Wow, that 9500i is some piece of equipment.... Kevan, around these parts there are dealers (high end usually) who advertise disassembly of a radar unit, placing the antennae front and /or rear with only the display mounted inside the cab. It's supposed to be an optimum install. Have you (or anybody) ever heard of this?
K40 and Escort (to name 2 of them) make models specifically for that. They cost a lot more and Escort, for one, I believe requires it to be installed by an authorized dealer for them to support/warranty it. Generally you sacrifice a good bit of sensitivity. Mainly due to the antenna placement which is usually in the grill and bumper areas which are a lot lower. Greatly decreased "view", especially in traffic is the main reason. I'd be a little hesitant to have someone disassemble and remotely locate the antennas. I suppose you could do it but those things are pretty delicate. And there's stuff about the case being shielded and they're tuned for operation in the case etc. Wouldn't be much of a problem for the old style passive antennas but now they use superheterodyne technology. Basically they shoot a short beam inside the antenna and then detect the frequency changes in that beam that are caused by the detected radar beam. Might be worth checking into. Lord knows what a quality job like that would cost.
Oooooooooo, a good radar detector discussion, how did I miss this thread, lol! (relax Dave, I'm gonna agree with you ... for the most part, hahaha!) Kevan, do like Quick said, get the CountryJoyCrafts mount (odd place to find such a great item) and modify it like he said, should work good that way and you really want your detector in that spot. It's up high and centered in the car with a clear view fore and aft but below the factory window tint strip across the top of the window (it will limit range) so below the mirror is the ideal spot. The probs with suction cups or visor clips is they invariably fail or get in the way. Cups get old and die from the sun beating on them all the time and you're detector will eventually fall off, prolly when you least expect it. And try using your sun visor with your detector clipped to it, won't work, lol! I personally use a sun shade everytime I park so I can't mount my detector to the windshield on suction cups anyway. I have the same setup as Quick (only with a V1 instead and don't worry, I won't start an arguement here Dave, lol, ... cept to say the V1 doesn't have a prob viewing rearward from that spot cause it's rear antenae is on the face of the unit and not the top like the Escort ... and you can indeed limit it's falses ... oops, sorry, I digress). I've had a detector in one shape or form in every car I've every had since I first got my driver's liscence in ... well, let's just say a LONG time ago (remember the ORIGINAL Escort?? Lol!). I've tried mounting in every place possible over the years and they all have probs EXCEPT this set up, do it and you won't regret it. BTW Kevan, what detector are you getting if it's not one of the big 3 (Escort, Valentine, Bell)? Just curious. I hate to say it but when it comes to detectors you really do get what you pay for. I wouldn't go the cheap route, you'll regret it later. And thatTennesse thing is gotta be true right?? Something as ridiculous as that has just GOTTA be true you know, lol!
Perfect. Like I said I use a sun shade when I park so that won't work for me. Also, I get tired of the suction cups going bad and my detector falling all the time, gets old after a while.
if im going to the mall or going to be out of my mag for a while,i just unmount my R/D,(leaving the suction cup in the window) and lock it up in the glove box.
I was looking at the Whistler PRO-78, but scored a hella deal (courtesy of a first-week employee...heh heh) on the Bell Vector 955. I was trying to keep it in the "$200 and under" range. In most tests, the PRO-78 and the 955 were neck-and-neck. The Whistler had a cool "Stay Alert" feature that would work well on the long road trips I take, but it wasn't a deal maker. The blue display on the PRO-78 was kind of nice, but the 955 has red LED's, and red means STOP. :grin: The slightly quicker brain processing time that I don't need and my gigantor brakes may mean the difference between 85 in a 65 and 67 in a 65. LOL I know...I know....there are WAY better systems out there. I've read the reviews and watched the videos and seen the test results from dozens of different sites (namely RadarBusters). I've read about "10 mile warning" systems, and at 160 mph, that's probably *just* enough time to get it back down under 70. :grin: If I had $2K to blow on a 'pure stealth' system, I would. For now, the budget calls for something under two bills. For the big road trip tomorrow (1000 miles), I pseudo hard-wired the Bell into position just above and to the right of the rear view mirror. The suction cup mounts work well and the top edge of the mirror helps too. The display is clearly visible, and the controls are within easy reach. AND, I can still do all my UConnect stuff w/o knocking stuff off the windshield or accidentally dialing India. The "polka dots" are NOT blocking the RD's view of the road. It's actually not even close to them. It clears most of the windshield tint brow as well. I'm not too worried about that stuff as I'm 99% positive that a radar blast will pass right on through. It may affect laser, but I'm doubtful about radar. Since my rear windows are also tinted, laser might be affected from behind as well. More research to come on that. The hard-wire I did consists of a $5 4-wire RJ-32 phone cable (25', trimmed), and a $2 cigarette lighter socket plug. If this turns out to be a full-time setup, a true hard-wire install will happen. Daytime pics tomorrow. Thanks everyone for your input. I do appreciate it. Cheatek- My dad had one of the original Escort's too. Bigass clunky thing that he had to scramble and hide when we drove to DC. I distinctly remember that awful orange lamp on the face....LOL
I had a K40 that used the exact case as the 955... Interesting. :dunno2: It was a TURD. LOL! :blush: Glad you didn't get the Whistler tho... they are thee UGLIEST f*cking boxes I've ever seen. :sick: Rosanne Barr's "box" probably looks better. :censored: Even if the p-dots on the windshield did impede the RD's sight-line, it wouldn't matter. (The F250 had this HUGE BLOCK of that poky-crap in the middle of the windshield, with a big "SUPER DUTY" insignia blazed across it. :mad2: And my Passport still worked brilliantly. :laugh: )
Heh, whistler was it before escort. I've had escorts since and including the first one. Kevan, Kevan, Kevan... It's relative. Consider the cost of a single ticket (including the indirect costs on insurance, etc. Multiply that by about 10,000 if you make your living driving. The prices make a huge leap when you go for the stealth installs and functionality actually goes down. Just a note that the 9500i is equivalent in basic functionality (detection) to the less expensive 8500 x50. The 9500i just gets you the cool gps features. Give the 955 to the wife. Laser detection is highly overrated. First there's just not that much laser out there. Second is that they're hitting you with a beam of coherent light that has spread to maybe the size of a dime when it hits you. They're aiming at your license plate. The chances of them missing the guy's license plate in front of you and it diffusing and bouncing up to your laser detector is not great. Best chance of picking up laser is in a lot of traffic where it's got a lot to bounce off of. But you're not going to be going that fast in a lot of traffic. haha, I'm sure you'll be ok.
Well said... :king: But, you don't know Kevan.... He will absolutely drive himself MAD with the GPS stuff. :happy: He would have to log every SINGLE false alarm on his journeys. :hypno: That way, he will: 1) Never have that particular false-positive again. 2) Fully utilize the equipment he has purchased. :blush: Kevan doesn't do ANYTHING half-arsed. :baby: :worthy: It would drive him batty. :crying: I say give the Bell to Rachel and cough-up the extra $100 bucks for a Passport 8500i. I think you'll be glad you did. :thanks: :grin:
Kevan, call me Scott bro!! Yea, it was so big it looked like a microwave oven, lol!! I still have nightmare's bout that orange lamp glowing, hahahha! The Bell's are good, it's the Whistler's that I'm not fond of (and Cobra's). Haven't had one in a while but the 2 Whistlers I had in the past (both top of the line ones from different years) sucked donkey dick. I don't care how long they been in business, they suck and I'll never buy one again. Here's my take on detector range ... it's soooooooooo good now that any top of the line model from the big 3 (Bell, Escort, Valentine) will warn you in PLENTY of time to slow down, in fact in my case with the V1 it's actually TOO long range. Seriously. Last time on 5 heading to LA it picked up a cop that was MILES away. We were in a pack of cars going 80 or so and I slowed from them when I got the warning looking and looking and looking for the cop. FINALLY we saw him but it was not for quite a few minutes during which time I kept thinking the V1 was falsing (even tho it was KA band) or malfunctioning! There was no way the cop could have seen me that far ahead so I think greater range starts having diminishing returns at this point, you know what I mean? One personal test I did a couple years ago. At the time I had the top Bell, Passport and had just got the V1 (had 3 cars) and took a trip up to Oregon on 5. Set up all 3 on my dash of my minivan (sorry, was a family trip, lol) and it was interesting to see the results. The V1 had the greatest range with the Passport very close behind but the V1 had more falses and changing modes to limit the falses dropped it's range (tho not below the Bell's). The Bell had the least range and the most falses HOWEVER I still found it more than acceptable for a good detector as I would have had plenty of time to slow. So IMO it's all about features, I chose the V1 cause of the arrows plain and simple. The first thing I ask myself (and everyone should ask themselves) when you get a signal is "where?" You know with the V1. Regardless what you choose you really should stick with a top line detector (I think that one you got is adequate). I like the GPS thing on the Passport but it's just too expensive. Someone said keep your $200 and pay the $100 more for the Passport. Uh no, that Passport's $500 bucks!! Plus tax!!!! Too much in my book. Oh and lastly Kevan where you mounted it sounds good to me, that's exactly where I mounted my detector in my older Mustang, sat perfectly on top of the mirror but was below the top window tint strip. Nice and clean and out of the way, very stealthy! Glad you got it all worked out bro!!
Nice guys! That's actually how I was planning on doing mine originally but I just use the sun visor too much. Then I found that custom rearview mirror mount and saw the invisicord and was sold.
My Passport is mounted ABOVE my mirror and my windshield is tinted 50% and I have a 5% band on the top. I can still pic up radar from 1/2 to 1 mile away no problem.
