Valentine One Radar Detector?

[APEXistud]

I recently borrowed a friends Valentine One for a road trip down to LA for the Auto Show and damn this thing is awesome. He advised me that the best place to put it was right below the rear view mirror. He said that the higher up on the window, the better it would function. My question is, does anyone have a Valentine One and if so, where did you/do you mount it? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

I don't want to mount it that high on my window because I don't have tinted widows and placing it that high would be like putting a red sign on the top of my car that says "I'm a speeder" to all cops who get near my car. I plan on buying one and hardwiring it so I won't be using up my cigarette lighter plug. I would mount it lower like this pic

 

[Dexter]

the image does not work but ive read that detectors should actually be as low and close to the dash as possible. i could be wrong though. *shrugs* dont have one myself.

 

[Aricjm15]

it shouldnt make a difference where it is mounted
except maybe for detecting lazer because it has to "see" the light from it, and if you get hit with a lazer while speeding your gonna be screwed becasue you would have no time to slow down,

 

[tritonheat1]

I recently borrowed a friends Valentine One for a road trip down to LA for the Auto Show and damn this thing is awesome. He advised me that the best place to put it was right below the rear view mirror. He said that the higher up on the window, the better it would function. My question is, does anyone have a Valentine One and if so, where did you/do you mount it? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

I don't want to mount it that high on my window because I don't have tinted widows and placing it that high would be like putting a red sign on the top of my car that says "I'm a speeder" to all cops who get near my car. I plan on buying one and hardwiring it so I won't be using up my cigarette lighter plug. I would mount it lower like this pic

I like the Valentine one 2, But i own the Escort Passport 8500 and this is more accurate than the V-one. The V-one does signal false detects, which where my 8500 doesn't. Both are great and all, but the Passport makes me aware if there's any cops, around. BTW Yes you need to place the Radar detector in the Middle of the Window right below the rear view mirror, "that's the best place where the radar can detect signals, coming from the direct oncoming or the rear behind.

 

[Stealth5]

lol,. i just use other peoples...if i see someone with one, i just never pass them, heh

 

[Protege_Speed]

I like my V1. It's the only radar I know that tells you which direction the radar is coming from. A very cool feature. I mounted the V1 pretty high up and you really can't see it from behind or the front. And with the remote unit, you can't see the V1's lights from another car. Here are some pics.

 

[APEXistud]

Ok, after seeing Protege_Speed's V1 setup, I a definately going that route. It's funny that Stealth5 mentioned the mooching off oher V1 owners radar by following them. The actually mention the mooching on V1's website. Thanks for the feedback fellas, it's really appreciated.

 

[Murray]

I have mine mounted just like Protege_Speed's. The power wire goes up, into the molding, around the driver side, down the pillar, and under the steering column, where it's connected to the same wire as the stereo head unit (using V1's hardwire unit). Only about 3" of wire are visible, and it's almost unnoticeable outside the car (especially from the inside of another car, at the distance police would be).

It's a good idea to take it out of the windshield (it fits nicely in the center console behind the e-brake) to avoid frying it in the sun. My first one stopped detecting from the front when I left it up all the time. They replaced it under warranty (no hassles, had a replacement in a week) and since I've been taking the new one down, I haven't had any problems at all.

The manual says to mount it as high up as possible, that way you get the maximum "visibility" from radar going through other people's windows, etc. I haven't had a problem with people mooching but I have my back window tinted pretty dark (20%) so you can't really see it anyway.

I agree the V1 definitely gives lots of false alarms. Since I got it, I've learned where all the automatic door openers and motion detectors are in my area. They key is to learn what false alarms look like and where they are, and then use your judgement on whether it's a real cop. You learn the difference pretty quickly. Human judgement blows away AI any day, IMO. I'd rather know something's there and decide for myself what it is than have the detector ignore it and be wrong.

One last note: although it's saved my butt more than enough times to pay for itself, the V1 does absolutely NO good against airplane radar. Especially the kind they have flying over McComb, MS. Ahem. At least the police seem to be pretty nice guys out there ...

 

[APEXistud]

Yeah, that's the only thing I hate. The inability to detect aircraft. That would be awesome if we could some how. When I was driving down south on highway 5, I would just pace the other cars traveling well over the speed limit, which was 70 most of the way. We got down there pretty fast mainly because we were doing 95+ for about hour to an hour and a half. I know I shouldn't have been going that fast, but I was going with the flow of traffic.

 

[bud_d]

The V1 and Escort are both great detectors, from the various reviews I've seen the V1 is slightly better overall, plus it's $100 cheaper retail. Another cool thing is the Valentine one can detect multiple radar signals, dont know how helpful this would be irl, but ya.

 

[tritonheat1]

The V1 and Escort are both great detectors, from the various reviews I've seen the V1 is slightly better overall, plus it's $100 cheaper retail. Another cool thing is the Valentine one can detect multiple radar signals, dont know how helpful this would be irl, but ya.

Actually the V1 is known to make false alarm detect signals. I know that it shows where the arrows are coming from but, i would rather have a more accurate radar, and also not to mention the Escort Passport 8500 is $cheaper than the V1.

Valentine one-1 $300
Escort Passport 8500 $229

I would rather have the Escort 8500 over the V1, even though i already have one, but my buddy has a V1 and is inaccurate all the damm time. Making false alarms all the time

 

[APEXistud]

Actually, I found the V1 to be 100% accurate with Ka signal. The main signal to look out for in my area is the Ka signal and everytime the Ka signal came on I was able to locate the CHP or cop car within the next 40 seconds depending on what direction the CHP car would be facing. If I was driving towards the CHP vehicle and the CHP was facing me, that 40 seconds would be a bit less. But, if I was approaching the CHP from behind or if a CHP was trailing me quite a ways behind me. The V1 would always give me the heads up. However, when the others signals (k, X & L) came on, it was always a false alarm. I found that the k signal always went off when I was near a shopping center and one time I got the Laser signal as I passed a police station in Gilroy, CA. So, it's safe to say that if you get a Ka signal, it will not be a false alarm. I agree with Murray, I'd ratehr get the false alarms and have the choice to ignore them if I choose rather than not get a flase alarm and then have it turn out to be a CHP.

 

[LinuxRacr]

The Passport 8500 here. The KA signal detection on the Passport has a longer range then the V1. On my trip back from Houston, I detected a state trooper over a mile away. On false alarms, I don't get nearly as many since I disabled the x band.

 

[APEXistud]

Just a clarification on that 40 second or more warning time. That time was 40 seconds warning at about 93-95 mph on highway 5 on a straight with little traffic.

 

[LinuxRacr]

Dammit Apex, quit your mag racing!!!:mad: :mad:

LOL, you know I am just phucking with you. That's pretty damn good, and some good distance too! These 2 detectors ROCK!!! I am planing on adding the Laser Diffuser to my Passport.

 

[APEXistud]

Dammit Apex, quit your mag racing!!!:mad: :mad:

LOL, you know I am just phucking with you. That's pretty damn good, and some good distance too! These 2 detectors ROCK!!! I am planing on adding the Laser Diffuser to my Passport.

Haha, I was about to say man :wtf:. What'd I do this time. You really caught me off guard with that one..

 

[LinuxRacr]

.... You really caught me off guard with that one..

Hehe...That was the general idea as it had nothing to do with what you said at all!

 

[tritonheat1]

I am planing on adding the Laser Diffuser to my Passport.

Are you talking about the scrambler, "that goes to the 8500". I think you're talking about The ZR3 right?, i think it cost $449 instaled here. I dunno if i'm gonna get it or not?!

 

[tritonheat1]

Just a clarification on that 40 second or more warning time. That time was 40 seconds warning at about 93-95 mph on highway 5 on a straight with little traffic.

if you were doing 93-95mph at the end of you're 40second warning Still, Why were you still at those speed's. But if you backed off at from 93-95mph then yahh the V1 pretty much saved your butt. If you really wanna see how far you're V1 detects, "next time you hear or see the radar start going off, look down to see how many miles are on the odometer and then when you see the CHP or City police, look back at the odometer to see how many miles/tenth's of a mile it took to see him. I think i got a good 2mile range, on the 8500. From the Town lemoore heading to the Lemoore N.A.S base is about 5miles, i started beeping like crazy lookiing around to see where i was getting detected at, still nothing it's been past a mile or so. Then as i start getting closer to the Base i see something down the road sitting right off to the left side of the main gate a CHP.(guns) (no)

 

[bud_d]

hey I was thinking about the Beltronics Vector 990 not the Passport, anyone use the Vector? It's little bit more expensive, but quite good in reviews