Problem with Valentine One radar detector in my new CT5-V

[GM766]

I just picked up my new CT5-V two days ago, after a 6-month ordeal to find a dealer within reasonable driving distance of home who could order one. I'm loving it so far, but looks like there's going to be a steep learning curve to learn how to get it set up and use all its features. I had a 175-mile drive home, and got a continuous Ka band alert to the rear on my V1 Gen 1 showing one or two bogeys the whole way home. I continued to get the same false alerts yesterday driving around town. I was running it in Advanced Logic mode, mounted low on the windshield. The manual says Ka band false alerts to the rear may be due to "satellite radio interference," and the solution is "relocate radio antenna." Obviously, that's not going to happen. I thought I'd drop an inquiry on the blog since members here are familiar with the CT5-V, while I wait on a response from V1's tech support. Has anyone else had this problem with V1 or other radar detectors? I've been driving with a radar detector for 40 years, and would feel "nekkid" without one.

 

[nordique14]

For whatever reason, the car leaks KA band on frequency 35.100
You can connect the radar to your phone using the ValentineOne app. Then set a range that excludes 35.100.

CT5-V Post in thread 'New '26 5BW: Some Annoyances'

Dec 22, 2025

you are correct in that is is a KA band the V1 has issues with. Use the V1 app and connect to your V1 via Bluetooth. Then go into the settings and set up custom frequencies to exclude 35.100. See screenshot below on how it should look. Note I do not have X band enabled as it is not used around here.

• nordique14

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[GM766]

nordique,
Thanks for the quick response. This points me in the right direction, but since I have a Gen 1 V1, I'll have to get the Bluetooth dongle to use the app. Luckily, my V1 is an ESP model, so I should be able to adjust the programming, as the pre- ESP models don't allow reprogramming via the app according to V1's web site. $50 for the dongle is much better than $500 for an upgrade to a Gen 2. I'm still going to wait on a response from V1 support, just in case they offer some type of complimentary fix.
Thanks again,
Greg

 

[GM766]

As a follow up, I never did get a reply to my inquiry to V1's support. I ordered the V1connection LE, and did the setup today. The false alert from my car is gone, and I picked up alerts where there are usually some signals from store door openers, etc., so I hope it's set up right. I didn't get any actual law enforcement alerts on the brief drive I took today, but hopefully everything is set up right. The screenshot above is from Vortex Radar's guide on programming the V1 Gen 2, I believe, which is different from the Gen 1 I have. If anyone needs it, I'm attaching the guide for the Gen 1. Thanks again for pointing me in the right direction!

 

[GM766]

The next chapter...
After I got the spurious Ka alerts eliminated, I started getting near-constant laser alerts, seemingly from the rear. I didn't want to give up laser detection completely by programming it off, especially from the front, so I used a hole punch to punch out a 4.5mm diameter piece of black masking tape and placed it over the rear-facing laser receptor. I think 5 or 5.5mm would be the perfect match to cover the little red spot, but don't have a punch that size. Anyway, it' almost invisible when you look at the detector, and solved the problem. YMMV.