[DeTomaso] Radar Detector Survey

[Daniel C Jones]

I grew up in Ohio and remember Cincinnati Microwave well.  Mike Valetine and
his father founded Cincinnati Microwave in 1976.  Valentine was an electrical
engineer from the University of Cincinnati.  My senior year at UC, I was
awarded a $300 cash stipend (for outstanding aerospace senior) which I
promptly took to Cincinnati Microwave and purchased one the early Passport
detectors for $299.95 (I had to pay Ohio sales tax so I didn't even have
a nickel leftover).  CM's facility was posh with workout rooms and racquetball
courts for the employees.  You could tell a lot of auto enthisiasts worked
at the place as the parking lot was full of interesting cars, including the
first Renault R5 Turbo II I'd ever seen (my college roommate at the time
happened to drive a Renault LeCar which was a POS but the mid-engine R5
Turbo II was a completely different beast).  What happenned later is a
business school case study.  CM was a privately held company and was tops
in its field with 30+% profit margins.  They decided to go public and used
most of the IPO money to pay off a loan used to buy out shares owned by
Valentine.  The IPO alerted the Japanese and Taiwanese to a lucrative
consumer electronics market with big profit margins and within a few years
the market was flooded with new, lower cost, competitors.  CM attempted to
diversify into cordles phones and the television satellite receiver market
but the very day their satellite service was launched, the networks began
scrambling their signal.  Lifting of the 55 MPH national speed limit hurt
the ailing company and investors pulled out, fearing the Feds would outlaw
detectors.  CM employees learned the company was closing its doors on Feb. 14,
1997, which the employees dubbed the "Valentine's Day Massacre."  The posh CM
facility was torn down and last I heard was the site of a Home depot.   The
day after CM's bankruptcy was finalized, Escort was in business, consisting
mainly of former CM employees.  Valentine started his own detector company
and both he and Escort remain in business.

The connector in my Passport 4600 has lost it's tension and I was about
to call Escort them to get a replacement part but it looks like the market
has changed in the last few years.  Get a load of this model:

 http://www.escortradar.com/9500ci.htm

$1600 for the ultimate in remote radar and laser protection.

Dan Jones