Radar mount & hardwiring?

[Joe12345]

Full disclosure I’m a police officer. Are you all aware we don’t use “radar” guns anymore..? Save your money.

PA state police use it. DE, NJ, NY, and MD all use both radar and lidar. I wish all local cops had radar, it’d make it much easier to spot ya’ll.

 

[OriginalToken]

its very outdated technology. Nobody in California uses radar anymore; you're right I have no clue about florida. Im a k9 handler so I don't pull over people for dumb traffic stuff but I know the motor dorks use Lidars not radars.

Here locally (High Desert area of CA) it is mostly radar with just a little laser. The local PD has radar mounted in almost every newer cruiser, for sure all of the Explorer PIUs / PPVs, and 3 radar guns. All of their radar is Ka. They also have 2 or 3 lasers, mostly, but not only, used by the motorcycle patrols. The county sheriffs have only radar (Ka), but I don't think very many and they seldom do traffic enforcement other than as part of other duties. The CHP in the area use both radar (Ka) and laser. If they are mobile it is radar, if they are on the side of the road it is more typically laser although fairly often it is radar.

Detectors are still worth having, but they don't replace being aware of your surroundings and being aware of the habits and capabilities of the local agencies. Modern higher end detectors can have phenomenal range. In the desert, where things are often nice and flat with few obstructions, I can get instant on hits at several miles distance. Meaning the CHP can ping someone ahead of me with IO and I sometimes get a warning even when I can't even see the vehicle he is hitting. With a good radar detector with arrows and a low to very low false alarm rate it can be quite revealing. With a good frequency readout on the detector (all of mine have freq readout) I can even get to know specific units by their frequencies. Depending on the freq I get I can sometimes know is it one of the local CHP or local PD units, and quite often which specific unit number it is. Since I only have to remember ~10 or so sets of freqs (different freqs for front / rear horns on the patrol vehicle) I typically know which is which. Of course, in an area with more patrol vehicles / agencies that might not be as possible.

I don't really speed that much, my normal outside the city rate (~8 - 12 over outside town, sometimes a bit more, but not all that often, and I don't see any reason to speed on city streets) probably would not get me a ticket even if I did not have a detector, however, I like to know what is around me. Oh, and I work in the radar field so it is an interest of mine

But a good example of a probable "save", just last Friday. I was driving westbound on a desert divided highway, 2 lanes each direction, light traffic, at least several hundred yards between vehicles in the same lanes, probably a quarter mile or more. I was in the #2 lane and 15'ish over the 65 speed limit, the cruise was set. There was a sedan that had been keeping pace with me but slightly behind, maybe 100 yards back, and in the #1 lane, left lane camping. I got a short hit from forward and on a freq that I recognized as probably one of the local CHP units forward antennas. By the strength I knew he was not close, but not all that far either, maybe a mile or more. I released the cruise control and allowed the truck to coast down. The sedan in the #1 did not slow, but kept on at the same 80'ish MPH.

~30 seconds later the radar comes on strong and I see the CHP unit in the #1 eastbound lane. The sedan that had been behind me in the #1 was now in front of me and visually pulling away from me, it did not look at all like he had slowed. He also did not slow as he went past the CHP going the other direction. It was a low profile unit, maybe he did not see that it was CHP. CHP went past, and eventually hit his brakes, cut across the median, and came up behind quickly. As he past me I noticed he had on only the back lights. He pulled the sedan over a couple of miles down the road. If I had not slowed because of his radar, which vehicle do you think he would have pulled over, the little silver sedan or the big blue Raptor with all the antennas on top of it? On the other hand, the way he delayed turning around I got the impression he was waiting to see if the sedan slowed down after passing him, maybe if the sedan had tapped his brakes the CHP would have not bothered.

T!

 

[Hagasan41]

Blendmount and your choice of Radar. I've got the Uniden R7, R3, V1 Gen 1 and the ****** 360 for each car. All are attached using the Blendmount with some being hardwired and others using a Mirror tap. Each has their plus and minuses but to me the arrows are a must.



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[dboat]

Valentine 1 wired to the mirror I think. Since I didnt do the wiring, just not sure.

 

[ihoffland]

Full disclosure I’m a police officer. Are you all aware we don’t use “radar” guns anymore..? Save your money.

You’re aware this is semantics right? They all detect LiDAR.

 

[GMEN92]

View attachment 124878 I picked the Blendmount mount. Really nice quality. I have an ****** Max 360c

Any issues with it shutting off or going into like sleep mode ??

 

[MRV99]

Any issues with it shutting off or going into like sleep mode ??

I have mine wired to the fuse block in the foot well. Took about 20 min to do it any it only shuts off when the truck is turned off. Stays on during start/stop cycle

 

[GMEN92]

I have mine wired to the fuse block in the foot well. Took about 20 min to do it any it only shuts off when the truck is turned off. Stays on during start/stop cycle

Ok thanks yea i bought truck used and it had it hardwired as well I’m guessing that’s where it’s wired as well will have to take a look.
But i keep having a issue where it just either randomly won’t turn on or it just turns off randomly
I even sent the device back to them to check it but they said was fine and updated it as well

Do u have the smaller mute button thing wired as well ? Thanks

 

[MRV99]

Ok thanks yea i bought truck used and it had it hardwired as well I’m guessing that’s where it’s wired as well will have to take a look.
But i keep having a issue where it just either randomly won’t turn on or it just turns off randomly
I even sent the device back to them to check it but they said was fine and updated it as well

Do u have the smaller mute button thing wired as well ? Thanks

I don’t have the remote muting because it is a valentine. I don’t have any issues with it shutting off or cycling when the truck auto stop/start activates. I have always disliked tapping wires because they always seem to have issues.

Thread 'Mirror tap or Fuse box?'
https://www.fordraptorforum.com/threads/mirror-tap-or-fuse-box.86715/