Autocom bike to bike, losing sentences?

[KDeline]

I have been dealing with this for years and am curious if this happens to everyone. I lose words and sometime a whole sentence when talking bike to bike. I have tried all kinds of things, I understand radio disipline. We both use the PTT because VOX is just a pain. Both my wife and I will miss words. An example is I will just here a second of her carrior wave, ask if she said something and she will have said a whole sentence. She will sometimes say "Thanks for telling me we were turning", and I know the radio was on since I wait to here the transmission static before I talk to her. So my long winded question is does this happen to everyone that uses the Autocom or maybe even just a radio? Again we are being very careful to make sure we are pushing the button and waiting a few seconds before we talk.

[ShovelStrokeEd]

Long, long years behind a microphone.

On almost every radio there is a delay, some longer than others, between the time the mike is keyed and the actual transmission begins. Vox systems can be worse as there are usually adjustments for both sensitivity and duration.

 

Try pausing a couple of seconds before speaking after keying your PTT button. Always wait a second or so after the other party finishes speaking before keying your own mike as well as the same delay can effect reception.

 

The problem probably isn't in your Autocomm, I think they are full duplex, but maybe not.

[bobbybob]

I have been dealing with this for years and am curious if this happens to everyone. I lose words and sometime a whole sentence when talking bike to bike. I have tried all kinds of things, I understand radio disipline. We both use the PTT because VOX is just a pain. Both my wife and I will miss words. An example is I will just here a second of her carrior wave, ask if she said something and she will have said a whole sentence. She will sometimes say "Thanks for telling me we were turning", and I know the radio was on since I wait to here the transmission static before I talk to her. So my long winded question is does this happen to everyone that uses the Autocom or maybe even just a radio? Again we are being very careful to make sure we are pushing the button and waiting a few seconds before we talk.

 

Everything you stated happens to my wife and I also. I believe it is due to the PTT switch from Autocom not making good contact every time, unless you *judiciously* press it very firmly. When it happens, we both make an extra effort for a while and the problem goes away. When we get slack, it returns. I wish they would re-vamp that switch and make it a positive detent that really works *all* the time!

[decorbin]

I think Bob is on the mark. There is a slight delay with autocoms which may cause you to lose the start of a transmission, but not a whole sentence. Some have replaced the Autocom PTT with a momentary switch that works better. If you do a search here, you should find a couple threads discussing just this.

[Ken H.]

Start every sentence with, “Breaker, breaker good buddy...”

[KDeline]

Start every sentence with, “Breaker, breaker good buddy...”

 

Yea, Kates's gettihg tired of yelling "HEY are you ignoring me again?!"

[bmwdave152]

I've never had much luck with my Autocom. It's become more trouble than it is worth.

I am going to try another system.

[TJRL]

If your Autocom is not working I would suggest taking it to a dealer or emailing Autocom in the UK for support. Their product is not cheap but I have not found anything better.

 

I have been using Autocom products since 1993 and normally if I have an issue it turns out I was doing something wrong and they get it sorted for me. On the odd occasion a part fails / wears out / or is the incorrect item, Autocom are quick to diagnose the issue and get me up and running for the smallest outlay.

 

I have no connection to the company other than 16 years of good experiences!

 

Toby

2008 R1200RT SE

 

 

[Bernie]

Start every sentence with, “Breaker, breaker good buddy...”

 

Yea, Kates's gettihg tired of yelling "HEY are you ignoring me again?!"

 

And now you are blaming AutoCom.

 

[gfountain]

I have had an Autocom on my "05 RT since late '05. I have not had any problems. And regarding a momentary switch, my Autocom PTT button has a three position switch below the button. One postion is VOX, one is PTT and the other is a momentary switch that stays in that position until pushed back to another position. Even when the selector switch is in the PTT position the system still requires voice activation. Is your microphone close enought to your mouth? Mine is adjusted so that it almost touches my lips.

[KDeline]

Even when the selector switch is in the PTT position the system still requires voice activation.

 

Are you sure about that? What good is the PTT if I still need to voice activate? I thought PTT overode VOX.

[KDeline]

Start every sentence with, “Breaker, breaker good buddy...”

 

Yea, Kates's gettihg tired of yelling "HEY are you ignoring me again?!"

 

And now you are blaming AutoCom.

 

Shhhh, she's believes it.

[Foot]

Ken the same thing is happening to me and Deb. I believe my push to talk switch is dying. Matt and Craig could hear Deb who was behind me but could not hear me. She is on Vox and I am on the PTT switch. I am going to bypass the PTT and go Vox to see if that helps.

 

Alan

[Matts_12GS]

We could hear you quite clearly. I think that the grip puppies I have on the GS make it too easy for the switch to rock and not fully actuate. I would recommend cinching up the zip ties a couple notches if you can.

[TomK]

Even when the selector switch is in the PTT position the system still requires voice activation.

 

Are you sure about that? What good is the PTT if I still need to voice activate? I thought PTT overode VOX.

 

I agree with you Ken. When using PTT I usually turn my vox sensitivity way down to avoid triggering the muting function without affecting transmission.

[KDeline]

When using PTT I usually turn my vox sensitivity way down to avoid triggering the muting function without affecting transmission.

 

That is what we do to. We should just play with the Kenwoods for a while by themselves to narrow down the problem. Back to Alan's comment, this happened when we used VOX, that is why we got PTT, which did not help.

[Tom B]

Autocom VOX is about as instant as any VOX system can be, much faster than others I have tried, and if you say something like “don’t shoot” the VOX turns on instantly and you hear “don’t shoot”, but even though you have activated our VOX and can hear you own voice through the intercom system (side-tone) a bike to bike radio takes a split second to switch from standby or receive mode over to transmit, and then if it has a tone code that can again take a split second before your receiving radio activates, so on the other radio you hear “shoot”

 

If your radio has a red TX light and a green RX light (like most Kenwood’s have) you can see when you put two radios side by side that when you activate the VOX the connected radio’s red TX light instantly lights up, but the receiving radio has a delay before it wakes up and lets you hear what’s being said, which is why radio discipline is required such as, “OK don’t shoot” the OK part gets the radios to wake up so that you can hear the important part of the sentence.

 

Other things that can help, change your microphone covers every year or two, especially if they frequently get wet and/or dusty, as the micro pores become blocked and let less sound through, making it more difficult to active the VOX.

 

If you have a PTT that’s suspect, why put up with it? Why not get it fixed or replace it with a switch you prefer?

 

Mainly because on a few people on this site I am redesigning our PTT and in fact also an all new remote control system (P-RC), whereby the PTT actually activates the VOX so that you can hear when you are pressing it, plus it will have a more positive feel, and with the VOX control on the handlebars you can easily adjust it if required, along with the independent master volume and music level. This will be available sometime soon next season, and our promised SP-A-RC-I will follow by next July.

 

Autocom UK Tom

 

[bobbybob]

Tom, questions:

 

1) I have an Active Plus. With the PTT set for normal PTT action.....when I press the PTT does my voice get transmitted regardless of whether the vox circuit gets activated or not? I.e. I am speaking kinda softly?

 

2) When I speak loudly enough to activate the sidetone, does that also mean the VOX circuit is activated or are they separate functions?

 

Please explain the relationship between sidetone, VOX. PTT.

 

Trying to figure out how to be heard more consistently. Thanks.

 

 

[BerryG]

Even when the selector switch is in the PTT position the system still requires voice activation.

 

I can bring up the repeater without saying anything, so "my" autocom transmits with PTT without speaking. True, the microphone should be touching your lips.

[Tom B]

 

Bob

 

With the Active PLUS your voice is sent out to the transceiver full time, irrespective of the PTT or VOX, but of course your voice goes no further than the transceiver unless you cause the transceiver to transmit, by either using the VOX or the PTT to make that happen.

 

The VOX only activates if you speak louder than the VOX setting, (setting the VOX correctly and using the microphone loud-spot helps with this) and if the PTT Toggle switch is set to the right (towards you) then your speech will activate the VOX and will cause the transceiver to transmit (side-tone confirms when you are activating the VOX) and so your voice will be broadcast out.

 

The PTT ONLY makes the radio transmit and does not activate the VOX, so even if you have the VOX set higher than your speech level, when you transmit using the PTT you voice will still be broadcast.

 

The above is with all pre-2009 systems and our current range.

 

The NEW Pro-RC will be different, so that when you press the PTT it activates the VOX (not just the radio transmit) and the VOX activates transmit so you also get side-tone to confirm you are pressing the PTT

 

Hope that helps

 

Autocom UK Tom

 

[bobbybob]

Tom, thats perfect! And its also what I thought, but some here have stated that you have to speak loud enough to activate vox when using PTT, which is incorrect. I was thinking that could be the issue with losing parts of the transmission, but this says its all in the PTT switch. So no need to start transmissons with "breaker breaker" or other such nonsense.

 

Thanks!