Radar Detector Hardwire Cable Options

If you’d like to hardwire your radar detector for a professional and clean looking install, you’ve got a number of radar detector hardwire cable options. These are special cables that replace your cig. lighter cable and instead use your fuse box or some other hidden power source for power, leading to a much better looking setup.

When it comes to selecting a hardwire cable, you’ve got everything from your standard basic cable that just provides power, cables that add remote mute buttons, or even cables that plug into unique locations like your rearview mirror. Let’s take a look at what your different options are.

Note: I have tutorials available to help you install these power cables. If you go for a traditional hardwire cable, read my Radar Detector Hardwire Tutorial. If you go for a rear view mirror based hardwire cable, watch my MirrorTap Tutorial.

Radar Detector Hardwire Cable Options

Standard Cable: Power Only, $10

This is the most simple radar detector hardwire cable you can get. One end wires into your car for power, the other end plugs into your radar detector. That’s it.

This type of cable is your traditional and most popular option. It’s inexpensive, simple, and does the job with no fuss.

Compatible with: Escort, Valentine, Uniden, Radenso

Purchase the Standard Directwire Cable for $10.

Escort Directwire Smartcord: Add a Mute Button & LED’s, $35

This is the same idea as before except now also get an additional remote mute button plus alert LED’s. If you like the idea of the standard radar detector hardwire cable, but you’d like to have a convenient mute button so you don’t have to reach up and hit the mute button on your detector every time, this is a helpful option. Just install the control module somewhere within arm’s reach.

The Smartcord also has a pair of LED’s, one for power and a second that blinks when you’re getting an alert. That way even if you can’t hear your detector, you can still see the LED and get notified when you’re getting an alert.

There’s two versions of this cable with different colored LEDs. The first has a red alert light and green power light. The second has a yellow alert light and a blue power light. Otherwise they’re the same. Choose the color combo that matches your car or what you feel looks better.

Note: Though the power connector may fit other brand detectors like Uniden, the mute button and alert functionality won’t work properly. There are similar options for other brands of detectors.

Compatible with: Escort, Beltronics

Purchase the Directwire Smartcord for $35

Uniden Smart Hardwire Cord: Add Mute button and LED, $30

If you run a Uniden brand radar detector and you’d like a hardwire cord with a remote mute button and external alert LED, there is now a Uniden-specific smart hardwire cord.

The mute button lets you remotely mute your detector or manually lock out false alerts. You can also use it to change the display brightness when no alert is present.

When you get an alert, the alert LED will light up and blink. The stronger the alert, the more rapid the LED will blink, just like the cig. lighter cord that the detector comes with.

Purchase the Uniden Smart Hardwire Cord for $30

Radenso Direct Wire Power Cord

Radenso’s detectors use a variety of different power cable connectors so depending on the model you run, you’ll need a different hardwire cable.

Radenso XP, power only cable ($20)

Radenso Pro M, power only cable ($20)

Radenso DS1, power & remote mute button ($35)

Valentine 1 Direct Wire Adapter, $19

If you use a Valentine 1, it actually comes with a directwire adapter as part of the package.

This adapter has two ports, one for the V1 and another for an accessory like a concealed display.

The power cable is actually compatible with other brands of detectors too from Escort, Uniden, and Radenso and so this is what I use in my personal vehicle.

If you don’t have your direct wire adapter already or you lost your original one, you can buy a new one here for $19.

Savvy: Power for Valentine 1 from OBD-II Port, $69

Another option you have to power your V1 is Savvy. Rather than wiring into your fuse box somewhere, you can plug your V1 into your vehicle’s OBD-II port. It makes for an even easier installation, plus Savvy will be able to read your vehicle’s speed and mute your V1 when you’re traveling below a pre-set speed, effectively giving you low speed muting without requiring GPS.

You can now get this similar functionality using your phone’s GPS and running and app, but this is an alternative that doesn’t require a phone or an app.

One advantage it has is it doesn’t rely on GPS so it works even in parking decks and in tunnels, plus it works even if you don’t want to fire up your cell phone app.

Purchase Savvy here for $69.

MirrorTap: Power from Rear View Mirror, $30

If you’re hanging your radar detector next to your rearview mirror or underneath it with something like a Blendmount and you have a powered rearview mirror (autodimming, compass, garage door opener, etc.), one really convenient idea is to get a MirrorTap. It’s a short power cable designed to plug directly into your powered rearview mirror and then power your radar detector that way. No running cables through your car or messing around with the fuse box required.

Compatible with: Escort, Valentine, Uniden, Radenso

Click here to buy a MirrorTap for $30.

MirrorTap MTX: Upgraded Power Cable Tapping into RVM, $47

There’s an upgraded version of the MirrorTap that I really like called the MirrorTap MTX. It’s essentially a traditional MirrorTap with different sized swappable tips so that you can more easily find the one that best fits your RVM. It’s hard to know which size connector you need when initially buying and if you purchase the wrong size, it either won’t fit (too big) or will fall out (too small) and so you’ll have to exchange the cable altogether and try again. Having a few different sized tips available makes it so you know you’ll have the right size you need.

I’ve also found it beneficial because it’s easy to bend or break the connectors during installation, especially the smaller and thinner ones, and in case it happens (it happened to me! whoops..), you can fall back to using a different sized connector as a backup.

Additionally, when you’re probing around behind your rear view mirror with your multimeter to find where to plug in your MirrorTap, chances are your multimeter’s probes will be too big and fat to fit into the teeny connectors behind your RVM. You can use the removable tips from the MirrorTap to probe into the RVM’s power connector and then connect your multimeter to the other side of these tips (though you could do the same thing with some extra wire lying around the house) and so for the installation process, I find this power cable to be very helpful. It’s more expensive for the upgraded MTX version of the MirrorTap, but I think it provides an excellent upgrade in convenience.

Compatible with: Escort, Valentine, Uniden, Radenso

Click here to buy a MirrorTap MTX for $47.