Topic: Valentine One Stealthed Install

[nomead]

I have and love my V1 - however it is very visible and can be a temptation to some folks that might cause damage to the car trying to get to it.
I was always removing and taking/hiding it when I left the car in a parking lot.
I saw a thread from marklynn70 on the sky site that inspired me to do a similar stealth install.

Now the only visible component is:

[LiquidPT]

What I think is cool is that you relocated the airbag light. What did you put up in that space?

EDIT: Just noticed this was a Sky. Is that the stock location for the airbag light?

[nomead]

Step one is get the remote display embedded.

Concept & Test fit


Disassemble remote (remove torx) and extract just the display:




Use the case to make a template


Humm, problem?


Tight, but workable


Committed!







This process did generate a lot of fine grain black dust that was statically charged and clung to everything. A straight edge and paper towel cleaned it up.

Next it was time to deal with the close tolerenecs between the airbag light and the RJ11 connector. The light has what looks like a snap-in bump that was blocking the remote display. -



it has got to go.


fab up sum pins to act as retainers


Finally:

[nomead]

So that wrapped up the remote part of the install.
This location is great since it is out of sight, right at hand for using the mute button with shift hand.

Some key features:
1. Keep other drivers from following you to 'hitch a ride' on your detector.
2. Keep the 'secondary lighting effects' to a minimum - the car lights up with the detector goes off (especially on this unit).

This last one actualy happened to me. 2am, heading for a family visit in NJ and I came up over a rise - a police car coming the other way turned on his radar gun, the detector (wife's car, V1 on windshield) went off, those arrows brilliantly illuminated all our surprised faces (because of the sudden alert signal)  along with the rest of the interior of the car in a nice lurid red. This was a display that could not have been missed and it wasn't - I was promptly pulled over. I was going the limit, so there was not much that could be said, but told that in NJ they do not allow 'cords or other obstructions' in the driver's view of the windshield. Moving the lights down significantly minimizes the light show in this situation.

One other thing I added was a power cut off down under the shifter boot. That was I can turn off the detector completely when required without raising hands to windshield.

[Sol Asylum]

This last one actualy happened to me. 2am, heading for a family visit in NJ and I came up over a rise - a police car coming the other way turned on his radar gun, the detector (wife's car, V1 on windshield) went off, those arrows brilliantly illuminated all our surprised faces (because of the sudden alert signal)  along with the rest of the interior of the car in a nice lurid red. This was a display that could not have been missed and it wasn't - I was promptly pulled over. I was going the limit, so there was not much that could be said, but told that in NJ they do not allow 'cords or other obstructions' in the driver's view of the windshield.

You were lucky here in Hellinois detectors are actually illegal, even though all the stores sell them, if you get pulled over and the cop is being a major PIA you can get an extra ticket just for the detector.

[nomead]

Next to tackle was the head unit.
Originally suction cupped to the windshield - now you see it:



And now you don't:


Ok, there it is hiding in the windshield surround


The real give-away view is from head on with a flash (otherwise it is pretty much invisible)


How does this get done?
Start by removing the surround (two torx under the visors and pull of the clips)


then the detector head unit - but the top of the case has to go.


On the passenger side dremel out the clip support and the other 'obstructions' to clear a space for the detector


keep going until you get a good fit

 ...the passenger side clip eventually had to go...


The top of the unit is covered by a silicone rubber anti-skid sheet from another project to protect the electronics and prevent electrical shorts and bothersome rattles.

replace the surround and visors and the view from the cockpit is pretty clean

another small piece of the silicone rubber is used to obscure the volume control knob that would otherwise be visible through the top's hook opening.

[nomead]

some have suggested this should be my next mod
http://www.youtube.com/v/8N3w0T9bYp8&hl=en&fs=1
 

[GaryDN]

Nice install, look forward to seeing this tomorrow

[2kwk4u]

Nice install.  Obviously you won't get laser warnings from the rear hemisphere anymore... but that's no big deal.  Do you still get rear coverage on radar?  Is the signal strength degraded at all?

[lil goat]

I have a remote installed Passport and got pulled over in my driveway for having a radar detector, State Trooper said he had a radar detector detector, I am betting he saw the light from my Dashawk and thought it was radar, it was at night. The SR-1 is supposed to be shielded, he lives a block from me and said he was on his way to work, was driving and unmarked Charger, that's just not fair!

[kennysabarese]

This is pretty awesome. I have been struggling with placement for my V1 and this looks excellent.

my biggest problem is that i cannot hear the V1 when the top is down and music is loud. So i rely on the remote display. So i jammed the remote display between the speedo tach and steering column. It blocks the traction control light slightly, but that's it. This way i can see it light up without having to have any volume at all. The only thing better would be to put it on the dash by the windshield so it's even closer to center of my field of vision. I had it this way on my Camaro, but that had a huge deep dash.

Anyway, this is a really awesome mod for the V1 main unit. I'll definitely be trying it sometime

[nomead]

Nice install.  Obviously you won't get laser warnings from the rear hemisphere anymore... but that's no big deal.  Do you still get rear coverage on radar?  Is the signal strength degraded at all?

Thanks!
Actually there is no laser detector facing the rear. This was one of the things I found out when I pulled the unit apart.
Radar from the rear, even with the top up, seems completely normal. I've checked it out 'live' with a couple police radar traps by passing a number of times and comparing front & rear response distances.

Edit: just checked the v1 site and it claims there is a laser detector facing the rear.
When I looked at the internals there was a metal cone (antenna) and spherical lens facing forward and just the metal cone facing the rear.
I'll have to find out about that.

[kennysabarese]

Thanks!
Actually there is no laser detector facing the rear. This was one of the things I found out when I pulled the unit apart.
Radar from the rear, even with the top up, seems completely normal. I've checked it out 'live' with a couple police radar traps by passing a number of times and comparing front & rear response distances.

what if the top is up?

[nomead]

I have a remote installed Passport and got pulled over in my driveway for having a radar detector, State Trooper said he had a radar detector detector, I am betting he saw the light from my Dashawk and thought it was radar, it was at night. The SR-1 is supposed to be shielded, he lives a block from me and said he was on his way to work, was driving and unmarked Charger, that's just not fair!

Completely unfair not very neighborly either!
If he lives a block from you you'd like to think he'd just give a 'friendly warning'.  
The V1 is detectable, but much less than most... though there are some new detectors coming on the scene (like the Spectre RDD) that might be changing this.

[nomead]

what if the top is up?

It does not seem to interfere with the signal enough to notice. I've tried this test both with the top up and down.

[nomead]

Nice install, look forward to seeing this tomorrow

So, what did you think?

[nomead]

This is pretty awesome. I have been struggling with placement for my V1 and this looks excellent.

my biggest problem is that i cannot hear the V1 when the top is down and music is loud. So i rely on the remote display. So i jammed the remote display between the speedo tach and steering column. It blocks the traction control light slightly, but that's it. This way i can see it light up without having to have any volume at all. The only thing better would be to put it on the dash by the windshield so it's even closer to center of my field of vision. I had it this way on my Camaro, but that had a huge deep dash.

Anyway, this is a really awesome mod for the V1 main unit. I'll definitely be trying it sometime

Thanks! it is working out well for me. I have the volume set pretty high and "at speed" on the highway with the music at my normal level it comes through fine. The v1 has another remote - for the speaker. This is mainly aimed at motorcyclists, but I had considered using it too to remote the volume control (which is now just barely available via the opening for the top's latching mechanism) and it also would allow me to relocate the speaker - which I'd probably put behind the driver's seat at head level (where it would likely startle the cr*p out of me when it went off  ).

Where I located the display *is* a bit out of the normal 'cone of visibility', and I do rely on the audible to alert me to glance down. It is good there because the mute is convenient to the shifting hand. It also avoids the problem I mentioned above with a sudden signal (coming over a hill into the beam) lighting up your surprised face at night:

...
2. Keep the 'secondary lighting effects' to a minimum - the car lights up with the detector goes off (especially on this unit).

This last one actually happened to me. 2am, heading for a family visit in NJ and I came up over a rise - a police car coming the other way turned on his radar gun, the detector (wife's car, V1 on windshield) went off, those arrows brilliantly illuminated all our surprised faces (because of the sudden alert signal)  along with the rest of the interior of the car in a nice lurid red. This was a display that could not have been missed and it wasn't - I was promptly pulled over. I was going the limit, so there was not much that could be said, but told that in NJ they do not allow 'cords or other obstructions' in the driver's view of the windshield. Moving the lights down significantly minimizes the light show in this situation.
...

To combat this you might want to have someone stand in front of the car in a driveway - at night - and then you turn on the detector. They can tell you how obvious the lighting effects are with that placement.
good luck!

[kennysabarese]

yeah i never thought that the lights going off inside the car might be seen by an officer.... i'll have to check that sometime.

[nomead]

yeah i never thought that the lights going off inside the car might be seen by an officer.... i'll have to check that sometime.

nor had I until that night 
I'm happy to share the lessons I have learned the hard way so you wont have to 

[Morfious]

Golf claps all around, very nice install Nomead.  I still have mine suctioned to the windshield, but I take it with me when I leave (that is the best security around).  I am still playing around with a spot to put my remote mute circuit I built.  Haven't found a comfortable/unobtrusive spot yet.  I also dig the remote cut off feature, very handy!

[nomead]

Thanks! Good luck with yours. I recommend a cutoff of some sort that makes killing it an 'unnoticable act'.

[KWhale]

Darn you!  I wish I had seen this idea before I made my choice on a radar detector!!  I love the V1 in my other car, but did not want it hanging on the windshield for easy taking in the convertible.  I went with an installed bell one that looks out through the front grill but I really don't like that.  Our cars are low to the ground already, and when you mount the receiver down low in the grill, you don't get much warning when cresting hills or following larger vehicles.  Your install keeps the receiver up nice and high for that added distance detection in hilly areas.  Excellent job on the install, and way to use your brain to solve a problem I was to stupid to solve lol

[sol_man]

Thanks Nomead for the post!  I love mine and have thought about the remote until but have never known anyone who did this. 

I got one ticket in the Solstice, even with mine, because of the same thing Kenny said.  I had the top down, music on 11, and didn't hear the V1 or see the lights.  Then it seemed the cop really didn't like me having it because as he was writing my ticket he would flip on his gun just to see the Valentine light up and then wrote on the ticket "had radar detector".  Even though it's not illegal, I guess it means we're trying to get away with something. 

[nomead]

Darn you!  I wish I had seen this idea before I made my choice on a radar detector!!  I love the V1 in my other car, but did not want it hanging on the windshield for easy taking in the convertible.  I went with an installed bell one that looks out through the front grill but I really don't like that.  Our cars are low to the ground already, and when you mount the receiver down low in the grill, you don't get much warning when cresting hills or following larger vehicles.  Your install keeps the receiver up nice and high for that added distance detection in hilly areas.  Excellent job on the install, and way to use your brain to solve a problem I was to stupid to solve lol

Thanks, but you are giving me more credit than I deserve. Just realized that my final edit lost the attribution for the originator of this idea!

I'll fix that now:
This wasn't *my* original idea, though the detail of the execution is.

AFAIK marklynn70 did the original one of these. He installed it on the drivers side of the latch.
Check out http://www.skyroadster.com/forums/f5/now-something-truely-amazing-15250/index3.html#post200029.

This location had a few issues I was not happy with which is why I've switched it to the passenger's side.

The height I knew was important from personal experience from an old VW rabbit I had had back in the 80's that had a remote mount detector.
The 'detector' was designed to go under the hood, but it didn't have enough range in that location.
I relocated the detector to the rear deck of the car up on a platform and hid it under a hat  .
The range was vastly improved.


Edit: btw, you still want to be careful NOT to be the fastest (or only) car to crest a hill or come around a blind corner fast on the highway. They are waiting for you and they will tag you.
I follow the general policy that I will be the second fastest in sight in those situations and will watch for the brake lights on the cars going before me (who have just seen the bogey in action). This also helps guarantee there will be a signal to detect. (...and now I just have to learn to always FOLLOW my own rules  )

[nomead]

Thanks Nomead for the post!  I love mine and have thought about the remote until but have never known anyone who did this. 

I got one ticket in the Solstice, even with mine, because of the same thing Kenny said.  I had the top down, music on 11, and didn't hear the V1 or see the lights.  Then it seemed the cop really didn't like me having it because as he was writing my ticket he would flip on his gun just to see the Valentine light up and then wrote on the ticket "had radar detector".  Even though it's not illegal, I guess it means we're trying to get away with something. 

You're welcome. If you go down this path let us know!