I want to wire my radar detector into the truck wiring so I don't have to use the power point and have a cord over the dash and radio. I would like to splice into a key-on power line, so I don't have to turn them off when I turn the truck off. I was just curious if anyone knew of and could describe a good wire to use? I was thinking the radio power line would be good, but I don't know how easy it would be to get to it from under the dash.

Also, how do those connectors from radio shack work for splicing? I noticed the wiring for my cap uses them. They are light blue, attach to the end of the wire I'm adding, and seem to pierce the insulation themselves. Looks to be a very good way to do this, and if I ever remove it, wouldn't leave a large, uninsulated area of wire.

 

Those 3M splice in connectors work ok. Trick is to get the right size for the wire you are splicing into, both wire diameter and insulation diameter. The tend to work better, reliably, on larger gage wire. I've found that putting some bulb grease into the connector before I splice it onto a wire, helps the connection last longer. Less corrosion, less moisture problems, mostly for exterior use.

 

You can go to Kmart and they have a add a circuit. It goes in your fuse box. I have one on mine. My radar detector is above my rear view mirror in the tinted portion of the windshield. The wire then runs under the headliner along the door jamb to the fuse box. No wires to be seen, plus you can't see the radar detector from the outside. That way when a cop is coming at you he doesn't see the detector or your cord hanging downm.

 

Brian, sounds exactly like my setup...best of all it is hard to notice while looking in the truck (unlike where it was on my Camaro and I always tore it off when I got stopped). That location works very well I might add. I ran a #14 wire to the fuse box, fused it, and used a dock-on with quick slide on a fuse that went with the key. On the other end of the wire, I just soldered on a female cig. socket ( I could not find any plugs handy that were small enough to use and make up a new power cord)

 

Ok so if I run the positive wire to the fuse box, and put a fuse in, is the other side of the fuse already pre-wired to the battery or whatever? That seems even simpler than splicing into another wire. Do I need to do anything different if I'm running two devices on this wire (detector and jammer) It works fine right now off the one cigarette lighter chord, as the jammer has a jumper to wire a detector to it. Also, what size fuse should I use? The one in the cig. cord says 250V 2A. As for location, I read in the directions to the detector that it should be mounted as low as possible, without being behind the wipers. Did you notice any performance differences with it mounted up high? I've already noticed that since moving to the truck from the Mustang that I basically have no rear detection now(probably due to the cap) so I guess mounting near the ceiling wont affect that much. My only concern is laser. It doesn't scatter much, and they usually aim for the grill. On a truck the ceiling may be out of the scatter zone from the grill.

Also, what is a "dock-on with quick slide on a fuse that went with the key" I dont' know much about electronics. I'm guessing this would make the detector powerwire a key-on source, but what is the dock-on with quick slide?

 

Stang,

Not real sure about running 2 devices from one wire. You could just get 2 of those add a circuits and run 2 wires. I know it seems like alot, but not sure which size fuse you would need. As far as my mounting location of my detector, I have had no problems at all. I have 360 deg protection. My detector picks up X, K, Ka, and laser. My laser has only gone off once. I guess here in Texas the cops use the other bands than laser. Plus with having tinted windows it keeps would be thiefs from seeing it and breaking in. I thought that when they aim the radar at you they needed a flat surface like the grill to get a reading?????? I have a brush guard on the front of my truck with lights on it. Guess that could kind of throw the radar off.

 

I went to Wal-Mart yesterday and couldn't find the add a circuit kit. It is in automotive, right? Ill check K-mart at lunch.

As for the radar stuff:
With radar, they just need an object to bounce the signal back. Someone once told me that SN95 Mustangs were very difficult to read radar on because they don't have any flat surfaces. However, many Mustang owners have proven this wrong time and time again. You only need to bounce the signal back in the general direction, nothing too accurate. It also will only read the largest object. So if you are tagged going 80, but are next to a semi going 60, the gun will read 60 because the signal from the truck is much stronger. With laser, they need a flat, reflective surface, like a liscens plate or headlight. I've been nailed by laser a couple times, and my friends have been while using my detector as well. One time I was on a road trip and had a CB and knew he was there so I slowed down in time. The other time I didn't hear it on the CB in time and he hit me when I was goin about 90. But the jammer took care of him and I got it down to 70 before I passed him. He kept trying to get me, but it just wouldn't work, hmm wonder why???

Also, just FYI, there is no such thing as true 360 degree protection. They all advertise it, but it doesn't work. Even the Valentine doesn't do a full 360, but they will at least admit it. Police must be within something like 15 degrees of dead center to get an accurate reading, and any half way decent detector is capable of detecting radar at more than that angle, so you are covered for the full spectrum you need to be, but not a whole 360 degrees. Radar works by timing a series of signals and their reflection off of a moving object. If the object is moving side to side, the gun will get a reading of 0, as the object isn't moving towards or away from the radar source, so each signal will have the same elapsed time from the gun to the object, indicating no movement. Laser works in the same way, but is much more precise. They must hold the gun to their face and aim it at a specific vehicle. It also doesn't scatter, so you only detect it when you are being hit and its too late. It also does not work well when it is cloudy, raining, etc, as the atmosphere will scatter the laser beam, and it may not provide a reading at all. I believe it is also much MUCH more accurate, but last I checked, the courts have not accepted it as a legitimate speed mesauring device, and if you are ticketed and fight it, they would have to "fly in" experts to argue the validity of laser. That was a few years ago though, it may have changed by now.

I think thats about all I know on radar/laser, hope this helps some.