available from retailers and suitable for DIY installation. The other pair is pricier and available only through dealers and intended for professional installation. To the latter we added typical labor charges to their suggested retail prices.
     We evaluated their features, the quality of their audio and visual alerts and graded their overall user-friendliness. We also checked maximum audio volume and, on a ten-mile urban loop, their selectivity, the crucial ability to discriminate between non-police radar sources and a real threat. Then we spent a week measuring their sensitivity, the distance at which they could detect radar and lasers. [For complete details of testing procedures and results go to http://www.radartest.com). Here's what we found.

Fourth Place
K40 SS3000SWL (about $1400 installed)
    K40 makes some tall claims for its SS3000SWL, the only contestant with both a rear radar antenna (not available on the BEL or Escort; optional on the Whistler) and indicators to show whether a police radar beam is coming from the front or rear. Equally alluring is a guarantee to pay