1961 UPI Photo Press Release Radatron Radar Sentry Speed Trap Warning

Description: This is a 1961 UPI Telephoto News release and photo of the new warning device for radar speed traps, made by Radatron Corp in N.Y. News Release reads :- RADAR MONITORNorth Towanda, N.Y. : The Radatron Corp., of North Tonawanda has developed this small warning device for automobile drivers to indicate "radar speed traps" in time for the motorist to check his speed. The device is called a "Radar Sentry." 3/27/61 From The Radar Detector Museum(who knew there was one!!):In the early 60's, a radar detector was available commercially. This detector was the Radar Sentry, made by Radatron, Inc. out of Tonawanda, New York. It was featured on the cover of the September, 1961 issue of Popular Electronics: According to Popular Electronics, the Sentry might not have been the first detector available, however, it was definitely the most functional and practical, and probably the first one worth noting. In the article it says that in the 5 years since the 1956 "Truth About Radar" article: "many microwave detectors have come and gone. Popular electronics has investigated each new speed-trap detector and has rejected some because they violated government regulations; others because of size, weight, or impractical construction; and one or two because they were simply 'wishful thinking'." The Radar Sentry was priced at $39.95 in 1961, which roughly equates to around $250 in today's dollars. The early units detected S-Band radar operating at 2.455 GHz. Later units were adopted to detect both S-Band and X-band radar. The Sentry was actually cordless, running off of 2 AA batteries. According to Radatron, they should last 800-100 Hours, equating to 35,000 miles of driving (assuming an average speed of 35 MPH!). For mounting, it was recommended that Sentry be clipped to the sun visor.According to tests done by Popular Electronics, the Sentry would warn the motorist 1000 to 2000 feet away from an operating "speed meter". The January 19, 1962 issue of Time Magazine wrote about the Sentry in an article titled "Burble & Squeak". In the article, they had this to say: "At high speeds Radar Sentry is almost useless; there just isn't time to slow down before police radar has tracked the car's telltale blip. But at speeds in the lower 60s, the gadget is a fairly faithful watch-bird within 300 ft. of the radar installation. Radar Sentries are being turned out at a clip of 200 to 500 a day by Radatron, Inc. in North Tonawanda, N.Y.. and the company claims to have sold 25,000 Sentries in the last six months." In the article, they go on further to say that Sentry did not make police happy at all, and that within a year of being introduced, the Sentry was banned in Chicago, Washington DC, and Conneticut The units were later banned in Virginia too. Photo measures 9" x 7". Fast safe and reasonable shipping, with tracking.

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End Time: 2024-09-02T19:44:10.000Z

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