S211 additional equipment by Q-Branch?

[corned]

My S211 has been adorned with extra equipment ever since I got it. The question is - what is it, and can I make use of it?

Firstly, the mysterious 'pistol' protruding from the lower front valance...

I am guessing that the following subject matter is related to this piece of kit - a toggle switch mounted under the dash next to the bonnet release.

Secondly, there is a mounting, wired in and everything, for something in the windscreen. It appears to be missing a head unit of some sort?

I have also traced the wiring to this:

... which looks exactly like a Distronic sensor. Mounted in the same place too...

My Googling has drawn a blank apart from the pistol thingie, which appears to be a laser entry device - say for a set of gates or a barrier control system.

The second set of kit I guess is a radar detection system, but why leave those bits in the car and not the header unit (or whatever clips onto that bracket)?

Answers on a postcard, please.

 

[Sp!ke]

The first one looks like a 12V supply point, often used by recovery vehicles for jump starting as in the picture below.

I suspect yours was used for easy charging... maybe for extended non use or to power a heater or something in winter whilst parked.

Not sure what the other ones are.

 

[whitenemesis]

PM me your VIN and I'll get the datacard, might shed some light?

 

[Sp!ke]

None of it looks OEM so I'd be surprised if its on the data card.

 

[corned]

WN - PM sent, but I suspect Spike may be right. It is my belief that they are likely to be aftermarket additions. But no harm in looking...

Cheers,

Corned

 

[WLeg]

I suspect it is some kind of laser/radar diffuser, which once it detects XX frequency of laser light, strobes back another, thus blocking it. It might be used for opening a garage door, or blocking police pointing a laser gun at you. It could be a K40 type system.....

 

[mwstewart]

Looks like a laser jammer ('garage door opener') to me.

 

[SilverSaloon]

yeah i'd 2nd the laser jammer theory. i'd rip it all out, stick it on ebay and forget it.

alternativy find some model numbers from the remaining kit and try to get the head unit and use it. (if its still legal in the UK now?)

 

[whitenemesis]

WN - PM sent, but I suspect Spike may be right. It is my belief that they are likely to be aftermarket additions. But no harm in looking...

Cheers,

Corned

Datacard generated, PM sent, Nothing unusual..

 

[corned]

Laser jammer? Cool!

Errr... Hmmmm... I mean...

Garage Door Opener? Cool!



The dashboard kit is completely anonymous, so I reckon you're right and I should take it all out. I did email a company which looked like it sold similar equipment, but I never received a response.

I'm not one for needing this sort of kit anyway, so Ebay sounds a good idea!

 

[corned]

Forgot to say - I like the thread tags...

 

[BTB 500]

It's a laser jammer. You can see "Target" written on the emitter ... that's a brand:

Target LRC100 laser jammer

 

[corned]

Hmmm. This explains why it points not so much to the front, but seriously to the n/s. It is almost as if it points to where, say, a traffic policeman might be standing on or near the kerb, holding a speed gun...

Methinks the good Dr. Prev. Owner liked to see some big numbers on the dash.

 

[richard]

The thing on the windscreen is for the slightly older 'Road Pilot" which is a GPS speed camara "detector" that can optionally have laser and radar pickups with it

The pickup on the front (where distronic goes) is the optional radar pickup for it

RoadPilot - Home

It is the original 'RoadPilot' (rather than the smaller micro or microgo, but has some extra logging functionality that is nice)

Here is one on eBay

Morpheous Roadpilot speed camera / radar warning unit on eBay (end time 01-Oct-09 14:13:44 BST)

You need to buy an annual or lifetime subscription for the database updates

Its a nice device and the (UK !) company was one of the first to do GPS speed camera databases (made in a very strong box for motorbikes initially)

Richard

 

[BTB 500]

The thing on the windscreen is for the slightly older 'Road Pilot" which is a GPS speed camara "detector" that can optionally have laser and radar pickups with it

The pickup on the front (where distronic goes) is the optional radar pickup for it

Was that made by Target? You can see the label on it.

 

[richard]

Was that made by Target? You can see the label on it.

The black thing (not the Target thing) is the radar pickup OP says "which looks exactly like a Distronic sensor"

I have assumed the Target thing is the laser jammer and the switch inside the car switches it off when you see a police car , since police don't really like them at all !!!

R

 

[corned]

Thanks, Richard. Now I have seen that ebay link you posted, I think it may have raised a further question. There is a small square-ish device mounted in the bottom of my windscreen on the outside, which I took to be the COMAND GPS antenna. Now I'm not so sure, as I can clearly see something very similar in that ebay photo.

Where would the pukka COMAND antenna be?

 

[richard]

Thanks, Richard. Now I have seen that ebay link you posted, I think it may have raised a further question. There is a small square-ish device mounted in the bottom of my windscreen on the outside, which I took to be the COMAND GPS antenna. Now I'm not so sure, as I can clearly see something very similar in that ebay photo.

Where would the pukka COMAND antenna be?

Yes thats the GPS antenna for the Roadpilot. I think the real one is on the roof at back of car (if it has the wedge aerial thing on it) or in the top of the tailgate (can't quite remember on the S211) - unless COMAND is a retrofit then it will probably be above the instrument cluster on the S211 or under rear parcel shelf on the W211

Richard

 

[BIG Sean]

Forgot to say - I like the thread tags...

How are these generated??? Some of these phrases aren't mentioned

Shatners bassoon is the area of brain damaged by Cake - the new drug from Czechoslavakia[sp?] according to Noel Edmonds

 

[corned]

Cake was a bogus creation by Chris Morris if I recall correctly.