Hey guys/gals merry xmas, my parents got me a valentine 1 radar detector for christmas. Anyway i've never hardwired a radar detector in a car before, wondering where you guys have hardwired you V1 or other detector in your car?

 

hardwire it to the rear view mirror

 

That was the first mod I did (and ever done) I hard wired it in the fuse box because I didnt want to mess with the rear view mirror.

 

yea i'm not going to mess wiht the mirror either.

 

Congrats on the V1 -- it's the way to go.

I had my V1 hard wired at a local stereo shop. I think they charged about $30 and did it in about an hour. They use the included straight cable and run the wiring up the A pillar. I just use the suction cups to attach it to my windshield.

BTW, I recommend putting your V1 into "filter bogeys mode" (check your manual). When I first got mine, it was set to unfiltered, so it picked up every x-band frequency out there. My wife and I were driving around right after I bought it, and it was constantly going off (more than my previous radar detector I had in my 300ZX TT).

One thing that's annoying about the V1 is that certain trucks will set off the laser detector. I thought mine was failing because every time a Chevy Trailblazer would hit their brakes, it would set off the laser warning. But apparently, it's normal for the V1 to do that.

 

There are a couple of empty fuse slots in the box above the driver's side kick panel. Just use a voltage tester to find one that is power only when the key is on and connect there.

 

Use the phrase Valentine One install .You will find several links including pics of various installs done by members here.

Robert

 

hey guys i hardwired it to my mirror. It sits right under my mirror and the cord to the v1 is only 2 inches long. Looks very clean. I sodered it and taped it up nice. It started to snow so i didn't get to drive around to test it out, will have to do that tomorrow. I heard led tail lights set it off. Thats kind of annoying but oh well. I will put it in filter bogeys mode though. I also changed my oil today, all in all a great day for the z

 

http://www.my350z.com/forum/showthre...=Valentine+One

 

I hardwired mine also.

Heres a few links I used when doing my install:

http://www.350zmotoring.com/forums/s...light=hardwire

http://www.350zmotoring.com/forums/s...=passport+8500

https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....=Valentine+One

https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....=Valentine+One

https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....valentine+mike

Those will def help you out. I used the FUSE BOX method and used a bracket I bought from a member on here named Mike Peronek (MIKE3348) which attaches to your mirror and works awesome.

 

I personally just disabled X-band completely. That really shuts up all the false alarms, especially since there are no police (in California, at least) using X-band anymore. Look up the "secret" programming menu on Valentine's website for info on how to do that.

As far as the laser, yeah, it's a pain. The problem is that many modern brake lights (mainly in SUVs) use a neon light that is virtually the same frequency as police laser. So if there is an SUV right in front of you its brake light can often set off the detector. I've found that it needs to be within a few feet of your car, though. Further than that and it hasn't been a problem for me.

 

I mounted my V1 in the back using one of the head liner plastic rivets.

http://www.spintronic.com/gallery/vi...ame=350zstereo

The last two pics show the main V1 unit, and the remote unit up on the dash. This makes the unit very stealth, and from outside the car you virtually can't see it. (You'd have to know it was there to find it.) That means I don't have to remove it from my car when I get out.

 

Thanks for the links....now if only this snow would melt so i could go test it out!

 

A bit off subject but this may help. Has anyone used V1's compact module? Maybe hid the main V1 unit somewhere and then put the compact screen next to the steering wheel? If so does that work pretty nicely?

 

Yes, that's what I did. (Got the idea from a few other folks on here who've done the same.) If you look at my link in my last post, you can see that I mounted the V1 up on the headliner in the back, and stuck the little remote unit up on the dash.

The only drawback to my install is that my lcd screen for my nav unit sets off the laser detector in the V1. So, if I need to use nav I have to shut off the V1. Need to figure out some sort of coating or something for the lcd screen to filter or reduce those specific light frequencies that set off the laser detector.