bi-color LED display

[Lucky225]

So, I seemed to have misplaced my voltage meter, can anyone do me a favor who has an SRX/SR7 or RX75. Get an RJ-11 phone cord, strip one end and strip the 2 middle wires (usually red and green) and tell me what the voltage output level is for the concealed display? I found a bi-color LED at radioshack for less than 2 bucks, but it's only rated at about 2.3Volts, so if it's higher I'll need to know so I can buy the right resistor as well. I'm not gonna pay $80 for a $2 LED

[bostonrob]

So, I seemed to have misplaced my voltage meter, can anyone do me a favor who has an SRX/SR7 or RX75. Get an RJ-11 phone cord, strip one end and strip the 2 middle wires (usually red and green) and tell me what the voltage output level is for the concealed display? I found a bi-color LED at radioshack for less than 2 bucks, but it's only rated at about 2.3Volts, so if it's higher I'll need to know so I can buy the right resistor as well. I'm not gonna pay $80 for a $2 LED

That's a good one i lost my VOLTMETER !!!!!

[Lucky225]

No, I really did loose it though

Anyhow, I went to radioshack and bought the only bi-color led, it says it's rated for 2.8vdc, but it works. So for anyone who cares, here's how to build the "PowerPack" for your remote detector for a lot less than you'll find in retail, about $22 or less.

Items to get at radioshack:

Bicolor 2.8v LED catalog# 276-012 $1.49
Male-to-Male 1/8" Audio Cable catalog#42-2420 $3.99
Mini Audio Amplifier catalog# 277-1008 $12.99
9V battery catalog# 23-824 $3.27
RJ-11 phone cable -- I donno how much this is, i found a cheap phone and used the cable off it, it was free

take the RJ-11 cord and cut the plug off on one end and strip it. You should see 2 or 4 wires. If you see 4 wires, ignore the outer wires(yellow and black) and strip the inside(red and green, should be easy to remember since that's the colors the LED makes) wires. Solder the wires to the led and plug into the 'Concealed display' port on your remote radar detector. It will either be solid red or solid green, depending on which way you soldered the wires, you can test the color before soldering by just touching the copper wire to the led poles with the cable plugged in and radar detector turned on. Me personally, I have green on for 'go' and red for radar/laser detection 'stop', but green is a lot brighter, so maybe you'd like to do it the other way around so you can easily recognize the bright green light when the radar goes off, it's up to you. Route wire to wherever you drilled a hole for your concealed led, glue led to hole, voila.

The amplified speaker is easy set up, unscrew the back, plug a 9v battery in, screw the back back in. Plug male-to-male cable into input on the amplified speaker, and plug the other end in to the external speaker jack.


I hope you guys can appreciate this, it saved me a ton of money.


NOTE: TESTED ON SRX ONLY, SHOULD WORK ON SR7 / BELTRONICS RX75 IN THEORY.

EDIT: JUST TESTED THIS AND THE DIODE DIDN'T CHANGE COLORS AT ALL, I'M ASSUMING THEY MUST BE USING A 3-PRONG common shared annode/cathode LED, I'll test it later, I need radar/laser source or something to do it on the fly

[Lucky225]

Okay, so I found out what's up with the RJ-11 for the bi-color LED

RED= GROUND
GREEN = CONSTANT (+)
BLACK = NEGATIVE when no radar/laser present (Negative removed when detection is present)
YELLOW = NEGATIVE pulsed when radar/laser present (this is to make the LED blink when there is detection, removed when detection is lost)

So, I'm trying to find a solution to use it with the bi-color LED they sell at radioshack, in the mean time, instead of buying a bi-color LED from ratshack, you can buy a bi-color LED shared anode. Hook up the Green wire to the shared anode, and the yellow and black wire on either side of the led to get desired color for desired state.

[Lucky225]

Well aparently common ANODE bicolor led's are less common than common cathode led's. I guess this is how Belscort gets away with charging so much for the power pack. However, the distributer is selling it for very cheap (15 cents), but they want $6.50shipping + $5 handling on orders under $25.

I found a pack of 10 and a pack of 50 on ebay for pretty cheap, but I'd have to pay international shipping, anyone interested in buying an RJ-11 modified cord w/ LED for your srx/rx75? Not trying to violate forum rules, this isn't a used product, it hasn't even been made by me yet :roll: but i just need to recoup shipping costs, and figure I could help some forum members out at the same time

[Lucky225]

WOAH!! nevermind
check this website out:

www.marktechopto.com

part # MT6224-AHRG

they let you get a free sample of the product if you're a busines!

Says they won't ship if you're not a business, but I wonder how well they check it out, we'll see if my led comes!