How to Set Up & Program Your Valentine 1 Gen 2 using V1connection on Android or iPhone

By Vortex
March 6, 2020
March 6, 2020
23 mins to read

The Valentine 1 Gen 2 (purchase here) can be programmed using the V1connection app (free) for Android or iOS. This helps you tailor your V1 based on your preferences and driving needs.

I recommend using V1connection just to program your V1 initially. It’s much better than trying to program the V1 manually. Then when driving day to day, I recommend running JBV1 (free) or Highway Radar (free) on Android, and V1Driver ($10) or V1 Companion ($10) on iOS to add a bunch of extra functionality like voice alerts, alert logging, improved false alert filtering with automatic GPS lockouts, etc.

In this article we’ll go over how to setup and configure your Valentine 1 Gen 2 radar detector using the V1connection app.

This guide was last updated in September 2024. It is current as of the September 2024 update, firmware 4.1035.

Notes for V1 Gen 1 owners:

If you’re upgrading from a V1 Gen 1 to Gen 2, there’s a couple new differences to be aware of that are different now with the Gen 2.

Custom Sweeps are now called “Custom Frequencies.”
Custom frequencies are no longer required for improved performance. There is zero impact to performance in scanning fewer frequencies or repeatedly scanning the same frequency. With the Gen 2, custom frequencies are used primarily to ignore certain frequencies.
You no longer need to enable to Euro Mode to use Custom Frequencies. You can use them in USA mode.
Euro Mode allows you to long press the mute button to enable / disable K band on the fly like before, but you can’t do that with USA mode.
Ka Guard has been removed altogether.
TMF / TMF2 / Junk K-Fighter is now known as the “K Verifier.”

Starting with V1connection

Fire up V1connection (Android or iOS) and let it find and connect to your V1. If it’s the first time you’ve connected, it’ll ask you to create a profile with your current settings. You can create multiple profiles later to quickly switch settings on the fly (ie. one profile for K band on, another for K band off) instead of manually going through the menu and changing individual settings each time.

Once connected, you’ll be at the main screen. The bluetooth icon will be blue and the logic mode you’re running on the V1 (A, l, or L) will also show up in the app in red text.

Click the hamburger icon (three blue lines) in the top left. This’ll bring up the app’s menu.

Since we’re only looking to use V1connection for programming the V1, click on the pencil and paper icon next to a profile to go in and start changing settings.

Settings

Once you’re there, under Settings, you’ll see several different submenus with options we can configure.

Note: This will look a little different on Android, but all the features are the same.

Bands

Here we can disable individual radar bands and laser detection.

Laser

This allows you to disable laser detection ahead. If you see excessive false alerts on laser and want to rely on your laser jammers for laser protection instead, you can disable laser detection.

On (default)
Off

Rear Laser

This allows you to selectively disable just laser detection from behind.

On (default)
Off

X Band

X Band is only actively used in OH & NJ and a few rural areas here and there throughout the country. Most people would be better off disabling X band detection to eliminate false alerts.

On (default)
Off

Ka Band

Ka Band is regularly used by police nationwide.

On (default)
Off

K Band

K Band is also used throughout the country as well. If you’d like to disable it because police don’t use it where you drive (lucky…), you can do so here.

On (default)
Off

Mute Control

The V1 has a few built-in muting options available, independent of the apps you can run. These options are slightly different from the V1 Gen 1.

Mute to Muted Volume

When the V1 alert gets muted, would you like the volume to drop to the secondary lower “muted” level or to totally mute the signal altogether?

On (default): Drops the volume of muted alerts to the secondary “muted” volume level
Off: Fully silences any muted alerts, independent of your secondary muted volume level

How to Set your Muted Volume Level

Press and hold either volume button on top of the V1
Press the mute button on the face of the detector while the V1 beeps (you’ll hear the volume drop)
Press and hold the top volume buttons again to adjust the muted volume level

Bogey-Lock Tone Loud After Muting

When the V1 detects an additional signal (bogey) while alerting to a previous signal, it’ll quickly give you a new bogey tone. If the first alert is being muted, you can choose if you want the new bogey alert tone to alert at normal volume or also at the muted volume.

I’d personally recommend turning this off. It helps keep the detector quieter in shopping centers where you’re picking up multiple different door openers simultaneously.

On (default): New bogey tones play at normal loud volume
Off: New bogey tones play at muted volume

Mute Rear X & K Alerts

Automatically mute X and K band alerts coming from behind you where they’re likely less of a threat.

On
Off (default)

Note: This filter only applies when running in Logic or Advanced Logic modes.

Special

Here you’ll find some additional settings that don’t necessarily fall into the other categories.

Valentine One Mode

The V1 has 3 different logic modes that adjust how the V1 alerts you to signals it thinks are potentially false alerts on X and K band.

All Bogies

All bogies (signals) will be reported at normal volume. It’s up to you (or your third party app) to determine what signals are real or not.

When using “All Bogies” mode, you’ll see an “A” in the V1’s display.

Logic

Weak X and K band alerts will be visually displayed like normal, but initially audibly muted. If they get stronger, the audio will return back to normal.

When using “Logic” mode, you’ll see a little “l” in the V1’s display.

Advanced Logic

The V1 will analyze X and K band alerts and if it determines them to be non-threatening, the signals won’t be reported visually or audibly at all. Extremely strong signals will always be alerted to. Valentine says this is particularly useful in metro areas. Instant on radar will also punch through as well.

I’m personally not super clear on how the V1 decides what is real or what is fake so to me the specific details are still a little bit of “V1 voodoo.” 😀

When using “Advanced Logic” mode, you’ll see a big “L” in the V1’s display.

Euro Mode

This sets the V1 to detect the frequencies used in Europe instead of North America. It also enables the ability to detect Ku band.

USA (default)
Euro

Note: When Euro Mode is activated, you no longer can use the three logic modes. Instead, you’ll see a big “U” on the V1’s display. Press and hold the mute button to disable K band and the display will change to a small “u.” To reactivate K band, press and hold the mute button and the V1 will switch to a big “U” again.

K Verifier

This is the K band filter used to filter out many false alerts such as blind spot monitoring (BSM) falses from nearby cars.

Previous versions of the V1 called this filter TMF (traffic monitor filter), TMF2, or Junk-K Fighter. It’s now known as “K Verifier.”

On (default)
Off

Dark Mode

Disable the V1’s display completely. You’ll still be able to hear alerts normally and see the alerts on your phone’s screen, but the V1’s display will be off both in standby and when alerting to a signal. This can be handy if you don’t want other people to see your V1 lighting up.

On
Off (default)

Alert Persistence

When an alert disappears from the V1, a grayed out version of the alert can remain on the phone’s display in V1connection for a few sec before disappearing altogether. This has no effect on alerts on the V1 itself.

On (default)
Off

Ka Always Radar Priority

By default the V1 prioritizes the strongest (and thus likely closest) signal, regardless of what band it is. This is helpful in areas where you have a lot of both K and Ka band, for example.

If you prefer to always have Ka band alerts be prioritized, for example if you’re in an area with very little K band in use by police and so you want to get immediately alerted to weak Ka blips even as you’re passing a strong K band speed sign, you can prioritize Ka band alerts over X and K band, regardless of how strong the different signals are.

On
Off (default)

Fast Laser Detection

Certain police lidar guns like the LTI TruSpeed S have an extremely fast pulse rate. This setting specifically enables detection of guns like the TSS, but it comes at the expense of introducing some additional false alerts to other laser transmitters that also transmit with fast pulse rates.

On (default)
Off

Ka Sensitivity

Over the years Valentine has experimented with different Ka sensitivity levels to give us longer range, but the extreme sensitivity can sometimes come at the expense of added false alerts. Now we have the option to choose just how sensitive we want the V1 to be on Ka. This setting does not adjust any Ka filtering options. It’s purely a sensitivity toggle.

Full (Default) (Maximum Ka sensitivity for the longest range possible)
Original (When the V1 Gen2 first launched, this was its original Ka sensitivity)
Relaxed (Reduced sensitivity)

Startup Sequence

If you’d like a quick and silent startup, you can disable the full startup sequence.

Here’s a look at the normal full startup sequence, as well as the silent startup.

Resting Display

If you’d like your display to be more stealthy at idle, instead of using the dark mode option which fully disables the V1’s display, you can now disable the resting display option instead. This will keep the display mostly off at idle, with the exception of a blinking red dot on screen to let you know the detector is still working normally.

When the V1 detects a signal, it will display and alert normally, then go black to the blinking dot. Here’s a quick video demo:

I find the blinking dot to be a bit distracting, but it works if you’re running the V1 app-less. If you’re running with an app, there are better options IMO. For example, I use JBV1 and have it keep the display off at idle, and only have the solid blue Bluetooth indicator lit up.

Additionally, I only have the V1’s display turn on when I get an unmuted signal. That way the detector (with the app’s low speed muting) stays dark and chilled out when I’m in a shopping center parking lot, for example, and I don’t get a bunch of blinking lights and arrows everywhere.

If you’re running app-less and want a detector that’s effectively dark at idle, but still lights up for alerts, this setting could work.

BSM Plus

If you run the detector in All Bogies mode (A mode), but you want some additional BSM filtering for your GM, Mazda, and Honda/Acura vehicles nearby, you can enable the BSM Plus setting. This will apply the Advanced Logic (Big L mode) filtering to just the very specific frequency ranges where those vehicles transmit, while still giving you maximum performance on the other K band frequency ranges where BSM falses are less likely.

This is an intermediate option between All Bogies (A mode) and full Advanced Logic (Big L mode) across all of K band.

If you’re familiar with K Blocks and K Notches from other brands of detectors, this is sort of similar, with the exception of Advanced Logic applying more sophisticated logic and filtering compared to the simplistic K Block filters that reduce the detector’s sensitivity, mute, or altogether block signals within common BSM frequency ranges.

SAVVY Settings

SAVVY is a $69 accessory for the V1. It allows you to accomplish low speed muting without relying on a phone’s GPS and an app. SAVVY plugs into your vehicle’s OBD-II port and measures your speed that way.

This section of the app allows you to add some additional functionality and override some Savvy options.

SAVVY Unmute

When you drive faster than the speed threshold, you can have the V1 resume alerting to signals that Savvy was previously muting at lower speeds.

On (default)
Off

Override SAVVY Thumbwheel

If you’d like to change the Savvy low speed muting threshold without reaching down to your OBD-II port, you can change the setting in the app and have it override what speed Savvy is physically set to.

On
Off (default)

Current SAVVY Setting

If you’re overriding the speed set by Savvy’s thumbwheel, you can choose a new speed that the V1’s signals will be muted under.

Custom Frequencies

This is the new replacement to “Custom Sweeps” from the V1 Gen 1.

Unlike with Custom Sweeps, with Custom Frequencies there is zero improvement to performance by scanning fewer frequencies or scanning the same frequencies multiple times. This is only here to help you choose which frequencies you don’t want the detector to alert you to, especially if you experience false alerts on certain non-police frequency ranges.

Note: Like with the V1 Gen 1, 33.8 detection can not be disabled with Custom Frequencies due to the way the V1 has automatic POP detection built-in.

USA Mode

In USA mode, the detector by default scans all of K band from 23.910 – 24.250 GHz. It also scans all of Ka from 33.4 – 36 GHz.

If you’d like to limit the frequency ranges the detector alerts to, effectively eliminating any alerts in frequency ranges where you’ll only see false alerts, you can use custom frequencies and choose which frequency ranges that the detector will alert to.

When you enable CF’s, you’ll see a little red dot next to the A/l/L on screen.

Euro Mode

If you enable Euro Mode, by default it also scans all of K band, but it modifies which Ka frequencies it scans for, focusing in on the frequencies used in Europe.

33.905 – 34.112
34.186 – 34.480
34.569 – 34.657
35.462 – 35.535

I don’t live and drive in Europe and can’t confirm these are the optimal settings for European drivers, but you always have the ability to customize these settings if you want.

In-the-Box Options

Boxes allow you to set certain frequency ranges called “boxes” and then change how the detector alerts you to signals inside or outside of the boxes.

Unlike custom frequencies which allow you to disable alerts in certain frequency ranges altogether (visually and audibly), boxes allow you to selectively mute or unmute signals based on their frequency range.

Anything inside the box is a high priority signal and will alert while anything outside of the box is more likely to be a false alert and thus will be muted.

For example. you could use this to have the detector scan for all of Ka band and visually alert you to everything it sees, but have boxes configured to only audibly alert to Ka frequencies that are more likely to be coming from police radar guns.

Box

Select the frequency ranges that you want the detector to definitely alert you to.

Out-of-the-Box Muting

Mute (but still display) any signals outside of the frequency ranges of the boxes.

In-the-Box Unmuting

Have the detector unmute signals in a certain frequency range. This is useful for any frequency signals with a high likelihood of being a threat.

For further discussion, here is an excellent article about custom frequencies & boxes.

Driving with Other V1 Apps

Now when you’re running the V1 day to day, I don’t actually recommend running V1connection since it has a pretty limited feature set.

Instead I’d recommend running JBV1 (free) or Highway Radar (free) on Android, and V1Driver ($10) or V1 Companion ($10) on iOS. All these apps add a bunch of other additional functionality such as automatic GPS lockouts which allow the V1 to learn and filter out stationary false alerts from speed signs and automatic door openers that you drive past regularly.

Note: When using multiple apps, make sure to disconnect the first app and close it before switching to another app. The V1 can only be connected with one app at a time. If one app is still connected, even in the background, it will prevent you from connecting with the second app.

V1 Gen 2 General Recommended Settings

Out of the box, there’s not a ton of changes you’ll need to make. However, there are a few changes I’d generally recommend to help quiet down false alerts. Please consider them as a starting point and then customize based on your personal needs and preferences.

I’ll put a star* by any setting that I’m changing from default.