Were do you guys have yours? I've got mine hardwired up by the rear view..

 

is taht effective, arent the supposed to be level and have a full clear view, that just seems like it wouldnt be 100% from the picture.

 

Is.... is that a lady I see in the rear view mirror? lol

Alot of people put them up high, but I can't imagine them[detector] getting a good 'view' out the back window. While it may be tacky, I'd just put it down lower on the window, or on the dash. I'll probably mount mine on the dash, but my 91 worked great on the windshield down low. It has a smaller front window though.

 

nice lipstick.

 

Not where you have it. Thats for sure.

 

???

Whats the matter with my set up? It picks up radar all the time, It's saved me from a few tickets already on the highway.

 

there is a problem with your setup, no offence. It should have a clear view of both front and rear windows, to pick up all signals. also, if your front window has tint on the upper part, that tint will distort signals.

Taken directly from radarbusters.com



Page 4 - Mount detector properly
The Number 1 Question Radar Roy receives from clients is how to properly mount their radar detector in their vehicle. Their are basically two types of electronic transmitting devices police can use to capture the speed of your vehicle, radar guns and laser guns.

Radar is the most common. Radar is basically a microwave radio signal. At 1000 feet, a radar beam shot from a police radar gun is approximately 85 feet wide. This radar beam can normally penetrate glass, plastic, cardboard and even your body. What radar has a problem penetrating are metals, including some window tints that have meatlized layers.

Laser is a light beam and is only 18" wide at 500 feet. Because the beam is so narrow, and because it's light, the beam can be effected by virtually anything you put between the laser gun and the detector.

Don't mount it high!
During the testing of the products reviewed on RadarBusters by Radar Roy and Speed Measurement Laboratories, the radar detector is always mounted in the manner the manufacture recommends in their manual, in the center of the windshield.

However you will see on this page, that mounting it in this manner will not allow it to receive laser alerts. A laser beam shot at 500 feet is only 18" wide when it hits your vehicle. Police target either the front license plate or the headlamps. If the radar detector is mounted in the center of the windshield, it will be too high to receive any of the "splatter" that may indicate you are being targeted by a police laser gun.

There are also several other problems with this method:

1. In most cases, mounting the radar detector in this position will place it in the center of the windshield. This can cause a visual obstruction while you are driving. In Minnesota, it is illegal to mount anything to your windshield that may obstruct your vision (169.71: No person shall drive or operate any motor vehicle with objects suspended between the driver and windshield)

2. Mounting a radar detector too high will cause you to take your eyes off the road when it is activated.

3. If left in your car while parked, you will be exposing it to thieves.

4. This position is also a dead give away for law enforcement that you have a countermeasure device. While Radar Roy was a traffic officer, it was common to pull behind a motorist who was speeding and see their radar detector mounted directly in the center of the windshield. Even though the use of a radar detector is legal in all states, with the exception of Virginia and Washington D.C., some officers don't appreciate their use. You will have a better chance of getting a break, if you make it less noticeable.

5. You will have other motorists following behind making you their trailblazer. If you then encounter an emergency situation and slam on your brakes, the vehicles following may slam into you.

Mount it Low!

Consider using Velcro to mount your detector on the dash or using the supplied windshield mounting brackets and mounting it low on the windshield. By mounting it this way, making sure that the windshield wipers are not blocking the front, you will draw the least amount of attention and obtain the best laser and radar detection.

Ensure that the controls are accessible

Make sure that you can easily reach the volume and mode controls (highway, city and mute) on your detector. For models that have "Smart Cords", such as the Beltronics RX65 and the Escort 8500, get in the habit of muting your system with the button on the cord, rather than the detector, if it is easier to reach. For those models without automute, you MUST have easy access to the controls if you want to keep the detector from screaming at you for an extended period of time.

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Yea, working and working properly are alot different

 

Enough about my set up * which does work, regardless of what that site says, mine DOES pick up radar signals, and DOES warn me when cops are around * I do not have tint, the radar detector is not visible from outside the car at all ( cops don't like them, as stated in your post ) and all the buttons are easy to get to.

Lets see some other placements

 

Here's how I have mine mounted:



Of course, it's a little different from typical radar detectors. Its a Bel RX75 Pro Remote - it works great and there's not much chance it will ever get stolen (or even noticed).

(I know it's not the kind of response you were looking for but I couldn't resist.)

 

I have mine mounted above the rearview, but it's not obstructed by anything. You can't even see it from outside the car unless you really look for it. I did have it on the dash by the a-pilar, but you could easily see it and not to mention it was kinda blocked by the wipers and hood. Plus it will pick up more above the mirror than on the dash.

 

I have mine placed in the hood grille with double sided tape. Yeah!

 

lol Sorry Spuds, didn't mean to nit-pick. What he meant by tint, is the factory tint on the top of the window to keep sun out. And as I said, yes it'll work fine picking stuff up, but it could work better is all.

Urban, how do you get signals from behind then lol

 

Other than the V1, none of the popular detectors have rearward-facing radar antennas so a clear view out the back window is really only necessary for LIDAR (laser) detection from behind. Because the LIDAR gun has to be stationary and can't be more than a few degrees away from straight in line with the target vehicle, it is seldom used to target a vehicle from behind. From the LEO's perspective, if you're going to set up a tripod along the side of the road then you might as well target approaching traffic rather than vehicles moving away from you. Besides you lose the element of surprise targetting receding traffic once they have passed by your location.

 

NP man, but the factory tint doesn't effect it, If you could see it IRL, you could ee that the line of sight is ~1/4 inch below the factory tint, but you cant see that in the picture.

Thats a b/a set up white bird

 

My ooooold (3+ yrs old) detector does rear detection. Just your standard local parts store $40~ at the time. Don't know the brand, but it might be a Cobra. If you must know, I can go check, only in the garage lol I'll probably be velcroing mine to the dash, might make a raiser block to get it above the hood and wipers.

 

Oh, I didn't say that detectors don't detect radar from behind - just that they don't have antennas pointed that way. The V1 has one to enable the arrows that show the direction the signal is coming from but all other detectors pick up rear radar by reflection. Radar signals are microwave and will reflect off of almost any solid surface. So your front facing antenna will pick up the reflections off other cars, buildings, road signs, overpasses, and even trees to some extent. Some older detectors actually had reflectors built-in so that their single antenna would be more likely to pick up signals from behind but that made them more bulky. Newer models are sensitive and discriminating enough to be able to eliminate the internal reflector and rely on external reflections.

 

Ah, mine has no pointing arrows It does have a rear sensor bubble on it though.

 

Yup, that's for rear LIDAR (laser) detection.

V1 owners swear by the arrows but I've found that an experienced user can determine the direction of a signal just by interpreting the signal strength. For example, if the signal keeps getting stronger then you're approaching the source, if the signal is intermittent but doesn't change in strength then the source is a patrol car behind you going the same direction (intermitent because of varying reflections). Overall, the arrows are nice to have but shouldn't be the deciding factor in buying a detector unless all other factors are equal.

 

I've had a couple of requests via PM for more information about my remote detector so I thought I'd post it here.

I mounted the front laser detector in the gap at the bottom of the front tag cover. The rear laser detector mounts across the top of the rear tag using the same bolts that hold the tag on. I debated mounting the radar antenna in one of the slots under the DRLs but ended up putting it under the center of the car in front of the air dam. Believe it or not, it's actually more sensitive there because of reflections off the road surface.

Here's a rather fuzzy picture of the front laser sensor - it's not very noticeable but the lens has a clear view of the road in front.