Autocom, which one?

CatchUp

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Are the new models much better than the older ones?

I was looking at getting one of the new Pro-AVi or Active-Plus but a mate has an Active 7 Smart for sale. I'm wanting to use it for music, GPS and possibly bike-to-bike. Would I gain a lot from the new model for about twice the price?

TIA

Steve
 
The main difference between the new and the old Active models are separate volume controls for rider and passneger and an extra stereo input. The older model should be OK for you.
 
Steve

I've got an active 7 with bike-to-bike, Garmin 2610 audio feed, and MP3 (+ Boosteroo) music. Works a treat and I need nothing more. Save your cash! Also if the cables do get knackered, you can replace them for a tenner which will extend the Active 7's life by even more years.

cheers

Mark
 
From what I gathered from autocom the new one's are just sooooo much better but they are bound to say that but also that the new system uses a 7 pin connection rather than ther older ones which use a 5 pin so could have some problems in the future getting replacements. :confused:
 
I'd recommend that you go for the bike powered model which can also power your PMR radio. If not, if you go away for more than a day then you need to start packing battery chargers for the radio which is just added hassle.
 
PMR Radio

Sorry did want to say that some autocom systems will not power the radio and if you have a TK-3101 Autocom do not have a bike powered option which is a shame as this is a very good radio which my brother and I have been using for some time with a vixen backchat system. I have however come up with a solution it is a battery eliminator for the TK-3101 and other radios bought it off e-bay fitted perfect and works very well just wanted to share the option in case it could help anyone else on the board.
Battery Eliminator
Just look at "sellers other tiems" or "contact seller" for the type you need may even save someone changing their radio and or system if they need to go bike powered.
Hope this is of some help :thumb
 
Our Pro M1, Pro-7 and Super Pro AVi will bike power a Kenwood no problems. These are the systems we sell/sold for our customers wanting to run a Kenwood transceivers
 
Autocom

Was told at the autocom stand in the bike show (NEC) that the tk-3101 could not be powered from the bike (any autocom system) as "we" can not get the dummy batteries to make the battery eliminator :nenau , and were told that the only way we could get around this was to solder wires directly onto the battery terminals of the Kenwood :nono . This obviously we did not want to do and had resigned ourselves to charging and running from a battery until I found the one listed above on e-bay :beerjug: . I even contacted Kenwood UK to ask if there was anyway around this and I was told no :(
 
We have been selling our Part 102 to bike powered the Kenwood TK3101 for ex amount of years and a dummy battery version which we can provide as well. So anyone at the bike show will/would know this so I can not see at all anyone telling you we can not bike power a TK3101. We have got two bikes in the factory with Kenwoods fully bike powered and we have fitted hundreds of bikes here and via our dealers with them also!!!!! Our brochures have even shown the Kenwoods and on the back pages the part numbers!!! So this is proof.

For us to tell you to solder wires on I can not see this happening, even our girls doing our invoices would not of told you this.
 
Autocom

Well sorry to say this IS what happened bought 2 x kit 200's with the Kenwood TK-3101 connection lead (yes I know these will not bike power radios) Was told by the person who sold it to us that the radio can not be bike powered for the reason I put above, the only option was to solder the wires (should have said the guy did say it was not advisable but the only option to bike power) IF we had known that the radios could be bike powered we would more than likely have bought the next model up and gone down the bike powered route. If this, as you say is incorrect information, then the guy needs a kick in the bum, not only did it mean that we did not buy the "bigger" system but did consider not buying them at all. This is not what I would consider good service/ information, maybe he just wanted to sell us a pair of 3201's which he kept saying were so much better than the 3101's !?
Dont know the guys name but he demonstrated the system on the Autocom stand and told us about the options we even had a bit of an argument about the range of the 3101's which he found hard to believe until another gentleman also on the stand came over and said that he also got very good range off his 3101 but he had it mounted under the seat with a small hole drilled in the bike to allow the arial to poke out for better reception.
So in the end: -
We were given the wrong information, not just not given the option but told it can not be done.
Ended up buying a kit which did not do what we wanted it to do.
Feel quite annoyed that we go direct to the Autocom stand as dealing with the makers own staff you should get the best advice rather than buying from a third party.
Trawling though the internet making loads of phone calls to such as Maplins, kenwood to find a "mains" powered option.
Buying an item (very good and does what it should do) from ebay after a lot of searching.
Autocom very good bit of kit, the guy on the stand at the NEC bike show Very poor service and information. :spitfire
 
The TK3101 has a KB14 battery, AFAIR
Correct but as for the tk-3107 firstly NOT Kenwood, also told at the NEC that Autocom systems have problems with the 3107's as they are not Kenwood.
And Autocom's dummy battery pack fits right on to the radio
Great!!! shame we were told this item does not exist :spitfire
 
It is interesting that Autocom don't want anything to do with the TK3107.

Allegedly because it's not legal at %w power output.

However, they can be reprogrammed to drop to 0.5w and the channels tweaked to match all your mates' regular UK PMR ones.

If you look at the TK3101 and TK3107 side by side they are all but identical. Hell, all the TK3101s I've seen are also made in Singapore.

But, if you don't want to connect a TK3107 to your Autocom, you can get a dummy battery back/replacement that allows you to connect it to a 12v source from eBay.

I know at least a dozen people who've got TK3107s from Hong Kong at almost silly prices that have given them no problems whatsoever.

Still, Autocom do have a financial interest in not supporting the TK3107. They're selling TK3101s and TK3201s for almost £200 a pop!
 
Droopy Dick said:
It is interesting that Autocom don't want anything to do with the TK3107.

Allegedly because it's not legal at %w power output.

However, they can be reprogrammed to drop to 0.5w and the channels tweaked to match all your mates' regular UK PMR ones.

If you look at the TK3101 and TK3107 side by side they are all but identical. Hell, all the TK3101s I've seen are also made in Singapore.

But, if you don't want to connect a TK3107 to your Autocom, you can get a dummy battery back/replacement that allows you to connect it to a 12v source from eBay.

I know at least a dozen people who've got TK3107s from Hong Kong at almost silly prices that have given them no problems whatsoever.

Still, Autocom do have a financial interest in not supporting the TK3107. They're selling TK3101s and TK3201s for almost £200 a pop!

Word of warning we are having systems sent back to us that have been used with the TK3207's that have actually BLOWN UP OR MELTED the systems, some work on different tones so they will only work with other TK3207's from the same batch not TK3101's or 3201 or any toher transceivers so you will be stuck on who you can talk to!!!The systems have not been covered under warrenty due the radios not being recommended by us.

Kenwood do not deal with the TK3207's either so any warranty claims would be scrapped straight away. So the radios MIGHT be cheaper but there will be no after sales support which we can offer on the TK3101's or 3201's.

These are reasons why we do not want to sell a FAKE Kenwood or supply parts that will blown up our systems. So finiacial interests, well we do not want you guys blowing up your systems and having to spend more money than is needed. Its your shout on this!

DX408 I am sorry if you feel like you have not been treated very well but could you please provide me the name from your receipt so I can find out who sold you your kit. You can email me direct at enquiries@autocom.co.uk
 


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