Radar detector placement given the design of the 911 tub and window angles?
 

Where is the best placement given the design/ angle constraints?

What is the best unit to use?

Radar detectors work best as high as possible on your windshield. With no obstructions.

Valentine One, top of windshield, above the mirror. Rear view is still sufficient.

Like ZOANAS said... V1

I third that. V1, top on windshield. mine has paid for itself 10 times over.

where can I buy one of those V1's?

they advertise in Panorama. Or you can just search for valentine one on yahoo or google. It will be one of the first few links.

400 bucks! is it worth it?

Provides a good feeling of security right up until the "instant on" radar/laser paints/pings your 911. Totally useless against aircraft or the stopwatch/telephone pole counting method. Cheers, Jim

There are more "radar detector" threads on this board than there are threads about engine problems. Run a search for radar detectors, you're liable to find at least one good post on the topic. Also, I recently started a thread (shameless plug) on the ultimate ECM suite which attracted some pretty well thought-out comments. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/148393-electronic-counter-measures-long.html?highlight=suite

For some good research on the topic, try "http://www.radartest.com". They've done a lot of work, and can discuss the topic in far more depth than is reasonable to address here.

Worth every penny. I'd pay much more, knowing what I know now.

V-1 or Forgettaboutit!!
 

Hands down the best Anti-Radar fire out there! Have had and recently upgraged for 4 years! Saved my rear many times. Best $400.00 spent!http://www.pelicanparts.com/support/smileys/men_ani.gif

sh8t, well, I have not had a ticket in a long time, using the "something feels strange smokie might be nearby" method ;-) To be honest, I never push it past 90 on the highway, not worth it with all the dumbass drivers out there who don't look or use mirrors. In a 911 in my view, you have to drive like you are riding a MC. 'cause people just plain don't pay attention.

James

The decision to go V1 has already been made. I know there are a bazillion threads on radar detectors, and the V1 is tops.

My focus for this thread is location of the unit. These are the criteria:

1 - Must be able to detect in all directions.
2 - Must NOT be easily seen by the fuzz.
3 - Must be easy to get at from the driver's seat.

As for the detector itself:

1 - Remote LED would be nice, you can hide the unit completely.
2 - Is battery as good as plug in? Battery is less conspicuous.
3 - MUST be able to detect long before you can see the extortionist.

A buddy of mine has one hidden in his headliner with the line to the 12V sorce completely hidden. Is mounting that high optimal?

I live in a different environment now. I came from the flatlands of the midwest where you can see for miles. Never used a radar detector 'cause I didn't really need one. Now I live in the mountains of northern AL where blind curves are the norm. Makes me reeeeeeeal nervous.

Call Valentine tech. support -- when I did, they told me that Mike likes Porsches and has one, and that a visor mount is too high (because of the way the rear roof comes down). So you have to mount it below the rear roof line, about where rthe mirror attaches to the windshield.

Check the thread on "what parts should Pelican carry" and you'll see that I proposed for someone to make a nice black box to contain the V1 and the mirror mount. That would be nice and concealed and keep the V1 where it should be.

Only if you think that paying double what the other top rated detectors go for makes it that much better. ;)

I mounted mine just above the mirror and the angle has had no discernable affect on the reception. In fact, I have measured a greater range of consistent signal from both front and rear by using the fortuitous location of a Police traffic radar that was set up on the road I commute. Repeated passes with the detector in two different locations; the lower middle windshield mount and the current location proved to my satisfaction that neither the tint band on the windshield nor the slope of the rear of the car degraded the effectiveness of the Valentine.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1077766318.jpg

You can barely see the detector from the outside.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1077766662.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1077766706.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1077766735.jpg

I located the remote on my Tach.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1077766776.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1077766830.jpg

This was the only drawback I could find: It's in plain view of an Officer walking up to give you a ticket when the roof is open, and I can't use the visors.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1077766907.jpg

How about mounted to my harness bar, between the seats?
This is (of course) a tad over shoulder hight as you sit. I could see the front of the unit by looking in the rear view mirror, no luck seeing the rear that would probably have the various warning lights or arows.

If the unit is amall enough I can fab some sort of cover to hide it or make it blend. I have a home-made mount on the bar for the video camera.

Ideas on how this might work?

Thanks for posting the picks - you were posting at the same time I was so I missed it.

Another possible issue - I don't have sun visors in my car. Took them out and left them out when a new headliner was installed.

Love that remote! Definitely a must have. Possition is perfect.

Yeah, the remote is nice, but I AM mulling a modification to reduce it's thickness. It would be really nice if it was more flush to the surface of the tach. I've even thought about taking apart the tach and trying to somehow mount it "IN" the face of the tach.

I like putting the remote where the seat belt warning light is (hog out the holes a bit) -- some irony there.

Zoanas has his mounted a bit higher than the mirro but still lower than a visor mount would be. He doesn't say what he did to "test" it. One would need a constant signal radar source with a statistically valid sample to do a real test.

Randy, the constant signal was a roadside police radar trailer. The ones that show your speed as you drive by. No cop in sight. It was set up on a nice long stretch of road where I had the opportunity to make several passes, each time noting the distance the detector began to fade. It wasn't "scientific", but it certainly was "real world". In any event, it satisfied my curiosity. In fact, the distance INCREASED from the front, looking through the tint, I suspect mainly due to the higher elevation of the Valentine. I noted no discernable difference to the rear. The distances covered were more than adequate for reducing speed in time.

Mounted mine in the same place that Zoanas' and did the same test with a unmanned radar unit a mile from home. No discernable diff from mounting in the middle of the windshield. I got my remote unit mounted to the left of the ashtray. Used to have it above the Oil Pressure Guage, might move it back there...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1077438600.jpg

mines like zonas too but no remote. its saved me tons of times. best 400 bucks spent ever. check out the p-car.com site. the guy there cut up his tach and actually mounted it under the bezel. outside my skill level, but a good idea. i simply hardwired mine to the stereo and ran the cord along the passenger side of the windshield with a flathead screwdriver with some tape over it. cops can't see it, good "view" clean install, instant on with the key.

no brainer.

db

found it:

http://p-car.com/diy/v1/index.html

db

That is impressive.

Question - why do you need a remote if the main unit is located above the mirror and fully visible and accessable to the driver?

So the folks behind you do not see your red blinking lights, especially if there is a cop around.

Exactly, Alf. Also, you can grow a "tail" when it's visible from the outside. People tend to get behind you and let you run interference for them. Annoying as hell.

Yep, 911's (plus Corvettes and several other makes and models) make great "front doors" for a variety of reasons (technical and psychological - one doesn't need to spot the glowing red light of the radar detector - other clues are sufficient); back when I was driving a VW Scirroco I would occasionally get behind one. Very rarely would one be driven so fast that it couldn't be tailed at a discreet distance (brake light tracking range) by the VW. ;) Jim

Zoanas & alf -- Thx for describing your tests. Did you test the rear-look config. from a long distance? It would also be interesting to call V1 techs and ask them about the "drooping" rear effect. If you guys do that, can you post what they say?

I hang the V-1 from the pass visor. The rear alert works very good from this position. I don't have a rear wing. If he's comming up from behind you have plenty of time to slow down because he's approaching at a relatively slow speed.
HP on I-5 in Calif used the rear grab a lot the last time I visited.

I put mine above the visor on a mount that I made. Like Ron said it works great in all directions. I have a Carrera tail

I drove past the radar trailer several times, noting the distance away from both the front and rear that the detector picked up the signal, and then faded. Rear distance (driving away from the trailer that was facing the rear of my car) was exceptional. It was even picking it up quite a distance away when I drove towards the trailer and passed it. Rear detection continued just from reflections off of vertical surfaces in front of the trailer.

Bottom line, other radar detectors may achieve superior range in certain circumstances, but none will give you the information that the V1 will.

Scenario: 2 patrol cars, one in plain view with a radar gun. A second hidden a 1/4 mile down the road.

Your non-V1 goes nuts when you get in range of trooper #1 and you slow down in time to creep past the obvious speed trap. You slide past trooper #1 and grin as you let the needle creep back up, knowing your non-V1 just avoided another ticket.

What your V1 would have told you is that there were TWO sources of radar in front of you as you approached, and then one behind you and one in front of you as you passed trooper #1. This is a common practice out on the highways. The V1 is just a better system.

anybody put the valentine next to the back window on the ledge inside a kleenex box, or would this degrade the signal?

Definitely would degrade signal.

Nowadays the optical sensors are as important as the microwave detectors so its best to pick a location that has both good forward and rearward visability.

Since I have the tinted windshield I keep mine directly underneath the mirror.

there has to be a better way. half the game is if you get pulled over not to get the police officer irritated so he wont ticket you. the last thing you need is a radar detector that is visible.

I dunno why some of you guys are so worked up about hiding your detectors unless you live in a state where they are illegal. When you are pulled over by a cop in a 911 (or even worse, a 930) a common car accessory being there isn't going to piss off any cop I know.

Hell, the last time I was pulled over me and the cop had a long friendly conversation about how early I picked up his new laser device with my detector. That was one of several cases where I got away with it with my detector in plain view.

I think being polite and profesional with the officer goes a lot further then trying to conceal a radar detector in an obvious sports car.

You guys can cut up you porsches all you want to try to smuggle around your $400 cop detectors but I am happy to keep my $150 top rated Bel tastefully suction cupped underneath my mirror.

Luckily the Bel is a bit smaller than the V1 so its a bit less obnoxious to have out in the open.

http://www.tamparacing.com/gallery/d.../11516Pic4.jpg

350, have you tested your detector behind the tint?