Hide RD under seat cover

Guys, I mean under seat cover, not uder seat.

I have one-peice cloth seat covers on my front seats, and there is some space available under the cover (on the side and above shoulder) due to the style of my seat cover. I don't think any one can easily tell if there is something hiding there without look at it closely. I am thinking of hide my RD there so no one can see it. The mounting position should be no lower than the dash. The cloth seat cover shouldn't block any signal, right?

I was thinking about a number of ways other posts have suggested for stealth mount. But as I can tell they all have some disadvantages.

Mount it high enough – Although less likely to be spot by a thief, but I can tell that a policeman in his car behind you can easily see that RD from behind.

Mount it behind rearview mirror – Yes it’s unlikely to be found. But not all RD can be mounted this way. You also loose the ability to adjust your mirror. Your RD is fully under sunlight during hot days, and that might damage your RD.

Mount in a visor bag. Yes it’s hard to see it. But first it looks really ugly, and second thing is that you cannot pull your visor to the side because the wire problem.

I am still searching for a better way to do this, so just give me your thoughts on my newest idea.

No it shouldn't block any radar but it will remove any laser alerts. Also it might be a little far away from the windsheild so this might lessen sensitivity.

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Originally Posted by carter840

No it shouldn't block any radar but it will remove any laser alerts.

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Agreed.

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Originally Posted by carter840

Also it might be a little far away from the windsheild so this might lessen sensitivity.

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I disagree, it might lessen the response time by <1ms. The windshield itself doesn't server as a better receptor for radar - its merely a required piece in a car and a great place to put the RD.

as long as the unit is straight & level, you should be ok.

The waveguide needs to be aimed at the most likely source of the radar siganl for optimum performance.

if you are in a banned area, your gonna need an STI. Put it high, and be ready to pull it if you get lit-up.

I will see if I can do any thing about laser.

I live in CA, so RD is ok. But, still, stealth is far more important than the laser detection. Here are my facts:

For laser:

1. There aren't nearly as many laser trap out there as radar.
2. Any RD cannot give advanced warmings to an untreated car.
3. Even you treaded your car, the best you can have is 5-7sec. And more likely, you have less than that time.
4. Police can start to laser you within 500ft, so you don't have any advanced warming even if you have the best RD and treated your car.

For stealth:
1. You all know the threat from thief.
2. You all have to place and remove RD every time you drive.
3. What if you forgot to place it? You could get a ticket on that day.
4. What if you forgot to remove it? You could have your window slammed just on that day.
5. This is the most important point. If you drive 5-15 over the limit, you have at least 33% chance to have a warming instead of ticket (I got 2 warnings for 77/78 on 65). Now if the police know you have a RD, you pretty much give away that second chance to avoid a ticket.

Really, any one who is seriously about avoiding ticket should hide their RD very well. Only those who bought the RD just for showing off can leave it on windshield, but they will pay for the extra price for that.

Well look at it this way the farther it is away from the windsheild the less veiw it has. It is the same when you stand near a window and when you stand farther away from it. If you do so you will notice that the closer you are the more you can see this is also true for a RD.

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Originally Posted by carter840

Well look at it this way the farther it is away from the windsheild the less veiw it has. It is the same when you stand near a window and when you stand farther away from it. If you do so you will notice that the closer you are the more you can see this is also true for a RD.

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You forgot one thing that's very important. RD get signal all arround the car, not only the front side. So you really have to compare the 360 degree veiw instead. Now days, highway police often approach their target from behind.

BTW, radar is also different from laser that requires direct sight.

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Originally Posted by h711

Mount it high enough – Although less likely to be spot by a thief, but I can tell that a policeman in his car behind you can easily see that RD from behind.

Mount in a visor bag. Yes it’s hard to see it. But first it looks really ugly, and second thing is that you cannot pull your visor to the side because the wire problem.

I am still searching for a better way to do this, so just give me your thoughts on my newest idea.

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My case: the Saturday of the last Labor Day weekend I was heading to NYC, I decided to cross the border thru Rainbow Bridge (big mistake, over an hour of waiting and no Nexus card for me as Whirlpool Bridge is Nexus only and nobody was using it at that time)... while driving in NF, still in Ontario, at a traffic stop I look in my r/v mirror and see a local NF crusier, white and red... my (at that time) S2, now I have an STI (hardwired and kept in the very same location I did with the S2), was up the visor inside a visor organizor, turned off for safety reasons (and no way to speed in that moment, super crowded beautiful NF)... the cop was right off my bumper, the light turns green, we start driving and, very soon, he makes a right turn on a side street and... the rest is just history... I HAVE TINTED WINDOWS (SIDE AND REAR), that makes a HUGE difference in my advantage... now with the STI it's way better, S2 is got a lighter color but the STI is totally black, visor organizor (NOT a visor with a freaking ugly bag) is black as well, black windows (side and rear), you cannot see nothing from outside, sideways or rear unless you know (from me only) what I got in my car... oh, one more thing, I'm using a visor clip, black as well, so my STI is fully secured against any sudden stops... and about the hardwiring, done by the experts at a Circuit City in the States (US$50 plus local taxes), they found a little space into the roofline where I have about 6-7 inches out to the RD (the rest is inside the moulding and up to the fuse box), but those 6-7 inches of black wire are all behind the black visor, not even 1/1000 of an inch can be seen from outside... ok, bottom line, common sense is a great virtue whe ndealing with, sometimes, tricky situations... best of luck :wink:

Tinted window, black organizor, black visor, and professionally wired. That's a nice setup. Unless the cop point a flashlight to your organizor, and ask, "what's in there?" (not likely to happen). You are safe.

BTW, I have a question. I know this is mostly not going to happen, but what if you got pulled over, and the cop asks, "Do you have a RD in your car?" What's the best way to answer him?

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Originally Posted by h711

Tinted window, black organizor, black visor, and professionally wired. That's a nice setup. Unless the cop point a flashlight to your organizor, and ask, "what's in there?" (not likely to happen). You are safe.

BTW, I have a question. I know this is mostly not going to happen, but what if you got pulled over, and the cop asks, "Do you have a RD in your car?" What's the best way to answer him?

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Flash light? :lol: not unless you're car got stolen and they finally found it... or your licence plate triggers a "9/11" red light alert, for instance the licence plate does not match the vehicle the plate is on...
Do not ever forget, the vehicle you're in is always a private property and, unless they KNOW what you got inside, drugs, illegal guns (or illegal aliens :lol: ) or RD, they have NO right to stop you and search your car... Canada and US are NOT totalitarian states!!!

Where I live they don't need your answer to the "Do you have a RD in your car?", they just ask you to step out of the car and then it's up to them to find it... but with this STI not being detectable by the current RDDs, only by seeing it from outside is the only way they can pull you over and search your car...

Yea, I know. In my case, since RD is legal here, it's even better.

What I meant was when you got pulled over for speeding ( we know RD cannot protect you 100% of time), then they have a chance to flash light your car (during the night), and see what's inside. :D

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Originally Posted by h711

What I meant was when you got pulled over for speeding ( we know RD cannot protect you 100% of time), then they have a chance to flash light your car (during the night), and see what's inside. :D

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I have never been pulled over during the night time, so I cannot comment on this issue... but yes, they can use the flash light especially on some country roads with no lights around...

PS Oh no, Arizona, winter '01-'02, around Phoenix, on a country road, no RD at that time, got a speeding ticket, and it was around midnight, maybe the guy had a flash light, I cannot recall that moment but regardless, no problem driving with an RD in plain view of everybody...

The point was never the flash light ...

...A experienced officer knows RD and the possible locations people usually hide it very well. After you got pulled over for speeding, without searching your car, the officer can just look into your car and quickly identify it. If you have your RD in a visor organizor, it not hard for them to see it or touch it at that point of time. Officers don't usually search your car unless they have a strong reason, but most time they do look into your car, and pay attention to what's inside. Now if RD is illegal in your area, you know what that means.

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Originally Posted by h711

The point was never the flash light ...

...A experienced officer knows RD and the possible locations people usually hide it very well. After you got pulled over for speeding, without searching your car, the officer can just look into your car and quickly identify it. If you have your RD in a visor organizor, it not hard for them to see it or touch it at that point of time. Officers don't usually search your car unless they have a strong reason, but most time they do look into your car, and pay attention to what's inside. Now if RD is illegal in your area, you know what that means.

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In theory, you're right... but... in real life... depends...
My very last speeding ticket was in July '05, still waiting to go to court for this one as I adjourned the initial court date... I got it couple of days after I started using my S2 (not enough to have an RD, you MUST know how to operate it smartly as well), my S2 was by the visor but I think did not pick-up the laser or whatever at that time (doesn't matter, long time and since then I've learned a lot about the smart way of using an RD)... got pulled over, my S2 was still on when the cop (OPP) gave me the ticket, I could have asked the cop to show me the gun with my speed, very politely of course, but my big freaking concern was not to lose the RD, and at that time I had another car, no tinted windows, and a very sunny day, so, I got the ticket BUT the S2 still with me including the moment I write down this little post, now replaced with the STI... as I said hundreds of times in this forum, it's a MIRACLE to see somebody with an RD in my area and cops know that very well, that's why they don't make it a habbit the "special way" you mentioned before... guns are as well illegal so they pretty much go straight for the "drivers licence, registration and proof of insurance, please", give you the freaking ticket, return the IDs to you and... end of story... maybe in other places, jurisdictions is different but where I live is pretty much like this...