hummmm...i thought the V1 mounting was pretty good... (?)

 

I got my V1 today - also arrived via Fedex 2-day even though I ordered ground.

With the cabrio's hard plastic "faux-headliner" between the windshield and ragtop, and the big light cluster between the visors (which doesn't have enough of a gap between it and the mirror), mounting didn't quite work out the way I had hoped. Currently running the suction cup mount - found a spot to the left of the mirror cluster where it works pretty well. Took me a bit to figure out that I actually NEEDED to use the small suction cups - otherwise they overlapped the coating at the top edge of the windshield, which causes the cups to lose suction... But now seems to be on there pretty well and at a good angle and within reach.

Took me about 20 minutes to run my hardwire - as others have said, I just shoved the flat phone cable between the plastic headliner and A-pillar trim and the windshield, then in the gap between the a-pillar trim and the dash, then popped out the dash end cap and routed it through there. Stuck the hardwire pod behind my euro shelf and spliced it into my extra switched outlets. Worked great the FIRST TIME (that never happens) and ready if I move forward with the remote display.

In the 10 minutes of driving to lunch and back, I like it.
Certainly way different than any of my previous detectors and I need to learn to use it right and trust it properly - but this seems like the beginning of a fine relationship.

 

cool! i like my V1 too.

 

all my detailing stuff came today, so i should be able to save up to get my V1 soon!

 

nice! welcome to the V1 club in advance.

 

hahaha. you did it with the prima stuff, and now your doing it with the V1

 

Pusher.

 

never ends... never ends.

 

i think i am going to try the whole Prima line out today, so we will see if your pushing was in the right direction

 

Just found this thread. Josh, I'm anxious to see your LED for the remote display. I've got the V1 itself mounted with the large suction cups to the *right* of the mirror and near the headliner, and the cable runs to the *left*, down the left-side A-pillar and is hard-wired with an (insanely expensive) add-a-circuit to a switched circuit. The remote display is Velcro®ed to the dash on the right of the tach. I bought an additional hard-wire kit and bracket for my '99 Cherokee, but no remote display there.

I'm very happy with the detector itself; nothing more to add to the praise it's received here. I also have no problem with the suction cup bracket; it used to come un-stuck occasionally when I used the smaller cups, but when I accidentally found the larger ones in a drawer I discovered those work much better. I like the idea of attaching it to the headliner, but the clip-style bracket it comes with doesn't sit securely enough for my taste. Sounds like Josh may have solved that problem, but I'm concerned about the effectiveness of the laser detector sitting close to the headliner (especially for the rear-facing one, which I think might have its line of sight out the boot interrupted).

The power cables *are* supposed to be RJ-11, but the generic cable I initially used for my remote display failed to power the display, so I bought a new one from Valentine when I ordered the parts for my Jeep.

I've been thinking for some time about embedding the display into one of the dash panels for a sleeker appearance, and also repurposing the un-used buttons on the steering wheel to toggle power with a relay and also to trigger the mute/mode button.

 

Josh finished his LED project last night - he posted about it on the radardetector.net V1 forum and put some pix on his personal homepage. Looks good!

I'm going to either mod a remote display, or buy one from a guy on the radardetector.net forum who does them (if he still does...)

The BlimeyCabrio has a bigger "pod" of lights and stuff up front than the tintops - so there's not really room to cram the V1 where I'd like it to sit - at least not using either of the factory mounts. I may try some alternative methods this weekend (supervelcro, or custom fab, or ???).

I too have been thinking about those steering wheel buttons. newministuff.com has a relay kit for the Phone button, but I don't think Mikey has a solution for the other button yet...

 

I just saw Josh's post as I was cleaning out my news reader a few minutes ago. It looks good, and I might attempt the LED mod myself once I pry some more information out of him.

I've talked to both Randy K. (part of the MCAW team) and Ian Cull about repurposing those buttons for my purposes. I think it'll be possible to use or develop a component that sits on the ibus that will handle the signals sent by those buttons and turn them into relay inputs. I would really like to do that myself. I frequently find myself cursing the V1's sensitivity and persistence when I'm in a parking lot and the bogey counter is spinning like a clock in a poltergeist movie; even muted it's annoying and I want to just be able to power it off without having to reach up behind the mirror and tweak the ****. You *could* also just cut the wires coming from the steering wheel...

 

I had written off radar/lazar detectors because Ohio uses almost all lazer. However, after reading I may have to pick one of these up. I am going to pass the factory twice this week, maybe I should stop in. Then againm, maybe not...I am not sure i can afford it.

 

PM sent.

 

Ohio sucks as far as Lazer goes, but I have met multiple V1 owners through workinga t a BMW dealership that LOVE the V1. I ask if it helps with all the laser and they say even though its so hard t pick up, the V1 does an awesome job. All I have heard is good things in Ohio.

 

Let me know if you either engineer (or coerce someone else to engineer) a solution for this - I would love to have access to both those buttons. I bet if someone had an easy plug&play ibus interface with two configurable relay switches (on/off or momentary) they could sell a good number of these to folks for all kinds of repurposing of the buttons... and perhaps sell them with addon kits for the most popular uses (universal garage door opener, radio mute, V1 mute/power, switchable power outlet, etc.). OK, there's someone's million-dollar idea! (OK, maybe it's a thousand dollar idea...)

 

Yes...I finished everything last night and posted it all on this web page.

Ian does custom-make a circuit that you can use your extra steering wheel button for mute purposes etc. I use it to toggle my DSC. It's just a relay so you you can use it for a v1 mute if you hack it into the RD, easy enough.

 

The RJ-11 could be 2 or 4 wire. I don't remember which one valintine uses. Look at the plug and you can see them.

 

Got mine mounted well. (finally)

Took a lot of trial and error and huge physical effort, but I managed to get the visor clip on the plastic "headliner" on the passenger side just to the right of the mirror. It is HUGELY stiff plastic on the cabrio, and it was a full-body effort for a nearly 300 pound guy to pry it enough to fit the clip in there.... I found a placement that puts the face of the V1 just behind the mirror (since the gap isn't big enough for it to quite fit between mirror and light console). It slipped around badly, but a 1" strip of foam double-sided tape fixed that. Now it's SOLID and almost unnoticable from outside the car - blends in with the rest of the black stuff above the mirror in the cabrio. I can see everything, and hear it, and reach the controls (though their tight) - but that won't be a concern when I get my remote display installed. Once I get that in I might even put some charcoal fabric wrap on the V1 (with holes for the laser eyes) to really stealth it.

I didn't take a photo yet - but it looks pretty much like every other right-of-mirror install out there...

 

I want to follow up the first post with a similar story. I bought my V1 in 1997 or 1998. In the summer of 2001, I left the V1 in the window of my wife's car (using the cigarette lighter cord on her car) on a really hot sunny day.

When I returned to the car, the thing wouldn't work at all. Since it was out of warranty, I just put it back in the box and put it away for about 5 months. Finally, I called about repair, and got the same "send it back with a $45 check, and we'll call you when we take a look at it."

Well, I did, and about a week passed with no call. Finally, I call them, and ask what is up. The reply was "oh, we sent it back to you overnight yesterday, you should get it today." I asked what the charge was. "nothing."

Later that day I got it back, with my check in the box, and with new suction cups and window mount in the box.

It still works great, although it could probably use an update by now. I'll never buy a product from their competitors after that service.

 

That is one of the reasons I sold my V1. I haven't had a ticket in over six years, but my last one was with laser, and with a detector in use in my car. I was late for work, going about 25 over in I-70 in Columbus, and got hit by a City cop hiding behind some large overpass columns. I rounded a curve, saw the cop, had a split second to slam on my brakes before my detector went off and told me "you just got a ticket!". I was able to slow it down to about 12-15 over which is what I was clocked at.

A V1 does have some (limited) usefulness in Ohio as some Sheriffs, city Cops, and occasionally OHP use radar, but the weapon of choice for the OHP has been laser for a number of years now (I got my first laser ticket almost 14 years ago). There is rally no beating the physics of laser speed detection. The best you can hope for is a reflection off another car in front of you, and IME that is rather rare. I remember the good old days here in Ohio where a decent detector was all you needed to avoid speeding tickets.

-Keith

 

This laser issue is easy to solve! I use a V-1 one and a Blinder Laser Jammer! complete protection. Yes the Laser Jammer is against the law but we are only talking about a class C misd, less of a fine than the speeding ticket itself. Impossible to dedetect the jamer! plenty of time to slow down and turn the jamer off, no one suspects a things! it has saved my bacon several times!!

 

well, V1's kinda cool just to have as an accessory too. i dont speed
and its just like a conversation piece or vanity gizmo or watever.

kinda like showing off your new smartphone to your friends.

 

Yeah, I've talked to him about that circuit. He said he could be bribed into seeing about getting the other button to work, too. Randy's upcoming circuit looks to have some additional functionality, so I'm waiting to see what happens there.

Good idea; dunno why I didn't think of that. :P

My V1 actually saved my butt in Ohio from a cop using laser. My V1 went off and I slowed down; he took the guy in the next lane over going slightly faster. I don't think it was scatter that the V1 picked up, based on the look he gave me.

 

I hear thats why we still have to run front plates. It was actually voted on, then someone vetoed it...and we still have them.

I dont run a front plate, and my windows are tinted. The few times I have been pulled over for speeding, I have been cited for window tint, which doesnt have any points, but the ticket is more expensive.