Every so often radar detector owners become incensed with the latest technology threat from police that they perceive will make their radar detectors obsolete. The fear around MPH Industries Bee™ III POP Mode radar gun is no different. But the information currently available on this new technology ranges from grossly exaggerated to flat out inaccurate. Here are the basics of what you need to know about POP radar:

MPH Industries claims their new radar gun is undetectable to any radar detector. When the radar gun is placed into POP mode and the antenna button is pressed, the radar emits a short radar burst (approximately 67 milliseconds or 0.067 seconds) that is too fast for a radar detector to see. The radar then goes immediately into standby and displays the target's speed for a couple of seconds. If the vehicle's speed is not a violation, the operator does nothing and no one knows that he's running radar. However, if the speed is of interest, he can place the radar into normal transmit mode, allowing the officer to track and lock the vehicle's speed (from www.mphindustries.com).

MPH Industries themselves recommends that the officer also obtain a tracking history of a speed violator by operating the radar in normal transmit mode after determining with POP mode that the vehicle is speeding. This is because most radar case law is based on tracking a vehicle in normal radar operation and the information obtained in POP may not be supported by case law in court (from www.mphindustries.com). As stated in the MPH Industries manual: “A note of caution: Information derived during the POP burst is non-evidential… Citations should not be issued based solely on information derived from the POP burst.”

1. POP Mode equipped radar guns are not widely used by police.
The best estimates indicate that less than 800 of the approximately 100,000 radar guns in use today feature POP mode. It simply is not a threat to the average motorist, regardless of what the media or other radar detector manufacturers are saying. In a recent conversation with Carl Fors of Speed Measurement Laboratories (SML), he stated they plan to “de-emphasize the importance of the feature” in their future tests.

2. Any radar detector is technically capable of detecting a POP mode radar signal.
While scanning the Ka band frequency, it’s possible for any radar detector to “get lucky” once in a while and detect a POP signal, even if the detector has not been updated with software specifically designed to detect POP radar signals.
3. Detectors that feature POP mode capability are shipped from the manufacturer with the feature turned off.
The user has to program their detector to turn the feature on. Why you may ask? Keep reading.
4. POP mode equipped detectors false excessively when the feature is turned on.
In SML’s preliminary test of one famous brands POP mode upgrade, the detector falsed a total of 58 times during a two mile drive. In Carl’s own words, the unit had major problems. Additionally, when contacting several other manufacturers regarding this feature, they indicated that the downside to enabling this feature is the extra falsing. This is due largely to the fact that cheaper radar detectors leak oscillator harmonics that are similar to POP radar and the detectors with this feature can’t seem to distinguish between the two.

5. No radar detector, even ones that claim POP Mode updates, are 100% effective at detecting POP radar signals.
In various independent tests of this feature, including SML, no detector could see the POP signal more than 80% of the time and in many cases, depending on the distance, they were even far less effective, providing little to no advance warning. Which begs the question, why have this feature in the first place if there is no proven benefit?