Coyote Systems Mini Coyote

Speed camera show and tell

Things are kept very simple in terms of features. The settings menu is home to just three options: Volume (four levels, including silent), Language and Info (the number of satellites in view, ID number etc).

The bar along the bottom extends the closer you get to the danger zone

Switch the unit on and it will immediately start searching for satellites – a couple of beeps indicate your location has been pinpointed. Your current speed is then displayed on screen, along with a clock and battery level indicator.The Mini Coyote will warn you of a number of speed traps, including fixed, red light, and mobile cameras. When you approach a camera, the unit will flash an LED and beep at you. The current speed limit is then shown and a small bar along the bottom of the screen indicates how near you are to the danger zone.

Should you notice a copper with a laser gun while on a trip, you can alert other Mini Coyote users by pressing either the left or right button (the left button indicates the speed trap is catching traffic traveling in your direction, the right button is to warn traffic in the opposite direction). The Mini Coyote will then give you a few seconds to cancel the warning, before distributing it to other users.

The warning lasts for three hours and, should other Mini Coyote users report warnings in the same area, it may be included in the next database update as a hotspot for mobile cameras – these updates are sent out each month. Based on the number of warnings submitted, the LED will flash green (low number), orange or red (high number) when you approach a mobile camera hotspot.

Depending on the angle of your windscreen, it can be difficult to see the display

Any community-based system such as this is open to abuse, but it’s unlikely those who spend good money on the Mini Coyote will then go around flagging up false speed traps. That said, should the system believe you’re simply having fun bashing the buttons, future warnings sent by your Mini Coyote will be ignored.