If you pay attention driving up and down highway 17, you will find that they have installed solar-powered(or supplemented) Ka radar devices on poles from Scotts Valley to about the reservoir on both sides of the road at various locations.
This may be a deterrent or for speed monitoring the route.
The end effect is the cops with K can only really hide in between the coverage areas of the fixed units, making it easy to know where they could be, and with all the extra signal in the area more difficult to get a valid reading.
If you don't have a V1 or some other multi-signal tracker, you will have a hard time knowing when the road is clear or being sneakily patrolled.
Unless you have a ton of RF gear to track and map signals, you aren't like to be able to prove there was too much radar noise to get a solid reading and get off in court.
If the cops are all start using Lidar then it won't matter much.

So if you are wondering why highway 17 has become a beeping ride the whole way over, now you know.
If you want to see the devices, there is one on the pole at Glenwood Drive and one on the pole on the top of the rise between the main Scotts Valley exits.
The second one can skip-reflect all the way down to the bottom of the hill just south of the Santa's Village area.

 

I've been catching those popping up all over the bay area, although I thought I was getting K band indications from them, not Ka.....

 

there has been radar on at least 3 spots I know of on 17 for about 1.5-2 years now.

One pole is on the southbound side just after you come over the summit rd. exit peak, the sign just after it as well is one on the oposite side.
one just past glen wood. I forget where the other is since I stopped commuting that direction for work.

check www.sigalert.com, those poles are all over the bay area.

 

These are new and now there are about 8 places on 17.
It is K not Ka, which I fixed, mind think, hands type.
The one by Scotts Valley was the first years ago, but it had been dead for the last couple of years.

 

I think they are to monitor traffic in the bay area - Caltrans has been mounting the radar monitors over all the major routes.

http://www.dot.ca.gov/traffic/

 

Unfortunately, neither sigalert nor caltrans has speed data or cameras for highway 17 through the Santa Cruz mountains to Santa Cruz.
It would be awesome if they did, as the weekend beach-goers often stop traffic from Scotts Valley down, and that would be good to know before hitting the road.
Maybe they are preparing to add the service.

 

Yeah, they always mess up traffic.

I know pretty much all of the back roads from san jose to Santa cruz so I just take which ever one I feel like and depending on time.

8 radars is a lot! I stopped using my detector when I am local to home so I didn't use it this morning when I went and got my oil changed. But at 8am I saw 2 people pulled over, and 1 sitting and waiting.

Thanks for the update though, its good to know.

 

There are 3 or 4 spots which my V1 goes off for a second along 680 north and south now going to work. It just started sometime last month I believe.

Also, one or two spots along 280 north right after the 85 interchange I get a burst of KA for a second when I pass by. I don't know where it comes from though.

 

they installed a few of those solar units on 237 also right as your coming over 101 and also closer to mountainview