ALP Bluetooth Module & ALPConnect App Review by Mirage

[Mirage]

ALP Bluetooth Module & ALPConnect App Review
by Mirage


So you've all seen the pictures and the videos, but how does it actually work? Well I spent some time with the ALP Bluetooth module and the ALPConnect app and decided to do a video review of the system. IMHO this is another huge leap forward on behalf of AL. The other guys better get to work as they are falling WAY behind!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wn1gDvlY48c&feature=youtu.be

As promised in the video here is the breakout board I'm using for the RJ45 connection between the Control Unit and the Bluetooth Unit.

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This is much easier though:

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Now a few things I did not cover in the video. First if you are using an iPhone you will also have GPS stored with your alerts and it will show you the MPH or KPH speed you were at when hit with the Lidar gun. Also, the settings menu also contains a Bluetooth strength menu. This can be accessed by swiping the app to the left or right.

Pros:

Visual, Voice, and directional notifications of the encounter.
PREMIUM voice alerts. Much better than other units. Very clear and pleasing alerts. (At the least the female one).
GPS speed and history of alerts.
JTK mode on the app! Super cool!
Audio can be redirected over Bluetooth to the stereo or to an external speaker for increased volume


IMHO the things that are not so good:

If you forget to connect your iPod / iPhone via Bluetooth (or if you lose connection) to the system you are NOT protected. Unlike the control unit if the Bluetooth is not connected the system is effectively OFF.
No pass through to the control unit for firmware upgrades and setup.ALP changes. In addition, some functionality of the control unit is lost as the ALPConnect app doesn't have all the settings like the control unit. Hopefully this will change in time.
The "music" portion of the alert has got to go. We don't need that! It's more important to have the Voice and a quick and/or repeating siren.
No Android version. Sorry I hate the "i" stuff.


What is hopefully coming soon:

Ability to do firmware upgrades with the Bluetooth connected.
Ability to change some of the sounds. (Music and Main Alert would be a good start)


All-in-All this is a great first pass and a huge step up from the parking switches and dials of the other systems. They seem antiquated after using the BT module.

More details can be found on my blog at http://www.miragetools.net


That is it for now. Let me know what you think...

Mirage

[BestRadarDetectors]

Thanks for the review. Next update will have an option to select a different alert sound if you dont like the musical one and will have several missing features that were programmable when using the Control module. Firmware updates will definitely work when connected to the Bluetooth module and there are several other additional improvements planned for the next update.

[JohnBoy]

Thanks dude! I already have this setup, and I was not aware of the quick "double tap" JTK. That is sweet!

[Mirage]

Thanks dude! I already have this setup, and I was not aware of the quick "double tap" JTK. That is sweet!

Honestly I discovered it by accident because I had been informed it was NOT in this release but I guess AL snuck it into production! Regardless I'm glad its there because my kill switch also kills the app as you would expect. I would much rather do everything from the app especially since I plan to do the STiR integration.

[JohnBoy]

Honestly I discovered it by accident because I had been informed it was NOT in this release but I guess AL snuck it into production! Regardless I'm glad its there because my kill switch also kills the app as you would expect. I would much rather do everything from the app especially since I plan to do the STiR integration.

Same here. Once all is done, this is simply one bad ass system :)

[max]

Nice video, very helpfull...

[dinkydi]

thx for another great review m, Alp moves onto the 21st century, wonder how long the other guys will remain in the wake, oh dont like the tom tom beats :), sooner just have the gun announcement ,

[GA Speed]

Could you use a splitter to connect both at the same time?

Sent from my Note 3

[Mirage]

Could you use a splitter to connect both at the same time?

I tried. They use a standard 8 pin RJ45 connector and I figured they might be using some sort of serial protocol, but when I tried to split the connections the Bluetooth takes over and the control unit no longer operates. I even thought maybe they were using something like a network switch and tried that and unfortunately that didn't work either. Once they get the updates working through the app it won't be necessary anymore and it can be removed, but until that time you still need it to access certain functions.

[Mirage]

I updated the main post to include the breakout board I'm using.

[JohnBoy]

Thanks again for showing the double click "JTK". I got tagged with with the "Dreaded Ally" tonight and was able to kill quickly. :)
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[Mirage]

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So it looks like you were going 51 when you were hit what was the speed limit?

[JohnBoy]

So it looks like you were going 51 when you were hit what was the speed limit?

Speed limit was 45. Funny thing is, it was Suwanee PD, and he was set up about 100 yards past a K-Band Radar Speed sign. I was already slowing down when he tagged me.

[Mirage]

Speed limit was 45. Funny thing is, it was Suwanee PD, and he was set up about 100 yards past a K-Band Radar Speed sign. I was already slowing down when he tagged me.

Sounds like a speed trap to me! :encouragement:

[GeekSpeak411]

thx for another great review m, Alp moves onto the 21st century, wonder how long the other guys will remain in the wake, oh dont like the tom tom beats :), sooner just have the gun announcement ,

Yes, I don't need any music or siren, just a nice clear voice announcement of what gun I'm being hit by would be perfect and clean. Maybe a basic alert tone mixed in between voice announcements, but that's not necessary.

Also, definitely should at LEAST have the option to work normally even if bluetooth is not connected. Maybe on the online setup page make a disclaimer that the option should only be enabled on units setup with JTK switches, but the option needs to be there.

[shanetrainST]

Yes, I don't need any music or siren, just a nice clear voice announcement of what gun I'm being hit by would be perfect and clean. Maybe a basic alert tone mixed in between voice announcements, but that's not necessary.

Also, definitely should at LEAST have the option to work normally even if bluetooth is not connected. Maybe on the online setup page make a disclaimer that the option should only be enabled on units setup with JTK switches, but the option needs to be there.

+1

Hopefully next update i wish :) as it would be a nice feature to have clear voices. How sweet would it be to make your own voice packs

[Mirage]

How sweet would it be to make your own voice packs

You will probably never have the option to completely customize the voices on the voice pack and here is why. Each alert is specifically coded to each gun and by releasing a list of voices they are in turn are also releasing what guns they support. Remember much of this stuff is a giant cat and mouse game and it's always better to keep the other guy guessing. When I did voices for Laser Interceptor they had to tell me which new voices were available and what position to code them for. It was a huge PITA because Cliff seldom wanted to release information ahead of time. The ALP alerts consists of 3 parts, a siren, music, and the actual voice alert. AL will probably give you the ability to select different sirens and repeatable music or remove them altogether, but to allow you to customize the voices could potentially leak information about the product. In addition, it would also require changes to the application security on the Apple side because now you will need to "upload" the voices and that too can be a huge PITA. AL may give you additional options someday like more vocal choices, but the voices they have now are the clearest in the industry and so good that I didn't even want to mess with them. They are of the highest quality and I applaud them on this fact!

[shanetrainST]

Thanks for clearing that up mirage, I was not referring to audio quality but more the 80's style music that follows the alarm, and that makes it not clear to the end user :) compared too the blinder and LI where the voice pack in total is 300kb in size. I could only imagine that it would output on the iPhone @ 320kbps making for some nice audio for the ALP. Also custom voices could be achieve with an import of the voice recording from the generic iPhone recorder app that come on every iPhone. Yea that would be a handy feature to turn the music off and keep siren & voice alert.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

[deano]

great review mate but I noticed you held the trigger to an alert gun ID how does it work with a quick trigger pull will it alert the gun ID

the reason im asking the 905 would just bounce twice on alert without gun ID the LI seems to cycle and tell gun ID on a quick trigger pull

I just need to know before purchasing the module

[Mirage]

Thanks for clearing that up mirage, I was not referring to audio quality but more the 80's style music that follows the alarm, and that makes it not clear to the end user :) compared too the blinder and LI where the voice pack in total is 300kb in size.

ABSOLUTELY. There is no doubt that "groovy" music has got to go!




great review mate but I noticed you held the trigger to an alert gun ID how does it work with a quick trigger pull will it alert the gun ID
the reason im asking the 905 would just bounce twice on alert without gun ID the LI seems to cycle and tell gun ID on a quick trigger pull
I just need to know before purchasing the module

When the ALP receives its first Lidar signal it alerts and does a complete alert cycle. However, if you JTK using the app it does mute first which is no big deal because you have a history of the alerts on the app as you can see from this video. If you have the timed JTK settings then you will get the alert in its entirety. (I believe in your area you have to use timed JTK)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahVqbSmuTDw&feature=youtu.be

[BestRadarDetectors]

Thanks for clearing that up mirage, I was not referring to audio quality but more the 80's style music that follows the alarm, and that makes it not clear to the end user :) compared too the blinder and LI where the voice pack in total is 300kb in size. I could only imagine that it would output on the iPhone @ 320kbps making for some nice audio for the ALP. Also custom voices could be achieve with an import of the voice recording from the generic iPhone recorder app that come on every iPhone. Yea that would be a handy feature to turn the music off and keep siren & voice alert.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

Feature to select different alert notifications is already planned. I need to get with Mirage to give them alternatives to use in the app but with the Holiday's I have not had any time but will tackle this after the holiday's are over. There will be additional voice packs in the future even with different language options but the ability to record your own will not be implemented. Everything in the AL Priority is timed perfectly and having one voice that's even a few milliseconds off from the original timed recordings could throw everything out of sync.

[BestRadarDetectors]

The next version will be to mostly to fix small issues such as displaying version number in the app, improve some connection issues, add a permanent auto reconnect in case the connection is somehow dropped, include some changed graphics, solve some voicepack discrepancies, add audio routing options, the audio changed to mixing background sound with app instead of cutting and mute button changed to direct Full mute (with stop LID) while in Laser alert so just a single tap instead of a double tap to kill.


http://youtu.be/EbBS8jCGcOw

[radargeek]

Pretty neat stuff. Makes me wish I wasn't so poor.

Maybe in a future version of the app it could have a configuration option with three choices: 1) 1st tap=mute, 2nd tap=JTK; 2) 1st tap=JTK, 2nd tap=mute; 3) 1st tap mutes and JTKs.

Another idea for a future module would be to combine the button control and the BT module into one, so you can use your phone or use the buttons to control the ALP without having to unplug and replug.

What happens if you're listening to music through your phone/iPod and the ALP alerts? Also, what happens if you're on a call?

[Mirage]

Pretty neat stuff. Makes me wish I wasn't so poor.

Maybe in a future version of the app it could have a configuration option with three choices: 1) 1st tap=mute, 2nd tap=JTK; 2) 1st tap=JTK, 2nd tap=mute; 3) 1st tap mutes and JTKs.

Another idea for a future module would be to combine the button control and the BT module into one, so you can use your phone or use the buttons to control the ALP without having to unplug and replug.

What happens if you're listening to music through your phone/iPod and the ALP alerts? Also, what happens if you're on a call?


In the upcoming release there is an option for ducking (mute other sounds and allow the ALPConnect app to broadcast alert) and an option for mix in which the two are combined. Now I'm not sure what happens if you are on a call because typically this is a separate interface to the radio and depending on the vehicle the call might always override the audio. Just something to be cautious of. Also, in the upcoming release AL has addressed the iPhone/iPod's screen off notification issue. So if you forgot to turn on your screen then it will still alert you based on your notification settings. This is great because now it will be difficult to miss an alert because of the screen being off. You do have to make sure all alerts are on in notification settings.