Bike to Bike comms only - what solution?

[Dennis1971]

Hi All,

Looking for a intercom solution for bike to bike only. Not really intereted in the whole palava with mp3 connection, sat nav and phone. I am happy with not being able to use my phone. The sat nav is very basic that I use and I find the screen only good enough for touring.

Main use would be to talk between bikes.

What would be a solid solution. I do want to hear the other person otherwise I might as well shout from one bike to the other.

Ta
Dennis

 

[Bumpkin]

A decent hook-up to a PMR takes a sophisticated intercom. The headsets you an get that plug directly into the radio aren't much use over town speed. With a proper noise cancelling system the usability is greatly enhanced, unfortunately this will cost a bit more for an effective solution but shopping wisely it's not going to break the bank.

Autocom and Starcom spring to mind. The former used to make a system purely for PMR use, these come up on eBay fairly frequently. You'd need a radio in addition as this isn't included.

For the same cost you could probably buy a used Active Plus Autocom intercom and have everything mounted on the bike plus have the facility to expand to other inputs as and when required.

There are some Bluetooth headsets that do bike to bike over a limited range (manufacturer quotes 1km ISTR). These tend to be fairly pricey.

I have an Autocom and PMR set-up the basic parts for PMR use of cost around £120 off eBay including Autocom Super Pro Avi, radio and Autocom radio lead. I do have this connected to a Bikers Oracle antenna which cost another £40 but this gives a real world 3 mile range over undulating terrain (Puxing PX888 on low power) with quite a bit more where conditions allow. Everything is hard wired and powered off the bike, the battery eliminator for the radio cost £12 from Hong Kong and is wired into the same power feed as the Autocom, I don't get any ground loop interference that I can hear, it was suggested that I would get this by some in the know but another person mentioned using the same feed as the intercom would reduce it to an absolute minimum, this seems to be the case for my set-up.

 

[mr_magicfingers]

This might help:

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=221110

 

[roddy]

A decent hook-up to a PMR takes a sophisticated intercom. The headsets you an get that plug directly into the radio aren't much use over town speed.

Frankly your talking pish

You don't need the intercomm part for good bike to bike comms. All you need are good quality PMR radios and the appropriate headset/PTT (Push To Talk) and they're good upto and beyond 90mph.
You want PTT as opposed to VOX (voice activated) as it's easier to set up over a variety of bike/ helemt designs and will only transmit when you press the button.

Good PMR radios (100 pound mark, at this price most will be very robust with metal chassis and have a degree of water resistance) are Kenwood TK3201 (?), Wintec (A90) and the own brand name Intaride (IR803) one's are all good, there is also Motorola and Alan's radio but I've never used them so can't comment on there quality and if you use an Autocomm/ Starcomm or Intaride headset/mic which are noise cancelling by there design and using a PTT button, you have a very good reliable setup.

I use a Wintec A90 solid bit of kit with metal chassis (I don't think they make this model any more but Intaride do a comparible model the IR803, you can still get the A90 from ebay for a good price) with there headset and it's clear as a button and plenty loud even with earplugs in

You can buy 3rd party copies of most radio's cheaply off Ebay (Puxing spring to mind) but if your not too sure what your doing it maybe best sticking to a known manufacturere/supplier

A long the lines of this I'm not upto date with pricing but I'd imagine it will be in the ball park for most of the suppliers

HTH

 

[Bumpkin]

Frankly your talking pish

You don't need the intercomm part for good bike to bike comms. All you need are good quality PMR radios and the appropriate headset/PTT (Push To Talk) and they're good upto and beyond 90mph.

You've either got a very quiet helmet, big fairing or a headset with a noise cancelling mic. Maybe all three

Are you saying that you use a plug-in non noise cancelling headset and can be clearly heard at 90+ mph?

PTT is handy but not absolutely necessary with a decent noise cancelling set-up. I do use one myself as inflicting my singing/cursing etc. on others just isn't fair.

 

[Dennis1971]

Ok, thanks. I was thinking along the lines of a 2-way radio with earpiece and mic. This can happily live in the tankbag.

I will have a look at the options.

Thanks.
Dennis

 

[pedro]

Scala Rider G4 Teamset

They're going at a reasonable price these days and take away the hassle of Power supply and wiring. Occasionally they drop their pairing but will usually work all day bike to bike. Good clear comms up to around 90. I stop talking at that speed you see.

 

[roddy]

You've either got a very quiet helmet, big fairing or a headset with a noise cancelling mic. Maybe all three

Nope Arai TourX, standard screen on a 1150GSA not the quietest setup

a headset with a noise cancelling mic. Maybe all three

See ->

if you use an Autocomm/ Starcomm or Intaride headset/mic which are noise cancelling by there design

Are you saying that you use a plug-in non noise cancelling headset and can be clearly heard at 90+ mph?

Nope see previous statement about noise cancelling mics

 

[Bumpkin]

see previous statement about noise cancelling mics

So you have a noise cancelling headset or a full Autocom/Starcom system, to me that's sophisticated and probably not cheap, nest pas? Similar to Autocom kit linked to on eBay.

All I was doing was trying to dissuade the OP from thinking a plug in accessory headset, as sold by radio vendors, such as those used by doormen etc. which would be pretty useless for bike use. Maplin sell a headset supposedly for bike use that, from all accounts, is only usable to about 30-40mph, i.e. next to useless.

 

[roddy]

So you have a noise cancelling headset

Yup! as are pretty much all headsets that are fitted to Autocomm, Starcom, Intaride intercomm systems, it's the headsets that do the main work of cancelling our road noise, so you need the headset bit, you don't need the intercomm bit (the hub), not sophisticated just using the correct parts that the various companys use/supply with there radios.

if you where only talking about the "doorman" type headsets then say that in your original post

a full Autocom/Starcom system,

Nope read my original post properly

probably not cheap

A dam sight cheaper than buying the full intercomm kit for just using the radio

n'est-ce pas

 

[Loiq]

what about open lids and shouting...

 

[Dave Ett]

I used this:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=27212

Before I got the full autocom setup. Used with an Alan radio, the setup is extremely good. COmes with a PTT switch, is good for a few km's range, and a set of 'normal' batteries, or hgh power re-chargables (2450 etc) keep it alive for the best part of a week.

Basically, head to Maplin and pick up the headset, then try all the PMR radio's until you find one with the right kinda socket fitted!

 

[mr_magicfingers]

Autocom also do a headset/ptt kit that you can plug straight into a radio. I have one of these on my girlfriend's bike so that we can talk bike to bike when we're out riding together.

I have the intercom as originally she was my pillion but I also have my garmin and phone interfaced through it.

Seem to remember it cost about £60 for that setup. Then add the radio and antenna such as the one I described in my post further up the thread.

 

[andyclift]

VOX can work but my experience is it is too much bother. However it is set up it is always necessary to say something to start a transmit and that is lost to the receiver. It goes against natural speech to always remember to say something, cough or whistle when starting a conversation so Push to talk is vastly better and much more reliable.

My wife and I use Alan HP450 radios which are built to Military standards and, great for a bike,are waterproof. My wife and I have them mounted in home made brackets on the handlebars which means that it is easy to change volume or channels if we get some idiot hogging a channel. The manual says that plugging in remote mic and speaker (i.e. Autocom) compromises the waterproofing but we have had them for two years and used in some horrendous weather with no problems. I bought the first one from Maplins but have since found a company called Showcomms that supplied the second at a better price and have also supplied us with spare batteries.

The attached pic just about shows mine on my GSA. The PTT switch can just about be seen as the red button near the base of the left mirror.

 

[springonion]

VOX can work but my experience is it is too much bother. However it is set up it is always necessary to say something to start a transmit and that is lost to the receiver. It goes against natural speech to always remember to say something, cough or whistle when starting a conversation so Push to talk is vastly better and much more reliable.

My wife and I use Alan HP450 radios which are built to Military standards and, great for a bike,are waterproof. My wife and I have them mounted in home made brackets on the handlebars which means that it is easy to change volume or channels if we get some idiot hogging a channel. The manual says that plugging in remote mic and speaker (i.e. Autocom) compromises the waterproofing but we have had them for two years and used in some horrendous weather with no problems. I bought the first one from Maplins but have since found a company called Showcomms that supplied the second at a better price and have also supplied us with spare batteries.

The attached pic just about shows mine on my GSA. The PTT switch can just about be seen as the red button near the base of the left mirror.

Saw your pic and this setup looks similar to mine except I use a Kenwood TK3201 (wth autocom) which I'm keen to swop out for an Alan HP450 like yours.

The thing is I'd want to have a detachable aerial on the handset and maybe even power it from the bike. Can you tell me if it looks like you could do this please.

I've tried searching the midland/alan site but no real info.

cheers

(sorry - not meant to be a hijack of the thread )

 

[andyclift]

The Alan does not have a detachable antenna, which is why I made two bar mounts for my wife's and my bike. This keeps the antenna upright and away from interference. One of the main reasons for choosing the Alans was that they are waterproof so can be bar mounted.

Note that although transceivers with removal antennas are available it is not legal to use a remote antenna in the UK.

From PMR regulations:

5. RADIO EQUIPMENT
PMR 446 radio equipment must be handportable, have an integral antenna, have a maximum ERP of 500 mW and be compliant with ETS 300 296.

 

[roddy]

Note that although transceivers with removal antennas are available it is not legal to use a remote antenna in the UK.

From PMR regulations:

5. RADIO EQUIPMENT
PMR 446 radio equipment must be handportable, have an integral antenna, have a maximum ERP of 500 mW and be compliant with ETS 300 296.

I read something about that recently, and I think the regs may have been changed/interpertation to reflect as long as the radio with remote aerial doesn't exceed the 500 mW ERP then you where okay ?

I'll try and find it again

 

[roddy]

found it HERE

It does make sense, after all your still below the 500mW limit, which is the main thing