9500ci's ability to detect rear radar?

[heffneil]

I placed my front radar detector portion of my 9500 CI behind the GTR Emblem on my GTR. I don't know if the ability to detection will be impacted but I am hoping it won't be! Also I am mounting my front radar shifters with double back tape. Anyone think this is a really poor way to mount them?

Thanks,

Neil

[MEM-TEK]

I placed my front radar detector portion of my 9500 CI behind the GTR Emblem on my GTR. I don't know if the ability to detection will be impacted but I am hoping it won't be! Also I am mounting my front radar shifters with double back tape. Anyone think this is a really poor way to mount them?

Thanks,

Neil

Hi Neil,

Can you post a picture of the GTR front emblem? It isn't metallic, is it? I suggest using 3M VHB tape (available at Radio Shack in a pack which contains four 1" x 3" strips) to mount the shifters or the shifter brackets. Note that it is critical to get the shifters vertically aligned such that they are level within plus or minus 1 degrees for really optimal performance. Forget what the installation manual says about merely getting them level to within 5 degrees. Just hold a bubble level atop the shifter cases and adjust to get them level. VHB tape is super strong stuff. Be sure to clean all surfaces where it will be attached with a cloth moistened with isopropyl alcohol.

[heffneil]

Thanks for the advice! The emblem isn't metal it is plastic. Its a little below it too so I have some concerns because I would prefer as much protection as possible. I will take some pictures tomorrow. I decide to do this install myself despite my better judgment. The dealership didn't think it would take 10 hours but at $74 an hour it was going to add up. Plus I want to buy and install the laser interceptor when it is available again and couldn't let the 9500CI sit in the trunk waiting to get the dealer to install both!

I bought double back tape from home depot. It is Scotch indoor outdoe mounting tape. It is rated for 5 lbs. 411/DC specifically. It comes in 1 inch by 5 foot roll. I was going to use some washers or double up on the tape to shim the units level. How important is it to get the two blockers even on the front of the car. Do you rely on the Z4's? I wanted the GPS system in the 9500 CI but the laser interceptor seems to have better reviews from what I can tell. Otherwise I was considering the BEL STI-R and the laser interceptor but again I wanted the GPS marking feature...


Neil

[MEM-TEK]

Thanks for the advice! The emblem isn't metal it is plastic. Its a little below it too so I have some concerns because I would prefer as much protection as possible. I will take some pictures tomorrow. I decide to do this install myself despite my better judgment. The dealership didn't think it would take 10 hours but at $74 an hour it was going to add up. Plus I want to buy and install the laser interceptor when it is available again and couldn't let the 9500CI sit in the trunk waiting to get the dealer to install both!

I bought double back tape from home depot. It is Scotch indoor outdoe mounting tape. It is rated for 5 lbs. 411/DC specifically. It comes in 1 inch by 5 foot roll. I was going to use some washers or double up on the tape to shim the units level. How important is it to get the two blockers even on the front of the car. Do you rely on the Z4's? I wanted the GPS system in the 9500 CI but the laser interceptor seems to have better reviews from what I can tell. Otherwise I was considering the BEL STI-R and the laser interceptor but again I wanted the GPS marking feature...

Neil

Hi Neil,

As long as there is no metallic film atop the emblem, and as long as the emblem itself plus the mounting surface behind it are simply plastic, then the 9500ci antenna should suffer little impact if any regarding its performance.

As far as the front shifters go, it would be better to mount the brackets with double-stick tape (VHB tape preferred, although it sounds like the tape you bought should work just fine) since it is far easier to get the heads level if they are mounted with the metal brackets. It is important to get the front shifters level, and ideally you want the shifters pointed straight ahead too. You can hold up a yardstick in front of the two areas where you want to mount the shifters and then use a sharpie marker to mark alignment lines parallel to the yard stick. Thats what I did, and my shifters point straight ahead to within 1 degree.

I totally rely on my 9500ci's ZR4 shifters. They work pretty well on your average car as long as the car isn't covered with chrome on the front and doesn't feature huge flat vertically oriented surfaces. One cool thing is that the ZR4 shifters are incredibly sensitive to laser. The LI, with its laser diodes, does provide the best jamming performance. Some people here have added the LI to their 9500ci setup and have then set the 9500ci's shifters to receive only mode so that they can detect extremely distant laser alerts even before their LI setup alerts. And of course you gotta love the 9500ci for its superb radar detection capabilities combined with its GPS to lock out false alerts.

I am still working on my 9500ci review. Here is my incomplete installation page that I am still working on. Maybe it will give you some installation tips:

9500ci Installation

[heffneil]

Your install page looks good. I got really lucky with the install in the GTR. I was only going to do stuff on the inside of the car and then I realized I could do more without drilling holes. The rear license plate isn't on the trunk so its stationary. There is a gap in to the trunk where the license place light goes in to the body. I put the cable in through there and snaked it in to the trunk and took apart the inside of the trunk to get it next to the rear seat and then down the drivers side sill. There was an apron piece (I really need to take some pics) that is just below the steering wheel. I ended up taking that off and mounting everything (brain and speaker there). This made it super easy for me since I am a bigger dude and contorting my body to get under the dash is no easy task. I mount the GPS receiver on the rear deck and right now its just pressure placed there (no tape or anything). I don't know if it works because I haven't had the car out of the garage yet but hopefully tomorrow I should be able to take it out and see how everything works. Pic and more tomorrow! Good night!

Neil

[djrams80]

Just for some reference, I first placed my 9500ci radar antenna here. X and K band detection was great, 35.5Ka band detection was poor and 34.7Ka detection was decent.



I then remounted the radar antenna down low next to my license plate where it worked fantastic until it got chewed by a squirrel.



I then remounted the replacement radar antenna here, where it works amazingly well on all radar bands ever since.

[oztwix]

Is there a way to purchase the 9500CI w/o the laser diffusers? (eg, radar + gps only)?

[heffneil]

You can buy the bel STI-Driver which is a pretty good radar detector without laser diffusion but it doesn't have GPS.

So wait you put the new radar in the same location as the old one and it worked better? Isn't that odd and a bit scary? Was anything different? How much does that one part cost? There was no way to splice the wires huh?

Neil

[TSi+WRX]

heffneil -

Don't make the judgment of which jammer you need, based on pure-numbers reviews. Yes, that does matter, but to me, it should be a secondary concern.

Instead base your jammer need according to its performance versus, SPECIFICALLY, the type of enforcement you see in your area - both the hardware used as well as the typical engagement/encounter scenario.

The former is self-explanatory: even if a jammer that performed "less well, overall" on a set of tests, it can still be very well suited when used as selective protection against one specific type of LIDAR hardware. The prime example of this is the old ZR3, which erickonphoenix still employs, to devastating effect (paired with VEIL), against his local enforcers, who favor the use, near-exclusively, of the PL-III.

Know your enemy, know what kind of hardware you're facing.

The latter - the engagement scenario - would include both what kind of traps you see (forward only? or both front and rear-engagements?) as well as at what distances the enforcers tend to initiate shots. If you live in an area where the enforcers only hits the front of the vehicle, and they like to start "painting" you at quarter-mile out, you very well could use just about any of the better jammers on-market today. However, if they like to engage at shorter distances and/or like to engage from the rear, your jammer choices become much more limited.

Additionally, all of these factors change "weight," based on your willingness to use passive countermeasures.

Yes, the ZR4's overall performance could be improved upon, but mounted properly (and yes, having it level-to-roadway and properly aimed is critical - see MEM-TEK's write-up about this in the ZR4 sub-Forum, as well as witness results of the second CFL testing, both before and after leveling) and versus certain subsets of police LIDAR, particularly given favorable engagement circumstances, its real-world performance - especially if you were willing to add VEIL to the mix - could very well be all that you'd need to be "saved." Add to this mix the unique ability of the Escort system to truly and definitively alert you to forward versus rear engagement, it is a tactical advantage that, to-date, no other jammer has yet matched.

But make no mistake - if your area's engagement profile is unfavorable, it's time to step-up to something that offers more comprehensive coverage.



----


oztwix -

Looks like you got yourself mixed up in something?

I've been online since there was an online - and one common courtesy is to always read through the community's rules and regulations sections before posting.

That aside, like I've said in my first reply post to you, as well as what the others have said, "rear detection" for anything but the V1 (and here, we're speaking of the V1 solely in terms of its as-intended usage, in-vehicle stand-alone mounting; not shoved into a weatherproof box and stashed under-hood), relies on the RADAR signal "bouncing" back to the detector's forward-facing antenna.

I've been a Bel/Escort user for over a decade and a half (typically spending more than 4 years with each detector prior to upgrading) and indeed, as with you, I've come to understand the way in which my detectors would report such "rear approach" signals, and yes, they're very reliable, as such.

With the ci, its amazing raw sensitivity simply adds to the detector's ability to pick up on stray reflections, and that itself helps optimize "rear detection."

Still, the caveat remains - if your area of travel is devoid of items which facilitates such signal "bounce," you'll be at an disadvantage, when it comes to the rear approach.

[djrams80]

Is there a way to purchase the 9500CI w/o the laser diffusers? (eg, radar + gps only)?

No. The 9500ci is not available without the ZR4 laser shifters. The Bel STi-R uses the same radar antenna, but this unit's incredible sensitivity maked the almost constant false alerts unbearable for most. The 9500ci's GPS based false alert lockout system is a definite must with a RD this sensitive.

You can buy the bel STI-Driver which is a pretty good radar detector without laser diffusion but it doesn't have GPS.

The 9500ix is basically the mobile version of the 9500ci, but lacks the ZR4 laser shifters. None of the top three windshield mounted RDs(V1, 9500ix, STi) compare to the 9500ci as far as sensitivity goes however.

So wait you put the new radar in the same location as the old one and it worked better? Isn't that odd and a bit scary? Was anything different?

Yes, but now the radar antenna was now about three inches forward of its original location, but more importantly, no longer behind my plastic grill. My point is, that putting the radar antenna behind anything could possibly inhibit RD performance. There is no way to know unless you test your setup both ways.

How much does that one part cost? There was no way to splice the wires huh?

Neil

Amazingly, Escort covered this under warranty.

http://www.radardetector.net/forums/...-who-knew.html