I don't have the unit in front of me. My wife wrapped it in that funny green & red paper and stuffed it under the X-mas tree. Drat!

I don't want it rattling around in that ashtray bay. So, I'm thinking of removing the suction mount bracket that comes with the PNI Compass and using the attachment point on the back of the unit to attach one of those clear suction cups with the hook on it (that you hang the brush on in the shower). Bend the hook into an "eye", then put the PNI bolt through it. Then suction it to the floor of the ashtray bay. But I'm looking for ideas.

 

Good question, MB-BOB. Can't answer though -- I'm still waiting for mine to arrive from Heartland America . Did you end up with the Co-Pilot, or that fancier one you saw at Sharper Image?

 

I got a cheesey little "radar detector mounting bracket" from Radio Shack and stuck the compass to that with the included velcro strip. It's simply a piece of angled aluminum with 3 suction cups. I removed the ashtray insert, and slipped the whole assembly all the way back into the cavity, using the suction cups to hold it in place. It leaves enough space in front of it to accommodate a small tin of Altoids and a comb. As I mentioned earlier...I use the battery power, so no external power source was needed.

(it really 'wows' people when I press the lid and it slowly rises to reveal the compass)

 

The local Brookstone had the Co-Pilot for $100 (what a rip!, I thing HA wanted $60?), but I really wanted to have that altimeter function, so I swallowed hard, found the one Sharper Image store here in Dallas, and bought the V-6000 from Sharper Image.

Who knows, I've already driven through Loveland Pass in CO, but I could return someday. (I wonder if I'll have to take the air filter out of the Benz the way I did with the '77 Accord?) Na!

 

LOL, Rick! Shades of Bond's Aston Martin, eh? I'm right there with ya! Except...

Instead of the Altoids, I'm hoping there'll be enough room left for my "Blaster." You now, that handheld electronic toy that makes those "Laser" sounds. That way I can vent on those ricey-boy Civics and Mitsus and those fake blonde/silicone bimbos in their Bimmers...

 

I have been trying to coming up with ideas too but it seems the co-pilot will fit tightly with no extra suction cup hassle if the ashtray insert is in place AND the the gray rubber band around the unit is removed.

 

The co-pilot I saw at Brookstone had a single, half-round, vertical flange (perpendicular to horizontal when sitting the unit on a table) on back (after you remove the windshield suction mount arm). Also this flange was not in the middle of the unit for balance, but slightly toward one end. This gives it an awkward, three-toed stance, that I think will dance around in the ashtray well without something to tie it down. I don't want to cement it in place (access to battery issues)!

The part of me that should have been a mechanical engineer can't wait til Christmas so I can play!

 

So, mmutlu, you got your Co-Pilot from Heartland? When did it arrive? I'm still impatiently waiting.

 

I got mine two days ago. That was kind of a surprise that it took less time then I expected. I take my previous comments back: they don't really but kinda suck!!

I did my funny moves -turn twice..stop turn twice again, etc.- for calibration. It was fun. My only comment would be on the backlight: It's very dim. You have to be relatively close to it to see it clearly.

 

My backlight worked fine once I changed the battery. The one it came back was terrible....even cheesier than the bracket I used....hmmm, maybe that would make it LIMBURGER?

 

I was taking a vacation day today, and my Co-Pilot compass finally arrived. So, I spent about an hour trying to figure out how to get it in the ashtray space. I came up with something, but maybe I'm doing it wrong. I did remove the ashtray "insert" before I started. Rick, I'm not sure how you have room left for anything in front of the compass .

First, there's no way it will work with the supplied suction cup attachment. I did remove that, but left the "arm" still connected. Anyway, I don't see how to remove the arm except for a small phillips screw on the pivot point. The problem I had was aligning the unit properly which would allow the ashtray door to be closed. I finally rotated the arm to the "up" position (if the suction cups were there), and pressed it close to the compass body at the top. Then I could lay it into the cavity at a nice angle that coincided with the ashtray frame inside. The ashtray cover just clears the compass in this position. It actually touches a bit when about halfway closed, but not enough to get stuck. I ended up pushing the compass up against the left side of the cavity frame (along the straight edge of the compass, the right side is curved). For now, I stuck a wadded up piece of paper towel on the right side to keep the compass in place.

So, if you were to picture it, the face of the compass is about flush with the cavity frame at the front. In other "arm" positions, I could put the unit further into the cavity at a more "straight up and down" position (not as good a viewing angle), but then I had trouble closing the ashtray.

I havent' driven w/ it yet, except to drive around my cul-de-sac 4 times to calibrate it (why were the neighbors looking at me funny?). I pressed the "light" button, and I agree w/ mmutlu, the light is not very bright. It will stay on for 10, 30, 60 or 180 seconds which is selectable.

Let me know if I'm missing something.

 

If possible, could someone take a picture of their compass properly installed?

Thanks

 

<shrug> mine may be different from your's...it's a little more than a year old
You say there's an arm on the back of yours for the suction cup mount? Mine had sort of a clip...like a visor clip for a radar detector, only smaller. It held a 2 suction cup bracket in the clip. I used it that way in the Talon, which admittedly interfered with the use of the passenger side visor.

For the Benz, I removed the clip by undoing a screw on the back and twisting it out with a pair of needlenose pliers.
("no, I didn't bust it....I made a simple engineering change and modified it")

Anyway, after that, I was able to get a cheap/wide/flat/angled/bs "universal radar detector mounting bracket" from Radio Shack and bend that to a flat enough angle so that it and the compass slide into the cavity where the ashtray was. It sits at about a 30 degree angle...flatter than I'd like, but it works. The compass attaches to bracket with a 2" wide strip of velcro...and I use the cheesey bracket suction cups to secure it.

The comb slips under the compass... front to back, and the small (not the regular size...the vending machine size) altoids box fits in front of it.

 

Rick, thanks for the follow-up.

I'll have to take a couple of pictures, maybe tomorrow, and post them. Anyway, on the back of mine, there's a rounded "pivot point" that juts out from the back, about 3/4" diameter. Attached to this is a plastic "arm", at the end of which is attached a double suction cup piece. The suction cups can be removed from the arm by slightly raising a plastic clip. (Actually, I was checking this out when the darn thing fell and the cup attachment "came off"! ). It sounds like you have found a universal suction cup thing that might be less obtrusive than this one. There's a small screw holding the arm to the pivot
point, so I'm thinking I can take the arm off. Then, if I find this universal suction cup at my local Radio Shack, and attach it, it may do the trick.

 

I could not find a way to remove the arm. Just unscrewing did not seem to work for me.

 

Can someone post a picture. I am lost. I am very curious to what you guys are doing. Sounds neat.

Eric
C240

 

Yeah, I had said I would try to get some pics. Maybe tonight I can take a couple showing my "custom" installation and the back of the unit.

 

Are these the two compasses you guys are talking about:

Sharper Image Compass

HeartLand Co-pilot

 

Dede, yes, those are the models. They're made by the same company, PNI. The Co-Pilot is an earlier model, while the Sharper Image version is the latest one (PNI V6000), which explains the higher price.

I have the V6000 from Sharper Image. It came with two identical windshield mounts (each has three suction cups, I believe the Co-Pilot has two). You can see all the products from PNI at PNIcorp.com.

PNI Corporation

 

Hey, I took some pictures at lunch time and dropped them off for processing and CD-ROM'ing. I hope to post them tonight when I get home.

 

I like this PNI product: http://www.pnicorp.com/radar-laser-a...igital_compass

 

Can't wait to see them.

Eric

 

I took a couple of shots -- this one is closer than some others. Notice the space to the right of the unit. For now, I've stuffed a wadded paper towel there for stability. . As I mentioned earlier, I had to remove the suction cup piece to fit it into the cavity.

 

I removed the compass from the ashtray and placed it on the seat. You can see the large pivot on the back where the arm is attached. I've removed the suction cup part which would have been at the top of the picture (the arm has been rotated up).
I think this is where Rick's older unit is different. I don't think his has this pivot and arm, so he was able to attach a generic radar detector mount w/ velcro (tm). I haven't tried to remove the arm by removing the small screw. mmutlu has reported that he wasn't able to remove the arm (at least easily). The large gray flap to the left is the battery cover, and the small flap on the right covers the socket for the cigarette lighter adapter.

 

This one should have been a vertical shot, oh well. Shows more of the central console area.