Beltronics E936CS User manual

with 65 Digital Voice Messages and Digital Display
Operating
instructions
for model
E936CS
TM
Ultimate Performance. Proven Technology.
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Thank you for purchasing an EXPRESS 936
Radar/Laser/Safety detector. EXPRESS 936 offers the most
advanced technology available for detecting all Radar and
Laser speed monitoring devices. In addition, EXPRESS 936
features Digital Voice, Text Message Display and the Safety
Warning System®with 60 Digital Voice messages.
To ensure maximum benefit from your new unit, please
read all instructions before operating your unit.
Remember, owning a Radar detector does not give you a
license to speed. Alerts from a Radar detector serve as an
effective reminder to check your speed. Laws vary
throughout North America governing the use of a Radar
detector. It is your responsibility to follow these laws.
Safety Warning System®(sws™)
EXPRESS 936 detects encoded signals from sws™transmitters
and provides 60 messages for:
Highway Construction/Maintenance, Highway Hazard Zones,
Weather Related Hazards, Travel Information/Convenience
and Emergency/Slow Moving Vehicles. For a complete
description of sws™audio and visual alerts, see page 18.
VG-2 Guard®Alert
EXPRESS 936 features VG-2 Guard®, to detect signals from the
Interceptor VG-2 (Radar Detector Detector).
For a complete description of the VG-2 Guard®audio/visual
alert, see page 17.
Safety Warning System®with Digital Voice Messages
Choose between Digital Voice Messages with a unique sws™
tone or sws™tone only (see page 9).
Radar/Laser Digital Voice Prompts
Choose between Radar/Laser Digital Voice prompts followed
by “beeps” or “beeps” only (see page 9).
INTRODUCTION
SELECTABLE FEATURES
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Profile of Features ➤page 4
Description of Features ➤page 5
Power Up Test Sequence ➤page 5
Tutorial Mode ➤page 5
Memory Retention of Feature Selections ➤page 6
Adjusting the Audio Level ➤page 6
DRK (Dim/Dark) Button ➤page 6
AUD (Audio Mute) Button ➤page 7
CTY (City/Highway) Button ➤page 8
Reset to Factory Settings ➤page 8
Selectable Features ➤page 9
Entering Selectable Features Mode ➤page 9
Installation ➤page 10
General Guidelines ➤page 10
Understanding Radar, Laser and sws™➤page 13
Interpretation of Alerts ➤page 14
Radar Alerts ➤page 14
Instant-On/Pulsed Radar Alert ➤page 16
Typical False Alert (Radar) ➤page 16
Laser Alerts ➤page 17
Safety Warning System®(sws™) Alerts ➤page 17
Performance Verification ➤page 19
Conditions That Affect Radar Alerts ➤page 19
Conditions That Affect Laser Alerts ➤page 19
Troubleshooting ➤page 20
Consumer Warranty ➤page 21
Service ➤page 22
Warranty Service ➤page 22
Post-Warranty Service ➤page 22
Specifications ➤page 23
Accessories ➤page 23
TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. P/V(Power/Volume) Button: pressing P/Vbriefly will turn
the unit ON. Pressing P/Va second time will bypass the
power up test sequence. Pressing P/Vand holding will change
the audio level.
2. Text Message Display: communicates all mode selections (i.e.
DIM, DARK, CITY, HIGHWAY, and AUTOMUTE) and confirms
Radar band and signal strength, presence of Laser and sws™
messages received.
3. DRK (Dim/Dark) Button: provides dim or dark settings of
the Text Display for discreet night travel. Audio alerts are not
affected.
4. AUD (Audio Mute) Button: provides automatic and manual
muting of X, K, Super Wideband Ka Radar and manual
muting of sws™alerts.
5. CTY (City/Highway) Button: minimizes unwanted X band
alerts without reducing sensitivity.
6. Antenna Opening: Radar and sws™signals are received by a
patented diecast antenna with integrated transition to
microstrip mixer.
PROFILE OF FEATURES
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7. Laser Optical Sensors: collect Laser signals from in front and
behind.
8. Audio Alert Speaker: all audible alerts and Digital Voice
Messages are emitted from this location.
9. Power Jack: using the straight or coiled cord, EXPRESS 936
operates in any vehicle with a 13.8 volt DC negative ground
system (l0.5 volt to 16 volt range).
Power-Up Test Sequence
Each time your detector is turned ON, audio and Text Messages
for Laser, Ka, K, X and Safety Warning System®(sws™) are
presented. After this sequence, the status of Selectable
Features is displayed: “SWS on”, “SWS off”, “VG-2 on”,
“VG-2 off”, “SWSvoice”, “SWSclick”, ”VOICEon”,
“VOICEoff” (see page 9). If your unit displays information
other than this standard power-up test sequence, return it to
BELTRONICS for servicing. To bypass the power-up test
sequence, press the P/Vbutton during the Power up test
sequence.
Tutorial Mode
The tutorial mode allows you to become more familiar with
all audible and visual alerts. To engage this mode, press and
hold CTY, then press AUD while the unit is OFF. The message
“TUTORIAL” appears in the display followed by the audio and
corresponding Text Message for “LASER”, “Ka AUDIO”, “K
AUDIO”, “X AUDIO”,”VG-2 Alert,” sample Radar alert (K
band signal ramping from weak to strong) and “SAFETY
WARNING SYSTEM SAMPLE ALERTS”. Three sample sws™
messages are then presented in the display along with the
corresponding Digital Voice Message:
Sample 1 “ACCIDENT AHEAD”
Sample 2 “HIGHWAY WORKCREW AHEAD”
Sample 3 “POLICE IN PURSUIT”
Anytime during Tutorial Mode (except Safety Warning System®
DESCRIPTION OF FEATURES
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sample alerts) press CTY or AUD to move forward or backward
through the alerts. During sws™sample alerts press CTY to
move forward in the sws™message list. “MSG 1”will appear
initially in the display confirming your selecion. Pressing the
AUD button allows you to listen to the sws™message while
viewing it in the display. Press the CTY button again to step to
the next message; press the AUD button to review, and so on.
This allows you to review all 60 messages.
To exit Tutorial Mode, press the P/Vbutton and your unit
will be ON and ready to receive signals.
Memory Retention of Feature Selections
Any time EXPRESS 936 is turned OFF or unplugged from the
cigarette lighter socket, all feature settings are retained in the
unit’s memory. Memory retention eliminates the need to reset
your preferred feature settings each time your unit is turned
OFF and then back ON.
Adjusting the Audio Level
Once your unit has completed the power up test sequence, the
audio level can be adjusted by holding the P/Vbutton down.
As you hear the audio level change, the display will provide a
visual reference of the audio level. To reverse the direction in
which the audio level increases/decreases, briefly release, then
hold down the P/Vbutton again.
DRK (Dim/Dark) Button
The DRK button allows selection of a dim or dark setting for the
display. To engage dim mode, press the DRK button once. A single
“beep” coupled with the brief illumination of “DIM” on the display
confirms your selection. To completely cancel the illumination of
the display during an alert, press DRK a second time. A single
“beep” coupled with the brief illumination of “DARK” in the
display confirms your selection. While in dark mode, you will
notice an “H” (highway mode) or “C” (city mode) remains dim to
confirm your unit is receiving power. To return to a full bright
setting, press the DRK button a third time; two “beeps” confirm
this selection. Use of the DRK button does not affect audio alerts.
Important—if you press the the DRK button and do not receive
audible confirmation, the audio level has been set too low.
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AUD (Audio Mute) Button
Continuous Audio Alert Pattern
Your unit has been preset at the factory to provide an X, K, Ka
or Laser audio alert and Digital Voice announcement of the
signal detected. Digital Voice prompts are provided once after
the initial audio alert. (Note: DigitalVoice can be turned OFF,
see page 9) This standard setting is often preferred when
background noise in a vehicle is loud.
Automatic Mute Alert Pattern (Radar)
To engage automatic muting, press the AUD button once when the
unit is not alarming. A single “beep” and brief presentation of
“AUTOMUTE” in the display confirms automatic mute mode has
been engaged. The alert pattern when this mode is activated
consists of several X, K, Super Wideband Ka audio alerts followed
by the Digital Voice announcement of the signal detected. After
the Digital Voice announcement, a “clicking” tone keeps you
quietly informed for as long as the signal is present. This
“clicking” becomes more rapid as the strength of the Radar signal
increases. With this mode engaged, the automatic muting will be
repeated each time a new signal is encountered. The automatic
mute mode enables you to conveniently monitor extended
encounters without having to manually mute or adjust the
volume setting. To return to the continuous audio alert pattern,
press the AUD button a second time (while the unit is not
alerting). Two “beeps” and the message “AUTOoff” confirm you
have cancelled automatic mute mode.
Manual Muting of Audio Alerts (Radar and sws™)
Regardless of the AUD mode selected (continuous or automatic
mute), the audio alerts can be completely muted by pressing
the AUD button during an alert. Once the alert has passed, me
unit will revert to the previous AUD setting.
Note—because Laser alerts are not lengthy or sustained, muting is not
required (see page 17).

CTY (City X/Highway) Button
The CTY X mode has been designed to effectively reduce
unwanted audio alerts caused by intrusion alarms, door
openers, and other devices which share X band with police
Radar—without reducing sensitivity. Signals from non-police
Radar sources are frequently encountered in urban and sub-
urban areas, making use of this mode ideal in these areas.
Pressing the CTY button once engages the CTY X mode which
is confirmed by “CITY” in the display coupled with a single
audio “beep”. Pressing the CTY twice returns you to highway
mode; “HIGHWAY” will appear in the display coupled with
two “beeps”. Once CTY X mode is engaged, weak X band
signals encountered will produce no audible alert until the
signal strength reaches a preset level. However, visual alerts
are processed the instant an X band signal is detected,
keeping you quietly informed. Since most “false” X band
signals are weak, the use of the CTY mode allows you to drive
out of their range before they reach the preset level and
trigger a full audio alert. In contrast, signals from X band
traffic Radar are generally stronger and will exceed the preset
level, causing a full X band audio alert. Activating the CTY
mode will not change Super Wideband Ka, K or instant-on X
band Radar alert patterns.
Note—the CTY mode does not change the presentation of alerts
for Laser sws™or VG-2 signals.
City ALL (X/K/Ka)
City ALL provides an alternated approach for improving X,
K and Ka band selectivity and is ideal for use in areas with a
high level of microwave transmissions which can cause
falsing on all three bands. To engage City ALL mode, press
CTY until the Display shows “CITY ALL”. Once engaged, weak
X, K or Super Wideband Ka signals encountered will provide
no audible alerts until the signal strength reaches a preset
level. Visual alerts are processed the instant an X, K or Super
Wideband Ka signal is detected, keeping you quietly
informed.
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Reset to Factory Settings
You can reset your unit to factory settings for volume, DRK, AUD,
CTY and Selectable Features. With the unit OFF, press and hold
CTY button, then press AUD and P/Vbuttons simultaneously. The
display will briefly show “RESET” and provide two “beeps”. Your
unit is now reset to its original factory settings and ready for
operation.
Safety Warning System®, vG-2 Guard®Alert, sws™Digital
Voice Messages and Radar/Laser Digital Voice prompts are
features which may be selected ON or OFF, depending upon
your preference.
Safety Warning System®(sws™)
When ON, unit will provide an alarm and text message when
signals from sws™transmitters are detected. Factory setting
is ON.
VG-2 Guard®Alert
When activated, unit will detect signals from Interceptor VG-2
transmitters. Factory setting is OFF.
Note-engage VG-2 Guard®only, in areas known to use the
Interceptor VG-2.
Safety Warning System®(sws™) with Digital Voice Messages
When “SWSvoice” is selected, unit will provide Digital Voice
announcements when swsTM transmitters are detected. Factory
setting is “SWSvoice”. When “SWSclick” is selected, Digital
Voice is replaced by “tone/clicking” only.
Radar/Laser Digital Voice prompts
When “VOICEon” is selected, unit will provide Digital Voice
prompts followed by “beeps” when X/K/Ka and Laser signals
are detected. Factory setting is ON. When “VOICEoff” is
selected unit will sound unique audio tones only.
Entering Selectable Features Mode
1. With the unit OFF, press and hold CTY button, then press the
P/Vbutton. The word “FEATURES” will appear in the
SELECTABLE FEATURES
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display and a short audible “beep” will sound indicating you
are now in the Selectable Features Mode.
2. Immediately after the “beep”, the display will show the status
of the sws™Selectable Feature: “SWS on” or “SWS off”. Press
the AUD button to select ON or OFF for this feature.
3. Pressing the CTY button moves to the next Selectable
Feature: VG-2 Guard®Alert. The display will show either “VG-2
on,” or “VG-2 off”. Press the AUD button to select ON or OFF
for this feature.
4. Pressing the CTY button again moves to the next Selectable
Feature: Replace sws™Digital Voice Messages with “beep”. The
display will show either “SWSvoice” or “SWSclick”: Press
the AUD button to select VOICE or CLICK for this feature.
5. Press the CTY button again to move to the next Selectable
Feature: Radar/Laser Digital Voice. The display will show
“VOICEon” or “VOICEoff”. Press the AUD button to select
ON or OFF for this feature.
6. Press the P/Vbutton to exit Selectable Features Mode. Two
“beeps” confirm that you have exited this mode and your unit
will be ON. “HIGHWAY”, “City X or City ALL” will be
presented in the display, based on your previous selection.
General Guidelines
Do not mount your unit directly behind windshield wipers or
mirrored sunscreens which block Radar and Laser signals
and substantially reduce warning range. Unlike “after market”
mirrored sun-screens, regular tinted glass does not affect
Radar reception. Radar signals are also reflected by the “heated
windshields” known as Instaclear®and ElectriClear®available
as an option on some vehicles. This type of windshield makes
any dash, visor or windshield mounted detector ineffective.
(If in doubt, check with an appropriate dealership to see if
this applies to your vehicle.)
Instaclear is a registered trademark of the Ford Motor Company.
ElectriClear is a registered Trademark of Libbey, Owens, Ford, and Delco-Remy.
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INSTALLATION