And use your brains when you on the road! If you don't , no detector will save you.

Just today had a cool story happend to me... I forgot to mention it in first post, since it's stil 10am, and I'm kind of slow yet...

This morning on my way to the office on busy rural undivided higway I saw a cop driving opposite direction. Detector stays silent, so cop wasn't using radar. Then, just a seconds after I saw him, my detector went crazy with strength level increasing. I slow down and start checking all around (what I do all the time anyway, regardless of RD). After 20 seconds I noticed the same cop speeding from over the hill bihind. (V1 completely failed over-the-hill K-test) He was 200 ft and one car bihind me and already with his rooftop discoclub open. I immediatelly pulled over to the shoulder and stoped. Neither car in front of me nor car behind saw him, so they kept going. Cop passed me, stoped car infront of me (old ford minivan), immediatelly jumped out of the car, waived me to get lost, and waived car behind me (old transam) to park!!!

I didn't believed my eyes! He stoped to old junks, and waived me to go! Well, you can't give a ticket to car that isn't moving . And guess, who make him to turn around and go after us? I bet it wasn't ford minivan.

If I wouldn't have a custom to check rear mirror often (which I developed after my last ticket, when cop just pased me), i wouldn't be so happy now.

And tell me, how directional arrows were going to help in described situation? They'll tell you cop is behind, so you can speed away?

 

here is my 8500 installed

 

Are you in St. Louis? I just left there a year and a half ago. The cops in that town are really understaffed and underpaid, so I wouldn't be TOO worried, if you ARE in St. Louis.

 

V1 or 8500 are the bet to get....I got a V1 and it has saved me many times worth the price

 

I just bought and installed my 8500....we will see tomorrow.

Instead of purchasing the $40 hardwire kit I used an extra phone extension cord.

1. Cut the jack off one end
2. Compared the pinout to the packaged power cord and noted which color need to be where (in my case the green was the hot on my phone cord).
3. Ran the cord along the headliner and doorstrip as illustrated by ealier posts.
4. Soldered the green wire to a blue wire crimp tab.
5. Used a voltmeter to determine which vacant plug in the fuse box was powered only when ignition was on. The vacant post two over to the left from the Mirror fuse is what I used.
6. Found a good ground and drilled a small hole to attach the red ground lead. (in my case the very corner edge of a steel encased module that is just above the knees)

Viola! a free Hardwire Kit. The 8500 only uses the two center wires for power. The other two are apparently for the mute button on the cigarret adapter.

It may sound hokey but it works great and looks clean.

 

what does the 8500 or the V1 have that this one doesnt???

http://www.21stcenturyplaza.com/mobile/61.html

Plz help!

 

I too have a Valentine One that I swap in and out of my WRX and my S2000. Works great. The past two times it went off I had a good couple of miles of warning before I encountered the police officer. Works great. I'd recommend it.

 

nanhead - do you know what the differences are between the uniden i posted and the V1??? Here are the main specs of the one i have. just want to make sure mine covers almost everything. its a few years older but was top of the line back then.

http://uniden.com/productpop/00_prod...ode=LRD6599SWS

"The very latest in high technology detectors brings you X, K ,KA and Laser protection including safety alerts from the new SWS transmitter soon to be deployed across the U.S. "

PRODUCT FEATURE LIST
------------------------------
360 DEGREE LASER DETECTION
5 DIFFERENT AUDIO TONES
64 VISUAL SAFETY ALERTS
64 VOICE SAFETY ALERTS
AUTO MUTE FEATURE
CITY/HIGHWAY SWITCH
COILED CIGARETTE LIGHTER CORD
DOT MATRIX LED DISPLAY
QUICK CLIP RELEASE WINDSHIELD MOUNT
SIGNAL STRENGTH METER
STAY-SET ELECTRONIC MEMORY SAVER
VG-2 UNDETECTABILITY
HARDWIRE KIT

 

As I see it, it's not the number of features that makes great RD great. It's how far it can pick up K&Ka in all kind of terrain. It that simple. So look at the tests to see if your RD still good.

 

Do the dots behind the rear-view mirror affect the radar detector if you put it there?

 

What do you mean?

 

Quote:

As I see it, it's not the number of features that makes great RD great. It's how far it can pick up K&Ka in all kind of terrain. It that simple. So look at the tests to see if your RD still good.

I have NEVER gotten a ticket because of the V1's range detection ineffectiveness.

Quote:

And tell me, how directional arrows were going to help in described situation? They'll tell you cop is behind, so you can speed away?

Directional arrows go hand and hand w/ the bogey counter. A radar detector is merely a tool and it is not completely idiot-proof -- you seem to understand and agree to that. How does that relate to directional arrows and bogey counter? Well, if a radar detector is a tool, then the more information (read: useful information) it gives you, the more informed decision you can make, correct? I mean, if you slow down every time your radar detector beeps, then what use is it to you? For example, there is a Wal-Mart off the highway I travel down every morning on my way to work. The automatic doors trip 3 K band ahead. Now, if the V1 tripped 3 K and 1 Ka band ahead and/or another direction, then I know that it's not a false alarm. Are ya with me here? It's like clockwork and it's that simple. Another example: suppose you're travelling north on a highway; are you going to slow down if a police car travelling east (through an underpass) trips your radar detector? If you can live w/ a simple beep & blinking LEDs, then more power to you. I, personally, would like more information than just a beep/LEDs.

Quote:

and who cares about magnesium case??? I'd expect it to be hevier and vibrate more.

Magnesium is as light as your plastic 8500 case (that is why some, if not all, new Ferraris are equipped w/ "mag" wheels). However, I guarantee you magnesium is more durable than plastic. If anybody is willing to do a 3 foot concrete slab drop test w/ their 8500 and my V1 in Dallas, then hit me a PM. I've dropped my V1 from moving it around a few times already. Takes a licking and keeps on ticking.

Why don't all cars come standard w/ VDC or other stability management? Do you think V1 owners would continue to keep their V1 and/or swear by the bogey counter and directional indicators if they didn't work? I bought the V1 to help me find "smokey" and if it doesn't work as advertised, then I'm better off finding a radar detector that does work -- make sense? I want to avoid a ticket first and foremost. If the V1 didn't work and the 8500 did, then do you think I'd still keep the V1?

Vlad, why are you so anti-V1? After owning the V1, I can't imagine using anything else. And I think I've eluded to this or even said this many times already. However, if the 8500 works for you, then more power to you. Some people can't justify spending the extra $100 over the 8500 for the V1 for bogey counter and directional indicators. Well, some people would rather buy a WRX than a 350Z.

Michael.

Sabre: my guess is that the dots are for the auto-dimming rear-view mirror and should not affect radar detector performance.

 

I thought the dots behind the mirror are for blocking the sun coming through the windshield. Vlad, I was wondering if the dots hender the detector's radar capabilities. So, is it alright to put a detector above the rear-view mirror?

 

Hey, I'm not anti-V1. I'm anti-V1-owners-thinking-they-have-something-superior-and-all-other-people-own-****! I can justify spending extra 33% for something far superior. But I can't justify spending extra 33% for something QUITE equal.

Blinking LEDS... So you never actually saw 8500, did you?
That's passport's info screen:
<img src="http://www.radarsource.com/images/escort-passport-8500-display-animation.gif">
this animated gif shows you what can be displayed... notice that, up to 8 signals, can be detected and shown with band, and relative strengs of EACH ONE of them (V1 can't do!)

And that's what I call, blinking leds
<img src="http://www.valentine1.com/images/v1homephoto.gif">

And yes, I slow down every time I see unexpected signal. In your Wallmart example, I will see exactly the same two signals, and their band, X & Ka for instance. Now, I know, wallmart is an X, and it always here, and I know Ka isn't good and shouldn' be here, so I slow down. If I knew where exactly it's coming from, I'd slow down anyway... they can nail you from front and from rear, so what the difference?

And on higway, you probably right, it's good to know, it's coming from the underpass... now, how often it's happend to you? And I don't take no one highway on my 21 miles way to the office. Only rural roads. And if I know cop is near, I slowdown, because even if he was coming from the side road, he can and will go after you (black Z). So do you propose to wait till he'll go after you, and then till he'll start reading you, and then you know it's coming from the back, not from the side, so you slowdown? Too late, dude.
Hmm... I didn't say magnesium isn't stronger. Titanium even more stronger... Gold is more shiny and do not corrode... But what use it to me? I have a permanent installation and not going to do any tests. It just seats there on my window, so why pay for mag case?

all cars don't come standard with w/VDC because of price. All expensive cars do come with it now, though. And that's exactly my point. If Escort has $1500 models, why didn't they add directional arrows to $300 model and sell it for $400?

 

Now I see what you talking about. I can imagine you can put radar above mirror, and it'll be able to read through dots... But I wouldn't want to take that chanse for myself, and to read radar screen that high isn't easy too. As you can see from my earlier picture, my RD is a little bit below mirror, so it has the best front view possible (high position, and unobstructed)