Escort PASSPORT 7500 User Manual

PASSPORT 7500 Radar • Laser • Safety Detector

Quick Reference Guide 2-3

Installation 4-5

• Power Connection 4

• Mounting Location 4

• Windshield Mount 5

Controls and Features 6-9

• Power and volume control 6

• Power-on indication 6

• AutoMute 6

• Mute 6

• Auto / Highway / City Switch 6

• Dim / Dark Switch 7

• Dark Mode 7

EZ Programming 10-14

• How to use EZ Programming 10

• Example of Programming 10

• Overview of Programming 11

• Details of Programming 12-14

Technical Details 15-21

• Specifications 15

• Interpreting Alerts 16-17

• How Radar Works 18

• How Laser Works 19

• How Safety Radar Works 20-21

Service 22-25

• Troubleshooting 22-23

• Audible Alerts 7

• Signal Strength Meter 8

• ExpertMeter 8-9

• Service 24

• Warranty 25

• Accessories 25

1

Quick Reference Guide

To begin using your Passport,
just follow these simple steps

1

Plug the small end of the power cord
into the side jack, and plug the large
end of the power cord into your car’s
lighter socket.

2

Mount your Passport on the windshield
using the windshield mount.

3

Rotate the volume thumbwheel on
Passport’s left side to turn Passport
on and adjust the volume.

Please read the manual to fully understand
Passport’s operation and features.

EasyMount Slot

Insert Passport’s adjustable Windshield
mount into this slot. Pg 4-5

EasyMount Button

Press and slide the Windshield mount
to one of its four positions. Pg 5

AutoMute

Passport’s patented AutoMute auto­matically reduces the volume level of
the audio alert. Pg 6. If you prefer, you
can turn AutoMute off. Pg 10

Power Jack

Plug power cord or optional SmartCord
into this connector. Pg 4, 8, 25

Power/Volume Control

Rotate the thumbwheel to turn Passport
on and set the volume.

City Button

Switches between AutoSensitivity,
City, and Highway settings. In general,
we recommend the Auto mode. Pg 6

2

Quick Reference Guide

Radar Antenna and Laser Lens

The back of your Passport should have
a clear view of the road ahead. For
best performance, do not mount Pass­port directly behind windshield wipers
or tinted areas. Pg 4

Dim Button

Press to adjust display brightness. There
are three brightness settings, plus Dark
Mode. Pg 7

In the Dark Mode, the power-on
indication will be changed to AD, HD,
or CD (indicating Auto, Highway, or
City Dark). In the Dark Mode, Passport’s
meter will not display during an alert,
only the audio will alert you. Pg 7

EZ Programming

Passport is ready to go– just plug it in
and turn it on. But you can also easily
change 10 features for your prefer­ences. Press both top buttons to enter
the Program Mode, then easily Review
or Change your settings. Pg 10-14

Mute Button

Briefly press this button (next to the
display) to silence the audio for
a specific alert. (The audio will alert
you to the next encounter.) Pg 6

Matrix Display

Passport’s display will show “Highway”,
“Auto,” or “City” as its power-on indica­tion. Pg 6. If you prefer, you can choose
other power-on indications. Pg 10-12

During an alert, the display will indi­cate radar band, and a precise bar
graph of signal strength. Pg 8

Note: in the Dark Mode the display
will not light during an alert. Pg 7

You can program Passport for the
ExpertMeter, which displays up to 8
radar signals at once. Pg 9

The display can also show Safety
Radar text messages. Pg 20-21

3

Power Connection and Mounting Location

Power Connection

To power Passport, plug the small end of
the supplied coiled power cord into the
telephone-type power jack on Passport's
left side, and plug the lighter adapter into
your vehicle's lighter socket or accessory
socket.

Passport operates on 12 volts DC negative
ground only. The lighter plug provided is
standard size and will work in most ve­hicles. Of course, your lighter socket must
be clean and properly connected for proper
operation.

Note: depending on your vehicle, the lighter
socket power may either be continuously
on, or it may be switched on and off with
your ignition switch.

Passport’s standard lighter adapter has an
integral fuseholder. If it is ever necessary to
replace the fuse, simply unscrew the tip of
the lighter plug and replace the fuse with
an identical 2 amp fuse.

Optional power cords

See the Accessories section for details on
our new optional SmartCord MuteDisplay
cord. Both a plug-in version and a direct­wire version are available.

Mounting Location

WARNING: ESCORT cannot anticipate the
many ways Passport can be mounted. It is
important that you mount Passport where
it will not impair your view nor present a
hazard in case of an accident.

Where to mount Passport

For optimum detection performance, we
recommend the following:

•

Using the Windshield Mount, mount
Passport relatively level and a few inches
above the dashboard– high enough on your
front windshield to provide a clear view of
the road from the front and rear.

•

Mount Passport away from windshield
wipers, other solid objects, and heavily
tinted areas that might obstruct the radar
antenna or laser lens.

4

Windshield Mount

Windshield Mount

Passport’s EasyMount windshield bracket
is designed for unobtrusive and hassle-free
mounting.

1 Insert each suction cup into large end
of bracket hole and rotate cup outward,
locking into place. A spare set of suction
cups is included for your convenience.
Save them for future use.

2 Depress the adjustment button on the
top of Passport (by the word “ESCORT”)
and slide the EasyMount bracket into the
slot until mount is locked into the position
which best fits the angle of your wind­shield (there are four settings available).
For extremely horizontal or extremely
sloped windshields, the EasyMount bracket
can be bent.

3 Mount Passport on your windshield.
Using the EasyMount adjustment button,
slide Passport forward or backward to a
horizontal position.

To ensure that the suction cups adhere to
the windshield firmly, be sure to keep both
your windshield and the suction cups clean.

When adjusted properly to minimize bounc­ing, the back top edge of Passport should
rest solidly against your windshield.

Caution!

A few vehicles (including some Porsche
944's) have windshields with a soft “anti­lacerative” coating on the inside surface.
Use of suction cups will permanently mar
this coating. Consult your dealership or the
vehicle’s owner’s manual to determine if
your windshield has this coating.

User’s Tip

You can leave the EasyMount bracket in
place on your windshield, and easily re­move Passport by pressing the adjustment
button and sliding Passport off the mount.
Again, be sure to position the bracket where
it won’t present a hazard in the event of an
accident.

5

Controls and Features

Power and volume control

To turn Passport on and adjust the alert
tone volume level, rotate the thumbwheel
on Passport's left side. Turn the control
away from you to increase the audio vol­ume. When you turn Passport on, it goes
through a sequence of alerts.

If you prefer, you may program your
Passport for a shorter power-on sequence.
See the EZ Programming section for details.

Power-on indication

After Passport's start-up sequence is com­plete, the matrix display will show “High­way”, “City”, or “Auto” to show which
operation mode is selected.

If you prefer, you can select alternate
power-on displays. See the EZ Program­ming section for details.

AutoMute

Your Passport has our patented AutoMute
feature. After Passport alerts you to a radar
encounter at the full volume, it automati­cally mutes the volume
This keeps you informed without the an­noyance of a continuous full-volume alert.

If you prefer, you can turn the
AutoMute feature off. See the EZ Program­ming section for details.

to a lower level.

Mute

The Mute button, located on Passport’s
front panel, allows you to
the audio alert during a radar encounter.

To mute the audio for a single specific
signal, briefly press the Mute Button. After
that radar encounter has passed, the mute
will automatically reset and the audio
alert you to the next encounter.

totally silence

Auto / Highway / City Switch

The City button selects Passport’s sensitiv­ity mode. We recommend the “Auto”
(AutoSensitivity) mode for most driving.

Passport’s new AutoSensitivity mode
provides long-range warning, with mini­mum false alarms. In this mode, Passport’s
internal computer continuously analyzes
all incoming signals and intelligently ad­justs the sensitivity circuits.

You can also select conventional “High­way” and “City” modes. When driving in
urban areas where annoying X-band intru­sion alarms and door openers are common,
City Mode can be engaged to lower X-band
sensitivity and reduce X-band alerts. Full
sensitivity is maintained on all other bands.
You can customize Passport’s City mode
sensitivity. See the EZ Programming sec­tion for details.

will

6

Controls and Features

Dim / Dark Switch

Passport’s Dim button selects the bright­ness of Passport’s display. There are four
settings: Maximum, Medium, Minimum, and
Dark. Press the Dim button to select your
preferred brightness.

Each time you turn Passport on, it
automatically selects the brightness setting
you last used.

If you prefer, you can have Passport
always turn on at a specific brightness. See
the EZ Programming section for details.

Dark Mode

When you select the Dark mode with the
Dim switch, Passport changes to a very
inconspicuous power-on indication: a very
dim “AD”, “HD”, or “CD”. (In this display,
the A, H, or C indicates Auto, Highway, or
City, and the D indicating Dark.)

When Passport is in the Dark Mode,
the display will not show visual alerts when
Passport detects signals. Only the audible
alert will tell you of detected signals.

If you prefer, you can have Passport’s
display totally dark when you are in the
Dark mode. (This is particularly useful when
you have the optional SmartCord
MuteDisplay; a lighter cord with power-on
light, alert light, and a mute button.) See
the EZ Programming section for details.

Audible Alerts

For Radar signals:

Passport uses a geiger-counter-like
sound to indicate the signal strength and
type of radar signal being encountered.

When you encounter radar, a distinct
Audible Alert will sound and occur faster as
the signal gets stronger. When the signal is
very strong, the Audible Alerts will blend
into a solid tone. This allows you to judge
the distance from the signal source with­out taking your eyes from the road.

Each band has a distinct tone for easy
identification. X-band = beep tone, K-band
= raspy brap tone, Ka-band = double-brap
tone.
For Laser signals:

Since Laser signals are a possible threat
no matter how weak, Passport alerts you to
all laser signals with a full laser alert.
For Safety signals:

If you have turned on the SWS and
Safety Alert detection in Passport’s pro­gramming, Passport will alert you to these
signals with a double-beep tone, and a
corresponding text message. A complete
listing of the text messages is on page 21.

If you haven’t programmed your Pass­port to decode the safety signals (see pages
10, 14, 21), it will still display them as
strong K-band radar signals.

7

Controls and Indicators

Power Connector

Passport’s new power jack uses a tele­phone-type connector. This new 4-con­ductor connector works with the included
coiled cord, and with our optional new
SmartCord MuteDisplay.

The SmartCord is a special power cord
that has a power-on indicator, a bright alert
light that warns of radar or laser, and a
convenient mute button right on the plug.

It’s the perfect addition for any car
where reaching the detector mute button
on the windshield is a stretch. And for
discreet night driving, put Passport in the
Dark Mode, and use the SmartCord for your
visual alerts. Other drivers won’t know you
have a detector.

Two versions are available: A
SmartCord that plugs into your lighter
socket and has a coiled cord, and a Direct­wire SmartCord module that you wire into
your electrical system, with an 8 foot straight
cord to route to your Passport.

For more information or to order, call
us toll-free at 1-800-433-3487.

Signal Strength Meter

Passport’s new matrix display consists of
280 individual LED’s, to provide an intui­tive ultra-bright display of signal strength
and text messages.

When Passport detects radar, it dis­plays the band of the radar (X, K, or Ka),
and a precise bar graph of signal strength.

When Passport detects laser, the dis­play will show “LASER.”

NOTE: If you are operating Passport in
the Dark Mode, the display will not light
when a signal is detected- only the audio
will alert you.

ExpertMeter

Passport 7500’s new ExpertMeter op­tion is an advanced display for experi­enced detector users. Please use Pass-

port for a few weeks to get familiar with its
other features

To use the ExpertMeter instead of
the bar graph signal strength meter,
you must select ExpertMeter in Pass­port’s EZ Programming (see pg 10-12).

Passport’s standard signal strength
meter only displays information about a
single radar signal. If there are multiple
signals present, Passport’s internal computer
determines which is the most important
threat to show on the bar graph meter.

before using ExpertMeter.

8