Mounting radar detector inside HUD.

Well I got a new engine in our ‘99 so after 25 years of driving a Corvette without a detector, it is time to buy one. Planning on a Valentine One with the remote head unit. So, the question.

I want to mount the LED’s down inside the heads-up display for obvious reasons. Has anyone done this; ideas, thoughts?

Thanks in advance, George

 

Hi George ... I've been busy with work the last year - so I haven't been posting on the forum as much - but I thought I'd toss you a few teaser pics. I've been working on an improved Escort/V1 HUD off an on for the last 6 months. If I'd just get serious about it I could probably finish in just a couple of nights - but there's always something ...

The first pics are when I just had the 2 Escort SR1s installed. (front/back).

 

 

 

Here is part of the new design - call it phase 3. (I don't have a pic of phase 2 - just the 2 SR1s and the V1) Phase 3 includes the 2 SR1s (I still like them, but I also like the V1 arrows), the V1 remote display, a Dakota Digital clock, and a Dakota Digital 4x Temp display for my stereo. Obviously there is a lot of extra ribbon cable in these pics - it'll look much better when I'm done - promise! I'll try to finish up in February so I can post some completed pictures. Hopefully this will give you some ideas...

Good Luck!

 

I'd love to add to the HUD... this looks like way to much work for the average guy though!

 

Cool

I assume that one need just mount the readout light sources and the rest is taken care off.

From the drawings the color is filtered. Nevertheless, it looks like red shows clearly. Do I need to worry about color?

From the drawings, the reflecting mirror is curved. When you add the LEDs, etc. do you need to compensate?

Did you tie-in the light sources to the dimmer?

Is there a lot of real estate to work with?

Looks like I should buy a second HUD to work up.

Thanks, George

 

You've made some good observations ...
The color is filitered, but it works a little different than you'd think - the image reflects off the filter rather than going through it. Red LEDs do not work well during day light. They look great at night, but can completely fade out in the sun. You can't tell from the photos - but one of the reasons for the hand made LED array around the base FL HUD display is so that I could switch from the V1 red LEDs to bright blue ones. There's no need to compensate for the curved mirror - it actually helps line things up on the curved windshield. There is not a lot of room in there - it's easy to block part of the HUD display. That's why the circuitry for the clock and temp guage had to be outside the case. For the dimmer I brought the SR1 and V1 light sensors out into the open part of the case - so that they work normally. If you look closely in the pictures you can see the bare photo sensors.

FWIW - The U shaped LEDs around the base FL display (the last 2 pics) were a part of phase 2 - it worked, but not as well as I'd hoped. Part of the blue LEDs were being blocked - the HUD wasn't designed to have a light source outside of the main FL display. The new plan is to integrate them into the bottom piece of black plastic in the case - the piece that the SR1 LEDs are behind in the first set of pictures. That location works well with the mirror and places the LED image on top of the speedometer - a good location for a warning indicator.

 

Still Single. Thanks for the help.

George

 

This is so cool! keep us updated and i hope you're going to post a 'how to'