Cobra PRO9680 Service Manual

Important Compass Information

Your Detector

Calibrating Your Compass

The compass in your radar detector must be calibrated before you use it to give accurate directions.
In order to determine the direction, the compass detects the weak magnetic field of the Earth, but all
vehicles also produce many different magnetic fields that will confuse the compass.

These magnetic fields are produced by audio speakers and other electronics within your vehicle.
Calibration allows the compass electronics to measure and store information about the magnetic
fields from your vehicle so that it can then ignore them!

For The PRO 9680

Select/Dim

Button
Program/Mute

Button

Set/City
Button

To Calibrate The Compass

Before calibrating compass, select the location where the detector will be mounted.

Enter the EasySet™Programming Menu by
pressing and holding the Program/Mute button

Press and release the Select/Dim button

Tone

Visual Display

None None
None Set Compass

until you see Set Compass displayed
Press and release the Set/City button One (1) beep Drive in 2 circles
Drive your vehicle in two (2) complete circles* None None
Press the Set/City button again Three (3) beeps Compass Set!

* Drive your vehicle in two (2) complete circles. A large parking lot is the most convenient place to do this. Please be careful

when making the circles and watch for other traffic. It does not matter what direction your vehicle is pointing when you
start the circles, which direction you go to make the circles, and it does not have to be exactly two (2) circles. You do
NOT have to make perfect circles. You can drive in any pattern, as long as you make two (2) complete turns. Four (4)
three-point turns, two (2) small squares, or any two (2) complete loops will work as well as two (2) circles. It does not
matter what size the circles are, if your speed is constant, or how fast you make the circles [but less than two (2) minutes].

Will I need to calibrate the compass every time I use my radar detector?

No. The compass electronics holds the information about the magnetic fields made by your vehicle.
However, for best results, you should mount the detector in exactly the same location every time you
use it. When you remove the detector from your windshield, it is best to leave the mounting bracket on
your windshield so that when you replace the detector it is mounted, again, in exactly the same place.
If you decide to relocate your detector to a different place (either on the windshield or on the dash),
it is best to calibrate the compass again.

My compass sometimes seems to give a wrong direction – what is wrong?

If your compass is unable to detect the magnetic field of the Earth (used to determine the direction),
it cannot give the correct reading. This may happen if you are under a bridge, inside a parking garage,
or inside any enclosure or building that is constructed with metal framework. Other vehicles with a lot
of metal may also confuse your compass so that it cannot give accurate readings. This may happen if
you are next to a large tractor trailer, truck or train. Your compass will work again correctly as soon
as you get away from these locations. There is no need to calibrate your compass again after this.

Printed in China

Part No. 480-154-P