For those of you who are using the Marc Parnes Visual Alert radar detector gizmo, here's one idea for mounting it to the dash. I built a simple bracket out of thin alum sheet, bent it to create a shelf for the gizmo, painted it black, mounted the gizmo to the bracket using heavy-duty double-sided tape, and used one of the four large screws on the front of the S10's instrument cluster as a bolt on point. 90-min job.
Previous to this I had just velcro'ed the gizmo to the top of the dash cluster, but it vibrated and wobbled, making it more difficult to note when the lights were flashing a radar hit. Also, having the gizmo a little higher up helps get it up more in one's field of view. I got a good chance to use the unit today in bright sunshine conditions and it seemed to work much better than before.
Aside about radar annuciators in general.... I'll be the first to admit that visual gizmos like this are not the ideal radar annuciator - if you're busy, distracted, looking in the wrong direction, etc., it's still too easy to miss an alert. But the nice thing about this unit is that is requires no external power and is self-contained - you simply plug it into the audio jack of the detector. Audio annuciators are the most likely to get your immediate attention, but I've had lousy luck with getting helmet speakers that are comfortable, reliable, and work well with the earplugs I wear religiously. And I dislike fiddling with cords. Cordless audio options (such as bluetooth) can be pretty cool, but tend to be complex, fiddly, and relatively expensive. The trouble might be justified if you're going for a complete audio solution for music, intercom, GPS directions, phone connectivity, etc. but they tend to be overkill if all you want is a radar alert. I also have the H.A.R.D. system which I use on my sportbike, but it has drawbacks as well and is currently off the market.
Basically, while the Parnes unit is far from perfect, it is easy enough to use that I use it all the time and I think a compromise solution one uses consistently is probably better than an ideal solution that you don't use as much because a battery is dead, you have the wrong helmet, you can't get it to pair, etc. YMMV.
- Mark
Previous to this I had just velcro'ed the gizmo to the top of the dash cluster, but it vibrated and wobbled, making it more difficult to note when the lights were flashing a radar hit. Also, having the gizmo a little higher up helps get it up more in one's field of view. I got a good chance to use the unit today in bright sunshine conditions and it seemed to work much better than before.
Aside about radar annuciators in general.... I'll be the first to admit that visual gizmos like this are not the ideal radar annuciator - if you're busy, distracted, looking in the wrong direction, etc., it's still too easy to miss an alert. But the nice thing about this unit is that is requires no external power and is self-contained - you simply plug it into the audio jack of the detector. Audio annuciators are the most likely to get your immediate attention, but I've had lousy luck with getting helmet speakers that are comfortable, reliable, and work well with the earplugs I wear religiously. And I dislike fiddling with cords. Cordless audio options (such as bluetooth) can be pretty cool, but tend to be complex, fiddly, and relatively expensive. The trouble might be justified if you're going for a complete audio solution for music, intercom, GPS directions, phone connectivity, etc. but they tend to be overkill if all you want is a radar alert. I also have the H.A.R.D. system which I use on my sportbike, but it has drawbacks as well and is currently off the market.
Basically, while the Parnes unit is far from perfect, it is easy enough to use that I use it all the time and I think a compromise solution one uses consistently is probably better than an ideal solution that you don't use as much because a battery is dead, you have the wrong helmet, you can't get it to pair, etc. YMMV.
- Mark
