Beltronics Vector V940 Radar Detector

A radar gun will cost from less than $100 to over $2,000, depending on the quality desired and its intended purpose. When most people think radar gun, they instantly think speeding ticket, but baseball pitching speed, golf club speed and the speed of just about anything you might be curious about can be measured with a radar gun.

Radar is an acronym for Radar Detection and Ranging. When activated, a radar gun shoots a radio frequency signal to an object at the speed of light (186,000 miles per second) which, once it bounces off the target, returns to the gun. When the signal echoes, a computer analyzes the time difference and combines it with the Doppler shift to accurately calculate the object’s speed, usually within 1 mile per hour or less of the true value.

The very first S-Band radar system for speed control, requiring two officers to operate, was used in Connecticut in the early 1960s. In the nearly 50 years since, the S-Band is obsolete thanks to the three bands in use today.

A radar gun cannot read the speed of an object unless it is in front of or behind the target. Since it uses Doppler technology it can’t read speeds from the side. Therefore, the more of an angle the target is to the gun, the less accurate the speed that’s detected.

Radar Not Just For Cars Anymore

If you’ve ever watched a baseball game, the speed of a pitcher’s throw is almost instantly displayed either on your television screen or on the scoreboard at the park. The use of a sports radar gun, patterned after police units, has been growing over the past 20 years. There are even radar guns used in carnivals where you have to predict the speed of your throw to win a prize.

While most police units are handheld, there are mounts available for the radar gun. Used as stationary units for sports measurement, there is a radar gun for every conceivable purpose. Some will measure the club head speed for golf instruction while others can measure the speed of an arrow or even a paintball. And how do you think they measure the muzzle velocity of bullets fired from a gun?

Finally, there is even a radar gun that measures slow speeds. The SportsPro from Astro Home boasts a range of 1 to 294 miles per hour with an accuracy of one tenth of one mile per hour. This type of radar gun can be used to track speeds of slow-moving trains in a yard and fork lifts in a factory. No matter your need, there’s a way to track speed.

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