorter, lighter unit with the same performance and nearly all of the same features. With its addition, Laser Atlanta has become a serious player in the police laser field.