New STI Driver arrived today :)

[ticketfreetobe]

This is my first post here so be gentle, lol

I just got transferred to Washington Dulles in VA and will be commuting from my home in DE. I will be on the road alot so I decided to get a radar detector to try and ease up on the travel time a bit.

I did some research and found out that radar detectors are illegal in the VA/DC area which led to my purchase of the Bel STI Driver (since its not detectable to their rdd's).

I have a couple of questions about it's use though.
In the manual it says not to mount it behind the tint strip, will that effect its range or actual performance in the real world? Or should I just place it below the strip? I am also concerned about the Anti detector laws in VA I have noticed many threads about people hiding their radar detectors, with the STI Driver I dont have to worry about being detected but what about if the leo actually see's the STI, can they pull you over for just having one? I also have a GPS mounted to the right of my rvm so it will have the wire hanging down anyway.

Thanks in advance, Ron

oh btw if there are any tips for this detector to make it work better I would appreciate it.

[V1 on the go]

Welcome to the forum, great choice you made there. As I have heard sti is a really good performer. I think you should mount it as high as it could go up on your windsheild and try to see if you could see if from outside. If it isnt metallic tint, then I wouldnt worry about it losing range on radar. However laser might be an issue, but even then if your sti does aleart to laser, your probally screwed anyways.

And yes if the see the detector, then they could pull you over and give you a ticket, and also I heard they take away your detector as well. So I would try to mount it high as possible and make it so it is not visible from the outside.

[MEM-TEK]

Try the following in DE for obvious reasons:

Mount your STi just below the bottom of the tint strip and park in a parking lot far enough away from a door opener such that your STi is alerting at a very weak signal strength, say 1 or 2. Its preferable to do this test later at night when there isn't a lot of vehicle or pedestrian traffic in front of the distant door opener. Now, seeing how strongly your STi is alerting to the distant door opener, move it up such that it is behind the tint strip and then see if your STi is still alerting with the same signal strength. If so, then your car's tint strip is not metallic and you are good to go!

Here is a link which shows how I mounted my STi above my RVM:

Mounting a RD above your RVM

And yet another link which shows how I custom dimmed my STi's display and buttons:

How to make your STi's display a lot dimmer...

[riverwabbit703]

This is my first post here so be gentle, lol

I just got transferred to Washington Dulles in VA and will be commuting from my home in DE. I will be on the road alot so I decided to get a radar detector to try and ease up on the travel time a bit.

I did some research and found out that radar detectors are illegal in the VA/DC area which led to my purchase of the Bel STI Driver (since its not detectable to their rdd's).

I have a couple of questions about it's use though.
In the manual it says not to mount it behind the tint strip, will that effect its range or actual performance in the real world? Or should I just place it below the strip? I am also concerned about the Anti detector laws in VA I have noticed many threads about people hiding their radar detectors, with the STI Driver I dont have to worry about being detected but what about if the leo actually see's the STI, can they pull you over for just having one? I also have a GPS mounted to the right of my rvm so it will have the wire hanging down anyway.

Thanks in advance, Ron

oh btw if there are any tips for this detector to make it work better I would appreciate it.

Hi Ron, Welcome!

Washington Dulles(Northern Virginia) area is highly LIDAR GUN happy area. I highly advise you to equip your car with laser jammers as well. On route 66 and 495 and I95, you will be hit with mostly Ka band by State LEOS so STi will come in very handy for you BUT in the city limits I have not seen one county LEO use radar gun for speed traps in last several years.

As you can see, I am very paranoid and I don't even place STi on dash or windshield during day time. I just don't want to take any chances.

Another member on this forum advised me to turn off POP, SWS and X band since Virginia does not use X band, and leave it on highway mode unless you are actually in the CITY CITY limits for better performance and it has worked out very well so far.

I love my STi and so will you.

You can always try my "ghetto stealth" methods.. LOL!

[hockey005]

congrats! make sure u conceal it well

[riverwabbit703]

And yes if the see the detector, then they could pull you over and give you a ticket, and also I heard they take away your detector as well.

Mostly they cite you a ticket. 40 dollars + 60 dollars court cost. Even though LEO takes it, county has to give it back after the court date. But I rarely hear about Leo's taking away your radar detector.

Here is the Virginia Code for radar detector and read the bold underline. It also does not carry demerit points. It's a good thang.


§ 46.2-1079. Radar detectors; demerit points not to be awarded.

A. It shall be unlawful for any person to operate a motor vehicle on the highways of the Commonwealth when such vehicle is equipped with any device or mechanism, passive or active, to detect or purposefully interfere with or diminish the measurement capabilities of any radar, laser, or other device or mechanism employed by law-enforcement personnel to measure the speed of motor vehicles on the highways of the Commonwealth for law-enforcement purposes. It shall be unlawful to use any such device or mechanism on any such motor vehicle on the highways. It shall be unlawful to sell any such device or mechanism in the Commonwealth. However, provisions of this section shall not apply to any receiver of radio waves utilized for lawful purposes to receive any signal from a frequency lawfully licensed by any state or federal agency.

This section shall not be construed to authorize the forfeiture to the Commonwealth of any such device or mechanism. Any such device or mechanism may be taken by the arresting officer if needed as evidence, and, when no longer needed, shall be returned to the person charged with a violation of this section, or at that person's request, and his expense, mailed to an address specified by him. Any unclaimed devices may be destroyed on court order after six months have elapsed from the final date for filing an appeal.

Except as provided in subsection B of this section, the presence of any such prohibited device or mechanism in or on a motor vehicle on the highways of the Commonwealth shall constitute prima facie evidence of the violation of this section. The Commonwealth need not prove that the device or mechanism in question was in an operative condition or being operated.

B. A person shall not be guilty of a violation of this section when the device or mechanism in question, at the time of the alleged offense, had no power source and was not readily accessible for use by the driver or any passenger in the vehicle.

C. This section shall not apply to motor vehicles owned by the Commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof and used by law-enforcement officers in their official duties, nor to the sale of any such device or mechanism to law-enforcement agencies for use in their official duties.

D. No demerit points shall be awarded by the Commissioner for violations of this section. Any demerit points awarded by the Commissioner prior to July 1, 1992, for any violation of this section shall be rescinded and the driving record of any person awarded demerit points for a violation of this section shall be amended to reflect such rescission.

(1962, c. 125, § 46.1-198.1; 1975, c. 108; 1976, c. 90; 1978, cc. 87, 91; 1981, c. 303; 1989, c. 727; 1992, c. 825; 1998, c. 300.)


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[languy99]

Try the following in DE for obvious reasons:

Mount your STi just below the bottom of the tint strip and park in a parking lot far enough away from a door opener such that your STi is alerting at a very weak signal strength, say 1 or 2. Its preferable to do this test later at night when there isn't a lot of vehicle or pedestrian traffic in front of the distant door opener. Now, seeing how strongly your STi is alerting to the distant door opener, move it up such that it is behind the tint strip and then see if your STi is still alerting with the same signal strength. If so, then your car's tint strip is not metallic and you are good to go!

Here is a link which shows how I mounted my STi above my RVM:

Mounting a RD above your RVM

And yet another link which shows how I custom dimmed my STi's display and buttons:

How to make your STi's display a lot dimmer...

Hey memtek, I actually used your dimming technique on my 955, I used two strips of plastic to make it really dim and it works well.

[MEM-TEK]

Hey memtek, I actually used your dimming technique on my 955, I used two strips of plastic to make it really dim and it works well.

Yeah, its nice when only you can see your radar detector at night.

[ticketfreetobe]

Well just got done my first round trip and I have to say WOW are there alot of cops radaring out there,lol.

On the way to Dulles I encountered at least 7 different speed traps, (caught by none , most all were KA band alerts and none were fakes. The vast majority were just before the bay bridge, right after crossing into VA off of 301/50, and the dulles airport access road (trust me dont even think of speeding on 267 lol)

The STI performed flawlessly, sometimes to well as one hit was over 3 miles away I though it was a false alarm until I saw the car hiding behind the trees. On the way home from VA I was rounding a long curve when it went off (KA Again) so I moved into the middle lane, another car sped past me in the left lane and about 1/2 mile later I saw red and blues lights pulling him over!

Thanks to all of you guys and this forum for helping me make the right choice on my STI purchase.

PS I have seen all the posts/threads about about the ramp up problem. could someone give me a explanation on what exactly it is and what the fix does. The guy I bought this from said he received this shipment in late DEC so it should have it in already.

[category4]

The STi is a great choice for VA. I have found in my travels that DE is fond of their radar too! I'm sure it will pay for itself rather quickly with all those commuting miles.

May I ask what part of DE. My parents live in Rehoboth Beach, so I spent many a summer there when I was growing up.