First want to take a moment to thank the many folks here that have helped with detector installs, particularly CHG-ON who sent me a couple *excellent* private messages with the specifics of precisely what he ordered to do his Valentine install.
I chose the Redline because of its detection range, and also because it does redlight and traffic cameras which, unfortunately, have been a bit of a problem for me
Also, I didn't want a lot of wires all over the place, so I needed a detector with a well-designed Bluetooth connection to my phone. There are many threads here on the board that will tell you how to install a detector, there were just a couple things that I wanted to add because I couldn't explicitly find them.
Electrical Details:
I chose to connect my detector to the Power Steering 5A fuse, because it comes on and goes off with the car when you're ready to drive. It is the middle 5A fuse in the driver's-side fuse box. I purchased a mini-fuse splitter, got another 5A fuse and all was good. Note that the top doesn't fit so well anymore, but I chose not to cut it to make room - rather, I just pushed it down to snug and let the vanity panel keep it in place.
Second was the ground. Using a VOM one can clearly see that virtually every metal piece in the fuse area is grounded, as woulc be expected. I chose to ground to a non-structural bolt that holds down the Frunk assembly. Here are photos of both the fuse and ground (just before I finished tightening and cleaning the groun):
Note also how I stretched the power cable from the Escort smart block. This is how Escort does bluetooth. I purchased a normal 12v extender, plugged the smart connected into it and cut off the 12v male end to make the electrical connections Some threads have show the power connector down over the drivers wheel well, under the Frunk, but this has also gotten a bad rap for getting wet. So pulled (somewhat) tight and under the fuse block panel seemed to me to be a drier solution.
Finally, I chose to wrap the escort in a freezer baggie, like a christmas present with the "fold" underneath the device. Then using "Extremely Strong" double sided tape (thanks Home Depot) I secured the escort the right of the solenoid that opens the frunk and under the wiring for the nose cone sensor. Here's that:
I set the volume to mute on the box itself and range to Auto, thinking that would be all I got, but the app is excellent, giving me full control/telemetry from the box. So I also purchase a magnetic window holder for my iPhone 4+ which is snuggled all the way to the left, in the middle of the windshield.
Took it out for a test and it was detecting traffic cams at several hundred yards before the interesection. Excellent! Found a by-the-road "van unit" traffic camera, and it only detected it at probably 50 yards - I know those cameras use incredibly low power to avoid (me, heh) but this seemed REALLY close. Don't know if I was getting warned before I would've gotten hit. but it was at least good to know that it saw the radar, which is considerably better than my older Escort and a baloney Cobra detector.
Once more, thanks all for the assistance.
I chose the Redline because of its detection range, and also because it does redlight and traffic cameras which, unfortunately, have been a bit of a problem for me
Also, I didn't want a lot of wires all over the place, so I needed a detector with a well-designed Bluetooth connection to my phone. There are many threads here on the board that will tell you how to install a detector, there were just a couple things that I wanted to add because I couldn't explicitly find them.Electrical Details:
I chose to connect my detector to the Power Steering 5A fuse, because it comes on and goes off with the car when you're ready to drive. It is the middle 5A fuse in the driver's-side fuse box. I purchased a mini-fuse splitter, got another 5A fuse and all was good. Note that the top doesn't fit so well anymore, but I chose not to cut it to make room - rather, I just pushed it down to snug and let the vanity panel keep it in place.
Second was the ground. Using a VOM one can clearly see that virtually every metal piece in the fuse area is grounded, as woulc be expected. I chose to ground to a non-structural bolt that holds down the Frunk assembly. Here are photos of both the fuse and ground (just before I finished tightening and cleaning the groun):
Note also how I stretched the power cable from the Escort smart block. This is how Escort does bluetooth. I purchased a normal 12v extender, plugged the smart connected into it and cut off the 12v male end to make the electrical connections Some threads have show the power connector down over the drivers wheel well, under the Frunk, but this has also gotten a bad rap for getting wet. So pulled (somewhat) tight and under the fuse block panel seemed to me to be a drier solution.
Finally, I chose to wrap the escort in a freezer baggie, like a christmas present with the "fold" underneath the device. Then using "Extremely Strong" double sided tape (thanks Home Depot) I secured the escort the right of the solenoid that opens the frunk and under the wiring for the nose cone sensor. Here's that:
I set the volume to mute on the box itself and range to Auto, thinking that would be all I got, but the app is excellent, giving me full control/telemetry from the box. So I also purchase a magnetic window holder for my iPhone 4+ which is snuggled all the way to the left, in the middle of the windshield.
Took it out for a test and it was detecting traffic cams at several hundred yards before the interesection. Excellent! Found a by-the-road "van unit" traffic camera, and it only detected it at probably 50 yards - I know those cameras use incredibly low power to avoid (me, heh) but this seemed REALLY close. Don't know if I was getting warned before I would've gotten hit. but it was at least good to know that it saw the radar, which is considerably better than my older Escort and a baloney Cobra detector.
Once more, thanks all for the assistance.
