****** 9500ix and Blendmount and Invisicord on your Viper? Tell us...

[rw99]

I imagine there's gotta be a few people using the 9500ix radar/laser detector, mounted on (and tapping power from) their mirror. Can any of you recommend a specific mount (e.g. BlendMount) and/or power cord adapter (e.g. Invisicord) by catalog #s?

I'm most interested in Gen IV installations; any tricks, hints, etc?

And confirmation of performance: do you feel that mounting to the mirror affects performance of the detector (plus or minus)? Any personal success and failure stories for your detector?

Lastly: anyone actually using the ****** Live! application? This has such promise, but a little research so far leaves me fairly unimpressed... typical opinions are that it's a hassle to use, and that the Live! database is very sparse.


Thanks in advance for info/pics/links...


Rich

 

[TrackAire]

Hi rw99,

I've got the 9500ix and here are a couple of thoughts I've discovered. Bought the unit for the trip out to VOI 11. Works great, very, very few false alarms etc. But, in our area the CHP are using more and more laser. It seems when they are setting up speed traps (like sitting under an overpass in the shadow) they are aiming the laser at you, not the Ka radar gun. Two lane highways, etc they seem to be using more Ka band as they are either moving or not outside of their car (like they have to be with the laser gun).

The 9500ix is much more sensitive to laser when mounted very low on the windshield. When the CHP is aiming at the car, they are shooting at the front license plate...if they move up just slightly then the "beam" reflects or skips on the hood and hits the detector (at least that's what I think). When mounted up high in the windshield, there is much less chance of this happening in my experience. I've had CHP hitting my car with a laser and the 9500ix not going off when mounted up by the rear view mirror since I was the lone car and the officer had the beam directed to where my license plate should be.

When driving down to the Normadin Car show a couple of weeks ago, I got nailed with laser from a CHP sitting on the side of 680 around Danville. The 9500ix went off and luckly I was not speeding but I would have been busted if I had been. To get as much warning from stray laser shots, I keep the 9500ix as low on the windshield as I can.

If you want real protection, then a laser detector/shifter is the way to go. The laser sensors are near the front and rear license plate area and although I don't have this system, it appears to work well. Escorts new system looks like a little black box that can be mounted up high and out of the way with the actual display mounted on the dash, console, etc. It is pricey and needs to be custom installed but in our area you need to be protected from laser just as much as radar IMO. A feature to look at would be the optional speaker...with aftermarket exhaust, loud stereo, etc it is getting harder to hear the warnings from the detector.

As to your original question, if you're only concerned about radar, then the blendmount (or similar system) is nice since it gets the detector out of your field of vision....but you should really consider the laser threat and a way to protect yourself from it.

The first company that comes up with a radar detector/laser shifter for front and rear that lets you move it quickly from car to car is going to make a mint.

Good luck,
George

 

[tattooed]

I imagine there's gotta be a few people using the 9500ix radar/laser detector, mounted on (and tapping power from) their mirror. Can any of you recommend a specific mount (e.g. BlendMount) and/or power cord adapter (e.g. Invisicord) by catalog #s?

I use the ****** 9500ix + ****** Live DirectWire + Laser Interceptor 4 head unit. I also use a Valentine1 in my Vette.

For mounting, I use the OEM optional visor mount for the 9500ix. I don't like the mirror mounts because:
1) they put the detector out in full view for thieves,
2) the detector reduces Field Of View, which becomes important in performance cars that have limited FOV to start with,
3) the mirror mounts often interfere with initial GPS acquisition, but *supposedly* nothing else.

For power, I use the Invisicord ****** Live kit, which has both the RJ-12 plug w/ mirror tap that runs to the ****** Live unit, and a short RJ-45 that runs from the ****** Live unit to the 9500ix and powers the 9500ix from the ****** Live unit.

http://invisicord.com/osc2/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=24&products_id=51

The Invisicord is imo the best brand on the market. It's well made, reliable, durable, low profile. I've tried the other popular brands, and the cheap crap on ebay. Spend the extra $5-10 for the Invisicord. The 8" version is adequate for most cars, but I got the 12" version so I have a bit of wire to spare. Both of the wires in the kit are equal lengths.

I'm most interested in Gen IV installations; any tricks, hints, etc?

I think the visor mount is best for Gen IV - you can put the detector on the angled inside part of the visor, or put it on the passenger visor. It's out of view of thieves, out of the sun, and is at the higher, more optimal position for radar detection.

And confirmation of performance: do you feel that mounting to the mirror affects performance of the detector (plus or minus)? Any personal success and failure stories for your detector?

Supposedly only initial GPS acquisition for the 9500ix, and no adverse effects for non-GPS detectors.

Lastly: anyone actually using the ****** Live! application? This has such promise, but a little research so far leaves me fairly unimpressed... typical opinions are that it's a hassle to use, and that the Live! database is very sparse.

Yep, I've been using it for a week. Not alot of users. Waze is a better app in many ways because of much better features and much larger user base. I run Waze, Trapster, ****** Live, (and Torque Pro) in my Viper. I've got a Nexus 7 mounted to a Ram Mount, and switch between apps as needed. For internet, I use the FoxiFi app on my Sprint Evo 4G LTE phone, and connect the Nexus 7 to that. Works great! For Torque Pro, I use a ScanTool OBDLink MX low profile, high speed bluetooth OBD adapter.

You won't be able to download the ****** Live Android app to the Nexus 7, because Google thinks it's an incompatible device. It works fine though and looks great on the 7" screen. Let me know if you need help getting the Android apk file, or check my post on the http://escortradarforum.com forum. I'll post newly released apk files as soon as ****** releases them.

Thanks in advance for info/pics/links...

Rich

I'll try to get some fresh pics up this weekend.

 

[tattooed]

Hi rw99,

I've got the 9500ix and here are a couple of thoughts I've discovered. Bought the unit for the trip out to VOI 11. Works great, very, very few false alarms etc. But, in our area the CHP are using more and more laser. It seems when they are setting up speed traps (like sitting under an overpass in the shadow) they are aiming the laser at you, not the Ka radar gun. Two lane highways, etc they seem to be using more Ka band as they are either moving or not outside of their car (like they have to be with the laser gun).

So far, I've gotten more false alarms with my 9500ix than with my V1, but I'll give the ****** the benefit of the doubt and let it use the "AutoLearn: Artificial Intelligence Protection" to filter those out over time (hopefully). I do live in the relatively rural midwest, so YMMV greatly as far as false alerts go.

btw, LIDAR can be and often is used from inside a vehicle. Cop just needs to be stationary and shooting it out the door with the window down.

The 9500ix is much more sensitive to laser when mounted very low on the windshield. When the CHP is aiming at the car, they are shooting at the front license plate...if they move up just slightly then the "beam" reflects or skips on the hood and hits the detector (at least that's what I think). When mounted up high in the windshield, there is much less chance of this happening in my experience. I've had CHP hitting my car with a laser and the 9500ix not going off when mounted up by the rear view mirror since I was the lone car and the officer had the beam directed to where my license plate should be.

The laser detection may be marginally more effective if the 9500ix is mounted low, but then you will adversely effect detection range for all radar bands. The detector needs to be higher for optimal radar detection. Also, you should ideally be using a laser jammer, which will both detect and jam the laser ... making 9500ix laser detection irrelevant. For laser jammers, Laser Interceptor is hands down the best on the market. The ****** "laser shifters" are wholly ineffective junk by comparison.

When driving down to the Normadin Car show a couple of weeks ago, I got nailed with laser from a CHP sitting on the side of 680 around Danville. The 9500ix went off and luckly I was not speeding but I would have been busted if I had been. To get as much warning from stray laser shots, I keep the 9500ix as low on the windshield as I can.

If you want real protection, then a laser detector/shifter is the way to go. The laser sensors are near the front and rear license plate area and although I don't have this system, it appears to work well. Escorts new system looks like a little black box that can be mounted up high and out of the way with the actual display mounted on the dash, console, etc. It is pricey and needs to be custom installed but in our area you need to be protected from laser just as much as radar IMO. A feature to look at would be the optional speaker...with aftermarket exhaust, loud stereo, etc it is getting harder to hear the warnings from the detector.

All of the ****** laser jammer/shifter products are junk. The 9500ix and 9500ci, and all other ****** systems, use the ZR4 (or older ZR3) shifters ... and their performance blows. Laser Interceptor all the way! It's worth every penny. http://www.laser-interceptorusa.com/

As to your original question, if you're only concerned about radar, then the blendmount (or similar system) is nice since it gets the detector out of your field of vision....but you should really consider the laser threat and a way to protect yourself from it.

Lots of people love the Blendmount, and it seems to be the best design and quality. You're absolutely right about the laser threat .... laser jammer is a must have. Almost all of the speed traps in the KC area are laser.

The first company that comes up with a radar detector/laser shifter for front and rear that lets you move it quickly from car to car is going to make a mint.

Good luck,
George

Cheetah made one years ago for both the Laser Interceptor and the Blinder, but it's a flawed concept. Due to the requirement for laser jammer heads to be very carefully and perfectly aimed, they need to be permanently mounted and cannot realistically be moved from car to car. You can move the radar detectors around, but you really need a laser jammer unit permanently installed in each car.

 

[FrgMstr]

That BlendMount unit is not pretty, but bottom line is that damn 9500ix NEVER moves any more. Never comes detached, and never ends up at my feet, which is generally a very scary situation considering what is usually going on with the car when you get enough G's to knock it loose from those cheesy suction cups.

 

[tattooed]

****** Live update ....

I use the Android version, and have not used the Apple version. I hear the Apple version is very good.

For the Android version, here are a few of my observations ...

* Interface is buggy, and a bit difficult to use ... especially while driving.

* Connection issues - usually have to disconnect the 9500ix from the ****** Live (EL) device, and reconnect, for the app to see it. I usually have to restart the app a couple times too.

* False update messages - I frequently get a popup telling me that I have to update 9500ix firmware before it will work with EL live. This is a bug, and can be resolved by unplugging and resetting everything. PITA when you have to do it every time you drive. fyi, all of my device firmware and app are up to date.

* False red light alerts - I'll get alerts for red light cameras if I happen to be traveling on a road that runs near (above, under, perpendicular, or parallel) a real red light camera. If the damn device can figure out what direction I'm going, it should absolutely have logic to determine that I'm not driving on the RLC road and filter it out.

* Posted speed limits wrong or missing - the speed limits the app displays for the road you are on are frequently wrong, or missing. RLC locations are also sometimes simply wrong (ie. no RLC anywhere nearby).

* map doesn't rotate - unlike all other gps-related apps that rotate the map so you're always driving to the top / N point on the gps unit, the EL app does not rotate. If you're driving N, then you are driving to the top of the device. If you are driving S, you are driving to the bottom of the device. This is not natural or intuitive, and it doesn't work the way every other gps mapping device in the world works.

* Not many EL users. I get more and better alerts from Waze, which has a userbase many times larger than EL's userbase. Oddly, Waze also gets all EL alerts too. lol This is probably one of the reasons ****** decided to give away an extra year subscription to all current users.

 

[MtnBiker]

Lastly: anyone actually using the ****** Live! application? This has such promise, but a little research so far leaves me fairly unimpressed... typical opinions are that it's a hassle to use, and that the Live! database is very sparse.

Rich

I ran the Vipster to Austin and back this weekend several times to go to the F1 race. I used Live for the first time and loved it. I do not have Waze (but will look into it). Of course, I wish there were more Live users on the road. There were a couple of cars out ahead of me using it and accurately mapped cops.

Does Waze alert throught the ******? In other words, do I have to keep looking at my iPhone display, or does it let me know through the ****** that a Live Cop is coming up in 4000 feet?