Valentine 1 Install

[BoxerGT2.5]

The one thing I could never understand....what is the point of the remote unit.....is it too hard to look up....rather look down???? Just curious..thats all. The install looks awesome.

[Deer Killer]

[quote name='BoxerGT2.5']The one thing I could never understand....what is the point of the remote unit.....is it too hard to look up....rather look down???? Just curious..thats all. The install looks awesome.[/quote] the cop's can't see it flashing away....

[BoxerGT2.5]

[quote name='Deer Killer'][quote name='BoxerGT2.5']The one thing I could never understand....what is the point of the remote unit.....is it too hard to look up....rather look down???? Just curious..thats all. The install looks awesome.[/quote] the cop's can't see it flashing away....[/quote] ahhh....so w/ the remote the main unit doesn't do anything...ie...arrows...numbers..ect ect

[Trent Bates]

What Deer Killer said is pretty much it. In the case of the V1, when you plug in the remote display, [b]all[/b] lights are automatically transferred to the remote unit only. The main unit stays completely dark except for the power up test sequence in which all the lights on both displays will illuminate for a few seconds. I believe many of the Passport models work similarly. I don't know of any other brands that offer remote displays except the custom install models that come with 2 or three boxes that are mounted behind the grill, etc. Other detectors usually have a "dark" mode in which almost all of the lights are turned off. (Usually with the exception of the power indicator light.) I believe that Valentine's philosophy is that a "dark" mode would negate the V1's best features. What good is it to have directional arrows, signal counters and band indicators if they are turned off? V1's remote shows everything that the main unit does. The ability to use a remote display allows optimum (high in the windows) placement of the detector unit while providing the display where only the car's occupants can see it. Does it matter if an officer sees a detector going off? Well, if I was an officer and saw a car over the speed limit with it's radar detector flashing away, I'd be inclined to assume that the driver was willfully speeding as opposed to being unaware. Willfull versus accidental actions are usually the determining factor in many traffic cases. I would actually like to have the remote display closer to the instrument cluster. I didn't see an ideal spot around there though. There's a really good place for arrows in-between the two large guages at the bottom. I'm not up to the task of cutting up my guage cluster though. ;) Before I get branded as a "cop hater" around here, I'd like to say that I've got a couple of long-time friends that are Police Officers. I'm not after the stealth look just for the Police. I also don't want to advertise that I have a detector to anyone driving behind me. There's an interface box available for BMW's that displays the V1 information on the BMW alpha-numeric informational display integrated in the instrument cluster. That's an interesting idea but it looks a little hard to read. I have seen rear view mirrors that have V1 displays built in. Those are the concepts that I have a hard time understanding! In my case, I'd be lowering my display about 3 inches. :lol: I have read of people that mount their detectors in the back window and cover the unit with something transparent to radar like a baseball cap. That would be a good reason to spend $200-$300 on a mirror I guess.

[Drift Monkey]

[quote name='BoxerGT2.5']The one thing I could never understand....what is the point of the remote unit.....is it too hard to look up....rather look down???? Just curious..thats all. The install looks awesome.[/quote] I had mine like that in my WRX. It's not really like I had to look up at it anyway...that's what the beeping is for...(E8500)

[BoxerGT2.5]

[quote name='Trent Bates']I might as well post these pictures as well. I'm not happy with them and I planned on taking others but these will probably do. My mirror looks crooked, but it really isn't. It's lined up perfectly with the back window top edge as viewed from the driver's seat. (Which makes it a tiny bit crooked with relation to the edge above it, but not as bad as it looks here.) It's hard to tell in these shots, but the "front radar horn" and "laser aperture" window of the detector is right [u]under[/u] the dotted pattern of the windshield. If you look really close you can also see the packaging tape I used on the dotted pattern to make it smoother for the suction cups. It's very hard to see the detector in this position from outside of the car. The tint band hides it unless you bend down enough to see it's silhouette in the light from the back window. From the rear, the same is true. A car driving behind would see it the same way. The dotted pattern helps to camoflage it a bit. The detector's view out the front is unobscured with the exception of the bottom of the tint band. It's rear view is very good because the car's rear window is "higher". The detector lines up roughly at the top 1/3 of the rear window. The detector was mounted with the aid of a level because I am hopelessly anal. :o I had a thought about the remote. It might look very nice if I were to use a little faux leather with some foam inside (folded over to provide a rounded edge, but puffy to fill the gaps) in place of the Ozite carpet that surrounds the remote unit now. The Ozite works fine but this might look better. What is Ozite you ask? It's automotive carpet that has no backing. It's nearly acoustically transparent and because of this it's often used for covering speakers. It's just a loosely woven carpet material. It stretches nicely.[/quote] It looks like your rearview mirrow sits lower on the windshield? Do you have sunroof? That might explain it.

[Trent Bates]

No sunroof. I moved the mirror all the way down until I got the detector placement I wanted. Then I moved the mirror back up so that it's almost touching the detector. The mirror mounting pad is in the normal spot which is also marked by the black dotted stuff. In other words, the mounting pad is placed where the windshield has a spot designated for it. The pictures are taken at such an angle that the mirror looks strange. It really looks pretty normal in person.

[jim1969]

The lower to the dash you are the better chance you have of detecting laser. It's a very narrow beam and the farther away from the liscense plate you go the harder it is to detect. One other reason I chose the Escort 8500 X50 was that it can be connected to Escorts ZR Shifter which shifts a laser signal making it impossible for the police to get a return signal. I mounts around the front and back liscense plates. Valentine offers no such device. It's not cheap but it'a available.

[Trent Bates]

[quote name='jim1969']The lower to the dash you are the better chance you have of detecting laser. It's a very narrow beam and the farther away from the liscense plate you go the harder it is to detect. One other reason I chose the Escort 8500 X50 was that it can be connected to Escorts ZR Shifter which shifts a laser signal making it impossible for the police to get a return signal. I mounts around the front and back liscense plates. Valentine offers no such device. It's not cheap but it'a available.[/quote] Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the Shifter unit detect laser by itself? (Without the Passport attached) I had also been looking at that product and the fact that it was able to display it's operations on some of the Passport units. The point of me asking this is that it seems that a license plate mounted Shifter product combined with a compatible Passport unit mounted at the top of the windshield would be an ideal situation. I'm aware that some laser jamming units rely on a detector. I didn't remember the Shifter product being one of those. As I understand it, the Shifter unit simply interfaces with the Passport to display it's status. Having a V1 doesn't mean that I can't use a Shifter unit, or a similar product from another manufacturer. The integration of the two would be nice though. Reading about the Shifter unit is what got me to consider the 8500 before deciding that I couldn't go back to living without the V1 arrows. :) I don't use front license plates myself. I've gotten two tickets for it in 20 years. I've probably paid less that $45 in fines in those 20 years.

[Drift Monkey]

Mindless slaves of the V1 arrows...geez....:lol:

[BoxerGT2.5]

WTF....how did you get it up there??? I'm deciding how to mount mine and there is no way to fit it up there without cocking the mirror at a f'ed up angle...??? lol Are you f*cking with us?? hehe

[Limeydriver]

You need to be careful placing the V1 that high. Often the tint in the windshield can decrease the sensitivity of the V1, some glass manufacturers use a metallic compound to create the tint in the glass. Also the tint will probably make the forward laser detection much less sensitive.

[BoxerGT2.5]

[quote name='Limeydriver']You need to be careful placing the V1 that high. Often the tint in the windshield can decrease the sensitivity of the V1, some glass manufacturers use a metallic compound to create the tint in the glass. Also the tint will probably make the forward laser detection much less sensitive.[/quote] Well I was thinkin that too...but he said the front laser was just below the tint. I can't even get the damn thing between the mirror and the headliner.

[BoxerGT2.5]

Your not 5 foot tall are you??? lol

[Drift Monkey]

[quote name='BoxerGT2.5']Your not 5 foot tall are you??? lol[/quote] your 5 foot tall?

[BoxerGT2.5]

[quote name='Drift Monkey'][quote name='BoxerGT2.5']Your not 5 foot tall are you??? lol[/quote] your 5 foot tall?[/quote] NO...I'm 6'0, but I'm just thinkin that if he's short then the seat is closer to the wheel and the Rearview is tipped down more.????

[Drift Monkey]

[quote name='BoxerGT2.5'][quote name='Drift Monkey'][quote name='BoxerGT2.5']Your not 5 foot tall are you??? lol[/quote] your 5 foot tall?[/quote] NO...I'm 6'0, but I'm just thinkin that if he's short then the seat is closer to the wheel and the Rearview is tipped down more.????[/quote] I was grapping on your "your." :o :lol:

[Trent Bates]

Apparently some clarification is in order! :) I'm 5'11". My seat is two notches away from the rear stop. (I'd like to take this moment to commend the designers for this. My Wife's '03 Legacy doesn't let me move that far away from the steering wheel.) As said differently in one of my above posts, the tint band on the Legacy doesn't appear to interfere with the laser frequency (904nm) used. Other people have tested this enough that I'm not concerned. That was a problem with older technology windshields and those have mostly been discontinued in the last 8 years or so. The tint band AND the black dotted area are also not metallic in nature so there is no radar interference. The front "window" of the detector is mounted immediately below the [u]dotted[/u] pattern. To place the detector, I tilted the mirror all the way down to get it out of my way. It was pointing to the ground when I did this. I placed the detector where I wanted it, then adjusted the mirror to fit up against it without actually touching it. Since the mirror has two ball joints in it's arm, it can be used really close to the roof (where I prefer it) or way down to almost the middle of the windshield. As mentioned before, I'm an anal person. To demonstrate how bad I am, I made sure that the mirror "arm" was at a right angle to the windshield. (So there I am with my head under the mirror and against the dash adjusting this thing until it's exact!) This has the effect of centering the mirror on a horizontal plane with relation to the A-pillars. The tilt towards the driver was done completely with the mirror-side ball joint. The windshield-side ball joint was used to place the mirror where I wanted vertically under the detector. Just to prove that I'm not aiming the mirror at my own face to apply makeup :o I'll probably try to take a picture of it that looks more normal. :lol:

[BoxerGT2.5]

Ohhhh.....thank you....:)

[FiftyTwoEighty]

Somestimes, I wonder whether I use these types of forums as a means to further educate myself or because it is more like a support group for those of us who can never leave well enough alone. One way or the other, it is good to know that I am not the only one.

 

It began with one very simple goal in mind; get a radar detector before you get a (or several) speeding tickets. Research began on these very forums as to which detector seemed to be the best. Initially, I suspected that I would just get the V1 and be done with it but further research suggested that the Escort 8500 x50 was an excellent choice as well.

 

The V1 tested better in some areas and the 8500 was better in others. Ultimately, I went with the Escort due to its better overall performance than the V1. According to the independent tests that I read, the 8500 was far better than the V1 in the areas of laser and pop radar detection and it looked like it was quite a bit more user friendly and less prone to false warnings. With that in mind, I found it on sale at Best Buy and I made the leap.

 

Excitedly, I hooked it up in the parking lot to see how she worked. On the way home, I decided that I hated the suction cup mount and I knew that I would end up wiring it directly in lieu of using the 12V adapter.

 

Fortunately, the direct wire smart cord is available at the Escort web site. Initially, I considered modifying the 12V adapter but it just didn't seem worth it. So, I ordered the cord and patiently waited for it to arrive.

 

While waiting for the cord, I knew that I would need to come up with an installation plan that would factor in performance, ergonomics, and appearance. I'm pretty sure that I considered every possible mounting option and location in my search for a suitable method for mounting and running the cable.

 

For the purpose of testing, I used the 12V adapter and coil cord in conjunction with the 12V plug in the arm rest cubby as a means of determining the best way to run the cable. I agree with many of the other posters here that the best run includes tucking it behind the headliner near the windshield and down the A Pillar to a location under the dash. I suspect that I will end up direct wiring to the fuse box location as well and then mounting the remote display unit either on the steering column or in the ash trash area. Fortunately, the 8500 differs in that it allows you to run the main unit in dark mode and use the remote for notifications and muting.

 

But there was still the matter of the method and location for mounting. I knew that I wanted to mount it high but I did not want to attach it using the suction cup mount provided with the detector. Due to the angled display on the unit, it needed to be mounting to my right. That pretty much leaves the area in the center of the vehicle at or near the rearview mirror. I decided that mounting the detector below the mirror would be ideal considering all of the criteria even though it wouldn't be as stealthy as I would like, I know that it will perform as needed due to the fact that it would not be obstructed by any tint and it has a very clear view of the rear of the vehicle for rear radar/laser detection. And after some time of looking for the right way to mount the unit, I finally put an order in for a RAM mount with a U Bolt attachment for securely mounting it to the stem of the rear view mirror. It should hang just below the mirror and provide ideal levels of adjustability and no suction cups on my windshield. I've attached a picture of it. I should get it today via UPS and will do the install tonight. Will let you guys know how it turns out.

[Mikey05Outback]

Hey everyone, I decided to join this forum when I saw how much great info is in here! Just bought an 05 Outback XT, and installed the V1 on day 2! I went the maplight/mirror method, because I don't use the remote display. Thanks to Limeydriver for his post - here are some things to watch out for: In my Outback, I have the auto-dimming mirror/Homelink combo. When I got in there, I realized that I don't have the color-coded wires Limey talked about. Instead, I just have three small black wires running to the mirror. My first thought was to find power elsewhere. There was a nicely exposed wire going to the sunroof switch that had 12 volts on it with the ignition switched on. So I tapped into that, and imagine my surprise when I turned on the V1 and the sunroof opened! Must be an electronic switch that doesn't like spikes in current. After more poking around, I found a 12V wire that powers the sunroof motor. But it's a thicker (12 guage) wire, and didn't have much slack, so I decided to try the tiny wires powering the mirror. There was a good ground there, and plenty of slack. There's a nice place to anchor the V1 power supply on the plastic maplight assembly, and the install is pretty clean. Just the phone wire coming out of the top of the headliner, out of sight. BUT, one more caution! When I put Subie into reverse (automatic transmission), the V1 shuts off! My only thought is that something is stepping down the voltage in reverse, so the mirror doesn't dim. Some sort of safety thing? Has anyone else had this experience? If it annoys me enough, I'll either switch to the wire powering the sunroof motor, or try the A-pillar routing I saw in another posting. Hope this helps someone - I have pics if anyone wants them. -Mike

[jim1969]

The auto dimming feature automatically shuts off when you go in reverse.

[phamilton]

My buddy is cop and he swears radar detectors are a waste of money. I'm thinking what does he care if he gets pulled over he just flashes his badge and off he goes!! I MUST speed to work so I'm not late and there are multiple speed traps along the way. Have your detectors saved you?

[danbart]

Here is how I set up my V-1. Remember the radar detector is just a tool! You need to understand how it works and how to properly employ it. Just my 2 cents. [url]http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7564&page=1&pp=10&highlight=clean+install[/url]

[TSiWRX]

[quote name='danbart']Remember the radar detector is just a tool! You need to understand how it works and how to properly employ it. Just my 2 cents. [/QUOTE] If that's my 2 cents as well, can we double it to 4? :) Very well said, danbart. Even "the best" radar/laser detector in the world won't save an idiot driver - and on the flip side, even a non "top-shelf" detector can be a great tool for an attentive driver on a budget. There's many ways to set up a detector, phamilton. Do you want stealth? Where do you desire your detector's readout in terms of line-of-sight? Do you desire more over-the-crest detectability? Are you more worried about laser? Or are there a lot of on-the-prowl enforcers in your area, and you might need better rear-facing detectability? All of that influences how and where you might locate your detector. And certainly, the top-tier detectors will be the best tools, but if you look at various reports carefully and pick and choose your features and your desired sensitivity, you can also get away with not only great bargains, but with just the right sensitivity you may need for your trips. -A