Review Beltronics STi R Remote – Part One
Beltronics STIr Install SUV
Several weeks I was honored as being one of the first to review the new Beltronics STI-r radar detector.
The STI-r is the first remote mounted detector that is not only capable to be invisible to the eye but also invisible to all the radar detector detector units such as the Spectre III and IV. This ability is an important feature where radar detectors are illegal such as in Virginia, Washington DC, in all commercial vehicles weighing over 10,000 pounds and in various provinces in Canada.
We first installed the STI-r into a 2007 Toyota Sequoia.
As the STI-r antenna serves as both the radar detector and laser antenna it is important to mount the antenna in a fashion that the front laser sensors are not blocked and to be positioned in the front grill area where officers commonly target their laser guns.
We choose to use heavy duty double sided 3M automotive double sided tape that is available through NAPA and not the supplied antenna mount, so we wouldn’t need to drill into the front bumper area. We mounted the antenna below the front bumper in the bottom grill.
We then ran the antenna cable through the engine compartment, through the firewall to the rear dash. We removed the Toyota’s car radio utilizing a special screwdriver that allowed the radio to slide out, and installed the main interface under dash.
We then plugged the front antenna, display module, controller module and external speaker into the interface.
We mounted the external powered speaker under the dash and ran mounted the small LED display above the steering column just below the Toyota’s instrument panel and mounted the control module below the steering column on the right lower dash.
I really appreciated the two part LED and controller and their small size, as I was allowed to mount the LED display closer to the main instrument panel. The LED display also has a photo sensor installed to the front that allows it to automatically adjust for brightness.
Both the control module and the LED display has double sided tape applied to them, so it is basically peal and stick, making for an easy install of these two parts.
The STI-r also includes an in dash bezel and a single in dash LED light display for those who really want to go to the next step in making their unit stealth to the eye.
The final step in our install was to run the power cables from the speaker and the interface to the controller and power up.
I’ve installed countless remote mounted radar detectors but I have to admit, I found the STI-r one of the easiest as their documentation was easy to read and understand. The total install time took 90 minutes with the biggest challenge finding a location where I could run the antenna cable through the firewall utilizing an existing cable run.
We will be running the STI-r through its paces this weekend in the Toyota and then we will be re-installing it in a Freightliner tractor for an extended road trip through Nevada next week and we will provide an update on our road test when we return.
Fireball Day Seven – The Homestretch
Las Vegas to Los Angles
You could see it in all the contestants faces; relief, sadness, anticipation. The week long Fireball run was about to end.
For me the rally was a great opportunity to meet and know 150 people that I had never met before. Sure there were blow-ups; one sponsor threw a tantrum after the judges discounted his team’s bonus points and one team was caught cheating as one member at a checkpoint was emailing the photo to the other driver at check in. But all in all, during the rally the majority of the contestants played fair and had a great time.
This morning we lined up at the Henderson resort and the mayor joined us in our morning driver briefing. Then we were provided our sealed envelope containing the clues for the day with the mayor waving the green flag we were off to Hollywood.
As Las Vegas is a vacation Mecca, every day is rush hour so I had laid out plans to use surface roads to bypass the congested highway traffic. The only problem was that I didn’t plan for road construction and road closures and found this to be a fatal error, as we were one of the last cars out of Sin City.
After finally getting on the Interstate I opened our sealed envelope for our clues:
Clue one: Have your photo taken with the Mad Greek in Baker California.
Clue two: Proceed to the Route 66 museum in Barstow California and purchase a gift that will be donated to a children’s hospital
Clue three: Go the original “Casa Del Taco.” This chain of restaurants now has over 490 locations and is only second to Taco Bell in Mexican food flair. Here we would be given your next clue after you ordered at the drive through.
Driving this area of I-15 before, I recognized the Mad Greek as a Greek Restaurant in Baker Ca, just off the Interstate. I then used my iPhone to obtain the address of the Route 66 museum and programmed it into the GPS.
As we were going to be driving through one of the most congested areas in the US on our way to the finish line, I wanted to be sure that our detector of choice for this day would have the ability to filter out most of the false alerts but still have superior range and sensitivity against the CHP deadly K and Ka radar guns.
So as I rummaged through my extensive arsenal of radar detectors that morning I had only one choice the Escort 8500 X50
Since first being introduced in 2005, the 8500 x50 has proven itself to be the best moderately priced and dependable radar detector ever made.
Alert One – Ka
South of Vegas at mp 65 on I-15 our 8500 gave its first warning of the day. Approximately a mile later in the south bound shoulder, we observed a Nevada Highway Patrol unit on the side of the road with another car.
Alert Two – Ka
At MP 8 on I-15 our 8500 alerted 33.7 Ka, just as we slowed down and crested a hill, a northbound NHP passed at high speed.
Just shortly after this encounter, we received a text message that the Black BMW (the same BMW that was stopped in Oklahoma twice and was not using a detector) had been pulled over on I-15 after finishing up their Del Taco stop and was cited for going 105.
At MP 1, we pulled off the Highway and went to a “Terrible Herbs” gas station to buy a California newspaper for our state sign photo. The clerk told us that they didn’t sell any California papers and the next station was fifteen miles down the road.
I went out to the parking lot looking in the trash bins by the pumps and found a Barstow newspaper. As we pulled onto the highway, the California welcome sign was on our right and we snapped our photo.
Alert Three – K band
As we continued on our leg to Baker on I-15 our 8500 alerted 24.1 K band. After coasting down to the speed limit, we spotted a CHP unit parked in the median facing our direction.
Twenty miles later, we pulled off the interstate into the small desert community of Baker and located the Mad Greek Restaurant. We had a bystander photograph us standing in front and we then took a short ten minute break.
Just prior to turning onto the highway in Baker, we noticed a two man CHP patrol car exit from the interstate I followed them to a gas station. Again working with the magic of my badge, I convinced the two reluctant CHP officers to pose for our trooper scooper photo.
Alert Four – K band
At mp 254 on I-15 our 8500 alerted 24.1. As we were driving on a flat desert highway we allowed the car to coast down to speed limit and two miles later we spotted a CHP on the west bound shoulder with a pick-up,
At 12:45 PST we arrived at the Route 66 Museum and between Bob and me we purchased over $200.00 worth of stuffed animals and books to give to a sick child in the hospital. We then proceeded to the original Taco Bel restaurant drive through and ordered some cold drinks. Here the clerk told us that we had to go back to the location of the museum to find the Chamber office to obtain our next clue.
We arrived at the Barstow Chamber and I was provided with another sealed envelope with bonus point cards. I selected the following:
Bonus One: Drive backwards to Calico and take a photo of their cemetery
Bonus Two: Find the Banana Museum and take a photo
Bonus Three: Take a photo of Sammy’s Star
We headed back north twenty miles to the ghost town of Calico and located the Ghost Town of Calico and took a photo of the cemetery.
Utilizing my iPhone, we located an address for the Banana Museum in Hesperia California, programmed it into our GPS and headed back south on I-15.
Alert Five – Ka band
At mp 119 on I-15 our 8500 alerted 34.6 and we slowed down spotting a CHP on the side of the road with another pick-up truck a mile south.
Arriving in Hesperia we located the Banana Museum just as another Fireballer was pulling out from the parking lot. Bob got out and we quickly snapped a photo and we were back on the road headed for the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
As we entered the greater LA area, traffic was very congested so we backed off and drove with the flow of traffic. Our GPS was programmed for Hollywood and Vine and after passing a few small accidents with disabled vehicles on the highway, we finally turned off to the LA surface streets.
Arriving at the Walk of Fame, I found a tour guide selling flyers, handed him a ten and asked where “Sammy’s” photo was. He pointed a block down so I ran with iPhone in hand, snapped my own photo and headed back to our illegally parked car.
Our finish line was several blocks away at the Sofitel Resort. We maneuvered around traffic and fifteen minutes later crossed, placing twentieth for the day!
With the stress of the race lifted the other contestants loosened up and we began discussing our 3500 mile plus journey across nine states.
Batman and Robin also complemented the Escort 8500 X50 that we provided to them for the race, saying that the only time that they had gotten pulled over was by a trooper wanted to take a photo of the Bat Mobile for his son.
The Black BMW team related that the next time they ran a rally like this, that they were going to first look me up, so we could outfit their car commenting “What ever you guys sell must work and it has to be allot cheaper then three speeding tickets.”
In the coming days or weeks, after decompressing, I am will follow-up my seven day experience to discuss some valuable lessons Bob and I learned during this incredible experience.
Fireball Day Five – A Reception Awaits Us
Oklahoma City to Albuquerque
This morning after packing up the 540i “The Veil Guy” and I headed to the memorial site of the Farley Federal Building to pay our respects to the victims and the families of the Oklahoma City bombing. We parked just outside the memorial entrance and took time to read many of the hand held inscriptions that mourners have taped on the front fence, along with flowers and other tokens of respect.
We then drove back to yesterday’s finish line at Brick Yard Stadium, which today also served as the starting point. Lined up in front of the Fireballer vehicles were numerous motorcycle officers from the Oklahoma City Police Department and two local area news station remote trucks that were performing live interviews with other contestants.
After lining up our car, Bob and I walked up to the motorcycle officers and introduced ourselves. Being a retired officer and a Harley enthusiast myself, we quickly began swapping war stories. Mounted on each officer’s bike was the new Stalker 2 hand held radar gun. The officers also told me that they also use the Stalker laser guns, but because of the portability and small size of the Stalker 2, that this was their main weapon of choice.
The officers also confided with us to be careful heading into Elk City, as they heard that the Oklahoma State Patrol was setting up a large welcoming reception for us.
Oklahoma City’s Mayor gave led a morning prayer for the safe passage of the Fireballers, waved the green flag and we were off.
The motor officers provided a rolling escort for us to the on ramp of I-40, right smack into morning rush hour traffic.
Bob was the designated driver for this leg while I was the designated navigator. The detector selection today included the Bel STi and an Escort 8500 X50.
Once on the Highway I opened our sealed FedEx envelope for today’s clues.
Clue One: Get your lunch from the legendary “Big Texan” in Amarillo. Here you’ll need to kiss a cow, swim from Laredo to Amarillo, then convince Bobbie Lee to stamp your route book.
Clue Two: Built by the Swiss in 1966, it rises to 10,000 feet above Albuquerque and spans over 2.7 miles – it is the longest of it’s kind built anywhere in the world. Here we would be handed the location of the finish line.
Rules for this run were that we could not enter the town of Albuquerque prior to 5:00 pm (the start of rush hour)
Clue two was easy as I’ve been to Albuquerque many times before and immediately recognized this clue as being the Sandia Tramway. I fired up my iPhone for clue two and found Big Texan restaurant in Amarillo on Google.
After traveling about 30 minutes, we started receiving a solid hit of 35.5 on both the Bel STi radar detector and the Escort 8500 X50. About a mile later we saw three Oklahoma State Trooper cars setting up in the west bound lane.
One mile later we passed another trooper who was hidden, parked behind a bridge embankment. Our welcoming reception was forming….
An hour later, as we started entering into Elk City, both the Beltronics STi and the Escort 8500 indicated a 34.7 Ka alert, a half mile later we saw an Oklahoma Trooper parked in the median facing our direction. Then a few seconds later, the detectors began alarming 34.7 Ka. A mile further we observed an unmarked Dodge Charger parked in the median.
A mile after the Charger we then started receiving 34.7 alerts on both detectors and about a minute later we saw our third trooper in Elk City parked in the median.
Leon from team Blinder Xtreme then called us and said that an unmarked Crown Vic had just pulled out from ticketing another Fireballer and was ahead of us turning into the median. Just as we were getting the details, both detectors alerted again, this time to a 35.5 and we saw the Crown Vic ahead.
Leon also related that he had spotted a east bound trooper about three miles ahead of us that was not running radar and a silver Sheriff’s car running K band four miles ahead.
A couple of minutes later both detectors alerted 24.1 K band and then we observed an approaching Trooper eastbound on the horizon. A mile after this encounter the detectors lit up 24.7 and we saw the silver Sheriff’s car parked in the median.
Text messages were flying back and forth between Fireballers; five cars stopped at mp 109, Black BMW stopped at mp 38, white Audi stopped at mp 37. Bob and I thought at this point it was wise to pull off and get some gas and a cold soda. As we exited the interstate, we observed a white marked pick-up truck hidden on the side of the overpass.
After pulling into the station, the white marked pick-up pulled in behind us. We struck up a conversation as I peaked inside the car, I observed a VASCAR unit on the transmission hump. I commented “You’re still using those old VASCAR units” and the officer replied “We use everything we can.” The pick-up left and we headed back to the den of Troopers.
We were receiving text messages that the black BMW that was ticketed in Elk City was closing the gap behind us, a few minutes later we received another message that they were again pulled over at mp 89.
As we approached mp 51, we saw the flashing overhead lights of a trooper. Passing, we saw that they had the blue vet with “We brake for Ka” sticker on the side of the road with a trooper.
At mp 50 we received a K alert at 24.7 and as we crested a hill, we spotted another trooper parked in the median facing our direction.
At 10:20 am, Bob and I crossed back into Texas and we found a new welcoming committee was forming. We were using a white Audi that ahead of us for our “rabbit.” At mp 165 the Escort and Beltronics unit alarmed 34.7 and almost immediately we saw a black and white Texas DPS trooper car pull out from behind a row of trees and giving chase to the Audi.
Team Blinder Xtreme called us again telling us that the Texas troopers had the Bentley and the SRT pulled over three miles ahead of us.
As we approached mp 0 in Texas both detectors alerted 34.7 and just ahead we saw a Texas trooper with a black car parked behind traffic cones.
Our first project after arriving into New Mexico was to find a New Mexico trooper for our photograph and a New Mexico newspaper for our state sign photograph.
Five miles into New Mexico we saw a trooper off the side of the road with a disabled motorist. We pulled safety off the road, parking a safe distance away from the officer and stepped out of our car showing my badge. I first asked if we could be of any assistance to him or the motorist and he thanked us saying that everything was under control. I then asked if he would allow me to photograph him and his patrol car, he gave he related that this was fine. Bob stood next to the officer and we got our shot.
We traveled another 25 miles until we came across our first gas station. We gassed up and got our New Mexico newspaper and headed back to the state line for our sign shot and then headed west for Albuquerque.
At mp 357 the detectors made their first alert in New Mexico on 24.1 K band. A mile ahead we observed a silver unmarked patrol car in the median.
As we entered the town limits of Albuquerque the Escort 8500 X50 alerted 38.8 while the Bel STi remained silent. Behind us was the Blinder Xtreme team using a STi and a Valentine One and reported a 38.8 alert.
A few seconds later we noticed an east bound Albuquerque Police Department vehicle.
A few months ago the Beltronics had a software revision that addressed this 33.8 issue when earlier models would sometimes block out alerts on 33.8 frequency based upon the threshold, filtering the alert as a false alert. The unit that we were using in our car did not have the 33.8 software revision, the Blinder Xtreme team had.
Being familiar with the layout of Albuquerque, we drove to the area of the Sandia Tram via county roads that were outside of the city limits. We then parked a few miles away from the check in location at 4:30 pm.
At 4:55 we drove to the lift area and took our photograph with the lift person and provided the location of the finish line, the Albuquerque Art Museum.
We snaked our way through rush hour traffic south on I-25 then west on I-40 to our exit and then processed to the finish line.
Today we ranked 14 out of the 65 cars running today’s leg, finishing 15th in overall points and 3rd in class.
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