I am trying to hardwire my Valentine One and have come across some problems. I have a sunroof so I decided to wire the V1 into it. I took the panel down and disconnected the sunroof connector. Then I found which wire was positive. It is only on when the car is on. So I tapped into it and grounded to a bolt up there. When I turned the key to the "ON" position my sunroof tilts up. Whenever the V1 is grounded my sunroom tried to tilt up and my V1 doesn't even come on. I really want the wire to come from the top so what are my choices now? I did a search and all I found was 5th genners wiring to their auto dimming mirror which I don't have. Help!

 

I wired mine into my cig lighter. Then I ran the wire all the way around to come out by my rearview mirror.

 

A closer alternative is to wire into the fuse box to the left of the steering column. There is a 7A Accessory fuse labeled telephone that powers my hardwired Passport 8500.
-hype

 

Well I finally got it wired up to my cig lighter but now I am a little worried about the location. I have it sitting on top of the mirror, like your Passport xHypex. Does the blue film at the top of the front windshield hurt my reception? Some say it does and some say it doesn't. I know it will affect laser (this from valentineone.com's test in a 95 maxima) but if you pick up laster you are gone anyway. Did you notice any loss in reception? If not then I am set.

 

I don't know if you saw a picture of my setup, but my radar sits on the passenger visor. The radar detector and wiring cannot be seen from outside the car unless you are really looking for it. I speed ALL the time, especially between Dallas and Austin (220 miles each way). I made at least 75 trips last year and never got a ticket I have mounted the radar detector on the windshield to see if I noticed a difference, but I feel the stealth is worth the minor detection loss if there is any.
-hype

 

My Uniden sits on top of my mirror. This is only because one of the suction cups on the mount broke. I'm sure that location blocks laser a little, but as you said, you're busted anyway. I haven't noticed that it blocks radar from the front at all. I do think it may compromise the rear radar detection however.

Normally, I have the wire coming out at the mirror and the detector mounted about 6 inches down from the mirror on the glass.

 

I bought my car hardwired already!

My detector is also above the mirror, behind the blue tint. About a year and a half ago there was a thread on the .org that discussed the blue film issue that was very effective. I can't remember what it said! I haven't really seen a noticeable difference.

Tell you all what.

I am going to call another officer tonight and have him come over to test the radar placement. I think we will do a quarter mile test, front and back. We will use a stationary hand held radar. I will test it above the mirror and below, and see if it makes any difference. Now this test will clearly not be scientific, but may be able to shed some light on the subject if the difference is obvious! It will also give myself and some other officers insight as to real world detection capabilities of not-so-expensive radar detectors. Oh, I have a Cobra 6500.

 

My V1 is mounted above the mirror too and hardwired down to something (hopefully the cigarette lighter wire...I know for sure it's +12v) below my dash. I am pretty sure that the blue tint doesn't affect the radar, and if it does it's no much. My detection range is pretty long, and having it up that high increases the range even more and let's it pick up radar that's sitting over a hill sooner. Obviously it does affect the laser detection...but who cares.

 

......."When I turned the key to the "ON" position my sunroof tilts up.""

HAH! Luckily, you didn't smoke the detector (no pun intended). The red wire was not 12v from fuse box. Your detector acted as a path to ground for sunroof motor.
Wiring diagrams are great for avoiding such problems.

 

the blue stripe at the top of th windshield will greatly affect the performance of any radar detector.... Ive got a passport 8500 and its hardwired into the fusebox. I have noticed a big difference in placement of it. the optimum location for a radar detector is just under the rear view mirror....