How does the path of radar travel?

[mrcllusb]

Here's what i'm trying to get an exact picture of.I'm going to be installing my RX75.Now the antenna is not going up above my rearview mirror,that is outta the question.Now,of the mounting places i have left,one is behind the plastic grill,and the other is down at the bottom below my front plate.Now i understand that radar reflects off of objects(ie road signs,the road surface).My dilemma is this.If i mount it behind my plastic grill,how much of the radar signal will feed into the antenna if a vehicle is infront of me compared to if i mount the antenna low under my license plate and it catches the signal bouncing off of the pavement?Oh by the way i have a 2007 Mercury Milan.

[RadarNutt]

Originally Posted by mrcllusb

Now,of the mounting places i have left,one is behind the plastic grill,and the other is down at the bottom below my front plate.Now i understand that radar reflects off of objects(ie road signs,the road surface).My dilemma is this.If i mount it behind my plastic grill,how much of the radar signal will feed into the antenna if a vehicle is infront of me compared to if i mount the antenna low under my license plate and it catches the signal bouncing off of the pavement?Oh by the way i have a 2007 Mercury Milan.

Mrcllusb,

Hey there. My thoughts:

1. Optimum placement for radar reception is always up high. That doesn't mean you won't get reception down lower, you'll just get better reception with it up higher and with an unobstructed view. However, since the RX75 is a remote mounted unit to begin with, I'd say behind something plastic. Just make sure it is not behind metal because you will really lower your reception significantly.

2. Vehicles close in front of you are going to be a problem to some extent.

3. A potential problem with mounting beneath your front plate is that it would be more likely to get damaged by curbs, speed bumps, etc.

4. I wouldn't count much on detecting radar bouncing off pavement. Yes, it does, however the signal tends to move more upward rather than down. That's why if you're coming down a hill toward a radar trap that you can pick it up farther away (at least with a good detector). The beam spreads out as it moves away from the gun, and there is obviously more room for it to spread upward (toward the sky) than toward the ground when it's being held 3-5 feet off the ground to begin with.

5. Diminished performance is the price you pay for concealment and the type of integration which you want. There are always trade-offs.

My $0.02.

RN

[mrcllusb]

Ya know maybe that's why on some remote installs,i see the antenna mounted with a very slight upward angle when they mount them real low.So i plan on mounting the antenna behind my plastic grill up high right under the hood.At this height the antenna should still be mounted perfectly level,or should i also give it a very slight angle up to give it the chance of picking up the signal thru lets say the windows of a vehicle infront of me.

[CJR238]

Radar is in a flared/cone shape and receiving it is better higher than lower. I would go with grill mounting and maybe cut out a few plastic grill peaces if it blocks it allot.

[mrcllusb]

If anyone wants a better idea of my mounting situation,feel free to go to www.mercuryvehicles.com and the Milan is the silver vehicle that's on the first page.The only difference is mine is all black.

[RadarNutt]

I checked out the pic. Doesn't seem too bad if you can mount it as high as you can behind that grille.

My only suggestion - do yourself a favor and replace that grille with a black one if you can and if you don't mind the appearance. Never hurts to lower your "laser profile" by getting rid of or masking reflective pieces when possible.

RN

[mrcllusb]

I hear ya RN.I can really only do but so much i bought the car as a gift for my wife.So certain things she doesn't mind but changing the grill and stuff might be a lil too much.I know my ZR3 isn't much as far as laser defense,but i have the heads right on either side of the plate,since here in upstate NY they aim for the nice shiney plate first..For the antenna i plan on mounting it top left centered between the mercury emblem and where the grill ends next to the ds headlight.

[Carlos from Spain]

If that grill is chromed (can't tell from the picture) then it will seriously hurt your performance and you will be much better off mounting behind one of the lower black grills.

And even then you will have to experiment first because different plastics can block radar (even if its just plastic), its not only the metal and carbon-fiber.

In some cases its not the plastic itself but rather a transparent covering they have, and when you sand it off the plastic piece no longer will affect the radar (Ex: Seat Leon FR's grill).

And doesn't depend on the make of the car, even within similar models the plastics may vary. For example lets take VW; the plastic of ther grill on a diesel model of a VW MkIII Golf will severly affect the signal, but the GTI version's grill will not at all. Then on the old Passat it won't and on the new one it now does, a lot. Depends, you never know until you experiment yourself, its worthwhile.

So my recomendation is to perform a temporary installation on both places and compare detection range if you are able to (here we use different fixed radars).

You may even try behind the bumper if the others don't work out, some plastic bumpers don't affent the signal much (BMW 5-series for example), and even if its painted, some metallic paints have barely any effect (even if its metallic) but others do.

If I were to bet by looking at your car, my first bet would be the co-pilots side bottom grill, medial to the fog light. Most radars here are on the side of the road so the far passenger's side usually has better "view", also its not chromed, those lower grill plastics "tend2 to be simpler and interfere less with radar. But who knows.

But then again radar here are also facing foward (catch cars from behind) and their signal is 10 times weaker than american radars (so we have to fine tune very well the installation because distances are very short already) so in the states it may not matter as much.

[LPP Rep]

Originally Posted by mrcllusb

I hear ya RN.I can really only do but so much i bought the car as a gift for my wife.So certain things she doesn't mind but changing the grill and stuff might be a lil too much.I know my ZR3 isn't much as far as laser defense,but i have the heads right on either side of the plate,since here in upstate NY they aim for the nice shiney plate first..For the antenna i plan on mounting it top left centered between the mercury emblem and where the grill ends next to the ds headlight.

Just make sure the ZR3 is set to fire continuously for a pre-determined time. Otherwise, if they pan to your headlights then it's going to be out of range of the ZR3's receiving diodes (i.e. it won't see the LIDAR beam and will stop jamming).

That is one of the problems with plate mounted jammers.

LPP Rep

[alpinestars_2002795]

Originally Posted by mrcllusb

Here's what i'm trying to get an exact picture of.I'm going to be installing my RX75.Now the antenna is not going up above my rearview mirror,that is outta the question.Now,of the mounting places i have left,one is behind the plastic grill,and the other is down at the bottom below my front plate.Now i understand that radar reflects off of objects(ie road signs,the road surface).My dilemma is this.If i mount it behind my plastic grill,how much of the radar signal will feed into the antenna if a vehicle is infront of me compared to if i mount the antenna low under my license plate and it catches the signal bouncing off of the pavement?Oh by the way i have a 2007 Mercury Milan.

Your better off mounting as high as possible for radar reception. Now if you are behind a vehicle YES this is drastically going to reduce your reception Noticiably and yes in that situation yes lower would give you a better veiw of the radio waves. Hope this is of help. I would personally mount in the grille how often are you really going to be that close where it is going to hurt you that badly... You have to be tailgaiting pretty much. Although even at a distance sometimes of like 100ft it can effect it, if it's a large vehicle ie truck/suv and your in a car or smaller vehicle than the radio waves are effected by the metal off the car to your front if close enough. It can affect it because radio waves don't pass through metal, and if so up to 100 times weaker. Which is why when going into a store with a cell phone you often drop service bars due to the metalic properties of the building. For the same reasons.


AlPiNe~