ALP TX Sensors: New Tool to Defeat the DragonEye Lidar Guns

AntiLaser has just introduced a brand new laser jammer head for the ALP called the TX sensor specifically designed to offer two new capabilities:

• Improved DragonEye jamming performance.
• Ability to run 3 heads in the rear, for 6 heads total.
• Bonus: If you drive a car like a BMW with vertical grill slats, you can mount the normal ALP heads vertically.

4 TX sensors and the DragonEye Compact, photo courtesy of @BaileyAB

Overview

The DragonEye Compact is a difficult to jam police laser gun with sophisticated anti-jamming technology. Only 3 different laser jammers can jam the DragonEye today, and some jammers better than others. The three are the AntiLaser Priority, the Stinger VIP, and the Escort Max Ci & Max Ci 360. Some jammers are more effective than others, but the ALP is currently the best and can handle even the newest and most difficult versions of the DragonEye.

Jamming the DragonEye is tricky business and ALP has introduced a new TX (transmit) sensor that makes the ALP even more effective against the DragonEye.

Note: In the US, the DragonEye guns have so far been reported in DE, FL, GA, IL, KS, LA, MD, MA, MO, OH, TX, TN, & VA. In Canada they’ve been spotted in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Newfoundland and Labrador, & Nova Scotia so far.

Against normal guns, you generally need just 2 standard heads per vehicle, per side. For larger vehicles with a larger target area and/or vehicles that regularly face the DragonEye, 3 heads per side are recommended. Replacing the center head up front with the new TX head makes the ALP even more effective against the DragonEye. The ALP only supports 5 heads per side which means 3 on one side and 2 on the other. If you’d like to do 3 front and 3 rear, this new Tx head will give you the ability to use your existing ALP hardware and wiring and allow you to run 6 heads total and give you the ultimate in laser protection.

Normal ALP Sensor vs. New ALP TX Sensor

The new TX sensor is quite a bit smaller than the already small normal sensor. Check it out.

TX head on a Normal head, next to a Canadian dollar for scale, photo courtesy of @BaileyAB

Internally they’re very different as well. Behind the rounded bubble in front of the normal sensor you have 4 laser sensors, one of the reasons the ALP is so sensitive to laser. Behind the flat part you have the laser transmitter.

The TX (short for transmit) sensor is different. It doesn’t have any laser detectors at all. Instead it has not 1 but 3 laser transmitters, so you’ve got a lot more power going back out. Two of the transmitters are oriented horizontally and the other transmitted is oriented vertically.

Having two horizontal transmitters in the Tx head (the same as you’d have with two standard ALP heads) means that if you drive a car like a BMW that has vertical grill slats, you could now mount your normal ALP heads vertically in your grill. Normally this would be an issue because you’d lose horizontal jamming coverage for officers standing on the side of the road, but the two horizontal transmitters in the TX sensor make up for that.

The vertical orientation of the other transmitter in the TX head is a nice touch because it brings a number of different benefits. (Remember the LI HP heads, anyone?) If you’re not running your normal heads vertically (which is the norm and will be most people), the vertical transmitter in the TX sensor will help protect you from officers up above on overpasses. It will also help ensure you don’t get punchthroughs if you hit a pothole which could cause your car to dip down and momentarily no longer be aiming back back towards the lidar gun.

Placement

Where should you put the new TX head on your vehicle? Fortunately AntiLaser has provided a bunch of example placement locations you can check out. Here’s the general idea, plus a few examples to illustrate different options:

For the normal ALP heads, the old rules still apply. They should be mounted on the right and left sides of the vehicle, typically in the grill, no more than 24″ away from the primary target areas including the front headlights and front plate (if applicable).

The TX head should be mounted towards the center of the vehicle at least 20″ above the ground to prevent reflections off the road from coming back into the normal heads.

If you’re driving a vehicle with vertical grill slats such as a BMW, you can now mount the normal ALP heads vertically in your grill which is a more optimal location than down in the lower air intake. The TX head should be mounted horizontally somewhere near the center of the vehicle, again at least 20″ above the ground.

Finally, if you’re driving a more compact car with limited mounting locations in the rear, such as the Porsche 911 in this example, you could use just two rear heads, one normal and one TX. Place them on opposite sides of the license plate area.

(Personally I’d still feel more comfortable running 3 heads in the rear because the rear tail light area opposite the standard head is decently far away from the laser detector in the standard head. However, people have tested this setup and it’s been performing surprisingly well so our options are changing.)

Wiring

Where do you plug the different heads into the ALP CPU? The CPU only supports 5 heads, but you can plug 6 heads into it? How does it work?

Well the trick if you’re running 3 heads in the rear is to use a splitter so that the two normal heads can plug into one port (R1) while the rear TX head plugs into the other port (R2).

ALP cable splitter, photo courtesy of @sschwar2

Here’s a quick guide to the different combinations, front and rear, and where everything plugs into.

2 Normal Front Heads: F1 & F2

3 Normal Front Heads: Outer heads in F1 & F3 (doesn’t matter which) and Center head in F2

2 Front Heads, 1 TX Head: Outer heads in F1 & F3 (doesn’t matter which) and TX head in F2

2 Normal Rear Heads: R1 & R2

1 Normal Rear Head, 1 Rear TX Head: Normal in R1, TX in R2

2 Normal Rear Heads, 1 Rear TX Head: Normal heads plugged into splitter which plugs into R1, TX head in R2

GPS Antenna

If you’re using the new TX sensor, you must have the GPS antenna plugged into your ALP as well. The new TX sensor only turns on when you’re driving over 20 mph. Below 20 mph it is inactive. (This is designed for IP protection to limit competitor’s abilities to put ALP’s TX head on an oscilloscope and see how it works.)

TX Sensor box and GPS Antenna, photo courtesy of @infiniti

If you don’t already have a GPS antenna, you can buy one when you go to buy the TX sensor.

Compatibility with Older ALP’s

The TX sensor is designed to work with existing ALP hardware and cables. However, a few years ago ALP updated both their CPU and their cables/connectors. If you bought your ALP in 2015 or later, you can skip this part, but if you bought it in 2014 or earlier, read on.

First off, check your CPU version. Look underneath it and see if it says HW1 or HW2. Here’s my HW2 CPU, for example.

If you have a HW2 CPU, everything will work normally. You can plug the GPS antenna directly into the CPU or into any of the compatible RG modules.

If you have a HW1 CPU, things are a little different. Unlike with HW2, you can’t plug GPS antenna directly into the CPU. You have to use an RG (radar/GPS) module. The HW1 CPU also isn’t compatible with the RG3 module used by the Net Radar. It is compatible with the RGv2 module used by the V1, STi-R, 9500ci, and Radenso HD+ antennas. So if you don’t already have an RG module, you’ll need to buy an RGv2 module ($99).

AntiLaser is working an upgrade program for HW1 owners if you’d like to upgrade to the HW2 CPU. (This also brings some other benefits like the ability to dim your external LED and I think this’ll be a better path to take moving forward.) Normally a new CPU is $299, but they’re going to make an HW1 to HW2 update option available for $149.

The next thing is the cabling. Early ALP’s used a DIN connector where the ALP head connector just plugged into the cable. Newer ALP’s use a twist lock connector where you screw it down into place. The TX sensor and splitter are designed to use the twist lock connector. However, if you have the older DIN connector, you will need to run a new cable for the TX sensor, as well as to the splitter if you’re doing 3 rear heads.

Where to Buy

Finally, if you’ve read over everything, you know where you want to install your new TX head(s) on your vehicle, and you’re ready to upgrade your laser protection, click here to buy the TX head(s).

If you don’t have an ALP yet, and you’re ready to get one, click here to buy the AntiLaser Priority.