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Automotive News & Views Radar/Lidar detectors
1206 messages, Last post on Dec 28, 2008 at 5:16 PM
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
| Thanks for the fantastic web site. Just what I needed to persuade that the V1 is the best way to go. | |
| Does anyone know when the next version of the V1 is due out? I called Valentine One and all they would say is that their engineers are constantly looking to improve the unit. The last update was made in the spring of 1998. Given that radar detectors have relatively short life cycles before new and improved versions come out, I'm skeptical about paying $400 + for a unit that might be upgraded in a couple of months. Any thoughts? PS. I know that I can pay for an upgrade if I buy one today, but who wants to go through that in what could be just a couple of months. | |
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Go ahead and buy one. Seriously. I faced the same dilemna this summer, but took the plunge($440 including concealed display). Hell, even if they upgrade the technology, it's not like this technology sucks. I've been saved so many times I've lost count. It's *SO* worth the money that I'm going to buy my brother one for his birthday. |
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| OK, OK, so I agree V1 is tops and the battery powered types, like the Escort Solo are near the bottom. My problem is security. I can't be leaving my detector in the car where it can be seen by passers-by. Not only will it be ripped off, but my window will be smashed in the process. The best detector is worthless if it isn't plugged in and operating, and I can't take the time to install and uninstall the thing every time I get in and out of the car. So, what I want is a wired receptacle, sort of like the docking station for laptop computers, so I can slide the detector in, it will connect up to the car's power, and away I go. Then slide it out and put it away. Is such an installation available, and if not, why not? Seems to me that Valentine ought to have such a feature. The Solo may be lame, but it's easy to put into use, especially for city driving, and not get ripped off. | |
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What's so hard about it? Slide the detector into the bracket, plug in the connector and go. Removing it from the bracket is easy, and doesn't require a screwdriver like some other models. Somewhere out there on the WWW is a page dedicated to one guy's hardmounting of his V1 in an NSX. He built a custom mount for it on the back windshield and disguised it to look like a 3rd brake light. I'll post the link if I can find it. |
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I've got an solution for your Radar Problems.. perhaps already mentioned, paint your car with the same paint that the stealth bomber has, it absorbs radar, and won't reflect it... Now where can I find this paint... I hope it comes in other colors... F- |
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| You're assuming it's the paint. It's not. Well, not entirely. | |
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Well actually it is the paint in combination with the flat angled sufaces, If I remember correctly 3M or Dupont makes it. as well as radar absorbing coating on the windshield. I did see a think on SpeedVision where a guy had a car that looked like a Stealth bomber, looked funny but actually performed quite well. Oh well F- |
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My V1 saved my butt a couple of weeks ago heading east of Mesa, AZ on Route 60. About a mile out, I was alerted to an X-band signal that increased quickly until I came up to and passed one of those moveable "Your Speed Is XXX MPH" units. About a mile ahead, the V1 alerted me to a second X-band signal which became stronger as I came upon a trooper parked on the shoulder writing a ticket for a hapless traveler. Obviously Smokey had counted on anyone passing the MPH unit to feel that they were home free....until his rear-facing radar nailed them. Another mile down the road the V1 started picking up a Ka-band instant-on signal. Sure enough, there was a second cruiser, facing oncoming traffic in the center median, about a mile and a half beyond the first Ka alert. Alan Funt was right: "When you least expect it...smile, you're on Candid Camera". Those guys really know how to set traps. I carried it on the plane all the way from NY, but it was worth it. My Valentine One sure kept my vacation from turning sour. |
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| I want a slide in/slide out "hot shoe" receptacle because I slide in/out my Solo three or four or more times a day. I don't want to have to connect and disconnect the power wire each time. It's a small refinement, obviously, but makes the difference between being used and not used ALL of the time, which means it is going to be active when you come upon a radar trap. That's one of the reasons I wish a permanently installed receiver behind the grill would work. The alternative to a permanent installation is a wired "docking station" into which you could slide the V1, and it's connected and operating. And then slide it out and secure it awqy from prying eyes, out of sight, when you park. I do much the same thing with my Nokia handsfree cell phone installation. The phone snaps in, the power and outside antenna are automatically connected, and it powers on ready to operate in the "car" mode, even if other settings have been selected for manual use. That's what V1 should do, IMHO. | |
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