I spent yesterday with MEM-TEK as he made his modifications to the ZR4 heads on my 9500ci. It took about 3 hours to make the modifications and then we tested them with a PL3 and as Truspeed.
The ZR4 heads do not have optimal placement as the Laser Interceptor heads are my primary jammers and thusly have the primo spots. Against the TS and PL3 on the front it was 100% JTG on CM and HL shots. On the rear shots the TS was able to pickup the outer edges of my tail lights (only in the first 300'0, just as they are vulnerable with the LI. ON CM shots it was JFG. The PL3 had no luck on taillights or CM.
Next weekend the tail light assemblies are coming out and getting airbrushed with Veil to eliminate this very small weak spot.
One thing we did notice was the ZR4's even protected the side marker lights on the front that occasionally get picked off even with the LI's. Those will probably get a light coat of Veil as well next weekend.
MEM-TEK's modifications have taken the ZR4's from a jammer that would have left me a little worried had I been able to use my LI's to a jammer I would be comfortable with in any situation.
More testing is coming in the next few weeks (trying to get a Stalker LZ1) against more guns and probably a much better shooter.
I will disclose one little secret regarding why I chose the ZR4's as a platform which, with modifications, potentially could perform as well as LI's. The key is the ZR4's inherent laser sensitivity. Detection signal to noise ratio is extremely important for a laser jammer to be able to effectively counter lidar guns. At SML 2008, the Blinder team requested a very long distance continuous targeting test while their car slowly crested a small hill. I piped up and requested the same test for the ZR4's on my test vehicle. I noted that the ZR4's instantly started to alert the split second that the front heads gained a line-of-site view towards the lidar gun located 2500 feet down the test course. That was amazing considering the strong atmospheric scintillation which was present above the road bed on that 100 degree afternoon. And that was what got me to thinking. I realized that all the ZR4's probably needed were some changes and tweaks for their emission sections. It was only after I put the ZR4 front head designs into CAD that I realized there there were some fundamental optical design flaws as well.
I'm looking forward to MEM-TEK's modification being realized either on a hobbyist basis (either "Open-Source" or a fee-for service/modification basis), or commercially adopted by Escort, with royalties paid to our good brother for his work!
^ When finances permit, MEM-TEK, and if you do decide to continue this work on your time, for-fee, you can be sure that I will update to the ZR4, and will also get in-line for your work!
I've always believed in supporting the efforts of our own hobbyist/enthusiast base, and will do what little I can to cheer you on!