Newbie Question Plz Help

[Stringer]

Hi,

Please forgive my complete lack of knowledge here. But I was interested in buying some sort of radar detector. I see now that there are different kinds, but I have no idea what to go with (radar/lazer?). Let me start by providing a little bit of backround info.

I have a new toyota tacoma, single cab. I was interested in something wireless. Its been about 10-15 years since I've had a radar detector, and it was great. With the exception of the wires! So I'm only interested in wireless. Honestly, I rarely speed. But the sheer amount of driving I do nets a ticket every once in a long while. Also, the pigs here in OCALA FL camp out in areas with clearly artificially low speed limits (IE; 4 lanes, very little side streets, 35 MPH). So I'll need some protection, but my situation and driving habits (and wallet) do not warrant a huge purchase here. I would like to keep it under say, $125 or so.

Is this possible? Now that you're aware of my situation, what would you recommend? Thanks in advance!

[leo68]

Hi,

Please forgive my complete lack of knowledge here. But I was interested in buying some sort of radar detector. I see now that there are different kinds, but I have no idea what to go with (radar/lazer?). Let me start by providing a little bit of backround info.

I have a new toyota tacoma, single cab. I was interested in something wireless. Its been about 10-15 years since I've had a radar detector, and it was great. With the exception of the wires! So I'm only interested in wireless. Honestly, I rarely speed. But the sheer amount of driving I do nets a ticket every once in a long while. Also, the pigs here in OCALA FL camp out in areas with clearly artificially low speed limits (IE; 4 lanes, very little side streets, 35 MPH). So I'll need some protection, but my situation and driving habits (and wallet) do not warrant a huge purchase here. I would like to keep it under say, $125 or so.

Is this possible? Now that you're aware of my situation, what would you recommend? Thanks in advance!

Welcome to the forum. You're not going to find anything decent at $125 and the only decent cordless I can think of is the Escort SOLO 2 and that's about $340. see link for cordless radar detectors. Cordless radar detectors don't have the range of corded version, even if you can use an optional power cord. cordless - RadarBusters.com

[gadgetdude]

there is nothing under 125, if you could pay a little more and either get the pro 78 or the new xrt 695 from whilster. The wireless part, yea lets forget about that, because wireless detctors arent good at all, it looses its performacne by about 50% from wire detectors. So in this case I would of say eitehr the pro 78 for 169 or the new xtr 695 which is 189.

What kinda of driving do you do, and as for laser you would need a laser jammer, because no detector with the expection of v1 which is out of you price range would if your lucky will give you a warning, but I would count on that.

[Stringer]

Thank for the help.

Should i be forgetting about a wireless unit then? Is that what you're saying?

My old unit from the 90's mounted by suction cup, towards the top of the windshield. The suction cups would always fall off, and the huge coiled wire dangling across the entire windshield was a real pain. Has there been any significant developments with wired units regarding mounting? Maybe they do it different now in a manner that would piss me off less.

[leo68]

Thank for the help.

Should i be forgetting about a wireless unit then? Is that what you're saying?

My old unit from the 90's mounted by suction cup, towards the top of the windshield. The suction cups would always fall off, and the huge coiled wire dangling across the entire windshield was a real pain. Has there been any significant developments with wired units regarding mounting? Maybe they do it different now in a manner that would piss me off less.

Yes, especially when facing Ka radar.

[Zapple]

Ocala huh? I'm from Beverly Hills, FL. Great to see some other Floridians on this board . You should forget about getting something wireless as they would cost more and perform less than that of a wired detector. If you don't want a huge curly cord hanging down from your mount you can take a look at what I did; unless you want to hardwire it in. For something decent that is around your price range I would recommend the Pro-78 by Whistler, make sure you get Rev C though as it's better.

Welcome to the board!

[Super Dave]

I would go for the above mentioned detectors, you can hardwire the cord straight to your fuse box through the headliner and down the side pillar so it's real clean. Search "hardwiring" and you will see plenty of instructions. Most detector websites also sell hardwire cords and kits cheap, although you could probably do it yourself.

Also budget protection for laser would be Veil (about $99?) that cuts range of the laser by about 50-70% they say. Basically it makes the laser gun take longer to acquire your speed, however it still will eventually the closer you get. It's nowhere close to the effectiveness of a jammer, but it can buy you some time. Check out the Veil forum here.

*Edit - also search on laser from the rear -Veil does not really protect you here.

Also it's been said many times here before - spend as much as you can on a detector because obviously the more you pay the better protection you get. 1 ticket can easily be $300 (not counting insurance hikes) so better to get something good right off the bat. Most of us end up upgrading anyway so you might as well start out with the best you can get.

And welcome - any more questions ask away!

[TSi+WRX]

Hardwiring, like the others have said, will solve your concern for "the wires."



^ Where's the wire, for my x50 ?



^ That's the same, but closer detail, on my wife's car. Where's the wire?



^ A little easier to spot this time , but I've got two different accessories up, not only the detector (now a 9500i - whose cord comes from the other side - REF: http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u...deDay9500i.jpg - but if you were to run the wiring directly up and into the headliner, instead of going around to the interior rearview, like I did [to safety-tether] you would not have even that little tell-tale ), but also my Cheetah GPS-Mirror.

So how about switchgear, then......



^ Any exposed wiring on my remote switchgear?



^ Or the wife's?



And no, I'm not a professional installer. I'm just a weekend shade-tree hobbyist greasemonkey wrench.

A little thought to overall setup, and a little effort in hardwiring, and you'll be all set.

[MEM-TEK]

Thank for the help.

Should i be forgetting about a wireless unit then? Is that what you're saying?

My old unit from the 90's mounted by suction cup, towards the top of the windshield. The suction cups would always fall off, and the huge coiled wire dangling across the entire windshield was a real pain. Has there been any significant developments with wired units regarding mounting? Maybe they do it different now in a manner that would piss me off less.

Hi Stringer,

Yeah, I hate suction cups too for the very same reason. And I hate dangling cords!

The dangling cord problem is easy to solve -- install the optional Smartcord which Bel and Escort sell for their radar detectors and mount the tiny control module wherever its most convenient for you to both see and reach since it has a built-in volume/mute button. I took the simple route and merely used double-stick foam tape to mount mine atop my dash and right next to the "A" pillar:



I also neatly solved the suction cup problem. Here is a link to my article about my solution:

Mounting a RD above your RVM

Now, to narrow down your search for what is the best high performance for your needs and budget, please provide the following information:

-- Roughly what percentage of your driving is highway driving versus city driving?

-- Is it mostly just you in the car, or do you frequently have passengers in your car?

-- How annoying are false alerts caused by X or K band microwave automatic door openers to you? In other words, can you tolerate some false alerts or do you want them completely eliminated along your normal driving routes?

-- Hopefully you don't speed excessively since even with the best radar detectors you will get a ticket. So basically, what is your driving style like?

-- Do you use common sense like not excessively speeding, not speeding over hills or around curves, and not speeding when you are pretty much the only car on the road?

Well, thats all I can think of at the moment. There are tons of really good people here who are more than willing to share their thoughts and recommendations once they have answers to the above basic questions.

The only thing I will say is to avoid Cobra radar detectors since their sensitivity to 35.5 Ka radar guns is rather poor. 35.5 Ka guns are not only the second most popular type of Ka radar gun, they are also heavily used in Florida.

[focalcivic]

Since you are on a budget also check out the Bel 940, if you look around carefully you can get a good deal on it closer to $ 150 or so and get a Bel direwire cord (no remote mute) for 10, bucks not the smartcord which is 30 bucks.

I know you said 125, but for the little extra money will save you money in tickets which will more than pay for itself.