[QUOTE]Originally posted by S2000_Fireball
Anyway, everycop that I have SEEN seems to be using X-band on the Parkway. Can this be true? Anyone else from NJ knows more?

 

Well, I don't believe that's a valid argument here, as nowadays, a cop will approach the car from either the passenger OR driver's sides. The V1 is pretty stealth and placed up against the windshield on either side, it is very well hidden. I don't think you have an advantage either way. If the cop is going to get nosey, he'll find it even if you've got it switched off.

Looks neat, but the only problem here is that to mute the unit or change the mode, you are always putting your hand through the steering wheel....which is a big safety "no no". You also have to drop your eyes from the road too to read it. If it's off to the side of the dash, it is easily within your peripheral vision as you scan the road. It's very easily seen by the driver and with some 3M permanent double sided tape which is very low profile (use a marker to color the tape edge facing you black), it looks very integrated with the dash.

And those idiot lights "EPS" and "Maintenence Req'd" are just a little bit more important than you think. They are there for a reason.

Anyway, whatever works for you is what I say, but that's just my $0.02!

 

Yeah, anyone know why those construction signs give off K band?

BTW, last week I picked up a laser alert on the V1. I was given about four full seconds to slow down before the cop was in sight. I am beginning to doubt the conventional wisdom that laser isn't detectable until it's too late.

 

Like you said, whatever works for you. Tell me how to add a pic to my post and I'll post a digital photo of my mounts. I think you'll change your mind after you see it and realize it's probalbly the easiest to read and best looking too. No reaching through the wheel ---changes are made on the unit overhead. Mr. Law almost always approaches from the driver-side unless he has a friend. I'll go with the best odds.

Good Luck,
Dave

**Sorry for the confusion over the 8500 test but as I stated after owning many Passports (and Bel's), they're all the same. New marketing ideas to make the average "Joe" ditch his old model and buy a new one. If you already own it I'm sure it will work fine for you. You can't blame Passport and Bel for trying to constantly generate more revenue by constantly introducing a "flashier unit". The facts are they pick up radar no better than the previous model and the one before and the one before that. Valentine thinks more along the line of, "What would I (the user) want if I could design a detector of my own?". How about the best unit made on earth that doesn't go "out of date" every year, instead is upgradeable **IF** necessary. As a consumer you have to love his devotion to his unit and his customers. That's why I push this baby! #1

 

Good article at:

http://www.valentineone.com/lab/V1Hater.asp

 

Wave,
And totally unbiased, right?

 

Only speaking from experience (trying to be helpful). Buy what you want, enjoy it, get less tickets. Note that Valentine used to be the President of Passport!

Dave

[Edited by BigWave10 on 06-07-2001 at 10:42 AM]

 

I have the talking Bel radar detector in my Legend and the PP 8500 in my S2000. I figured the V1 was better because if will identify the number and locations of radar sources. It just looked too big and clunky to live in the S2000. I like that picture of the V1 mounted between the roll bars with the remote on the dash. Had I thought of that I would have done it. In any case, the Bel and PP work just fine. Hyperalertness helps as well.

 

It doesn't get much cleaner than this:



Note the tint strip that hides the mount from a frontal view.



[Edited by BigWave10 on 06-07-2001 at 08:30 PM]

 

I had an instance where my V1 went crazy on me (or so I thought). I was the only car on the street. While driving the speed limit at night, I noticed my V1 making a weird loud noise. I looked at the V1 and all the lights were blinking (all the arrows and the dots that detect the strength of the radar)for 1 second and then it returned to normal. I never experienced this before, so I was thinking my detector was going crazy. This happened two more times down the road. Then I noticed a couple yards down the road, there were two officers pointing the radar at me while standing on the sidewalk. I guess that's the signal (all the lights flashing on the V1) for instant on.

HondaGuy and I attached our V1 on top of the secret compartment. So the front of the detector faces the windscreen (which would detect the radar signals coming from the rear). Also, pointing the rear of the V1 towards the windsheild (which would detect the radar signals coming from the front of the car). Then we ran the telephone wire under the console and attached it to the conceal display, which I attached underneath the dash right beneath the a/c controls.

Works great for him and I and the other S2000s that have been bumming off of us. Just ask Insomniak.