In-dash radar detector visual alert for under $10

My Friday night project:

I wanted a visual alert for my Escort radar detector instead of the annoying beeps -- and their accompanying need for some kind of mixer -- but didn't like the cost of the aftermarket stuff. I also like stuff that looks more or less stock and I like to be able to leave it on the bike.

So... with plenty of space behind dash panel B, I decided to stick an LED and plug there.

Here's the final result. The led is on the upper left and I have the cord plugged into the socket so you can see where it goes.

final pic:



This is an amazingly easy project. The light is this 5mm ultra bright led with metal casing:



The socket is this standard 3.5mm mono jack:



Just drill two holes in the panel, solder the bits together, and you're ready to roll.

Here's the back of panel B showing the connection. I cleaned it up a little and taped the wire to the panel to make sure things didn't float around in there. Since it's self-contained, it doesn't muck up panel removal later.



The bits came from https://allelectronics.com/.

5mm ultra bright led w/metal case, red -- catalog number ind-13r -- $1.75

3.5mm mono open audio phone jack -- catalog number mmj -- $0.45

Shipping -- $7.00 <_<

Obviously, if you have a decent electronics hobby shop near you and some hook-up wire laying around, it will cost a little over 2 bucks. Radio Shack didn't have what I wanted, so I went on-line to save time.

Info for electronic newbs:

You'd normally use a step down resistor when hooking up an LED. Here's a quick

LED hook-up guide about that.

I didn't. Following this discussion on sport-touring.net, I'm just using the Escort's volume knob as a variable resistor. If I burn the LED out, I'll come back here and report how I fixed it. No news is good news.

As far as hooking things up, the longer wire on the LED is for the positive wire. On the jack, the terminal that sticks out of the side is the negative. Hook the positive wire to the terminal on the back that is on the other side of the negative terminal. The third one is for a circuit that would be open when there isn't something plugged in. You won't need it for this project. I snipped it off.

And, yes, this thing is bright as hell. You can't miss it. You'll need to turn it down at night. My radar detector plugs into a socket on a circuit with a toggle switch near my throttle hand so I can flip it off in a hurry. Those kinds of details you can work out yourself.

Enjoy!

Very slick! Where does the radar detector live?

Yes, slick is a good word, nice clean install. I'm pretty much electrically challenged so I wouldn't try this but nice job.

tesla said:

Very slick! Where does the radar detector live?

Click to expand...

I usually keep it in the map pocket of my tank bag. Sometimes I'll mount it to a RAM ball in one of the mirror mounts. It can go anywhere and still plug there.

Well crap! Now I need to go buy a radar detector and here I thought I was done! Maybe a tank bag too and possibly a new shield and upgrade shocks and.....and.....and......

I bought the Marc Parnes visual alert and was quite happy with it, until now, maybe. I assumed that there was some sort of capacitor or resistor set up in there to get the correct voltage to the LED. It's a bank of 6 LEDs so probably no chance of overpowering them as opposed to a single LED.

Did you measure the voltage coming out of the headphone jack and different volume settings? You could wire a couple more LEDs in series with the one you are currently using to prevent over driving the circuit.

Looks good, thanks for the info.

Beats the heck outta Marc's $60 Visual Allert! Nice and clean install!

My Question:

I have an AutoComm system so the audio alerts will work fine, but I don't alway connect my headset so this Visual method sounds good for these times. But I'm wondering, is there an easy way to have both? Will adding the LED(s) with a splitter effect the audio signal to the AutoComm?

mferriter said:

Did you measure the voltage coming out of the headphone jack and different volume settings?

Click to expand...

I was lazy and just took the word of Specter at sport-touring.net. He said peak voltage of the Escort 8500 x50 at full volume was 5v. If this one fries, I'll probably put 2 in series.

I'll be giving it a pretty good road test this weekend during the Mason-Dixon 20-20. My crude quality control test at this point has been to flip the toggle switch on the circuit several times to run the rd's start-up test at full volume. That didn't cook it.

FJRGuy -- My gut reaction is that would work even with the voltage drop, but I'm a true amateur whose electronics knowledge doesn't go past my high school shop course. I'll defer the definitive answer to guys who know what they're talking about.

Well done... I'll likely do the same for the rally bike. I'll likely look to do it as a split, trying to add the LED while maintaining the audio output of my Valentine. If anyone tries the split approach, I'd be interested in seeing that as well.

Just a follow-up --

My 12 hour road test during daylight hours at the Mason-Dixon was a success. It was easily visible. There were a lot of radar traps and I was unable to fry the LED. And it seriously saved my butt with an unmarked cruiser south of Cape Vincent. I slowed down as soon as I was shot which must have ticked off the cop because he then followed me for several miles, pinging me repeatedly.

So I consider the experiment a success. I will say, though, that it's not a complete substitute for an audio alert. It's hard to miss when it's going off full steam, but I think it's easier to miss when it just flashes a few times, so you're unlikely to have as good an early warning system as audio, which is kind of the point of these things. I suppose I should have guessed that given that some riders can go quite a long way with their turn signal indicators flashing without noticing them. Not me, of course. I'd never do such a thing. But I've heard about riders who have. Yeah.

Note that this thing is several times brighter than the Gen I turn signal indicators, but it's still possible to miss it if you're really focused down the road.

I'll be interested to hear how things work out for you guys trying to split the signal.

By the way, the reason this was only a 12 hour daylight test during a 30+ hour rally is that I unplugged the cords and stuffed everything into the tankbag map pocket before crossing the border into Ontario. They're illegal there. Then I forgot to close the map pocket.

So, if anyone is looking for a free Escort radar detector of questionable repair, you'll find one about 200 yards south of the 1000 Island Bridge crossing into Canada. I hereby relinquish all claims. :lol:

And since I'm not planning to replace it in the immediate future, I won't be giving any more road test reports. You're on your own from here.

squeezer said:

...By the way, the reason this was only a 12 hour daylight test during a 30+ hour rally is that I unplugged the cords and stuffed everything into the tankbag map pocket before crossing the border into Ontario. They're illegal there. Then I forgot to close the map pocket...

Click to expand...

That sucks! Sorry to hear about your loss!

On a similar event, my GPS broke loose and fell off the bike at Highway speeds. I heard it hit the pavement and stopped right away. I ran back and was able to get to it before any vehicles ran it over and picked up the pieces (mount, GPS, SD Card) just in time. It looks like crap but seems to be functioning fine. :dribble:

any follow ups on this??? getting ready to order the Marc Paine visual alert and found this...

I'd like to have the VA, but the angle on the base wont allow me to mount just above the instrument panel on the flat surface.

if the base was flat, it would be perfect...

as it's plastic, i wonder if i can reshape

i just need a very bright visual on this escort 8500

Keep in mind that LEDs can be highly directional with some sort of diffuser.

I have the Marc Parnes and milled off the bottom bit so it's basically a small rectangular box. I also added a diffuser to the front (a small piece of 1/8" thick white PE). The whole piece of PE lights up and can be seen from any angle.

mferriter said:

Keep in mind that LEDs can be highly directional with some sort of diffuser.

I have the Marc Parnes and milled off the bottom bit so it's basically a small rectangular box. I also added a diffuser to the front (a small piece of 1/8" thick white PE). The whole piece of PE lights up and can be seen from any angle.

Click to expand...

Good to know... i was wondering if the Marc unit could be milled off... a basically rectangular box is what i'm after... and then mount on the flat spot just above the tach or radius it a bit to mount just on top of the speedo...

curious how much you took off? pics???

someguy said:

mferriter said:

Keep in mind that LEDs can be highly directional with some sort of diffuser.

I have the Marc Parnes and milled off the bottom bit so it's basically a small rectangular box. I also added a diffuser to the front (a small piece of 1/8" thick white PE). The whole piece of PE lights up and can be seen from any angle.

Click to expand...

Good to know... i was wondering if the Marc unit could be milled off... a basically rectangular box is what i'm after... and then mount on the flat spot just above the tach or radius it a bit to mount just on top of the speedo...

curious how much you took off? pics???

Click to expand...

I don't have a picture of mine at the moment, but in the following picture you can see the part I removed (highlighted in green). First I spoke to Marc to find out where the wires run inside the block and he told me that they run straight back from the lights, the angled based is purely aesthetic and/or holds it at a nice viewing angle.



If you have one in your hands, you can see the pocket that is cut out on the back based on where the epoxy is located.

I used the slide-in windshield mount (with the suction cups removed) to mount the visual alert to the detector on my dash shelf.

You can also pickup an Alert LED signal off the RJ12 power connection, thereby leaving the audio output jack alone.

Here's a handy link to the pinout specs for the Solo S2. I believe the 8500/9500 series connections are identical.

OK, so it's over $10, but not by much.

I bought a wire harness from an outfit on Ebay that has a water tight mute button and your choice of a red or blue LED. I think you can get them made to order and have them cut the harness to any size and even add multiple LEDS if you wanted. I just bought 2, put one in the car and one on the bike. $17 each, shipped.

I took some shrink tubing and covered the LED so it would be more water resistant and give me a better way to stick it to my guages. I was able to aim the LED right at my eye, but it could use some improvement, like a reflector from an LED flashlight to increase the size of the light. Maybe multiple LEDS and make a cluster, but the audio does got through my intercom so I have both working for me.

Criminy, if that don't work I'll have to hook it up to a taser to shock my throttle hand. :yahoo:

See in the last 2 pics, I put the mute button just inside the throttle so I can easily hit it with my thumb.

No hole or cuts.

allrider said:

OK, so it's over $10, but not by much.

I bought a wire harness from an outfit on Ebay that has a water tight mute button and your choice of a red or blue LED. I think you can get them made to order and have them cut the harness to any size and even add multiple LEDS if you wanted. I just bought 2, put one in the car and one on the bike. $17 each, shipped.

Click to expand...

I love your solution. But where's the link to the Ebay item???

HaulinAshe said:

You can also pickup an Alert LED signal off the RJ12 power connection, thereby leaving the audio output jack alone.

Here's a handy link to the pinout specs for the Solo S2. I believe the 8500/9500 series connections are identical.

Click to expand...

good info!

i mounted the escort hard wire remote on my dash but the existing LED is dim...

so would i tap into pin 1 and 3 ???

I had considered opening the remote 'box' and tapping into the existing LED circuit...

i need simple

i'm a simple dog