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Hey 5SPD07GT, ha ha yeah I'm a certified electronics technologist (officially, but you can call me techno-geek). I design electronic products and write embedded software for a living, so this is all second nature to me.
As for the dash mod, you could hide the LED anywhere, I mean, I just choose the instrument cluster as the location for my car. If you didn't modify the radar detector, you could end up with similar functionality, but you would lose some control. Also, if you want to use the cruise interface, you'll definately be hacking into a wire or two.
Radar detectors do need line of sight, however the Beltronics STi only detects radar from the front. It will detect radar from behind in the form of reflections off of other items ahead of you. Radar isn't affected by the plastic bumper, so the unit could be 100% hidden.
As for the laser support on the STi, it does have line of sight in front of the vehicle as I've mounted it low enough that it "peaks out". The unit also has a rear sensor, but I've rendered it useless in my setup. I dunno, I figure 90% of the time they laser from the front. And probably 75% of the time, the detector isn't going to give you enough warning. In the future I might raise the STi out of view completely and install a decent laser detector/jammer setup.
I tried VERY hard to find a way to mount the detector behind either the upper or lower grill in the front bumper, but it's just a tiny bit too tight back there. Plus the detector would be up against the rad. Maybe the GT bumpers have more room. I think a perfect setup would be to hide it in a hood scoop. It would have a nice open view of the road.
I love the boost gauge idea, very clever. I could look into it, I mean a gauge inevitably just measures voltage. I could see connecting a driver circuit of some sort to the LED output of the detector to make the gauge sweep when it flashes or something.
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ya the gauge would be the ultimate form of stealth! what i was thinking of having a shop do for me (i wont even try it myself lol) is dissecting and intergrating the radar into the dome map light casing. i don't know if the dots on the windshield would cause inteference to the radar though.
That's where I had the detector while I was working on the stealth install. Sort of hanging upside from the overhead console, with the rubber bumpers at the back of the detector resting on the rear view mirror. It did seem to detect radar ok, but everytime I hit a bump, the weight of the detector would cause the rear view mirrow to tilt down a little.
I looked into hiding the detector up inside that plastic housing, but there's a thick folded metal beam going acrossed there. You can check it out yourself, just pull straight down and it'll unsnap from the roof.
__________________ I need one of these!
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I checked out the links provided: http://www.radardetector.net/forums/...scort-nsx.html http://www.radardetector.net/forums/...e-display.html
Believe it or not, I actually tried this first. My original vision had the display hidden in the instrument cluster, or in one of those navigation mirrors with the display behind the glass. I ran into the same problem as the author of this article mentions. The display cannot be more than 16" away from the unit. After that, you start having operational issues. I got greedy, wanted about 8' of cable so I could remote the detector under the bumper...
Beltronics makes a remote version of the STi however. It comes complete with a weather prrof enclosure and remote display and buttons: http://www.beltronics.com/sti-r.html
However, retailing at over 1G, I took the approach I did. Also I'm really picky about my interior. I don't like switches and LEDs added all over, so I went to the effort I did to make the install invisible. However, if I had the above kit from Beltronics, I'd probably have used it... =)
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I need one of these!
