Escort Passport 9500I Radar Detector GPS Acquisition

[CJR238]

My 9500I is mounted really high on my windshield above my RVM and partly covered by the dots. I know this decreases the ability to acquire GPS, but i really want it stealthy.
I went to RS and picked up all the chokes i could find. Below are the two (1-ferrite Choke Core & 2-EMI/RFI fighter Choke Core).
My new Blue 9500I takes a lot longer to acquire GPS signal, however its more consistent.
I was surprised how small they were, and the 2nd one is real small.
1

2


I mounted them by the RD and found no difference. I mounted them by the hard wired mute button and coiled around 2X and got a minimal difference.
The one thing it did do is cut out the crackling in my amplified Escort remote speaker when i used on the + power to it.

It takes almost 5-8min or 2 miles or so. The plus is its almost exactly the same every time, the negative is its after a lockout point on my way to work. The only time i get faster acquisition is when its cloudy out.

Today i sat in my driveway for a 1min risking being 1min late and got acquisition! Drove for about 1-2min than lost it again, but it immediately acquired it again.

I drive too fast for the satellites to keep up with me .

I guess Its all good... my location with the many hills and trees obstructing GPS signal, and my fast out of the box driving coupled with my 9500I extremely high and obstructed view of the sky puts me in a long acquisition scenario. I just need to give my 9500I a minute to catch up to me.

I’m very happy with its reception now that I have a better understanding.
I need to sit for 1min in the AM because of my difficult area for GPS, but on occasion when all the satellites line up just right I get fast acquisition with out the 1min sitting in the driveway.

[TSi+WRX]

With my setup, unfortunately, I was unable to either confirm nor deny MEM-TEK's data on this "Choke into an extended antenna" phenomenon.

I believe that my chosen choke placement location was just too close to the detector for it to act, in any way, like the proposed extended antenna that MEM-TEM cited on RD.net.

And since I would have to fiddle with way too many other wiring concerns in order to replicate what MEM-TEK suggested (with a longer cord run), I have simply decided to give up, and allow the choke to remain in-place where I have it now, to guard against electrical noise (not really necessary in my setup, but still, nice to have).

Indeed, these things are small, CJR, and now that you know what they look like, you'll see that they come on ALL sorts of various electronics.

[CJR238]

I tested the chokes every way possible with minimal to no difference, however i would recommend using them on any electronic device near the source of power. I had the very loud crackling from my remote speaker and it killed the static completely.