Show me some highway information setups
 

..And please do not post pictures of old vans and station wagons filled with scanners and covered with antennas! :P

I'm sure some of you guys drool whenever you see pictures of cars like Alex Roy's M5 and the Blackbird R8 that have the rally look. There's something about a sporty car with an antenna setup that looks serious. Those guys have went nuts with their setups and cluttered interiors but they have money and I guess all of their modifications serve a purpose for what they do. My setup is nothing like theirs but it's simple and makes my modding a bit different than the usual. In time I will change up a few things and add other radios/electronic countermeasures but I'd like to share what it looks like now. Feel free to post pictures of nice cars with antennas, cb radios, scanners, radar detectors, laser jammers, gps systems, ect. whether it's your car or just one you have pictures of.

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My Setup: Uniden BCT-12 scanner (wire/suction cup antenna), Uniden BCT-15x scanner, Uniden RH-96 remote head for the BCT-15x mounted in the sunglasses holder, Uniden speaker mounted behind the rear seats, Antenex ABSCANC antenna with trunk lip mount for the BCT-15x, Cobra 75 - WX cb radio, Truck Spec (lol) antenna mounted to the rear tow hook, Valentine One radar detector, Garmin Nuvi 255W, and a GoPro HD camera mounted to the windsheild.

Soon to come..
- Antenex ABSCANC antenna to replace the BCT-12s wire/suction cup antenna

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Hope you guys like. Post some pictures! :thumbsup:

Cool but are they necessary? My uncle is a big tech guru and has his 4runner all tricked out with gadget and it's pretty sweet but the antennas look kind of rediculous on a BMW.

They aren't necessary but neither is a radar detector.. I like to hear what's going on (truckers, police, aircraft) and the only way to do that is with the antennas. I know a lot of people probably don't like the antennas but I think it looks good the way I have it set up.

I like everything except the rear speaker - either hide it or wire it into the stock speakers.

do you do a lot of highway cruising?

Thanks man, sorry about the speaker picture. That was when I was planning how I would mount it and the wire is hidden now. I do quite a bit of driving in the summer for soccer. I was going three times a week to practice (200+ mile round trip) and Saturday games that were mostly in Washington DC and some in Jersey. I just enjoy highway cruising and whenever I'm going somewhere with friends, we never have the who's going to drive this time question lol :)

I was kind of inspired to do some of these upgrades after being part of the black forest run. I'm excited to be able to use the gear this spring.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoYJokMMnw0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7ZA_DeoXX8

Nice, alot more extreme than what I have.. I have no pictures I used to have a Cobra w trunk mount antenna and speaker along w my passport 8500 x50, but I took it off bc it scratched up my trunk and all NC truckers talk about is bewbs. College is 3 hours from home and used to have to head home often and visit friends at other schools and what not. My roomate freshman year had a 328i e46 black with black wheels and we both had 5% tint and CBs. We would do work at night, especially the memorable "Operation Haul Dick" and "Operation Haul Dick round 2". I have since matured and do not set cruise control at 120mph + for extended periods of time. Eisenhower Interstate system was my b!tch.

While doing this I strictly followed all autobahn rules and stayed in left lane till passing someone and used turn signals for lane changes. I grew up watching my dad tear up the autobahn. Early 90s in a v12 750 then a slow ass (armored) s600 various other sweet machines and this year a 2011 221 s class (6 cylinder, but still fun as hell).

Wow, you should definitely be able to speed wherever you want. BUT, if you get pulled over the police officer might ask some questions.


BTW, what is the detector that you have a picture of it saying "HP."

I had a Cobra 19, Uniden Speaker, & Wilson Lil Wil + Droid Incredible running Trapster + V1 radar detector setup in my Forester XT, but took the CB out since I'm selling my car.

When I get a E36 M3, I'll probably upgrade the antenna to a larger trunk mount antenna, throw in an inline amp for the PA system, and add on a LI Dual setup. Not sure what antenna I'll go for yet, though.

How are the scanners? I do a lot of highway driving in PA where they occasionally use airplanes...it would be great to be able to listen in and know where the planes are if I can do that with a scanner. How much can I expect to spend for a decent scanner setup?

Thanks beepers, and I enjoyed reading that :D Operation Haul Dick I and II :rofl:

Most Pennsylvania State Police still use the normal 15x.xxx frequency bands but some are moving to skynet. Skynet is un-monitorable which sucks for scanner listeners. :( It's the bigger areas that have more money to put out that get the digital or un-monitorable systems. Everything here in central Pa is still monitorable and I'm not worried about them changing up anytime soon. Yeah it might not be good if I get pulled over. The antennas and my straight pipe exhaust seem to get cops attentions.

That picture is of the Uniden BCT-12 scanner. It's was actually made in 1996 but works great. I always have this set on HP (Highway Patrol) to listen to Pennsylvania State Police.


Let's not forget this is not just for being able to speed! I'm at the airport everyday and I like listening to air traffic control while I'm eating lunch. :D

That's an awesome setup you had in the forester. When you get the new cb antenna, check out the ones from Laird Antenex. Both Alex Roy and the guy with the Blackbird use them.

The scanners work for most of where I drive. It really depends if a police agency is using the older technology (most do) or if they have moved to digital or something you can't listen to such as skynet. Digital scanners can be bought but they're quite a bit more expensive. You can find most of the frequencies in the radio reference database. http://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/
I'm really not sure about the airplanes yet. I know they use them a lot. The plane and helicopter they keep at the Montoursville airport that I'm at school for are always in the air. My one professor does a lot of work on them so I'll ask him what frequency they use and I'll tune into that with the BCT-15. Keep in mind that aircraft don't use radar. They use vascar (white lines across highway, they time you from line 1 to line 2) to get your speed and call you into a ground unit. Keep an eye out for vascar lines and you shouldn't have a problem.

Scanners can range in price. I've heard nothing but good from Uniden so that's what I use. A BCT-15x like I have can be had for $200 new. The remote head was $170. The BCT-12 is great and it's small like a radar detector. You can find them for around $100 or less on ebay. I just want to hear more clearly with it so I'll be upgrading to an external antenna.
Digital scanners start at around $500. I may get one someday but really don't have any use for one yet.

Yeah the reason I would be interested in the scanner is because the airplanes use VASCAR (actually I think ground units do too in PA). It would be really nice for me to know if there are any birds in the air. Does your scanner pick up trunking systems? Do you ever get any useful info on the scanner? I read that most of the stuff you hear is just cops chatting and so there really isn't much reason for me to get it unless I can get some useful CM information out of it.

Also, why does it seem like a lot of people running scanners have multiple scanners (e.g. you have a Uniden BCT-12 and a BCT-15)? What kind of range do you get with the CB with the tow-hook antenna?

How thick are the VASCAR lines? I see a lot of thin white lines going across the highway when I drive on 81 (I pretty much take 83 to 81 all the way into NY) but never know which ones to worry about...

Yeah the reason I would be interested in the scanner is because the airplanes use VASCAR (actually I think ground units do too in PA). Only state police in PA are allowed to use radar. State Police ground units could use VASCAR but the lines are spaced so far apart (on highways), I don't think they would. They are much easier to see from the sky. It would be really nice for me to know if there are any birds in the air. Does your scanner pick up trunking systems? Yes, the BCT-15X does. Do you ever get any useful info on the scanner? It depends. I have heard them say their location and it was pretty neat because I knew I would be going by there within a few minutes. I read that most of the stuff you hear is just cops chatting and so there really isn't much reason for me to get it unless I can get some useful CM information out of it. This is true. You normally just hear what's going on, what the police are doing. A radar detector and cb in much more valuable when it comes to avoiding speed traps.

Also, why does it seem like a lot of people running scanners have multiple scanners (e.g. you have a Uniden BCT-12 and a BCT-15)? What kind of range do you get with the CB with the tow-hook antenna?
I got the BCT-12 as my first scanner because it was small, cheap, and has 800MHz coverage. Most police in central Pa use 15X.XXX MHz. I got the BCT-15X because I wanted a newer scanner that had triple trunking technology. The 15X is a little confusing to use because I don't have it programmed yet. The BCT-12 has all the US police frequencies pre-programmed which is why I always put in on HP to listen to state police. Pretty much I use the BCT-15x for town cops/ambulance/aircraft and I use the BCT-12 for state police.
I'm really not sure what the range of the cb is.

How thick are the VASCAR lines? I see a lot of thin white lines going across the highway when I drive on 81 (I pretty much take 83 to 81 all the way into NY) but never know which ones to worry about... Pretty much any white line that goes across the lane should be considered VASCAR lines to be safe.

They seem to be spaced out every .3 miles. At least the ones here are..
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2004 WRX Sti

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996TT

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I use my right foot for the clutch sometimes too:facepalm:

^^ :rofl:

Damn those setups are sick. It doesn't look like a scanner setup is that much of an investment, I think I will look into them more.

Where do you buy your Laird/Antenex antennas?

EDIT: Did some digging - looks like a lot of PA is switching over to PA-Starnet Opensky. Scanners can't pick up the OpenSky system, right?

They really don't cost that much. I just like being able to hear what's being said. I'm 99% sure the BCT-12 saved my as$ a few months ago. There were two state cops driving in the slow lane doing between 50-55 in a 55 zone. There was a Ford truck in front of me that passed the cops. Right away I hear Cop1: "Traffic Violation!" Cop2: "What?" Cop1: "The red Ford has a clear license plate cover" Cop2: "Don't worry about it." Listening to that, I decided to pull in behind them and not pass or I would have probably been pulled over for the 20% window tint that I had at the time.

You can get them through Ameradio.com or Theantennafarm.com You also have to get a drill hole mount, trunk lip mount, or a magnetic mount separate.

Good scanner antenna - http://www.theantennafarm.com/catalo...eyword=ABSCANC

Here are the CB antennas - http://www.theantennafarm.com/catalo...th=191_192_194

Yes, some of Pa is switching to OpenSky. It's very expensive and they can't even communicate with other police agencies who don't have it. I think it's a bad idea. I'm pretty sure there was one county that went to OpenSky but got out of right away. I'll have to read up on it again.

I'm surprised Chris, ATF, or Solidjake haven't posted anything in this thread yet. Thanks for the scanner info, I can't wait to piece my CB setup back together, add on laser jammers, and maybve even a scanner.

I'm sure those guys will be in here soon. One of them is doing a nice cb install this December. :D You're welcome. I've found a lot of the scanner info from radioreference.com. Most of the RD/laser stuff and laws was from listening to Solidjake and browsing radardetector.net. Make sure to add some pictures when you starting piecing it together! :thumbup: