Quality lidar units besides Kustom??

[Badgerland]

My department has used Kustom Signals radar and laser units for years. They are quality units performance-wise, but they always seem to be going down every 4-5 months or so. My Lt. has finally had enough since Kustom usually charges an arm and a leg for repairs once the unit is past warranty.

Does anyone use any other brands of Lidar? Like I said, I really enjoy the Kustom Signals Pro Laser III, but that is not an option. We are currently testing out Laser Technology's UltraLyte, but it's average. It's not nearly as forgiving as the Pro Laser III. I've found with the UltraLyte, you have to find the front license plate to get a reading whereas with the Pro Laser III, just hitting the front grill will give you a reading.

Does anyone use Laser Technology, Applied Concept's Stalker, Laser Atlanta's SpeedLaser, or anything else I didn't list? Thanks ahead of time.

[SgtScott31]

We have the Stalker LIDAR unit. From working with it and a neighboring PD's Kustom, I'm pretty sure the Kustom is better.

[acegta2002]

My department uses LTI products. We were one of the first in the early 1990's to obtain the Markman 20/20 (Big gray plug in type). We still have all of them in service and repairs have been minimal. In 2005 we purchased 25 new LTI UltraLytes w/ 2 power scope (well worth the little bit extra). We have about 60-70 Lidars in our inventory. Prior to that we tested several different brands of Lidar and decided that the UltraLytes were the best for us. Yes the ultralyte does have a small range problem when you don't have a front plate, but in Ohio we are required to have 2 plates. You can tell when someone doesn't have a front plate. When the repairs are needed we send them out to LTI and let them fix it. we also bought an extended warranty. If you get the correct LTI Laser you can use it for crash measurements also, more bang for your buck.....
Jonathan

[PB3021]

We have the Stalker Lidar and it is horrible compared to the Kustom Pro laser III and the new Pro lite. It's a binocular style laser that weighs about 1lb. Its' range is good, however, it eats up AA batteries and I've sent 2 back for various problems. Our pro laser III's have been problem free except for the battery handle, where the bottom screws onto the grip. The problems we've had with Kustom outweigh the absolute worthlessness of Stalker lidar, although we use Stalker radars with little to no problems.

[lexcoptk]

Our Selective Enforcement Unit has Pro Laser IIIs. I love mine, it is five years old and not a bit of trouble from it. We have had them for a long time and are only just now starting to have some problems with the older ones.

[MEM-TEK]

We have the Stalker Lidar and it is horrible compared to the Kustom Pro laser III and the new Pro lite. It's a binocular style laser that weighs about 1lb. Its' range is good, however, it eats up AA batteries and I've sent 2 back for various problems. Our pro laser III's have been problem free except for the battery handle, where the bottom screws onto the grip. The problems we've had with Kustom outweigh the absolute worthlessness of Stalker lidar, although we use Stalker radars with little to no problems.

Try using 2000mAH NiMH batteries in it and use a 1/2 hour quick charger for the spare set of batteries. Don't use a 15 minute quick charger with the batteries as the batteries are likely to leak or explode in the heat inside your patrol car. The batteries only get slightly warm when being charged with a 1/2 hour quick charger.

Also for any electronics products which I regularly use outdoors, I disassemble them and coat the circuit boards with a fairly heavy coat of silicone resin laquer spray which is made for electronics boards. We've done this for all electronics which are located on the telescopes in our outdoor observatories, and it has saved all of the electronics from failure due to high humidity or condensation. A good computer tech repairman in your area could do this for all of your outdoor electronics gear. It really does make a world of difference in terms of reliability.

--Michael