well, i finally got off my *** and started installing some of the stuff i had at home...i installed my hidden display yesterday...the radar detector is now right behind my rearview mirror so you cannot see it in the drivers seat unless you lean forward and look for it...i have the one thin wire running from there straight up (about 4 in. of wire showing...but its not even noticable)...then i ran it along the headliner (i can post instructions if you all want them) and down the a pillar...i then ran the wiring and tapped it into the back of the cig lighter so it only turns on when the car does (a lot of the other wires were on all the time...trial and error)...i have the wire coming out right at the top of the guages and the hidden display right there...install looks very clean and professional...took me and my friends about 1 hour...i will try to post the pics later tonight...i'm not sure how they turned out but they are on my friends digital camera and he is sending them to me as i am typing this

 

Why do you have your radar right behind your rear view mirror?

 

well i didn't have it there before, i had it in the middle of the window...it is supposed to be better the higher you have it on your winsheild...after trying it out up where i have it now and where i had it before, it performs roughly the same in the back and much better in the front...i have it up there so you can't see it from inside the car at all so i have a completely clear winsheild and so there is no wiring hanging down...it looks much better (considering you can't see the radar detector and i just have the little display by my guages) and when cops look in the car they won't see the little radar detector hanging from the dash

 

Did you know you can adjust the mirror's height? Why don't you move the mirror up and place the V1 underneath it so nothing blocks the radar? The instructions say not to place any objects that block the V1.

 

when it beeps i don't want to have to look all the way up there...give me one minute and i will post pics...it looks good and performs better than when it was lower

 

 

Cool... looks like you can move your mirror further up. If you do, the V1 can be higher and you'll have less of the wire showing.

I like how you took the time to wire the hidden display like that. I was too lazy to do that, so I just stuck it on top of the plastic steering wheel cover and ran the wire in between the opening in that area.

Nice install!

 

i don't mean to ridicule u but placing the v1 behind the mirror will get you screwed by the cops if they radar you from behind.. i'd suggest what kevin said, move the mirror up and have the v1 exposed. the way i set it up is if i looked into the car from the back i could see the v1 and the top is level with the bottom of the mirror. it'll help if u loop the wire around the rear view mirror arm so it doesn't "hang loose" i'de show u some pix but i dont' think i have any or maybe i do. oh i do but not scanned so sorry.

 

Thanks for helping me hardwire the V1 Daniel. Also, thanks for the tip on moving the mirror up. I can see a lot now.

I see you decided on the Imagines... Daniel... iiiiiiinteresting. 235/40 right? You missed a "4"

 

ooops thanx for the reminder.. well u know zero profile.. i'm riding on rubber bands...

say isnt' it passed your bed time? got work hecka early..

 

Is there any easy way you can tell me which wire it is that you tapped into, and an easy way to get to it? I have a hardwire kit for my radar detector, and havent installed it yet...
Thanks ahead for any help!

 

I like your hidden display install. However, by mounting the V1 behind your mirror you realize you are defeating the purpose of the rear radar detection ability of the unit, which is a unique feature to the V1. Yes, it's true the higher up you have the unit, the better, but if you block the rear facing sensor, that ability is gone. I usually mount mine just under the mirror, and have a black wire going up into the headliner as you do, then down the A pillar, and I tapped into the fuse box there. I like the fact you can use standard telephone wire to make the connections!

I gotta get me one of those hidden display units for my V1 - think I'm gonna order it right now!

 

Tap into one of the open slots in your fuse box. You'll have to cut the hardwire connector (metal piece) in half so it can fit on the positive end (top connector).

 

I looked, but to me it didnt look like there were any open ones. (sorry for my ignorance!)

 

Look at the inside of the cover, you'll see the fuses' purpose. There should be 3(?) open spots next in the middle row on the left side.

 

For the lazy man, I just took out a 20 amp fuse and bent the hot wire from the V1 around the end of the fuse and then jammed it back in. I screwed the ground wire to a bolt somewhere down there. Not the most professional, but that puppy ain't going anywhere

 

Oh yeah, forgot to mention the grounding part... there's a big screw around the fuse box area you can ground to.

 

Ok, thanks for all the info!
I will try again once Im over this damn head cold...
I dont want to get snot all over my leather...

 

MrBurner...

If your "wish list" wasn't longer than the modifications you already have, your sig wouldn't be 15 feet long.



ME

 

Mr Burner... If you want me to put your sig into a html table so it's smaller I can do that for you. Don.. with the size of the pic in your sig you don't have a lot of room to talk.

 

Hehehe... Don got punked by <b>punk</b>dork.

So how's MobileTek coming along, Don?

 

I thought it should point down at the hood for better pickup.

 

to answer everyones ?s...radar is perfectly straight, not pointing up or down...i have not noticed any decrease in performance since putting it behind the mirror...i did expect my rear radar to be almost useless so thats why i ran a number of test runs past photo radar trucks and the like...i have found the the front radar is better than when it was in the middle of my winsheild and the rear is the same if not better as well...i was expecting rear to go down, and i was figuring i would have to move the radar detector down a bit, but as it works out, the rear signal strength seems to detect from just as far away...

now i finally found out how to program the v1 w/o voiding the warranty so i'm saying bye bye to my x band...it gets really annoying in parking lots of malls

 

Please share the knowledge as to what you are talking about!!!

 

i realize the benefits of wiring in the detector. However..does it not come equipped to just plug into the cigarette lighter?? Driving 4 different vehicles, 3 of my own and one at work, I would like the convenience of plug in portability..

 

Hardwire it to the car you drive the most. There is an adapter for the cig lighter which you can move from car to car. The power cord is just a telephone wire, so that's not hard to find.

Sorry if I'm talking in fragments because I just woke up...

 

yeah leob, it comes w/ a cig lighter adaptor, too...the hardwire plug is just a telephone wire on both sides and can be unplugged from the main unit...what kev was saying...you can hard wire your main car so then whenever you want to use it you just plug it in and the wiring is already there, but you can just unplug it and put the cig lighter adaptor in the other car you want to take it in

punkdork...i want you to teach me how to do an html table or something that looks cool like kevs (well not exactly like that, but maybe a table w/ links to each items pic)...i can give you a list of mods

don...my cig will get shorter once i re-learn html...i used to know that along w/ java and a few other programming languages, but those are long forgotten...i have recently gotten the ninja style body kit and i am getting new tires within 3k miles...a muffler is also coming soon and so are the rsb, fstb, and blue neon lights...so my future mods list will be really short

 

maximized...after looking for months for this info...i finally found out how to reprogram the v1 without having to mess w/ the circutry at all...you can take away any or all of the bands, make certain bands louder, make it where when you press mute it is completely silent, make the ka band stronger, take off the false alarm guard on ka, auto mute k band under certain circumstances, change volume of bogey lock tone, and do a bunch of other stuff...i have been looking for this for months...i tried it and it worked...i now have my x band gone, my ka band stronger, and when i press mute, it makes it silent...it works...and the coolest part is that when you start it up, the bottom (intensity) lights go back and forth like that one type of alarm system

http://www.valentine1.com/lab/MikesLabRpt3.asp

i just printed it, brought it out to the garage and followed the instructions for the things i wanted...i might try the k band silent at certain times if i start to get a bunch of false alerts from that...no more x band and i love it...no more annoying sounds in parking lots