Homemade radar screamer

[Filter_nz]

How to Build your own Radar Screamer for $20

Background
Brought a VTR1000 after I got my full last month which came fitted with a radar mount and power cable which just so happened to work with my Escort X50 radar (same as a Beltronics RX65 as I understand).
Anyway I couldn’t hear it going off over the sound of the aftermarket cans and of course road noise after 100km/h. I found a H.A.R.D led kit or a radar screamer but both were well over $100!!! I searched on here to find a post from Jantar (I think that's who it was) explaining how he made a screamer from a Warehouse smoke alarm. I tried to follow his example however couldn’t find a smoke alarm that did NOT use a 'direct short' for the test function.
So turned on my brain made a really simple and safe version I thought I would share. Cost about $20 for parts all from Jaycar Electronics which you can buy online.
I’ve included pics.... at the moment it’s in very rough form but works fanstic!!!
I run it off 9v battery for now however at some stage will direct wire it to the battery and solder the components to a PCB which will about halve the size.

Parts
1) 5v Solid state relay (must be solid state as anything else is slow to switch)
2) Piezo Screamer (NOT a piezo buzzer or speaker)
3) 16v 4700uf Capacitor

Other little parts
1) Solder
2) Soldering iron
3) Sealant (Seally All Clear) to waterproof your connections
4) A nice little box to hide it all in
5) Wires

What it all does
The radar puts out about 5-6v when beeping, this will trigger the relay.

Using a relay insures there is no power going back to the Radar so no risk of damage to your expensive radar.
When your radar beeps 5volts comes down the ear-piece lead to the relay, the relay then completes the circuit of 9v Battery to 16v 4700uf Capacitor to Piezo screamer.

You can make it without the capacitor however beep will be MUCH shorter and much quieter. Without going into technical detail the cap basically ensures you get a nice solid BEEP rather than a little “pip”.

Piece of Cake to make, cheap, no risk of damage to the radar and more than up to the job! Just make sure you get the polarity right when doing the wiring (the + and – around the right way.... use a multicenter).

If people want more into of the Jaycar part numbers let me know. Hope this helps someone out there.

[The Pastor]

How to Build your own Radar Screamer for $20

Background
Brought a VTR1000 after I got my full last month which came fitted with a radar mount and power cable which just so happened to work with my Escort X50 radar (same as a Beltronics RX65 as I understand).
Anyway I couldn’t hear it going off over the sound of the aftermarket cans and of course road noise after 100km/h. I found a H.A.R.D led kit or a radar screamer but both were well over $100!!! I searched on here too find a post from Jantar (I think that's who it was) explaining how he made a screamer from a Warehouse smoke alarm. I tried to follow his example however couldn’t find a smoke alarm that did NOT use a 'direct short' for the test function.
So turned on my brain made a really simple and safe version I thought I would share. Cost about $20 for parts all from Jaycar Electronics which you can buy online.
I’ve included pics.... at the moment it’s in very rough form but works fanstic!!!
I run it off 9v battery for now however at some stage will direct wire it to the battery and solder the components to a PCB which will about halve the size.

Parts
1) 5v Solid state relay (must be solid state as anything else is slow to switch)
2) Piezo Screamer (NOT a piezo buzzer or speaker)
3) 16v 4700uf Capacitor

Other little parts
1) Solder
2) Soldering iron
3) Sealant (Seally All Clear) to waterproof your connections
4) A nice little box to hide it all in
5) Wires
6) The radar puts out about 5-6v when beeping, this will trigger the relay.

What it all does
Using a relay insures there is no power going back to the Radar so no risk of damage to your expensive radar.
When your radar beeps the 5v come down the ear piece lead to the relay, the relay then completes the circuit of 9v Battery to 16v 4700uf Capacitor to Piezo screamer.

You can make it without the capacitor however beep will be MUCH shorter and much quieter. Without going into technical detail the cap basically ensures you get a nice solid BEEP rather than a little “pip”.

Piece of Cake to make, cheap, no risk of damage to the radar and more than up to the job! Just make sure you get the polarity right when doing the wiring (the + and – around the right way.... use a multicenter).

If people want more into of the Jaycar part numbers let me know. Hope this helps someone out there.
22 posts and your already posted up a good bit of info, well done mate

[CookMySock]

Yeah put the part numbers in. I been fiddling around trying to adapt from the remote port on it - didnt think to connect to the earphone jack.

thanks!
Steve

[Filter_nz]

For those interested here are the parts and prices...

From Jaycar (can buy online) www.jaycar.co.nz

1) SY4088 5v solid state relay $10.90
2) AB3456 Piezo Buzzer/Screamer $9.90
3) RE6320 16v 4700uf Capacitor $3.00 (RE6243 may also work)

They're the main parts, the rest are pretty generic but if you want them here are the part numbers...

4) WA7006 3.5mm Mono audio cable $4.50, you can buy just the jack and solder your own wires if your cheap!
5) PH9233 9v Battery terminal clip $1 (otherwise wiring off you 12v biker battery and use a fuse)

NB: if you use a 9V battery it will last for ages as the curcuit by default is always open until the relay triggers when the radar beeps. So if the radar isn't going off there is almost no drain on the battery so no need for a power switch.

Jaycar also sell various size plastic boxes to mount it all in. If you're good at soldering consider buying a small PCB and solder the parts to that.
You don't have to use the exact parts I did but if you're not tech savy the parts I used are safe, have a good margin of error (i.e can use 9 - 16v without any issues) and work perfectly.

[CookMySock]

question: how did you make the detector beep while testing?

DB

[Filter_nz]

Easy, just push any of the buttons and it'll beep. Also does a beep sequence when first turned on.

[idleidolidyll]

bloody marvelous.

I shall be making one for my Sti as soon as I can!

[CookMySock]

Easy, just push any of the buttons and it'll beep. Also does a beep sequence when first turned on.Ah minor brain fart there. I had been fiddling with its accessory plug, which ONLY outputs a signal with a valid warning.

;)
Steve

[TimeOut]

bloody marvelous.

I shall be making one for my Sti as soon as I can!

My son has been working on one for my STi for the last two weeks, similar to the above (he works for a Jacar franchise) he's trying LED lights for the top of the screen first, but can hook up the screamer to it as well. Will let you know how it works.

[Dino]

Thanks for the information, very helpful. :2thumbsup

[wezo]

bradley you smarty pants.

[Filter_nz]

Wezo you'll need one of these on your new Ducati, I speed by accident half the time and don't realise the speed kept up.

Just a quick update.... my 9v battery went flat after testing the screamer in the car all week. I realise I'm using a 16v Cap and 12v screamer however shouldn't matter as the 9v battery will charge up the cap.
It could be the relay is allowing a slow drain so the 9v battery is always feeding the cap as it drains. I haven’t figured it out yet and will not bother to as I'm going to hard wire it to the battery with an inline fuse and removable power cord. The 9v shouldn't really have gone flat as it's an open circuit but you even know with "cheap leaky" solid state relays. If you still want to run a 9v battery add a switch to the positive terminal off the battery or remove the battery when not riding.

[idleidolidyll]

My son has been working on one for my STi for the last two weeks, similar to the above (he works for a Jacar franchise) he's trying LED lights for the top of the screen first, but can hook up the screamer to it as well. Will let you know how it works.

I'm not a good solderer, my chubby little fingers get in the way.
If his one works and he's interested, I'd pay a fair margin for his labour for an extra one (but not radar directs rip off pricing).
pm me if interested

[TimeOut]

I'm not a good solderer, my chubby little fingers get in the way.
If his one works and he's interested, I'd pay a fair margin for his labour for an extra one (but not radar directs rip off pricing).
pm me if interested

I'm taking the STI into him tomorrow to try, I'll see what he says.

[davereid]

I'm more than happy to design one, and produce an easy to build design for kiwibiker if it's wanted. I'd have to borrow a detector, just let me know if you want something put together.

[Blackbird]

Just for reference, I bought my screamer from the USA 2 years ago and love it to bits. It has 2 volumes, plus off and here is the link to price etc. http://www.motorcycleradar.com/products_pg2_4.htm#Radar%20Screamer.

Its noise doesn't differentiate between laser or microwave threat but in all honesty, I don't think that this is any big deal as if you wait to figure out what it is before taking action, you're history anyway!

The earpiece which I had previously was good too, but I was forever unplugging myself or breaking the wire.

[Filter_nz]

I've made up a budget wiring diagram. It really is simply. You can add on whatever you like i.e LED's etc but might be a good idea to have them off a parallel circuit without the capacitor inline.
Once you've soldered or twisted all the wires shove it in a nice box with a hole for the piezo and audio lead (an perhaps a power lead) and use a sealant to waterproof. or not, whatever you perfer.

Check the attached pic. Peace out.

[The Stranger]

I've made up a budget wiring diagram. It really is simply. You can add on whatever you like i.e LED's etc but might be a good idea to have them off a parallel circuit without the capacitor inline.
Once you've soldered or twisted all the wires shove it in a nice box with a hole for the piezo and audio lead (an perhaps a power lead) and use a sealant to waterproof. or not, whatever you perfer.

Check the attached pic. Peace out.

Is it just me, or is that a little different to your photo - photo 1 in the first post?

[Filter_nz]

It's basically the same.

1) I added a fuse after I hard-wired it to the bike's 12 batterty instead of a 9v battery.

2) Battery postive terminal now goes into the relay first rather than the piezo, this in theory should minimise any leakage / battery drain which I experienced.

Another point to note, the yellow wire in the orginal pic doesn't actually connect to anything and never did however the picture makes it appear to.

[The Stranger]

It's basically the same.

1) I added a fuse after I hard-wired it to the bike's 12 batterty instead of a 9v battery.

2) Battery postive terminal now goes into the relay first rather than the piezo, this in theory should minimise any leakage / battery drain which I experienced.

Another point to note, the yellow wire in the orginal pic doesn't actually connect to anything and never did however the picture makes it appear to.

Thanks, built as per your original photo. Got that on the yellow wire already.
Initial test is good, will see how it goes tomorrow.

[SixPackBack]

I've made up a budget wiring diagram. It really is simply. You can add on whatever you like i.e LED's etc but might be a good idea to have them off a parallel circuit without the capacitor inline.
Once you've soldered or twisted all the wires shove it in a nice box with a hole for the piezo and audio lead (an perhaps a power lead) and use a sealant to waterproof. or not, whatever you perfer.

Check the attached pic. Peace out.

Shit hot! removing the cap and Piezo and adding an LED will give an in helmet [discrete] way to be 'notified'

[The Stranger]

It's basically the same.

1) I added a fuse after I hard-wired it to the bike's 12 batterty instead of a 9v battery.

2) Battery postive terminal now goes into the relay first rather than the piezo, this in theory should minimise any leakage / battery drain which I experienced.

Another point to note, the yellow wire in the orginal pic doesn't actually connect to anything and never did however the picture makes it appear to.

Tried it today.
It works fine, but not loud enough for an old bastard.
Any chance you can modify it to electrify some nipple clamps for me?

[Filter_nz]

haha! sure thing!!
The piezo I used is 9 -16v from memory and your using a 16v cap so basically feeding it at 16v regardless of the battery size used....At least for the inital beep. If you radar were to put out a solid tone, (which the Escort x50 or Bel rx65 do not) you'd get a loud 16v beep to start with and once the cap was drained it would drop in volume to the power level of the battery. In normal operation the cap will charge up between beeps.

For more volume you could use a high voltage cap (but may not recharge fast enough between beeps) and over-drive the piezo or switch to a different piezo. The one I use is 85db, I've seen them right up to 130db.

I tested mine in the car and it nearly blew my ears to bits.

[Jantar]

haha! sure thing!!
The piezo I used is 9 -16v from memory and your using a 16v cap so basically feeding it at 16v regardless of the battery size used.........
Unless capacitor design has changed markedly in the many years since I studied electronics, the capacitor will only charge up to same voltage as the source feeding it. So if your battery voltage is 14V feeding into a 16V capacitor, the charge in the capacitor will still only be 14V maximum.

[Matt Bleck]

awesomeness

[Filter_nz]

Jantar your correct... had to think for a bit.
In theory the piezo should get dimmer until the cap is fully charged. Once fully charged the piezo should stop. If you then bridge out the battery (replace the battery with a piece of wire) the cap will release it charge.

However in my budget curcuit the piezo never stops for some reason (usually this would indicate an AC current). All I know is it works :) and thats good enough for me :D Although I may redesign it later correctly.

[Jantar]

...However in my budget curcuit the piezo never stops for some reason (usually this would indicate an AC current). All I know is it works :) and thats good enough for me :D Although I may redesign it later correctly.

It is a psuedo AC current, just a square wave, not a sine wave. I can see some improvements that can be made, and if I have time I'll make up the circuit and take some measurements.

[Revit]

It is a psuedo AC current, just a square wave, not a sine wave. I can see some improvements that can be made, and if I have time I'll make up the circuit and take some measurements.
That would be great

[Filter_nz]

That would be great

In short, the cap should be in parallel with the piezo not in series.

Ineffect the beep from the radar will trigger/close the relay, in turn this will sound the piezo and charge the cap (if in parallel). When the beep from the radar stops the relay will open however the piezo will still sound as the cap will sustain it.

The trick will be selecting the correct cap size so the piezo isn't susatined for to long as you may end up with a solid tone.

You could of course remove the cap altogther however when I did this the beep was so quick it was little more than a churp which I missed when on the bike.

[alanzs]

If you're not up to making one, I have one for sale in the trading section.... Saved my ass more times than I can count. I'll let it go for $30 plus $5 shipping. A bargain... :hug:

Radar Screamer USD RRP $99.95

This is for anyone with a radar detector on their motorcycle. This mounts easily and emits a 108 decibel PIERCING SCREAM when your radar detector gets a radar signal. You can EASILY hear this AT ANY SPEED. I had it on my Hayabusa, so I know.

The Screamer includes:

* A special interface module drives a 108 dB piezo beeper. Includes 3-position low volume/mute/high volume control switch.
* Epoxy Sealed interface module (54 x 35 x 15 mm) with control cable and audio cable with 2.5 mm audio plug [3.5 mm plug available for the Passport 8500]
* High intensity Piezo beeper (58 mm dia. x 32 mm high) with cable and connector
* Silence switch with cable, connector and mounting bracket. Now with High/Low volume and mute settings
* 12Vdc supply harness with in-line fuse holder and connector

* Includes everything in picture (1st one is from their from website) except Velcro, manual and high/low switch is black, not orange. See other photo I took. Instructions are available free online.
* Super simple to install. I can do it and I am no gearhead.

Used - excellent condition

Check it out on their website, where they have diagrams as well.

http://www.motorcycleradar.com/products_pg2_4.htm# Radar%20Screamer

[Dschubba]

Gidday, sorry to be a killjoy but I found a few problems with that circuit

The Solid State Relay you used is for an AC load, so it has an SCR type output.
Once an SCR starts conduction and input is removed, it will continue to conduct until the load is removed, or with AC until the voltage waveform crosses zero (which happens 50x a second).

The SSR you used seemed to work with a small load, but once I attached a grunty screamer she kept on screaming! Did a search on the net and a few other people had this question.

Also the capacitor was inline with the load, where i think I would put it across the screamer if you wanted a longer tail on the scream. With the big screamer I haven't bothered with the capacitor.

I used these parts from Jaycar:
CAT. NO. LA5255 (Tweetie Pie Screamer 116db)
CAT. NO. SY4092 (Solid State Relay )
I put a small diode IN4004 in series with the mono 3.5mm plug with the white end of the diode attaching to the +ve input and the other wire from the plug to the -ve or the SSR.

Then from the battery to the red wire of the screamer, the black wire of the screamer to +ve load, and from the -Ve load to ground.

Now just to work out where to mount the screamer on the triple. Mind you it so !@#$% loud, probably mount it anywhere.

[Warr]

.......
I put a small diode IN4004 in series with the mono 3.5mm plug with the white end of the diode attaching to the +ve input and the other wire from the plug to the -ve or the SSR.

Then from the battery to the red wire of the screamer, the black wire of the screamer to +ve load, and from the -Ve load to ground.

Now just to work out where to mount the screamer on the triple. Mind you it so !@#$% loud, probably mount it anywhere.
Any chance of a circuit diagram ? Tis a bit late .. perhaps it will look clearer in the morning!

[Dschubba]

Just wired this up on wifes triple. Her bike has no protection, mine in shop, and i got stung on way home from work on hers... Blah.

Anyhow, this was simple and seems to work reliably.

Note its important that you get the SSR for a DC load Part SY4092 i tried a few others and they sometimes stayed on.

Good luck

[jorxster]

On a similar topic, I have a question-- I've got a passport escort x50 from the states, and in testing it, I can't seem to get any audible volume. (over the sound of my bike, which is decently loud.) I don't know if my head phones are shot, if I've got the volume set the wrong way (the dial on the left). or if I just can't hear it over the sound of my aftermarket exhaust.

I've got a honda firestorm as well as the OP. Same bike, same radar detector. You mentioned that it puts out 5 volts when triggered? So 5 volts out of the head phone jack? Could you run an LED off of that, how many milliamps do you figure it can handle?
Cheers,
Jordan

[notme]

On a similar topic, I have a question-- I've got a passport escort x50 from the states, and in testing it, I can't seem to get any audible volume. (over the sound of my bike, which is decently loud.)

I don't know if my head phones are shot...

Try another pair


....if I've got the volume set the wrong way (the dial on the left).

try it all the way clockwise, then all the way anticlockwise


...or if I just can't hear it over the sound of my aftermarket exhaust.

Turn the bike engine off, leave the key on accessory or whatever makes the detector turn on.

Maybe I'm missing something here, but do you mean that you think the unit has a problem or just that it's not loud enough and you are thinking of a screamer? It should be easily loud enough in your headphones with the bike engine off.



I've got a honda firestorm as well as the OP. Same bike, same radar detector. You mentioned that it puts out 5 volts when triggered? So 5 volts out of the head phone jack? Could you run an LED off of that, how many milliamps do you figure it can handle?

You can not run an LED from the headphone output directly. You need an interface circuit. You could run an LED (with resistor) from the solid state relay circuit that has been shown on this thread, either with or without the piezo screamer. There are better interface circuits, but it will work.

[9rider]

Interesting read thanks for that

[notme]

Thanks to this thread, I have realized that re-purposing a smoke detector is the ideal solution to something I have been meaning to get round to for a while - a laundry flood detector!

It's easily installed, has a low battery warning, loud enough to be noticed, and CHEAP :-)

[rapid van cleef]

nt i use a standard 12 v automotive relay instead of this 4 pin relay? im not sure what the difference is? anyone help?

[rapid van cleef]

hi. well ive finally got the relay today and im stumped. the relay(5v solid state relay from jaycar)

so, as im looking at the printed markings on the front, do they correspond with the terminals that are immediatly oppositte them on the rear? thats how ive wired it. and when the ignition is switched on, the sirens goes off, no switching occurs, its just on!

Or,

Are the terminals actually the oppositte way round ,so the top left terminal which is marked pin 2 neg on the printed side corresponds with the top left pin when i turn it around? so it is in fact oppositte?

does that make sense?

thanks

[rapid van cleef]

well finaly got the correct relay and finished the screamer as per Dschubba's diagram above. had a few issues with the relay not being labelled. but it works great. i even wired in an on off switch mounted on the L/H side of the bars to turn it off in town. all home made and works a treat! now to add an LED alrt to it too.........just for the hell of it.

[hipsterdufus]

Just wired this up on wifes triple. Her bike has no protection, mine in shop, and i got stung on way home from work on hers... Blah.

Anyhow, this was simple and seems to work reliably.

Note its important that you get the SSR for a DC load Part SY4092 i tried a few others and they sometimes stayed on.

Good luck

i know this is an ancient post but wanted to thank you for posting the diagram, just made one for my escort 8500ci and it works amazingly well. i actually used a $45 floyd bell twin turbo LED/Screamer combo that is top notch.

if you are still around, can you add the switch after the fuse on the batt side? im using a lighted switch so when i wired the switch to the red wire like you suggested, the light only comes on when the radar goes off.

thanks
hipster

[BigG]

I find my ear piece works perfectly well.:yes: