my valentine one install

[ninjajim4]

well, it's not in my MX, but i thought i would just share some snapshots of my V1 installed in the RX8, with concealed display embedded in my mirror and remote mute button mounted in dash blank.


Dash blank with mounting hole drilled in:




mute button:




phone cord + w/10k resistor soldered to the button:




button mounted in, view of the back:




front view, finished:




all mounted up!:




this is the V1 concealed display, out of the box:




here's the display out of its case. i should have but didn't photo document all the changes i made, but in short, the phone jack was mounted onto the board, and as you can see, i pulled it off the board and used a bit of phone cord to extend it off.

i also removed the photocell and jumpered it with a 10k resistor. the photocell adjusts the brightness of the display based on ambient light meaning it shows brighter in the daytime and dims at night. obviously being mounted inside the mirror means it would always be dim, which is bad.

i could have mounted the photocell outside of the mirror like i did the phonejack, but i'd rather have it bright all the time, especially since my mirror has other displays on it that don't have this feature and it would look inconsistent. here's the result:




daytime shot mounted in the mirror:




couple shots in the dark garage (will take better night shots later):






i know a lot of people don't like it in the mirror, saying it's too visible from outside, inviting cops and, to quote, 'other drivers crowding up behind you so they can live off your detector warnings ' but the latter especially is just plain idiotic IMO.

at any rate, the 8's got pretty small rear windows and mine is tinted pretty dark. i like to have everything in my direct line of sight and of course it's tough to beat for clean looks and general aesthetics. i've actually never gotten tagged for a speeding ticket since investing, but i would just reach over and shut it off if i did. the RD itself is just clipped to the passenger side visor, hard wired in. the display is dark on the unit itself and with the tint strip on the windshield and tints on the front doors as well, i never take it down or worry about it when i park. no one ever looks up there anyway, regardless of tints. my MX actually got broken into and they didn't notice my $400 Bel on the visor of that one either.

well.. there it is! another project off the checklist. i may pull the display again and solder in different color LEDs for band identification and threat strength, mostly for the cool factor

[Mooneggs]

nice work... that's cool how it's in the mirror but I had lots of problems with people "cloaking" me so I put the concealed display right in front of my gauges... so the unit in the front window doesn't light up.

I've been running my setup for 5+ years... back when I was a speeder it paid for itself many many times over... now it's just nice to know where the cops are regardless

[RS_OBD'oh_2]

Wow, I can't believe the work you guys do to hide an RD. We are allowed to use radar blockers here, let alone RDs. Good on ya for doing the write up.

[ninjajim4]

nice work... that's cool how it's in the mirror but I had lots of problems with people "cloaking" me so I put the concealed display right in front of my gauges... so the unit in the front window doesn't light up.

I've been running my setup for 5+ years... back when I was a speeder it paid for itself many many times over... now it's just nice to know where the cops are regardless

see i don't get the tailgaters whole living off your RD thing. if they wanted to live off your alerts, they would have to drive behind you, and if they have to do that, why even tailgate to see what your RD is doing, why not just follow behind you like a normal person? i've never had this problem...

Wow, I can't believe the work you guys do to hide an RD. We are allowed to use radar blockers here, let alone RDs. Good on ya for doing the write up.

we are allowed to have them, but that doesn't mean the 5-0 is happy to see it. i mainly did it just because it looks nice and clean. i don't know how it is in your province, but i do know places like toronto you are not allowed a radar detector period. a lot of people up there use the Bel STI, which is undetectable with no emission leaks. i have one of those in my other car, which i bought for the performance rather than the stealth feature which i don't need.

i don't know of an actual working active radar jammer available anywhere. i'd be surprised to see it allowed anywhere either

[mitmaks]

How's the sensitivity of these? I've seen lots of ads in car magazines but $400 price tag kept me away. Now they're more affordable to me as I can get used one off of ebay.

[ninjajim4]

it's got good range. great, in fact. but it's very, very chatty and obnoxious. i have it interfaced with that mirror in the picture, which filters a lot of the crap out -- i don't know if i could put up with it otherwise. the feature set is not as good as my Bel STI, which is just as sensitive. the only genuinely outstanding thing about it is the arrows.

but anyway, you're right... secondhand prices are way low, and i think it'd be hard to find a better detector for the price. i picked mine up for 225 used, found it wouldn't pick up k band, and i sent it in for 40 bucks to get serviced and latest updates, came back good as new.

i put the V1, Bel STI and 9500IX in the top 3. it definitely worth the investment if you're like me and get one or two tickets a year. a bad detector is literally useless.

[Mooneggs]

If you really want to step it up I would consider the K40 system #1 in the world: http://www.k40.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I just don't have $1500 to spend... I think that system is meant for cars where radar detectors are illegal...

[ninjajim4]

you should read up on the K40s, Mark. that is one case where paying more doesn't get you more. the performance on them is significantly worse than the belscort/v1's. for a totally stealth, undetectable RD, the STI-R is the best pick IMO, with a very similar install to the K40.

better on the wallet too

[Nd4SpdSe]

I'm not sure I understand how you got the display behind the mirror? Also, your mirror has a GPS function? Enlighten me!

[ninjajim4]

i have a Cheetah mirror, which clips on over the OEM one. as for installing, it just has a few screws and comes apart. since it has its own LED display which you can see in the picture, it is manufactured with one way glass, so basically it was more or less made to hold that remote display.

it does have GPS built in, which does a few things:

1) it alerts me to red light cameras. it's actually pretty neat in that it's directional. so if one direction of the intersection has a camera, but the other does not, it will only alert on the one that does. i am pretty sure this is the only product on the market that does that.

2) it is interfaced with my V1 detector. the GPS measures speed, and i am able to set a threshold for suppressing alerts. so below 25 MPH, my radar detector will not make a sound. this is the primary reason i bought this -- i couldn't stand sitting at a red light, having my RD going off because of the walgreens at the corner. the V1 is especially chatty, so it's nice to only hear alerts when i actually need to hear them.

[_-Night-Shade-_]

Wow I need to figure something like this out for myself! They are illegal here...