canoehead Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 My wife and I have a set of Chatterbox radios that we're not overly impressed with. We'd like to have much better bike to bike communication. Just wondering if anyone here has any recommendations for a set up that has worked really well for them? thanks. Link to comment
Delboy Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 I personaly use a Starcom that works fine,there are various makes out there the most popular being the Autocom,Starcom,Baehr and Intaride(in no particular order)One advantage (on this forum)is that Autocom Tom will try and sort any little problems you may come up against and has an excellent back up.A good quality radio also is a must for good communication,Kenwood,motorola or Icom are all reccomended.I will now let the rest of the forum baffle you with science Regards Del Link to comment
EffBee Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 If all you are looking for is B2B communication, then why spend all the money for a full intercom system? Just get Autocom's Kit 21 or Kit 23, and pick up the appropriate radio and you'll be all set. Give Autocom a call at 888-851-4327 and they'll help you out. Link to comment
Uggles Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 Baehr and UHF. Best stuff on the planet. Link to comment
Martyn Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 Autocom + Kenwood radios do it for me, Link to comment
Bernie Posted January 10, 2006 Share Posted January 10, 2006 I use Autocom with Cobra FRS and my buddy uses Motocom with the Cobra FRS. His is ok till about 60-65 then it gets noisy. But he can hear me loud and clear even @ 80. Link to comment
RickP Posted January 10, 2006 Share Posted January 10, 2006 Starcom and Kenwood here (3 of us) -RickP. Link to comment
KDeline Posted January 10, 2006 Share Posted January 10, 2006 If you don't want to spend a fortune go to www.collett.mb.ca. Used them for years. Link to comment
Mainuh Posted January 10, 2006 Share Posted January 10, 2006 My wife and I have a set of Chatterbox radios that we're not overly impressed with. We'd like to have much better bike to bike communication. Just wondering if anyone here has any recommendations for a set up that has worked really well for them? thanks. Rolf, I'm curious what you don't like about the Chatterbox. I've had one for years now and other than replacing the battery, had no problems whatsoever. Very reliable communications. Several club members in our local BMW club have them and it's great on trips and club rides. The few people (locally) I've known who didn't have good luck with them hadn't really installed them properly and had problems with niose or VOX kicking on when it shouldn't. Some of that was just location of the mic and not using a good foam cover to insulate it from wind noise. But (IMHO) dollar for dollar I'd have to say it's one of the best values out there. I can even feed in the audio from my GPS 276C if I want to, but seldom do as I think the best feature of the Chatterbox is that you aren't tethered to your bike by wires. Link to comment
canoehead Posted January 10, 2006 Author Share Posted January 10, 2006 Rolf,I'm curious what you don't like about the Chatterbox. I've had one for years now and other than replacing the battery, had no problems whatsoever. Fair question: Both the missus and I have Nolan modular helmets. We have the stock headset and mic configuration supplied with the chatterobox units. I tried lots of variations on installation and have yet to find a placement that isn't noisy but at least came up with something that let them be usable at highway speed. Even at that, wearing earplugs is necessary because background hiss is too loud. We usually do long trips, so we have the units plugged into the bike's 12v system. We also use a PTT switch as the VOX was never satisfactory - the missus dislikes having two knobs (squelch and volume) to deal with in VOX mode so it's just not practical (she'd sometimes turn the squelch instead of volume and I'd have to pull her over because I couldn't tell her what she'd done wrong via com.). Channel switch on the units sometimes got changed accidentally enroute. On long drives the extra weight on one side of the head is annoying. The way we're using them, there are at least two cords that need to be undone before we can get off the bike so thought of having just one connector is an improvement. On the last long trip of last season, we had a few long days of riding in the rain. The units started to become intermittent but were functional again in the morning after drying out. Second day of rain one stopped working and we put the units away at the next gas stop. That was the last straw and we haven't taken them out since, for all I know one of them is still DOA. While it is nice to chat in the dry weather, there's a greater need to chat when the weather is crap, so we'd like something that's not as exposed to the elements. We did try the units with an MP3 player, but the extra cord and poor audio made it too much bother. If we got something with better audio, we'd probably reconsider including tunes in the mix but for the time being B2B is most important. Link to comment
RokRide Posted January 10, 2006 Share Posted January 10, 2006 Based on your post, I think you would be extremely please with the Autocom system.. I use the Autocom Pro 7.. With Nolan X lite 1002.. I have talked to friends on my cell phone thru the autocom going about 60-70 with the nolan open(windshield up) and they did not hear any wind noise. not sure about others but you can set the Vox level on the autocom. My friends can tell I am not in a libary talking to them, but they did not believe I was on the bike doing 60-70 talking them... Everyone I have spoke with hasnt complained about the quality. Same for the rider 2 rider. My wife and I have clear communications..(thats the only problem I see, it would be nice to have static and need to shut down the com. when she is on) I use my sirius Radio every ride and the sound quality is great. I couldnt imagine not having music or communications. I see no problem having my helmet wired. I find it much better than having a box mounted to the side of my helmet.. Depending on how crazy you want to get the autocom can get expensive... I have the PTT for Bike 2 bike, HI/LO switch for rider 2 rider(you can increase speach volume only for R2R in loud areas at the flick of a switch), hardwired quick disconnect power(pro 7 comes with a portable 9v setup), cell phone hook up, Sirius hook up, Rhino Hook up, GPS hook up. Another complaint is My wife has figured out that when she calls me on the cell phone I cannot easily hang up on her.. so she knows I need to listen to her until she hangs up... I can risk my life digging for the cell phone and hitting end if I choose.... Everything hooks to the module itself and only one wire runs to each helmet.. My install is extremely clean... Link to comment
Chugger Posted January 10, 2006 Share Posted January 10, 2006 The new Motorola cell phones have a direct connect Walkie talkie. Has any one tried using this? RokRide, How do you activate your phone to make a call? It seems that I first need to push a button to activate the voice command. Link to comment
RokRide Posted January 10, 2006 Share Posted January 10, 2006 The new Motorola cell phones have a direct connect Walkie talkie. Has any one tried using this? RokRide, How do you activate your phone to make a call? It seems that I first need to push a button to activate the voice command. I only use my to receive calls. I do have a Treo 650, i believe you can purchase software so that I could voice activate my phone, havent yet though... Link to comment
Knifemaker Posted January 10, 2006 Share Posted January 10, 2006 My buddy uses an Autocom system I use a Motocom system and 2 cobra 2 way raidos works fantastic Link to comment
SkidMark Posted January 10, 2006 Share Posted January 10, 2006 I have the chatterbox and have had no problems at all, I wear earplugs anyway but I still hear my wife and my friends with there wives with no problem. I use my Ipod through it as well. For now, I like it and its less money without the extra radios to carry. I don't have it mounted to my helmet, I use an extention and have the chatterbox in my tankbag. Link to comment
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