External speaker

[oldguy]

I want to mount an external speaker with my 8500 X50 on a motorcycle. I'm unhappy with the Vizualert and want to go the audio route. I see Escort has one, but I couldn't tell from the website if it includes a power cord? Also, can I plug it into the audio outlet on my detector?
Thanks.
Jack.

[Andrew21]

I want to mount an external speaker with my 8500 X50 on a motorcycle. I'm unhappy with the Vizualert and want to go the audio route. I see Escort has one, but I couldn't tell from the website if it includes a power cord? Also, can I plug it into the audio outlet on my detector?
Thanks.
Jack.

Yes, you can plug it into you external audio outlet but you will have to hardwire the power to the speaker.

[statusquo]

For a motorcycle, I'd go with something along the lines of an Autocom unit (basically, it's an audio mixer) and feed the radar unit's output into it's radar jack. Any of the other jacks could be used for a music player, intercom, GMRS 2-way radio (bike-to-bike), satellite radio, GPS, cell phone, or whatever.

The radar's audio will over-ride immediately and mute all the other audio inputs as it has first priority if you plug it into the right jack. It's nice to hear "Ka Band" via your helmet's speaker or in-ear phones (in-ears preferably, if you value your hearing).

One hint, use a ground-loop isolator between the powered units like the detector, radio, or whatever and the Autocom to alleviate any poor audio, muted audio, staticy audio, etc.

sq-

[oldguy]

Please don't dogpile me for my lack of electrical smarts, but since the detector is hard wired to 12v on the bike, do I still need to seperately hardwire the speaker, or can I just plug it into the audio outlet on the detector and get rid of the 12 v wires on the speaker?

[EscortRadar]

Our external speaker includes the power wires which have to be connected to a 12VDC power source for it to work. The speaker has a built-in amplifier requiring 12VDC.

It's quite loud considering it's small size.

[Ralphie]

RD on a bike is a challenge as all options to alert the rider the detector is going off have their limitations. Visual alert requires the visual alert to be in your line of sight at all times, speaker requires another item to hard wire and find a place to mount the speaker and headphones require you to have a cord running into your helmet.

I have tried all options and prefer the headphones because I like to limit the ugly stuff mounted on the bike. The simplest option is using the earbud that connects to the detector because it does not require any power and is easy to use. I've used both the earbuds you can get from Escort and also use through a complete communication system like the Autocom/Starcom/Behr systems.

If you are sold on the speaker go for it, but a cheap and easy first step which may be your final step is the earbud.

Good luck!