FAQs General Questions: What is a Pocket Radar? Why would I need one? Why would I want one? What would I use it for? Is the Pocket Radar a radar detector? How much does it cost? Is it safe? Does it need batteries? How long do the batteries last? How accurate is the Pocket Radar? What warranty do you provide? Will it measure distance? Will it measure in kilometers per hour (KPH), instead of miles per hour (MPH)? What is the range of the Pocket Radar? How far away can it measure the speed of a car? Is the Pocket Radar certified for use by the police? How does it compare to the other larger radar guns? Using the Pocket Radar: How do I take a measurement? What happens if I hold the red button down? How do I calibrate it? Can I use it when I am moving? Can I read the speed of another car when I am moving in my car? How do I hold the radar to make a measurement? How do I point the radar? What is the black RECALL button for? Can I be moving when I use it? Will it work through other objects? Where is the On/Off switch? Application Questions: Can I use it for baseball? Can I measure the speed of the baseball off the bat? How can I use it for training of my baseball team? How can I use it for dog training? Can I use it for horse training? Can I use it for golf? Can I use it to measure paintball gun velocity? Can I use it to measure muzzle velocity? How can I use it for auto or motorcycle racing? Can I use it when I am skiing? How accurate is it measuring a baseball? Does it work through a baseball backstop? Advanced Questions: Over what temperature range can I use the Pocket Radar? Does the Pocket Radar work at night? Does it work underwater, in the rain, is it waterproof? Does it measure the wind speed? Does it come with a tuning fork? Will it measure multiple objects at different speeds? Does it have an automatic trigger mode? Will it work with an electronic scoreboard, phone, computer, etc? Can I export the recorded data? What is Cosine Error? What is the beam width of the radar? Why can’t it measure at an angle? Does it measure the biggest object or the fastest object? Will it measure relative speed? What happens when there are multiple cars in the beam? General Questions: What is a Pocket Radar? Pocket Radar measures the speed of any solid moving object from 7 miles per hour (MPH) to 375 MPH or 11 kilometers per hour (KPH) to 600 KPH. Pocket Radar uses the same Doppler speed radar technique as the large police radar guns but fits in a much smaller and more portable package, and uses much less power. back to top Why would I need one? To put it simply, the Pocket Radar is an incredible tool for anyone interested in how fast something is moving. Whether you are an athlete or a sports coach, you need a speed radar to truly quantify performance. You can easily get a true measure of current performance and improvement over time. Pocket Radar allows you to conveniently measure the speed of a ball or a running player. This enables you as the coach to improve their speed, control their speed or motivate them to continue working hard. Pocket Radar may also enable you as a scout to measure the player’s speed and evaluate if they might be a good prospect. If you are a hobbyist working on a radio-controlled car, boat, or plane, Pocket Radar can help you get a measurement of how fast things are moving. Or help you quantify the extra performance from your latest upgrade. Sports fans of all types can now be more a part of the action. From NASCAR to Soap Box Derby racers you can measure the speed of a person or object from a safe distance away. This is also true for motorcycles, snowmobiles, snowboards, jet skis, go-carts, and many other types of sports. If you are concerned about your neighborhood safety, you may need a Pocket Radar to document the fact that the guy down the street constantly drives 20 miles an hour over the speed limit. Maybe this time the local police will listen…. and help you keep your neighborhood safe. back to top Why would I want one? Mankind has always been fascinated by speed. Having a precision instrument that is easy to use and convenient to take with you can be a lot of fun in many different situations. If you don’t need one to do your job, why would you want a Pocket Radar? Pocket Radar enables you to measure your son or daughter’s baseball pitch speed. Pocket Radar lets you see how fast your favorite driver runs at the races. Pocket Radar lets you brag about how fast your radio control boat can go. Pocket Radar even allows you to measure the speed of your dog when training to retrieve. You probably have a tape measure in the back of your junk drawer (or maybe your tool box if you are organized) just in case you need to measure distance. With a Pocket Radar you can measure speed from 7 mph to 375 mph. Just like you don’t know what distance you will need to measure next, you don’t know what speed you will need to measure next. You may want to have a Pocket Radar just because it is a great tool, or because you want to be the first to have a fascinating piece of technology. back to top What would I use it for? There are many uses for speed radar. Currently we are seeing athletes, coaches, trainers, hobbyists, sports fans, people concerned with neighborhood safety and people just having fun knowing how fast things are going, using the Pocket Radar. Every day we hear about a new application for Pocket Radar. Maybe you need to measure the speed of your Frisbee throw or verify the speed of your friend on his unicycle or a Pinewood Derby racer. back to top Is the Pocket Radar a radar detector? Pocket Radar is not a radar detector. It will not tell you if the police are trying to measure the speed of your automobile. Pocket Radar is more like the radar that the officer uses to measure your speed. It will actually set off a K-band radar detector. back to top How much does it cost? Pocket Radar has a list price of $249. For a very limited time you can pre-order a Pocket Radar on the website for $50 off, or for a total of $199. If you sign up to pre-order, we will save your place in line to be one of the first to receive your Pocket Radar. When your Pocket Radar is ready to ship this spring, we will send you your discount code and the link to complete your order. We will not take your credit card number nor charge you until it is time for you to complete your order. back to top Is it safe? The Pocket Radar is specifically designed to be very safe to use and to store in your pocket. The patent-pending new sensor technology is designed to work with a very low power output. The output power is much less than almost all commonly used wireless devices. Also, unlike these other devices that stay on all the time, the Pocket Radar only generates an output for a small fraction of a second when the red button is pushed. It does not stay on continuously. The maximum exposure possible is hundreds of times less than the accepted standard for maximum continuous exposure to radiated emissions. The energy exposure from a Pocket Radar is many, many times lower than a person gets from using a cordless telephone or a cell phone. It is also less exposure than you can get from wearing a Bluetooth headset, or standing beside an operating microwave oven. back to top Does it need batteries? Yes. The Pocket Radar uses 2 standard AAA type batteries. They can be Alkaline, Lithium, or Rechargeable Nickel Metal Hydride type batteries. back to top How long do the batteries last? Under normal operating conditions you can make approximately 10,000 speed measurements on one set of Alkaline AAA batteries. That would let you measure the speed of every pitch in a baseball game every day for about a year. The battery indicator on the LCD display will help you determine when to replace the batteries. back to top How accurate is the Pocket Radar? Pocket Radar will measure the speed of a moving object to within +/- 1 MPH (+/- 2 KPH). Pocket Radar will only measure the relative speed of an object in the direction directly towards or away from the radar antenna. If you point the Pocket Radar (or any radar unit) at an object moving sideways instead of directly towards you or away from you, it will correctly read a very slow speed. This is because an object moving nearly at right angles to any radar only moves at a very slow relative speed towards or away from that radar. In order to make the most accurate speed measurement, you need to point the Pocket Radar antenna at a moving object and be as close to in line with the direction of motion of that object. Obviously, you need to stay safe when you use the Pocket Radar. Never put yourself or anyone else in a position to possibly be hit by a moving object. Don’t play in traffic. back to top What warranty do you provide? The Pocket Radar comes with a one year warranty. If it doesn’t work, first check the batteries. The Pocket Radar is built to be very tough. With proper care it will last a very long time. Refer to the Pocket Radar owners manual for details on who to cantact if you have any problems with your unit. back to top Will it measure distance? No, the Pocket Radar only measures the speed of a moving object. It does not measure the distance to that object. back to top Will it measure in kilometers per hour (KPH), instead of miles per hour (MPH)? Yes, you can switch the Pocket Radar into KPH mode to display kilometers per hour instead of miles per hour. back to top What is the range of the Pocket Radar? Pocket Radar can spot the speed of a car with a good radar return from about a half a mile away. Pocket Radar can report on the speed of a baseball from about 120 feet. Depending upon the size of the moving object, Pocket Radar will have a range similar to these numbers for objects similar in size. We have seen even longer range for a very large object with an excellent radar reflection such as a large truck with a large flat metal front. This range enables Pocket Radar to find interesting uses in almost every sport and interest. back to top How far away can it measure the speed of a car? Pocket Radar will measure a typical car up to half a mile away. Some larger cars have more flat surfaces and will remain visible to the Pocket Radar even further away. Some cars have a smaller profile and will have less range. A large truck with a flat metal front will reflect a strong signal and remain visible even more than half a mile away. back to top Is the Pocket Radar certified for use by the police? At this point in time the Pocket Radar has not been certified for law enforcement. If you have a law enforcement application for Pocket Radar, please let us know and we can look into how to help solve your need. back to top How does it compare to the other larger radar guns? Most hand held radar units are called radar guns because they are held like a gun. They contain a radar transmitter that uses a long antenna called a horn, and it actually looks like a horn. It is long and the radar unit or gun has to be big to fit the horn inside. Pocket Radar uses a much smaller, flat antenna to create the same type of signal that the horn creates. Because of this, and many other proprietary inventions, Pocket Radar provides the key advantage of small size. Pocket Radar uses less power than some of the larger radar guns. Pocket Radar was designed to give you a very useful range for an affordable price in a very small size. It has shorter range than the most expensive guns, and longer range than the less expensive larger guns. Pocket Radar can read a pitch speed from behind the backstop, but you may not be able to capture the speed of a baseball from way out in the outfield. The Pocket Radar is not intended to be a replacement for the larger more expensive radar guns. Used properly, Pocket Radar will give you the same accurate measurements as the lager more expensive radar guns. However, it does not have quite as much range as the most expensive radar guns. if you absolutely need to capture the speed of a baseball right off the pitcher's hand from a very long distance away or if you need to measure speed with resolution of less than 1 mile/hour, or to have more complicated measurement modes, then maybe you need a much more expensive radar gun. For the vast majority of applications, the Pocket Radar offers a very portable and economical solution that is much more convenient and very easy to use. back to top Using the Pocket Radar: How do I take a measurement? To measure the speed of a moving object, simply “press and release” the big red button on the Pocket Radar while the pointing the radar beam from the back of the unit directly in line with the moving object. Think of it as if you were trying to take a snapshot picture of an object in motion. If you press the button too soon or too late you may not catch the object in motion. Keep in mind that some fast moving objects may only be in motion for a short period of time. For instance, a fastball pitched at 60 MPH traveling 60 feet from the pitcher to the catcher will only be in the air for 0.7 seconds. With a little practice it will become easier to develop the hand-eye coordination to catch the ball in flight, just like it would to take a picture of the ball while it is in the air. Of course a car traveling over a longer distance is much easier to capture. back to top What happens if I hold the red button down? If you do not release the big red button, the Pocket Radar will continue to send out repeating small pulses and taking a new measurement approximately every ¾ of a second. This mode works well for slower objects like people running, or a car from a long distance away. However this mode will not be a good way to catch an object that is only in motion for a short period of time like a baseball or tennis serve. back to top How do I calibrate it? The Pocket Radar is factory calibrated and does not need any further calibration. back to top Can I use it when I am moving? Can I read the speed of another car when I am moving in my car? Yes, the Pocket Radar measures the relative speed of the object that reflects the most radar signal. If you are moving in your car, any fixed objects that are capable of reflecting the radar signal back to your Pocket Radar will allow you to measure your speed relative to those fixed objects. If you are very close to a very large car or truck which reflects more signal than all of the rest of the environment, you might be able to measure the speed that you are traveling relative to that large truck. If you are both traveling 35 miles per hour, you may measure the 70 miles per hour relative speed with the Pocket Radar, but only as you approach very close to the truck as it moves towards you. Usually when you are moving, you don’t see a big enough return from another car to overpower the returning radar signal from the rest of the world, and you only measure your own speed. When you measure the speed of a moving car from inside that car, you may see a stronger signal from inside your own car. Many cars have fans hiding behind plastic surfaces. If these show a stronger signal than the rest of the environment, you may not be able to measure anything besides that moving object (the air conditioning fan, for example) inside your car. You may want to use the Pocket Radar as a speedometer for your bicycle. It costs a lot more than a bicycle computer, but you could certainly use it to check your own speed on a bicycle or a skateboard or even a little red wagon. Don’t try this at home, kids; just remember to stay safe. back to top How do I hold the radar to make a measurement? Point the back of the Pocket Radar just like a cell phone camera. Think of the raised rectangular area on the back as if it were a lens for a camera. Point that lens right at the moving object. When you see a moving object, “push and release” the big red button to take a snapshot of the speed of that object. It is just that easy. You don’t need to turn anything on or calibrate the Pocket Radar before you take a measurement. Just point it and click. Pocket Radar works instantly, as soon as you press that big red button. If you want to measure an object continuously, such as the speed of a drag racer or a track and field runner, just push and hold the big red button down. About once every ¾ of a second, the Pocket Radar will take another measurement and display it on the screen. Let go of the button when you finish taking speeds. Press the RECALL button and you can bring back the last ten measurements that the Pocket Radar took. This lets you see the acceleration of the dragster or the runner as it changes over time. back to top How do I point the radar? Point the radar just like you would point a cell phone camera. Imagine that the raised surface at the top of the back of the radar is the camera lens. Point that radar “lens” right at the moving object and press the big red button to take a snapshot of the speed. Imagine that the radar acts like a flashlight beam. If you point that beam at the moving object’s path, you will be more successful at measuring the speed. Move to a position where you can shine that radar beam along the path and you will also have a more accurate measurement of the object’s speed. back to top What is the black RECALL button for? Pressing the RECALL button once will display the last speed measured. If you press it again it will show the previous reading before that. You can continue this process to see the previous ten speeds. back to top Can I be moving when I use it? Yes, the Pocket Radar measures the relative speed of the object that reflects the most radar signal. If you are moving, any fixed objects that are capable of reflecting the radar signal back to your Pocket Radar will allow you to measure your speed relative to those fixed objects. back to top Will it work through other objects? The Pocket Radar operates on reflected radio waves. The beam will travel through objects that will allow these radio waves to pass through but the range will go down as the signal is weakened as it passes through different objects. The radio waves from the Pocket Radar will not pass through solid metal objects or conductive walls. It will pass through a chain link fence that has openings in the mesh that are similar in size to the radar lens on the back of the Pocket Radar. back to top Where is the On/Off switch? The Pocket Radar is designed to be very easy to use. When you hit the big red button, it turns on the unit and quickly makes a measurement. Then it will leave the measured speed on the display for approximately 30 seconds before turning itself completely off. There is no need for an on switch or an off switch. back to top Application Questions: Can I use it for baseball? Yes, the Pocket Radar is designed to be able to measure a baseball from up to 120 feet away. The closer you are to the ball the easier it will be to capture an accurate speed reading. back to top Can I measure the speed of the baseball off the bat? The Pocket Radar can measure the speed of the ball as it leaves the bat. Just point the Pocket Radar along the outgoing path of the baseball and press the big red button immediately after the batter hits the ball. The timing of when you press the button is the critical thing. Think of it as if you were trying to take a snapshot picture of an object in motion. If you press the button too soon or too late you may not catch the object in motion. Keep in mind that some fast moving objects may only be in motion for a short period of time. For instance, a ball that is hit and traveling at 75 MPH may be out of range of the radar in less than a second. With a little practice it will become easier to develop the hand-eye coordination to catch the ball in flight, just like it would to take a picture of the ball while it is in the air. back to top How can I use it for training of my baseball team? Besides the obvious use of the Pocket Radar to measure pitching speed, there are many other uses for the baseball coach. The Pocket Radar can measure the speed of the ball as it leaves the bat. Just point the Pocket Radar along the outgoing path of the baseball and press the big red button immediately after the batter hits the ball. You can measure the speed of a runner by holding the big red button down as the runner moves “out of the hole” from home plate to first. The Pocket Radar will take a new measurement about every ¾ of a second. Hold the Pocket Radar in front of you so that you can see the runner and the speed display of the radar at the same time. You should see the speed steadily increase as the runner approaches first base. If they break down before they reach first base, remember where their speed started to drop. You could even mark the location where they broke down, and remind them to keep trying to maintain or increase their speed all of the way through first base. It’s not just about maximizing your pitcher’s speed. You will be able to help the pitcher gain control of the ball and adjust their speed for various types of pitch. It is all about control of location and speed, and the Pocket Radar offers the chance to measure versus estimate the speed of the pitch. For example, you can work with a pitcher to increase the speed of their two seam or four seam fastball. Standing next to the pitcher, you can read the speed and make immediate corrections. Depending upon your coaching goals, you may want to help the pitcher to reduce the speed of their slider by 5 to 8 miles per hour versus their fast ball, or reduce their change up pitch by 10 to 14 miles per hour. The Pocket Radar lets you immediately know the speed of the pitch and give direction to the pitcher to meet those speed goals. Standing side by side with the pitcher, you can easily measure and give quick feedback to improve their performance. Pocket Radar offers a great opportunity to improve the arms of the rest of the team, not just the pitcher. Stand in line with the coach’s box near first base, and you can clock the speed of a shortstop’s throw to first. Try them out with a few grounders and ask them to throw out a runner at first. You will soon see who really has the throwing speed as opposed to who just appears to have that speed. Alternatively, Pocket Radar can check the fielder’s throwing speed from center back to second in drills. Pocket Radar will help all the players to know their performance, and with practice, improve and win. back to top How can I use it for dog training? The Pocket Radar has been tested on many different types of moving objects including dogs. You can measure a running dog as long as it travels faster than 7 miles per hour and stays within range. We have had a surprising amount of interest in retriever training for dogs. However, we wouldn’t bet on using it with a cat. Usually, the cat is not the one who moves. We don’t know of anyone who is good at herding cats, much less improving their speed. back to top Can I use it for horse training? Pocket Radar can measure the speed of a horse even easier than the speed of a runner. Realize that it may be difficult to measure a group of horses unless they are all running at the same speed. Training with one horse and rider should leave little confusion about the speed that they can achieve. You need to be in a position directly in line with the direction the horse is running. back to top Can I use it for golf? We do not recommend using the current Pocket Radar for golf. Pocket Radar could measure the speed of a golf ball, but timing the trigger will make it very difficult. The range will be small and the time that the golf ball stays in range will be very short. This makes it difficult to capture a golf ball. Think of how difficult it would be to try to time your reaction to take a picture and capture a golf ball in flight just as it leaves the club head. If you want to measure a golf ball or club head speed, let us know and we can look at a future product to make this easy for you to do. back to top Can I use it to measure paintball gun velocity? We do not recommend using the current Pocket Radar for paintball. Pocket Radar could measure the speed of a paintball, but the triggering timing makes it very difficult to catch the ball. Since the ball is so small, the range will be very short and the time that the paintball stays in range will be very short. This makes it difficult to precisely time the button push to capture a paintball. For example, a paintball is about 5 times smaller than a baseball, since the range of any radar decreases with the size of the object, the best you might hope for is maybe a little over 20 feet of range on a paintball. If the ball is traveling at a speed near 300 feet per second then it will be out of range in 1/15th of a second, (67 milliseconds), this is about 3 times faster than the reaction time of an average person. Think of how difficult it would be to try to time your reaction to take a picture and capture the paintball in flight just as it comes out of the barrel. If you want to measure paintball speed, let us know and we can look at a future product to make this easy for you to do. back to top Can I use it to measure muzzle velocity? The current version of Pocket Radar is not designed to measure muzzle velocity. Even if the muzzle speed was below the maximum measurement speed of 375 MPH, it would be impossible to manually trigger the radar in time to catch the small projectile before it was out of range. Think of how difficult it would be to try to time your reaction to take a picture and capture the projectile in flight just as it comes out of the barrel. If you want to measure muzzle velocity, let us know and we can look at a future product to make this easy for you to do. back to top How can I use it for auto or motorcycle racing? Point the Pocket Radar down the straightaway and measure your favorite driver’s vehicle as they reach their fastest speeds. If the cars are all in a group, you will get the speed of that group of cars, or else the one with the largest returning radar signal. If you only have one car in view, you know for sure that the speed corresponds to that car. Pocket Radar can spot motorcycles as well as cars, with some reduction in the range due to a smaller reflection of the radar signal from the smaller sized motorcycle. You can certainly use the Pocket Radar to settle those track disputes about whose favorite driver can take the turns at the fastest speed. Position your Pocket Radar straight on to the point in the curve where you want to measure speed. Push that big red button when you want to take a measurement and the Pocket Radar will quickly tell you who is the fastest. As a driver, you may have fully instrumented your own car to record your speed at all points along the track. That helps you to understand your own performance, but you don’t have access to your competitor’s data. One driver we know wants to place his crew at critical turns to compare the leader’s speeds with what he can do. That way he knows what they do on the course and what he has to do in order to win. back to top Can I use it when I am skiing? Yes. The Pocket Radar will work well as long as the unit does not get too cold. Keep the unit in an inner pocket while it is not in use and then it will still be relatively warm when you pull it out to use it. Even if it is very cold outside, it will take a while for the unit to cool down completely. As the unit starts to get too cold you will notice that the LCD display will start to react sluggishly but the radar will measure just fine. back to top How accurate is it measuring a baseball? The Pocket Radar is accurate to +/- 1 mile per hour when it makes a measurement. The Pocket Radar will accurately measure the speed of the ball when you trigger the radar measurement by pressing the big red button. But you need to remember that a baseball will slow down over the distance from the pitcher to the catcher. A fastball may slow down by as much as 4 MPH from the pitcher to the catcher, where a change-up pitch may slow down more than 10 MPH. To catch the maximum speed of the pitch, make sure you are as close as you can be to the pitcher, and trigger the measurement just as they release the ball. If hit the button later, the ball will have slowed down some from the speed right out of the hand. back to top Does it work through a baseball backstop? Yes. The Pocket Radar has had extensive testing to make sure it will be useable through a metal chain-link baseball backstop. The range may be slightly less than without a metal backstop in the way. back to top Advanced Questions: Over what temperature range can I use the Pocket Radar? The Pocket Radar has been tested to work over the extremes of temperature likely to be encountered by any hand held device. It is specified to operate at temperatures from 20 degrees F to 140 degrees F, and withstand storage temperatures from -40 degrees F to 185 degrees F. If you accidentally leave it on the dashboard of your car in the summer heat, or in the trunk of your car in the dead of winter, it will still work. For best performance during extreme temperature conditions, keep it in your pocket. You are always ready to check a speed with Pocket Radar’s instant on performance. Just point and click the big red button and you can take a speed measurement, just like pointing a cell phone camera. back to top Does the Pocket Radar work at night? The Pocket Radar will take a radar measurement of speed at any time you press the big red button, day or night. However, you may have a hard time reading the speed display unless there is enough light to see it. The Pocket Radar doesn’t have a backlight for the LCD display. This was to assure there would be plenty battery life rather than spend the battery power on a backlight. If you didn’t see the speed because it was too dark, bring the Pocket Radar up to a light bright enough to read the display and push the RECALL button. The black RECALL button will bring up the last ten speeds that the Pocket Radar measured, one at a time, every time you press the RECALL button again. back to top Does it work underwater, in the rain, is it waterproof? The Pocket Radar is not waterproof. It should be able to tolerate a small amount of rain on the outside of the plastic if you do not let the water get inside the unit. Make sure you keep it dry. back to top Does it measure the wind speed? Pocket Radar will not measure wind speed. Pocket Radar will only measure the speed of solid objects. Radar waves will bounce off any solid surface. The wind doesn’t have a solid surface for the radar waves to bounce off. back to top Does it come with a tuning fork? We designed the Pocket Radar to remain accurate without needing calibration. The Pocket Radar stabilizes it's transmit frequency with a dielectric resonator, which acts like the crystal in your watch to deliver precise and accurate operation. This means that we really don’t need to adjust or calibrate the Pocket Radar in order to maintain accurate performance. Some older technology radar guns used by the police required adjustment to deliver accurate readings. Officers are still trained to verify the accuracy of their radar by pointing it at a calibrated tuning fork. A vibrating tuning fork creates a signal that looks like a moving object to the radar. If the radar reads the correct speed looking at the tuning fork, then the officer can trust the reading on the radar, and testify to that fact in court. Pocket Radar doesn’t need calibration adjustments, but you could verify that it reads the correct speed using tuning fork made for K band (i.e., one calibrated to work with a 24 GHz radar transmission; the frequency of the Pocket Radar transmitter). back to top Will it measure multiple objects at different speeds? Pocket Radar measures the largest object in a group of moving objects, or rather the object that creates the largest returning radar signal. Pocket Radar sees all of the returning signals from each of multiple objects, but will only report the speed of the object with the largest signal. Pocket Radar will often continue measuring rather than stop after a single reading, to verify that the speed it measures truly is the fastest speed of the largest object in its view. Don’t be fooled when measuring a distant object if you happen to have a larger, slowly moving object in the field of view of the Pocket Radar. This is one of the reasons we chose to limit the lower speed to 7 miles per hour. Otherwise you could see too many slowly moving objects that would dominate the radar reflections and hide the one you care about. back to top Does it have an automatic trigger mode? No, Pocket Radar only works in manual trigger mode. back to top Will it work with an electronic scoreboard, phone, computer, etc? The Pocket Radar is intended to be a very easy to use “Point and Shoot” speed measurement device that will fit easily in your pocket be convenient to take anywhere. It doesn’t talk to any other electronic devices. It only starts a measurement when you push the big red button. back to top Can I export the recorded data? No, the Pocket Radar does not store more than the previous ten measurements. To view the previous measurements scroll through them by pressing the “RECALL“ button. The current version of pocket radar does not have an output to connect to any other devices. If you are interested in extracting data from the Pocket Radar, please contact us to talk more about your application so we can consider it for future versions. back to top What is Cosine Error? The accuracy of all Doppler speed radars depends on the angle between the radar beam and the moving object. This is based on the physics of how Doppler radar works. The accuracy can be calculated based on the Cosine formula. For instance, if you are within 8 degrees of angle from the line of travel of the object, you will be within 1% accuracy. If you are within 18 degrees you will be within 5% error and if you are within approximately 25 degrees you will be within 10% error. If you are at 45 degrees of angle, the error gets up to 30%. The speed will always read lower than the actual speed for angles off the direct line of travel. If you are exactly perpendicular (90 degrees), to the line of travel, the radar will not be able to make a speed reading. This is why the police cannot sit down a side street and catch you on radar as you go across in front of them. They need to be in line with your car. On the other hand, they don’t have to worry if they are off angle by a few degrees. Because they know if their radar reads above the speed limit you were actually going even faster than it shows! What does this mean for you when you use the Pocket Radar? You should always try to position the beam of the Pocket Radar as close as possible to the line of travel of the moving object. Stand as close as possible right behind the pitcher or catcher, but keep in mind that you still have to be able to see the ball…. Don’t put yourself in a position where you could get hurt. Just remember what your Mom said, “Don’t play in traffic”. back to top What is the beam width of the radar? The Pocket Radar has a beam width of about 20 degrees. This means that it is shaped a lot like the beam of a flashlight. The beam spreads out a bit and lets you see things best in the center of where you point the radar lens (the raised plastic square on the back of the Pocket Radar). However, you don’t have to aim it like you would a laser beam that only illuminates a very small spot. back to top Why can’t it measure at an angle? Any Doppler radar can only measure the relative speed between the radar and a moving object. If the radar is standing still and the object is moving towards or away from the radar the relative speed will be at the maximum possible. If an object is moving across sideways in front of the radar, at the point where it is directly perpendicular with the radar beam, the speed of the object relative to the radar is actually zero. For more details refer to the question about Cosine error. back to top Does it measure the biggest object or the fastest object? The Pocket Radar will quickly take several measurements and look for the largest object each time. Then it will display the fastest speed measured over the series of measurements. back to top Will it measure relative speed? Yes. The Pocket Radar will always measure the relative speed between the radar and the target moving object. If the radar is used while you are moving, it will measure the relative speed between your speed and the moving target. back to top What happens when there are multiple cars in the beam? If there are multiple objects in the radar beam the Pocket Radar will quickly take several measurements and look for the largest object each time. Then it will display the fastest speed measured over the series of measurements. back to top