Dual Laser head placement advice

[anthem]

Hey guys, looking for some input on placement for a dual-head laser. Front of car is as follows (apologies for the glare and difficult to see picture)



Car is black and currently does not have a front license plate. It is required, but going to go with no license plate until I absolutely have to.

Without a front license plate, I'm pretty sure the aim is going to be front headlights with a possibility of the front grill as well. It appears there are three choices to mount the two heads -

Front grill - advantage is that it is at grill and headlight level. Disadvantage is that it is the most difficult to mount in there as it comes up with the hood and needs to clear the radiator and a few other things in front.

Mesh area underneath the grill - one on each side. A little lower than the front headlights but central. Advantage is that there is a shelf in the middle of the mesh which would make installing any heads there simple without any brackets and a bit less noticeable than in the chrome grill.

Side grills - Pro is that its located beneath the headlights (but not below the center) and not noticeable at all. Disadvantage - perhaps too far wide ? and a bit more tight in space in there for installation.

Any thoughts as to where would be the best locations dual head setup ? Probably going with a LPP OR AL8 configuration as VA uses PL3 and Stalker and those two appear to be well suited for that.

Anyhow, looking for some input on where you guys think would be the best location on the car.
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[ahmadr]

1. front grill
2. side grills
3. mesh area

[TSi+WRX]

If the installation makes it possible (it'll be a trick install, for-sure), the grill (1) does appeal to me due to its more "centralized" location, in terms of it being near "everything of highest concern."

My second choice would be the lower central mesh area - but putting the jammers out towards the headlights as-possible.

Your center-mass is still going to be a concern, plate or no, as this is undeniably the fastest and easiest area to pick up (even discounting the grill).

I'd love to see some true objective testing done with your setup once you're finished. That's a wide vehicle, with rather a lot of hard-to-protect hardpoints ( although you do have the right color going for you ).

Nice ride, BTW. 8)

Hopefully, other, more experienced members will chime-in shortly - I would also trek over to the LaserProPark Support Forums and check-in there. The LPP and AL are two very similar beasts, any mounting advice could easily be applied to both.

I wish you many happy, speedy, safe, and ticket-free miles in your new ride. She's gorgeous.

[anthem]

Thanks for the props on the ride. It's great and trying real hard to stay out of trouble. . .

The front grill does look quite difficult to do, not only from the wiring along the hood, but also that the grill fins just haven't been a good place to mount things, though it does appear to be centrally located. Yes, the mass/size/width do pose a problem, but thats what I'm stuck with for better or for worse. Just now have to find the best method to work with what I have :-).

The bottom grill seems to be the preferred method of choice for most as I think these bottom mesh/grill areas prove easier to mount items like these. The issue is what kind of performance drop off are we likely to see.

And yes, being in the wonderful state of Va means that these aren't exactly condoned (read: legal) so, stealth and making things less obvious are significantly better. The side mesh grills would serve that purpose, but then you'd possibly start moving too far off center. The front grill since it has the fins, you'd have to make sure the unit was pushed all the way forward and at that point possibly very visible. . .

There are obviously pro's/cons to each method, just trying to gauge to what compromises I'd be left with.

Ironically, I already have parking sensors and cruise control lasers on the car, and there is a blurb in the user manual from MB that says you may have to show LEO that this car does emit some signals which may throw certain sensors off. Nice of them to print that and actually say you might have to show LEO's that. . .

[TSi+WRX]

Thanks for the props on the ride. It's great and trying real hard to stay out of trouble. . .

^ "Honest, Officer, I just had to pop my ankle.....I have no idea she was going that fast!"

The bottom grill seems to be the preferred method of choice for most as I think these bottom mesh/grill areas prove easier to mount items like these. The issue is what kind of performance drop off are we likely to see.

Exactly.

Without a front plate for "bait," center-mass becomes an obvious choice, as does the headlights.

Unfortunately, without some good qantitative testing, it's just "anyone's guess" as to how much of a trade-off there might be in protection - if any.

...so, stealth and making things less obvious are significantly better. The side mesh grills would serve that purpose, but then you'd possibly start moving too far off center. The front grill since it has the fins, you'd have to make sure the unit was pushed all the way forward and at that point possibly very visible. . .

There are obviously pro's/cons to each method, just trying to gauge to what compromises I'd be left with.

Such compromises would keep me up at night, too, bruddah.

Ironically, I already have parking sensors and cruise control lasers on the car, and there is a blurb in the user manual from MB that says you may have to show LEO that this car does emit some signals which may throw certain sensors off. Nice of them to print that and actually say you might have to show LEO's that. . .

Very interesting info. on what MB cited..... Thanks!

Speaking of the cruise control stuff:

http://www.radardetector.net/viewtop...light=infiniti

http://www.radardetector.net/viewtop...=249271#249271

Would this cause some headaches with your vehicle, or not?

Just thought I'd throw you a heads-up.

[ELVATO]

Here's my recommendation:
(Sorry if the blocks don't line up, I couldn't really make out the grille from the picture.)



My reasons:

1. Easy to install
2. Most LEOs will aim for center mass, regardless if you ahve a plate or not.
3. It will still cover all the front of the car, unless you are targeted from an extremely close distance. Even then, there is a pretty good chance that you will jam.
4. If you were to have to put your plate in, you wouldn't have to redo your install.

Hope this helps.

[twentyseventy]

Yeah, the lower mesh grill's probably your best bet. Your main grill is slanted, which makes putting the heads in completely level a huge b1tch, if not totally impossible. Plus, you gotta keep the chrome clean 8)

Also probably a good idea to keep it a little more low key in good ol VA. Good luck and have fun.

[ELVATO]

Ah yes, you bring a good point. Down under, it will be a bit less conspicuous.

[anthem]

Yes, the grill is slanted (downward obviously). Haven't gotten the actual unit in yet - but if it had to go there, it would have to have enough play between the fins to keep it level to make it work. obviously also more difficult to mount.

If I put it in the lower grill, on the diode based units - do you know where it emits from that you can position it shooting through one of the grill holes. or do you have no choice but to cut notches out of the grill to install them for proper operation ? Because of the necessity of keeping them stealth, trying to keep from cutting them in and exposing them more. . . thanks

[TSi+WRX]

If I put it in the lower grill, on the diode based units - do you know where it emits from that you can position it shooting through one of the grill holes. or do you have no choice but to cut notches out of the grill to install them for proper operation ? Because of the necessity of keeping them stealth, trying to keep from cutting them in and exposing them more. . . thanks

You can see the diode through the use of either hunting/military night-vision devices or, alternatively, in a darkened room with even just the use of common digital cameras (including phone-cams) or non "nightvision" equipped digital videocameras.

However, this method of mounting is typically not recommended. It's uncertain exactly how much performance you'd be trading off, but when it comes to laser protection, I think that the current line of thought is "you can never have too much" (and I agree with this).

Try this trick.

Look off into the distance, say, across your office or study - 15 to 20 ft. or so should be plenty enough range. Focus on an object, both eyes. Now close one eye, your choice.

Take note of your range of peripheral vision with that single eye. Again, find some "landmarks." Don't really look at them, though.

Now, cup one of your hands, as if to make a kiddie-pretend "monocular." Raise it to your open eye.

Cuts down on your peripheral vision a lot, doesn't it?

That's the same kind of thing that can be expected from your jammer head, mounted behind the "mesh."

The problem, of course, is that no-one exactly knows how much this will affect performance on a quantative basis - qualitatively, though, many will report that yes, it has given the user of such setups issues in terms of either detection or jamming, or both.

I'd only do a behind-the-mesh mounting if I could arrange for some quantative testing to be done on the setup after it's "mocked" in such a manner. This way, it gives you a true representation of whether or not such a setup would be an acceptable aesthetic/stealth versus performance compromise.

Otherwise, I'd hate to say it, but I'd definitely make cuts to allow the heads a proper view of the road.