Sweet install. Too bad it's a $400 fine if I get caught with one in holland.
Stealth V1 Install
4
Well, I picked up a Valentine One radar locator the other day...something I've wanted for awhile. I also got the "concealed display" unit, because I knew I wanted to mount the main unit up high and NOT have it light up -- when you have the concealed display attached, the main unit goes black. So, I used the mounts that come with the V1 to put it up above and to the right of the rear-view mirror.
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Easy enough. Ran the cable above the headliner and behind the pillar trim. My original plan was to mount the display on the steering column...but it just looked too out of place there. Then, it came to me -- this thing was almost EXACTLY the same size as the clock. So, a little dismantling, a little cutting, and a lot of 3M 2-sided foam tape yielded this...
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Here's a shot of the whole console area...everything is dirty. Ignore the cracked climate control!
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And a quick shot of the car.
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If anyone needs any more info on the install, I'll gladly help out. It's really straightforward, and the hardest part is cutting out some of the clock frame for clearance (for the box and for the cable) and then figuring out a way to get it to stick. Some homemade brackets would work, but luckily with a lot of the foam tape, when the vents go in they pretty much squish everything together so it has no choice but to stick.
Easy enough. Ran the cable above the headliner and behind the pillar trim. My original plan was to mount the display on the steering column...but it just looked too out of place there. Then, it came to me -- this thing was almost EXACTLY the same size as the clock. So, a little dismantling, a little cutting, and a lot of 3M 2-sided foam tape yielded this...
Here's a shot of the whole console area...everything is dirty. Ignore the cracked climate control!
And a quick shot of the car.
If anyone needs any more info on the install, I'll gladly help out. It's really straightforward, and the hardest part is cutting out some of the clock frame for clearance (for the box and for the cable) and then figuring out a way to get it to stick. Some homemade brackets would work, but luckily with a lot of the foam tape, when the vents go in they pretty much squish everything together so it has no choice but to stick.
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The V1 has antennas that face both forward and backward...neither is obstructed in my setup. It's over the right half of the mirror, if that image is a little misleading -- it's not behind the mount or anything at all.ollie said:
It's QUITE effective so far...gives me plenty of warning before I see a cop, every time. I've gotten several tickets in my day, and just started a long daily commute recently...and since I've always wanted one, I thought I might as well pick one up. I like the fact that you have directional information, and I like the fact that you can "hide" the display and not have people follow you at night because they are "borrowing" your radar detector. I've been in a lot of cars with detectors that just beep a lot and people start to ignore them -- knowing the type of radar and WHERE it is coming from, as well as the number (if you drive by something that always sets it off, you'll know if there's a cop using that to "hide"...most detectors wouldn't be able to tell you that there are 2 sources instead of one). In any case, it works for me
Basically it works great. Perhaps too good... I get rather annoyed when it's beeping at me showing 6 bogies on X band as I drive past a shopping center. And every one of them brings an extra "double-deet" when it finds an additional bogey. It will do this even in Advanced Logic mode. I really wish I could just turn X-band off, then it would be perfect. I've never seen a real threat show up on X.
I certainly don't see it as an excuse to speed, or insurance against tickets either. But I find some fun in knowing where the cops are, when they think they've got the ambush. I can't say no to recon info :lol:
I also think the laser warning is almost useless. Just one week after I bought my V1, I got lasered and stopped for doing 11 over. The laser alert went off, but I had already seen the cop and he already had the speed reading. There were a few cars ahead of me, but I never got any warning until I spotted the patrol car, and he zapped me that same instant.
It works way better then my friend's cobra. He's got a 2002 Sentra Spec-V, and I had a Ka warning probably a half-mile before he did. We were doing probably 75-80 in a 65, and I two-wayed him when I saw it (I love Nextel ) but he didn't have anything yet. We slowed down and he only got a warning after cresting the hill and coming line-of-sight with the cop, and it's no help then.
Anyway, not for everybody, but I like mine.
I certainly don't see it as an excuse to speed, or insurance against tickets either. But I find some fun in knowing where the cops are, when they think they've got the ambush. I can't say no to recon info :lol:
I also think the laser warning is almost useless. Just one week after I bought my V1, I got lasered and stopped for doing 11 over. The laser alert went off, but I had already seen the cop and he already had the speed reading. There were a few cars ahead of me, but I never got any warning until I spotted the patrol car, and he zapped me that same instant.
It works way better then my friend's cobra. He's got a 2002 Sentra Spec-V, and I had a Ka warning probably a half-mile before he did. We were doing probably 75-80 in a 65, and I two-wayed him when I saw it (I love Nextel
) but he didn't have anything yet. We slowed down and he only got a warning after cresting the hill and coming line-of-sight with the cop, and it's no help then.Anyway, not for everybody, but I like mine.
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