Valentine 1 Install

My Valentine 1 has saved my driving privileges on many occasions so it was a top priority to get it fitted into the Outback. So the question is where? I decided to mount it up by the mirror and try and get a power feed from the mirror or center console. I decided to ditch the remote unit at this time 1. I removed the center console by removing the map light cover, the cover has 2 tabs at the back and 2 clips at the front remove from the front first, to reveal 2 screws. Open the sunglass holder to reveal 2 others. 2. To remove the console there are 2 tabs at the rear of the console and 2 clips at the front. Push the front clips in and the console will drop. 3. There is a connector that feeds the mirror/compass. If you have the mirror/compass there are 3 wires coming out of the connector blue,black and green. Blue is +12v and Black is ground. I spliced the valentine 1 power into the blue and black cable. If not you will have to splice behind the connector or find a connector that fits. 4. The valentine 1 power connector fits to the left of the console. There is enough space to mount it with velcro the the inside of the roof of the Outback. Route the cable behind the black plastic headliner supports. 5. Screwed everything back together. Works like a charm I hope this is of some use to anyone wanting to power a detector.

I was looking at putting mine up by the mirror as well. However, I'm a little concerned that the tint and the black textured coating might decrease sensitivity. Did you mount your Valentine 1 with suction cups to the window or some other method? My suction cups are old and won't hold, so I'm ordering some new ones. In the meantime I tried the visor clip through the headliner and also zip ties through the headliner to the overhead console, but wasn't happy with either solution. I'm hoping new suction cups will stick to the black textured window covering over the rear view mirror? Anyone else have some unique mounting solutions for their V1? I also haven't found a good place for the concealed display (i.e. not visible if/when I get pulled over). I'm thinking of trying to mount it inside the speedometer/tachometer housing as it is tinted and therefore might hide it better from the outside. In my old car I had it velcroed to the top of the dash lip over the speedometer and it was hidden and effortless to check speedometers and warning lights all at once.

I used the suction cups and mounted it just below the tint. The newer suction cups that Valentine sells are really good. I have had no problems with them.

Hi all, Just introduced myself in the "member introduction" section. Got an '05 Legacy sedan a few days ago myself. Need to get my Valentine 1 installed pretty quick! Here's what I was thinking of doing: Mount the V1 near the mirror somewhere. (I had it above the mirror in my other car. The black dimples on this windsheild are going to make that more difficult! Run the wire down to the fuse block area. Hook up to the fuse block somehow. Run the remote display over to the ashtray. Somehow mount the display unit in the ashtray insert. The display unit is just a little too big to fit in the ashtray itself. I plan on getting another ashtray insert to modify and cut on. If all goes well, I'll be able to close the ashtray door to conceal the display. (I'll need to come up with a way to switch the functions back to the main unit I suppose. Maybe a switch activated by the ashtray door.) Anyway, that's my thoughts. I'll post pictures if/when I get it going! :P

Thanks for the write up! When I get my car I'll make sure to do this. Also, limeydriver can you post pictures by any chance? This helps reduce error for people that are visual learners. :P

Hi All, Something new to add! I played around last night with using the suction cups on the windshield above the mirror. I found that a layer of clear packaging tape provided enough of a smooth surface over the black dimpled area to get the suction cups to stick well. I'm considering going to a window tinting shop and having them put a clear bra section over the entire dimpled area on the inside of the windshield. (I have problems doing this kind of thing myself. I would spend hours getting it "just right"!) Another option is to find some 3.2mm to 3.5mm circular stickers that I could apply in the suction cup spots. Then I'd always know exactly where the suction cups are supposed to go. ;) ANyone have any further ideas?, Other materials?, etc.

Resurrecting the thread to add some new info: I finally got around to wiring my Valentine 1 correctly. I have had very good luck with the unit suction cupped above my rear view mirror with a layer of tape on the black dimples! I previously ran the wire from there down the driver's A-pillar and to the newly installed hardwire power supply velcro'd (but it's a 3M product instead of velcro) to a spot next to the fuse block. Wires are run from there for power and ground. I "mounted" the remote display in the ashtray area with a 1/2" piece of wood to give it support in the back and black Ozite carpet to fill in the gap surrounding the remote display. I ended up drilling the smallest hole I could in the bottom of the ashtray holder for the cable to go through. (A person could use Plastic Weld epoxy to fill the hole if need be.) I removed the light bulb from the ashtray socket since it would only serve to heat up the Ozite carpet at this point. The remote display cable goes back to the power adapter next to the fuse box. I'm done for now with this project. I was intending to hook up a switch that would switch between the remote or main display depending on the ashtray door position (Open or closed) but there isn't a lot of material to mount a switch to behind the ashtray. My biggest reason for using the remote display is to keep police officers from noticing my Valentine 1. Now that I can close the ashtray door to hide the display from Police (and theives), I'd hate to have the main display lighting up the moment I start my car back up because I forgot to open the ashtray first. (Now that I've typed that, I realize that both displays light up when powered up anyway. So it's a moot point. :( ) I may go back and hook up a switch for the fun of it later. For now I can simply reach in the fuse area and unplug the remote wire if I want the main display to work instead. Hope this helps someone!

Is the Valentine that good compared to others....I have the Solo 2.???

[quote name='BoxerGT2.5']Is the Valentine that good compared to others....I have the Solo 2.???[/quote] It's better than yours. :oops: Cordless = teh suck.

[quote name='Drift Monkey'][quote name='BoxerGT2.5']Is the Valentine that good compared to others....I have the Solo 2.???[/quote] It's better than yours. :oops: Cordless = teh suck.[/quote] Thanks for not sugar coating it..... :lol:

[quote name='BoxerGT2.5'][quote name='Drift Monkey'][quote name='BoxerGT2.5']Is the Valentine that good compared to others....I have the Solo 2.???[/quote] It's better than yours. :oops: Cordless = teh suck.[/quote] Thanks for not sugar coating it..... :lol:[/quote] But um....yours is just as good...yeah! :lol:

LOL....I'm just looking for better range...thats all.

[quote name='BoxerGT2.5']LOL....I'm just looking for better range...thats all.[/quote] Might I suggest an Escort 8500 (x50)? I'm actually partial to that one over the V1 as, I find the arrows to not to be worth the extra $100. If the thing beeps, I slow down, it doesn't really matter which way they're coming from. The Escort is much louder, which is ever important for when I'm listening to music up loud.... That being said I don't even use my 8500...never got around to finding it and putting in the Legacy. Meh.

[quote name='Drift Monkey'][quote name='BoxerGT2.5']LOL....I'm just looking for better range...thats all.[/quote] Might I suggest an Escort 8500 (x50)? I'm actually partial to that one over the V1 as, I find the arrows to not to be worth the extra $100. If the thing beeps, I slow down, it doesn't really matter which way they're coming from. The Escort is much louder, which is ever important for when I'm listening to music up loud.... That being said I don't even use my 8500...never got around to finding it and putting in the Legacy. Meh.[/quote] Yeah...I'm between the 8500 and the V1.....oh the decisions

Lots of good information here. Any pics of the install? A generic detector question, but in your experience, how much does window tinting (film) affect performance? Ken

Actually, the new Passport 8500 X50 has slightly beaten the V1 in forward detection in a recent test. I toyed with the idea of getting one until I realized that rear detection with anything (in a single unit) other than a V1 was really poor. (I was thinking that the 8500 must also have a rear antenna by now. NOPE.) It's not $100 extra for arrows, it's $100 extra for a compatible, integrated rear facing radar/laser detector. You usually can't buy two detectors and mount one in front and one in back without problems. I'm now a slave to the arrows. I feel naked without them. I really enjoy knowing where the signal is coming from! I've been a fan of the V1 since the first day I bought it! Just last night I used the arrows to my advantage again. Slowing down for every signal is a good idea, but not always necessary if you know where the signal is coming from. I couldn't drive with my V1 at full volume. I can't imagine the 8500 being even louder than that! I can work on getting some pics of the finished install. (I really need to get a decent digital camera. I usually use a video camera and get screen captures from that for stuff like this.) Maybe I can do a little write-up if anyone is interested. From what I know about window tints, the metallic films interfered quite a bit with radar. Now they say that metallic tints aren't the way to go anymore so new tints don't appear to interfere from what I've gathered. Laser range still might be reduced with some tints. I've read that it depends on what the tint does to the laser signal. If the tint filters out at the frequency that laser uses, it's a problem. Rumors are that the tint band on many newer cars (including the Legacy) has little or no effect.

Although I don't have a Legacy yet, I'm still interested in your install. Please post some pictures! :) Thanks in advance.

[quote name='Trent Bates'] I can work on getting some pics of the finished install. (I really need to get a decent digital camera. I usually use a video camera and get screen captures from that for stuff like this.) Maybe I can do a little write-up if anyone is interested.[/quote] Yes please.

Okay, I've got a few pictures taken with my Daughter's $20 digital camera that came out alright.

 

Would someone who has posted pictures on this forum give me a quick idea of what I need to do. (I've posted pictures before on other forums running other software, but my brain just isn't working yet this morning and I'm not sure of the rules on this forum.)

Thanks!

 

[Edit] :o Nevermind! That's easy! Here's some pictures of the remote. (In reverse order because I added them backwards apparently.)

Nice job. I've been debating a V1 for a while now. That is exactly how I would want to mount one. I think the door operated switch would definately make that perfect. Those pictures certainly look like they came from a $20 camera. :) Thank you.

how did you run the wires? I want to put my escort remote module in the same spot.

Jim1969,

I had to drill a small hole in the ashtray carrier/holder thing. With the console panel out, I was able to just push the wire down to where the carpet meets the center console area. I grabbed it there and took up most of the slack then pushed it back up to where I could reach it near the pedals. Once I had that, I pulled the slack up until I got the wire entirely behind the center panel. I had taken the panel off under the steering wheel prior to this so I fished the wire through there to the fuse area.

 

The fuse area is where the power supply is located.

 

I ran the wire for detector itself in the seam between the headliner and the windshield. I took off the A-pillar cover to run the wire down to the power supply because I wanted to make sure I wasn't interfering with the airbag. (If you were to push the wire into the seam between the A-pillar and the windshield, it will be well out of the way of the airbag.)

 

The detector plugs into one port of the power supply and the remote plugs into the other.

 

 

Helfrick,

Those pictures are actually compressed about 80%. The originals only look half as bad!

A door operated switch would be pretty neat. I tested the wiring and found that disconnecting the wire on position #4 of the RJ-11 plug was enough to revert back to the main unit.

 

For those that are confused:

That would generally be either the green or red wire in a standard telephone cable depending on which end you look at. (Telephone cables are always "crossover" cables.) If you counted all the possible pins of an RJ-11 plug, there would be six spots. Counting from #1 on the left to #4 would leave you at the red or green wire.

 

 

Here's the outside view with the side panel off and the inside view as seen from the fuse access hole. The unit is 3M "velcro'd" to the plastic support. You'll notice that one cable has more slack than the other. That cable is the remote side and I left it loose so that I could unplug it if I wanted to use the main display.

 

I also left some slack on the red fused wire (but you can't see it here) so that I could change the fuse for the V1 without too much trouble.

OH...very nice....Mine will be here on tuesday...:)

Could you post a pic of where you mounted the main unit? I just want to get an idea of how it fits up there.

I might as well post these pictures as well. I'm not happy with them and I planned on taking others but these will probably do.

 

My mirror looks crooked, but it really isn't. It's lined up perfectly with the back window top edge as viewed from the driver's seat. (Which makes it a tiny bit crooked with relation to the edge above it, but not as bad as it looks here.)

 

It's hard to tell in these shots, but the "front radar horn" and "laser aperture" window of the detector is right under the dotted pattern of the windshield. If you look really close you can also see the packaging tape I used on the dotted pattern to make it smoother for the suction cups.

 

It's very hard to see the detector in this position from outside of the car. The tint band hides it unless you bend down enough to see it's silhouette in the light from the back window. From the rear, the same is true. A car driving behind would see it the same way. The dotted pattern helps to camoflage it a bit.

 

The detector's view out the front is unobscured with the exception of the bottom of the tint band. It's rear view is very good because the car's rear window is "higher". The detector lines up roughly at the top 1/3 of the rear window. The detector was mounted with the aid of a level because I am hopelessly anal. :o

 

 

I had a thought about the remote. It might look very nice if I were to use a little faux leather with some foam inside (folded over to provide a rounded edge, but puffy to fill the gaps) in place of the Ozite carpet that surrounds the remote unit now. The Ozite works fine but this might look better.

 

What is Ozite you ask? It's automotive carpet that has no backing. It's nearly acoustically transparent and because of this it's often used for covering speakers. It's just a loosely woven carpet material. It stretches nicely.