Having Trouble with Radar Detector

[86 911]

I just got a Beltronics Vector 965 Radar/Laser detector an hooked it up in the Porsche. In the Subaru it works fine, but in the Porsche, all I get is a crackling sound. I read the instructions and plugged it in, but the detector does not show its display and crackles when the car is started. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

[s5uewf]

when you said you plugged it in, do you mean you
simply plugged it into the cigarette lighter?
If you did that it should work.

My BEL works fine in my 911, except the voice warning
keeps saying "caveman" instead of K band. According
to my BEL there are a lot of cavemen in Pennsylvania.

Seriously, if it is a cigarette lighter connection it should
be 12V positive like most non British vehicles. It should
work. If it is crackling, it might be you have a bad connection..?
Maybe try testing the plug on the BEL with a voltmeter
to make sure the cable is still good, and then check
the cigarette socket with a voltmeter to make sure
it id giving you current. If it all checks you should be set,
I would guess.

[Oh Haha]

Consider me the wiser, older brother.
Didn't you just get your license? It would suck to get a ticket so soon.
Do you think the radar detector will encourage you to speed?

Ok, I''m done.

Check the connection with another power cord, maybe cell phone? Might just be a bad connection.

[Oh Haha]

Sorry about the lecture, Matt. I just ran across your other post. I see the other guys beat me to the punch on safe driving.

[rbcsaver]

Ditto the speeeding lecture.

off soap box,
The euro cigarette lighter is larger in diameter.
Steve

[86 911]

Oh, I see. So the connection won't be that good anyway with the larger lighter. It worked fine in the Subaru, but I get the crackling in the Porsche. Can I just run a wire directly from the battery then?

Thanks!

P.S. I'm a sissy when it comes to speeding, and I just like to know when a policeman is watching me. I'm very stressed and nervous about going even 5 MPH over the limit! Lol!

[Oh Haha]

Morning Matt,
I think a stereo shop or auto parts store would have some sort of adapter for the euro lighter port.

Glad to hear you are uneasy about speeding. Us older guys probably know that if WE had a 911 at 16 we might not be here or still be in jail.
My first car was a Corvair and I did burnouts and my share of impressions of Starsky and Hutch, Rockford, Dukes of Hazzard, etc.
(Uh, that would be the original TV shows, not the remade movies.)
Got kicked off my high school lot with three weeks left to graduation for doing a Rockford in the back lot! DUH!!!

[Formerly Steve Wilkinson]

Matt, be aware that the radar detector is useless--you very well may already know this--unless another car ahead of you triggers the cop's radar gun, If you're speeding alone or are first in the line of fast-moving traffic, all that even the world's finest Valentine will tell you is that you just got a ticket. Unless you're fortunate enough to live where cops leave their radar guns on permanantly.

Stephan

[ZOA NOM]

Actually, Stephan, you're describing an "Instant-On" type of police radar, which aren't really very plentiful, at least not here in the Bay Area. The vast majority of radar traps are fixed position, always on, like a motorcycle cop sitting by the side of the road with his radar going. Pulling the trigger for each car gets old fast, so most cops take the path of least resistance. They still fill their quota pretty quick. It isn't worth the extra money and effort for instant-on.

I can't tell you how many times my V1 has saved me a ticket from over a 1/4 mile away.

[Formerly Steve Wilkinson]

Yes, I know it's called instant-on. You're fortunate to live where it isn't common. Only some of the backwater yokel cops still use always-on radar here in New York.

Stephan

[SpeedracerIndy]

I thought almost all cops used the instant on type now. I haven't seen a cop sitting on the side of the road with the radar on in ages.

I don't even use a radar detector anymore. It's pretty useless in the city. I just practice safe speeding. Follow the idiot going 90 and keep a safe distance so he'll get nabbed. Ever since I started paying for my own car insurace about 10 years ago, I don't speed too much anymore anyway.

[JP911]

When I bought my Passport 8500 a few years ago it didn't work in my Audi unless I held the plug steady. Passport knew of the problem and overnighted me the larger plug. But, before you call Bel you should test that the cigarrette lighter is providing good power.

[AvonGil]

I had a radar detector when I just got my liscense. Got paced at night and was ticketed. The problem with radar detectors is, once you get pulled over, there is no getting out of a ticket.

Got rid of it after that and never got another ticket. Twice I have gotten tickets for speeding but they where dismissed. That won't happen if the law sees you using a radar detector.

It will take a while, but you will learn how to detect the law by simply looking at traffic around you and slowing down at obvious hiding places. Besides, if you dont speed then all you need to worry about is not passing or speeding up when there law is around.

Forget the detector, it's nothing but trouble.

[TerryH]

My Escort Passport 8500 came with a plastic sleeve that fits the larger cig outlets in the euro cars.

[ZOA NOM]

The problem with radar detectors is, once you get pulled over, there is no getting out of a ticket.

This hasn't been my experience. I think the ticket depends mostly on the mood of the cop, and whether you were being a "negligent" speeder. I have received a warning from an Arizona Highway Patrolman for 95 mph because he liked my attitude, and I've received a ticket for 5 mph over just because it was raining and the cop didn't like getting wet. (I do turn off my V1 when I get pulled over, tho.)

[86 911]

Thanks for all of the help. I'm going to just buy another cigarette lighter at an auto parts store and wire it in so I can use the detector. The lighter that is in the car now works fine, but as JP911 told me, the Euro lighter is too wide for the standard cigarette lighter plug-in.

[ZOA NOM]

Matt, I would consider running a fused 12v wire directly to the detector before I drilled another hole in your dash. If you decide to toss the detector in the future, you will regret the useless redundant receptacle.

[86 911]

Thank you Zonas. I'll consider that. I wasn't thinking of drilling a hole in the dash, just having the lighter lay loose in the car but wired, and run the wires through some hole in the firewall. The cool thing is that I have an unused wire with fuse coming from the battery. I'l see what I can do. Thanks for the suggestion.

[copper]

86 911
My cell phone adapter fits loosely in my light socket due to the larger diameter. Sometimes have to wiggle it to get it to go on, and then a bump can turn it off. You're probably getting an inconsistent power because of this. I'm no electrical guru, but I know people who have hardwired them and I'm sure it could be done.

As for handheld radar units and "instant on"
Years ago, our units were always on. Then numerous claims and reports arose stating that officers were coming down with testicular cancer and impotence from placing the always active unit in their lap between readings or while writing a ticket. It was believed that the constant radar signal was behaving much the same as x-rays on those regions. (I believe these reports initially popped up in the US, the land of the law suit)

So, Muniquip and most other companies began producing units which were only active while the trigger was pulled. Agencies changed over to these units en masse, while some smaller budget departments may have kept some or all of the old units with plans to phase them out.

To the best of my knowledge, all of the units we use in Canada are triggered by the operator only. I would imagine that most US agencies have switched over, although there may be some dinosaurs still around.

But, odds are, if there's a radar trap, it's probably only triggered by the operator, especially now that the newer handheld and laser units are so prevalent.

Jim

[copper]

86 911

Pop your trunk, pull back the carpet and look at the firewall just behind the passenger side hinge. There should be a small pencil sized hole for wiring which goes through right under the dash below the glovebox. I ran several wires through for my audio.

Jim