Florida Administrative Code › 15 - DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAY SAFETY AND MOTOR VEHICLES › 15B - Division of Florida Highway Patrol › Chapter 15B-2 - SPEED MEASURING DEVICES › Section 15B-2.0082 - Minimum Design Criteria for Radar Units

Current through Reg. 50, No. 138; July 16, 2024
(1) Radar speed
				measuring devices shall meet the design criteria as set forth in Chapter 3,
				Subpart A (s. 1221.1 - 1221.4) and Subpart B (s. 1221.11-1221.24) of the
				National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Technical Report, January 1994,
				D.O.T. HS 808-69, entitled, "Model Minimum Performance Specifications for
				Police Traffic Radar Devices, " which is incorporated by reference. Copies of
				this material may be obtained by contacting the Department of Highway Safety
				and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV), Division of Florida Highway Patrol, Neil Kirkman
				Building, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0500, or the Office of Law Enforcement
				Standards, c/o National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau
				Drive, Stop 8102, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899-08102.
(2) All radar units used in this State on or
				after January 1, 1995, shall be designed to operate in one or both of the
				following frequency ranges as assigned by the Federal Communication Commission
				for operation of Doppler radar radiolocation units.
24.050 - 24.250 GHz
(K - Band)
(Common
33.400 - 36.000 GHz
(Ka - Band)
Referrals)
The radar must have a doppler audio operating in the range
				  300 Hz to 4.0 KHz.
(3)
				Antenna beam width, defined as the total included angle between 3 dB points on
				the main lobe of the emitted farfield microwave power beam in any axis
				perpendicular to the centerline of beam propagation, shall not exceed 12
				degrees plus or minus 1.5 degrees for manufacturing tolerance and measurement
				error. Side lobes, as defined in s. 1221.4 of the Model Minimum Performance
				Specifications for Police Traffic Radar shall be of relative gain of at least
				20 dB less than the main antenna beam.
(4) All radar units furnished for
				vehicular-mounted use which have antennas designed to permit external mounting,
				shall be weather resistant.
(5)
				Each radar unit shall be designed to incorporate no speed lock function, manual
				or automatic, for patrol or target speeds displayed on the primary readout; a
				secondary target speed window, capable of manual lock-in target speed only, is
				permissible providing that lock-in of the secondary target speed window display
				has no effect on the continuous tracking of target and patrol speeds indicated
				by the primary readout and provided that the secondary target speed window
				display, if furnished, is automatically cleared within a period not to exceed
				fifteen (15) minutes after locking of any speed indication or when reconnected
				to the primary readout element. The secondary target speed window display, if
				furnished, must exactly duplicate the target speed on the primary readout at
				the instant of manual lock-in and must have its own lock-release control for
				clearing prior readings when the operator does not connect the secondary target
				speed window display.
(6) Each
				radar unit, shall be equipped with a control capable of adjusting its nominal
				range of acquiring and displaying the speed reading of a full-size automobile
				between 300 feet minimum and 3, 000 feet maximum from the radar antenna. This
				range control is optional on a handheld radar unit.
(7) Signal Processing Channel Sensitivity.
(a) Stationary Mode Target Channel
				Sensitivity. When the radar unit is operated in the stationary mode, its signal
				processing channel sensitivity shall not vary more than 10 dB for targets
				traveling at speeds of 35 to 90 mph (56 to 144 km/h) nor more than 5 dB for
				targets traveling at speeds of 60 to 90 mph (96 to 144 km/h).
(b) Moving Mode Target Channel Sensitivity.
				When the radar unit is operated in the moving mode at 25 mph (40 km/h), its
				signal processing channel sensitivity shall not vary more than 10 dB for
				targets traveling at speeds of 40 to 90 mph (64 to 144 km/h). When operated at
				50 mph (80 km/h), its sensitivity shall not vary more than 5 dB for targets
				traveling at speeds of 60 to 90 mph (96 to 144 km/h).