Has anyone had any issues with mounting the valentine 1 above the rear view mirror? I know a lot of people put their's there. I read the factory tint at the top may reduce how good the radar works. Is this a small reduction or do you all not recommend putting it there at all?

Also how hard it the hardwire this? I saw the how to and I found it quite confusing. Step 7 and 8 got me lost.

http://www.freestyleconcepts.com/v1.html

Also when you all park do you regularly take it off the mount? Is this easy or a chore to do?

 

I have mine set behind the factory tint...and I can still pick up extremely far signals....I never tried anywhere else, but I doubt that will make a difference...from what I've read, the tint only affects LASER...radar signals will stay the same...and when it comes to laser, once you are targeted, you are screwed anyways, since the cop will already have your speed by the time your V1 picks it up....but with radar, it will give you an early warning and plenty of time to slow you down..

 

do you have yours hard wired?

Also does having to mut it manually drive you nuts?

 

yes mine is hardwired...I actually didn't do it though...the car came with a wire already hardwired...so I just plugged it in

what do you mean mut it manually?

 

I think someone tapped into the auto dim mirror for their hardwire. (quick splice the wire in the back). also ive heard of people running the wire down to the cigarette lighter and tapping it that for a power souce.

 

Here is a much simpler option than the fuse box using the auto-dimming mirror. I hardwired mine like this and it was a piece of cake.

http://2k2maxima.freewebspace.com/catalog.html

 

I know someone with a 06 M5 that put theirs all the way up there by the rear view mirror. Looks pretty stealthy.

 

I always wanted to take apart the radar, and wire the leds and speaker to where the clock is, and have the part that picks up the signals hidden somewhere. so people wouldn't even know you have a radar detector. then i found out they actualy sell something like this lol. im happy with my passport for now

 

some one on this board bought that sperate piece and replaced his clock with it. it actually looked pretty bad ***.

 

A lot of radars beep when they find a radar and have auto mute feature where it will only beep once, I heard the valentine keeps beeping. Some find that annoying.

 

I hard wired my V1 into the cig. lighter wiring. I ran the power cable down the side of the radio bezel so it's mostly hidden. It doesn't look as nice as being wired to the mirror though.

 

Okay I went ahead and ordered it. It arrives tuesday. I wish they had a hardwiring your radar detector for dummies.

 

It's really easy to do bigsherv. You shouldn't have any problems. BTW, you're probably wondering if the V1 is worth all that money you just spent. Let me tell you, I've had mine for 3 years now and it's saved me so many times over the initial price of the detector if I was to consider fines, insurance rate increases etc. The range on it is incredible.

 

See the part that gets me is where the wire feeds into to get a power whenthe car is on and turns off when the car is off. When the device arrives I will ask more questions. Thansk for everyone's input.

 

Did you look at the link I attached above? If you wire into the auto-dimming mirror it will power on and off for you and you don't have to worry about figuring it out yourself.

 

That was Studman, he and I did this ~3 years ago.

Window tint will indeed affect radar, but minutely and only if the tint is a metal film (ceramic films dont do anything to affect radar range). Laser range will be compromised if you put the detector behind anything...including the glass of your windshield (as all auto windshields contain a laminate). How much it is compromised depends on how dark the glass is tinted and what medium is used (metal is worse than ceramic tint). Mounting the V1 so that the unit hangs just below the tint band is the ideal location. You could also purchase the "z mount" that hangs it from the rearview itself.

 

So the valentine arrived today. There is no way on earth it can fit above the rear view mirror. There is just not enough room. Where did you all place yours?

 

Its not supposed to be directly above...more above on the left or above on the right

 

won't the sun visor block it?

 

mines on the right of the mirror

it sits so the rubber stopper is basically touching the end of the tint strip

works great, and its hard wired with the mirror wiring..works great for the last 2 years

 

anyone willing to post a picture? Do you have full use of both sun shades?

 

Okay so I am looking at the mirror hard wireing and I have some questions.

So I am looking at the hard wire accessory they give you. It is a box with two wires. One is blue with a small forked end and one is red with a thing on the end that looks liekit would go into a fuse box

I can't tell from this picture, which wire do you strip some of the covering off of?


So when I find this wire to strip, I slap the blue snap on and snap it closed and then stuff the fork connected to the blue wire into it. What do you do with the red wire with the larger fork? Are you only connecting one wire totally? DO you just shove the rest of the stuff into the console with a towel and you are done?

 

You have full use of the sunshades, but you block the back of the V1. You're making a bigger deal out of this than it really is, the amount of time you are using the sunshades for is minimal when compared to the time you spend driving. Even then, the front of the unit is still exposed (99% of the stuff you will encounter is going to come from the front or sides). You will want to tap the hardwire kit where there is a switched wire, IIRC there is one near the mirror and there is def one in the glove box (but then you gotta run wires, but it isnt difficult...10 min tops to do that). OR do this

http://www.countryjoycrafts.com/Conn...arDetector.htm

 

So i re-read the book and I think I get it now. Please correct me if I am wrong.

There are two wires that run into the mirror. One is red, one is black. Which one do I strip? I then take the black wire and ground that. Is that it?

 

Cha-ching!!!!

I got it to work. Let me give a simple idiot’s guild to hardwiring a Valentine1 Radar detector through the auto dimming mirror


Needed tools
Philips screw driver
Razor blade
Needle nose pliers
Socket wrench
Micro fiber towel (optional)
Black electrical tape (optional)
Twist ties (optional)

1. Open sunglass holder and remove the two screws. Gently pull on holder so it comes off of headliner
2. Unplug the two harnesses that provide power for the sunroof and the lights
3. You will see a really thin pair of wires (black and red) black taped to a thin plastic frame. Take a razor blade and cut 3-4 of the black taped sections holding the wires so you have enough slack to work with.
4. Take only the red wire in your hand. Take a razor blade and shave off the plastic coating. DO NOT CUT the wire. Remove less than ½ inch worth of coating. Make sure you get it all off to provide a good connection.
5. Take the wire harness connector (blue snap thing) and clip it around the exposed section of the red wire. You may need to use needle nosed pliers to get it to be secured
6. Take a socket wrench and loosen one of the gold screws you will see attached to the body of the car. DO NOT try to use a screw driver all you will do is strip the screw.
7. Insert the black (ground) wire’s fork under the gold screw you just loosened. Retighten the screw securely
8. Insert the forked section of the red wire into the slot on the wire harness connector
9. Plug the supplied cord (black phone cord) into the power adapter.
10. Plug other end of wire into Valentine1
11. Turn on car, Valentine1 should power up Now disconnect Valentine1 ad put aside.
12. (Optional) Bundle up the slack of all the cords and use twist ties or black tape to keep the cords manageable. Leave 8-10 inches of slack on the phone cord so you have some selection of where you will mount the unit
13. (Optional)Wrap the wire harness connector and the red plug with black tape to ensure they stay connected
14. (Optional) Take a micro fiber cloth, t shirt or any other type of thin cloth and cut it into sections to wrap around the power adapter and bundles of wires. This will prevent the wires from rattling around while it is hidden in the headliner
15. Plug the two harnesses back in and replace the sun glass holder and put both screws back in. DO NOT over tighten these screws or else the sun class holder will not open
16. Enjoy your new Valentine1 radar detector

 

Check this out
you actually buy the mirror but it is a sick idea.
For those of you who haven't seen studman's old setup this is it

 

fits fine for me

SIMILAR to studmans...probably less custom than his though

 

holy **** where do you buy that from and how much??

 

Made a write-up for an 8500 x50. But the concept and setup is the same.

Hardwire Write-Up