Let's Face It: Highway Radar is the future and it's time to step away from obnoxious 1980s radar detectors

[Bloovy One]

@RadarNodar, Here's a post I made recently that seems related and might be of interest.

Purchase V1G2 or Redline 360c?

So you'll sacrifice Ka I/O performance for speed camera detection? That's an interesting thought. Not me! I want a highway detector. I need the I/O.

www.rdforum.org

 

[RadarNodar]

The new V1G2 in dark mode is about as non-descript as you are currently going to get. No name on the top or sides, one button on the front, app based alerts since 2012. Don't hide it behind a mirror though because the rear horn needs to be able to view the back window.
You can't see my V1's from outside the car. It's not hard to achieve that effect. I've been running my V1's in dark mode with a Concealed Display for 20 years, and running an app for 5+ years.

Also, nothing against Ferius at all, but you should look at JBV1 too. Ferius and Johnboy00 have collaborated on their respective products and what you are asking is more in line with the JBV1 variant of the two.

Thanks! Seems the V1G2 is what comes closest to what I want. I just don't want to see it and more importantly, god forbid I'm stopped, I would not want an officer to see it. That's why I would have preferred to have it behind the rear view mirror.

Would you please mind sharing a photo of how you concealed your V1G2?

All I'm saying is that I wish Valentine and other manufacturers would consider offering nondescript "black box" radar detectors that are more easily concealable and interface with the driver exclusively via an app like JBV1 and Highway Radar with no lights or sounds emanating from the device.

 

[Bloovy One]

Okay, had to find my pics. It's surprising how few I have of the detector itself. I have tons of stuff showing JBV1 in action though.
Like you, I am all about stealth. I never take my V1's out of the car so I want it hidden from prying eyes.

Note that JBV1 can take over for all of the visual and audible alerts. There's still the boot up lights on the V1s but after that, it's totally dark all the time. (I was considering a cover for my Gen1. The Gen2 is so non-descript that I don't need to cover it.)

Also, the user @hammerdown had his V1 shrouded in some material as I recall. That's something I've never needed to do, but there's tons of pics on the internet of entirely hidden V1s.

All of these pics were taken with the flash active on cloudy days. (Otherwise it's just dark from the side or rear)

First pic is a day or two after getting my current car. It's directly above and to the left of the rear-view mirror. This is before I installed the tint band which obscured it much more.
(I have a bunch of these pics, but this is the only one where you can almost see it.)

This one is in my previous long-term rental Dodge Charger to the right of the overhead light assembly. Great place for it! (Also behind a tint band.) The angle of the pic doesn't show it, but it was completely obscured from the front by the tint.

This is the typical view of JBV1 on my dash. Waze running through Android Auto above.

A couple more with both of my V1s powered up behind the tint band. (and lit up for display purposes) I didn't run these together, but I had it set up so that I could turn them on individually for testing from the center-console. I've since removed the Gen1 entirely.

 

[RadarNodar]

Okay, had to find my pics. It's surprising how few I have of the detector itself. I have tons of stuff showing JBV1 in action though.
Like you, I am all about stealth. I never take my V1's out of the car so I want it hidden from prying eyes.

Note that JBV1 can take over for all of the visual and audible alerts. There's still the boot up lights on the V1s but after that, it's totally dark all the time. (I was considering a cover for my Gen1. The Gen2 is so non-descript that I don't need to cover it.)

Also, the user @hammerdown had his V1 shrouded in some material as I recall. That's something I've never needed to do, but there's tons of pics on the internet of entirely hidden V1s.

All of these pics were taken with the flash active on cloudy days. (Otherwise it's just dark from the side or rear)

First pic is a day or two after getting my current car. It's directly above and to the left of the rear-view mirror. This is before I installed the tint band which obscured it much more.
(I have a bunch of these pics, but this is the only one where you can almost see it.)
View attachment 159660

This one is in my previous long-term rental Dodge Charger to the right of the overhead light assembly. Great place for it! (Also behind a tint band.) The angle of the pic doesn't show it, but it was completely obscured from the front by the tint.
View attachment 159661

This is the typical view of JBV1 on my dash. Waze running through Android Auto above.
View attachment 159662

A couple more with both of my V1s powered up behind the tint band. (and lit up for display purposes) I didn't run these together, but I had it set up so that I could turn them on individually for testing from the center-console. I've since removed the Gen1 entirely.
View attachment 159663
View attachment 159664

Awesome!

This is really helpful. Thanks for sharing the photos. Seems like this is the best option for me, until someone builds a radar detector with absolutely no interface on the deice so it looks like a nondescript dashcam, garage door opener, or EZ Pass type transponder so it's totally stealth.

Here I come out of nowhere whining about not wanting to see a Christmas light display or see or hear the radar detector other than through an app and so many people have been so helpful.

What a great forum and community! Thank you everyone for your advice and assistance!

I really feel the future of radar detectors is for the radar alerts to come through an app that combines all the other threats and displays everything you need to know in one place. It's awesome how close I can come to my wish with the V1G2 combined with what JBV1 offers.

My dream device at this point to mount up front behind the rear view mirror is a device that combines a Thinkware U1000 and a V1G2 all in one package so if anyone asks, it's a dashcam and everything gets mounted in one nondescript package.

 

[NVR2FST]

What if the input from the RD went to a navigation type of app like VVaze or HR? VVaze does not show your vehicle exactly where your GPS says that it is. VVaze uses that data to correlate with a map of your area and infers that you are driving down the middle of the nearest road, street or highway. That's why VVaze doesn't show you changing lanes or pulling off on the shoulder to make a phone call. It is also why if your GPS is accurate to 15 feet it doesn't show you drifting left and right as you travel straight down the road.

Now let's say that HR could correlate the signal strength and the direction of a radar signal with the road you are on.

Your RD tells HR: "Radar ahead - Signal strength 2 out of 8 bars."

HR deduces that since you are traveling north bound on I-75 that the radar signal PROBABLY originates a rather long distance ahead of you on I-75. This function might be set to automatically be disabled while driving through Atlanta or other urban areas where radar on nearby surface streets is a common occurrence, but it would be useful on the open highway for sure.

HR would then display a red/orange highlight along I-75 starting with your vehicle and projecting several miles ahead of you, with the color intensity going from pale, where you can receive a weak signal (2 bars) to a more intense hue as you drive towards the presumed source of radar signal.

If the signal remained fluctuating between 1 and 2 bars for any significant distance the highlighting overlaid on I-75 northbound would shift to a more continuous shade of pink, indicating that you are not really getting any closer to the radar source. Maybe it's a Georgia State Police vehicle with forward facing constant-on Ka band traveling half a mile ahead of you at about the same speed as yourself.

If the signal which your RD was receiving suddenly began to ramp up the more distant highlighted areas of I-75 would turn a progressively more intense shade of red, indicating that you are getting progressively closer to the radar source and potentially into danger. The stronger the signal the closer the bright red highlighting along your route would get to your vehicle. In other words you could graphically see yourself on a map driving into potential danger. Of course it would work in reverse, too, as a radar signal became progressively weaker the shade of red/orange would become paler.

Instead of relying on the frequency or intensity of the beeps and the number of bars on the visual display, you could actually watch yourself in real time approach or distance yourself from a radar source. I don't know if this would be a practical approach in urban or dense suburban areas or not, but on rural Interstates or other roads running through less densely populated areas I think it could work.

Well, that's just my 2 cent's worth, anyways.

 

[RadarNodar]

What if the input from the RD went to a navigation type of app like VVaze or HR? VVaze does not show your vehicle exactly where your GPS says that it is. VVaze uses that data to correlate with a map of your area and infers that you are driving down the middle of the nearest road, street or highway. That's why VVaze doesn't show you changing lanes or pulling off on the shoulder to make a phone call. It is also why if your GPS is accurate to 15 feet it doesn't show you drifting left and right as you travel straight down the road.

Now let's say that HR could correlate the signal strength and the direction of a radar signal with the road you are on.

Your RD tells HR: "Radar ahead - Signal strength 2 out of 8 bars."

HR deduces that since you are traveling north bound on I-75 that the radar signal PROBABLY originates a rather long distance ahead of you on I-75. This function might be set to automatically be disabled while driving through Atlanta or other urban areas where radar on nearby surface streets is a common occurrence, but it would be useful on the open highway for sure.

HR would then display a red/orange highlight along I-75 starting with your vehicle and projecting several miles ahead of you, with the color intensity going from pale, where you can receive a weak signal (2 bars) to a more intense hue as you drive towards the presumed source of radar signal.

If the signal remained fluctuating between 1 and 2 bars for any significant distance the highlighting overlaid on I-75 northbound would shift to a more continuous shade of pink, indicating that you are not really getting any closer to the radar source. Maybe it's a Georgia State Police vehicle with forward facing constant-on Ka band traveling half a mile ahead of you at about the same speed as yourself.

If the signal which your RD was receiving suddenly began to ramp up the more distant highlighted areas of I-75 would turn a progressively more intense shade of red, indicating that you are getting progressively closer to the radar source and potentially into danger. The stronger the signal the closer the bright red highlighting along your route would get to your vehicle. In other words you could graphically see yourself on a map driving into potential danger. Of course it would work in reverse, too, as a radar signal became progressively weaker the shade of red/orange would become paler.

Instead of relying on the frequency or intensity of the beeps and the number of bars on the visual display, you could actually watch yourself in real time approach or distance yourself from a radar source. I don't know if this would be a practical approach in urban or dense suburban areas or not, but on rural Interstates or other roads running through less densely populated areas I think it could work.

Well, that's just my 2 cent's worth, anyways.

Yup, this is EXACTLY what I had in mind. My girlfriend hates the beeps with changing frequency and intensity, especially if we are chatting in the car and she has a point.

So rather than crazy alert tones, you can just glance at the heat map that will show the road ahead in a certain color as long as the radar detector is sending detection signals to HR via Bluetooth. Basically HR can then be programmed to alert "Radar detected" alert so you know something is ahead followed by an "All clear" alert so you know whatever it was detecting is no longer detected.

Basically the real test is if you can continue a conversation with a passenger or continue listening to music without the radar detector alerts completely taking over the attention of everyone in the car. An app like HR with a rich visual interface and map with customizable alert tones is perfect for communicating what the radar detector detects.

All I really want to know is "Hey I'm picking up radar signals" so I can be extra careful about my speed followed by "Okay, all clear." As you suggest, by changing the heatmap of the road ahead to a certain color when radar is detected, you have awesome situational awareness as you will also see on the map if police has been reported ahead along with all the other information HR provides.

 

[dcmackintosh]

Seriously, can you not imagine how awesome it would be to have radar detector alerts right on the Highway Radar App that shows everything else and not have to reach out to mute the blinking Christmas lights display?

I can imagine, that’s what we enjoy with V1 and JBV1, including CSA and heat maps. I personally think you should whine less and enjoy the amazing convenience and capability of this system, with regular updates easily available. Have you tried it yet?

 

[bluehemi]

My v1 can make pig noises.