Radar detector and painted wind screen

[thunderone]

I cut 3 inches off wind screen, and want to paint the back of the wind screen. Will the paint affect the performance of the radar dectector

 

[Raven]

The radar is a radio frequency so painting your shield won't affect it (in fact you can run with your radar detector in the glove box if you want). It could affect the laser detector since that's a light wave instead of a radio wave.

 

[thunderone]

Thanks

 

[Blue STreak]

One caveat: metallic paint could, possibly, limit the efficiency of the detector a bit.

 

[Blrfl]

Even non-metallic paints can have an attenuating effect on microwaves, especially at K band and above. Unless you know the composition of the paint or it has undergone testing, it's hard to say for sure what effects it will have.

Side story: I used to carry a gadget that monitored my exposure to RF at sites where it was a hazard. The rep from the gadget's manufacturer said the coloring they originally selected for its plastic housing attenuated everything from 75 GHz to the gadget's upper limit of 100 GHz (yes, you read the units correctly. They had to go through several kinds of coloring to find one that didn't cause problems.

--Mark

 

[Raven]

Hmmm, that's interesting regarding the paint and the radar waves. I suppose the sophistication of the radar detector probably plays a role as well.

That said, I have carried my Beltronics Driver STi in the left glovebox (in places where I'd rather it not be noticed) and it has activated with enough fore-waring to be effective.

 

[Blue STreak]

And living in a state where detectors are not legal, I keep mine in my left fairing pocket, and it seem to work fine there, too.