Horn mods to "cheap" detectors

[cardosor]

Yesterday I returned a Whistler 1788 back to Radio Shack for a refund. The detector worked well and all, but the low volume, large size and heft left a little to be desired.

I decided to make due with my Bel E795. I also decided to experiment a little by opening it up and enlarging the horn with some aluminum foil and tape. The horn to me looked very narrow and seemed to be set kind of far back inside the case as well as having a small-ish open end. So I extended it right out until the window. From the outside it looks bone stock.

I'm driving it around to see if it has any effect positive or negative and will post back if I notice anything, although being the middle of the month encounters with LEOs in my area are minimal.

Anyone here have any ideas of what horn mods will do to the range and overall performance? I'm not a EE and have no clue as to IEEE/electrical/radio stuff... Surely horn mods must have some effect on performance.

It'd be a very interesting thing if relatively cheap RD's could be enhanced with inexpensive horn mods or extensions.

Anyone have any thoughts, ideas, advice?

[jimbonzzz]

Well, the guys from Holland did it with a Quintezz, for better warning against weak photo radar here.

Generally, a physically larger horn will give you more gain. But, it's a double-edged sword, because it will also make the antenna more directional, meaning that it woukd receive fewer reflections from objects that are off-axis, which might end up hurting performance for over-the-hill or around-the-curve threats.

Be careful: without some methodical approach, you could very easily end up hurting performance instead of helping. Simply extending the existing horn with aluminum foil might change the antenna "plot" for the worse.

Jim

[cardosor]

Any links to online info I can read up on?

It sounds like a worthy endeavor... It'd be funny is a $50 cheapie could be tweaked up to perform as good as top of the line detector, wouldn't it?

A poor man's X50???

[nvr2fast]

No just that, you could improve EXISTING top-of-the-line detectors and make them better as well.

[cardosor]

Well, here's the thing... Opening up an "expensive" unit would void warranty etc. but a cheap "throw-away" is no biggie... A V1 is plenty good enough already. Any better and you're detecting coppers in the next county and that's no benefit. BUT for a $30 El-Cheapo special from some big box store, a cheap mod would only help.

As far as the Quintezz that was modified, I don't read Dutch, anyone here know what they did (in english)? LOL!

Jimbonzzz, what approach would you consider "methodical" to test out horn mods? Have any of the tech heads here experimented? Any suggestions for me???

The mod to my Bel E795 added maybe 0.25" of horn length, and followed the line of the existing horn's shape. The foil is still contained within the case (unlike the Quintezz effort).