Bike to Bike Comms.

[daffyduck]

I am off to Europe for 2 weeks in June, and have been considering bike to bike communication systems, but am unsure which is the best and economical. What does it involve with regards to installation? E.g costs, exerience required, time to install and set-up? What is the effective range of such equipment considering that I am likely to be in hilly and mountainous areas a lot of the time?
Does anyone have any expereince of this please. Don't really want to talk to the shops first as they will just want me to spend money.

 

[Fanum]

Daffy......get a bottle opened, sit yerself down and have a play with the search button at the top of the screen.......

There are more threads, opinions, fiting guides and information on Autocom/Starcoms here than you'll get through in a good night's reading, so settle in and enjoy

FWIW, Autocom (long established king) or starcom (newcomer young pretender) are about the best options, both have their supporters/detractors here, but both will do a bloody good job for you.

Then search for Ultimate ear/ green leopard, walkie talkies and 'what mp3' and you'll be fully sorted

 

[oblertone]

Newcomer

Not forgetting Intaride

who do their own very compact radios.

 

[judge]

I think given your list I'd go for the following prioritites:

1. Paper Maps - signs will get you to your destination but these will ensure you go the right way.

2. GPS - This will enable you to plan your journey and have it remind you of it without having to stop to read maps.

3. Bike2Bike Radio - If you are solo then the ability to converse with your fellow travellers will make the journey less stressful and more enjoyable. Especially good for discussing the right way when you're lost or when you need to communicate a need to your fellow travellers or simply just to share the experience as it happens rather than the fun of trying to remember after the event.

4. Electronic Maps - Neve bothered with these as I've had the above and these are surplus. They would only give you some of '1' without the detail and none of '2' though I suppose you could use it in roadbook form.

Though I reckon you could do your trip with just one of the above, hence my order of things.

have a good trip.

 

[Jockser]

Maplin were recently doing a special on a B2B system - 2 PMR radios, 2 headsets (speaker & mike) and 2 PTT buttons. Can't remember if it was Stg or Euro but the figure was 100 !!

Not the Rolls Royce of communication but if you dont need phone / audio / GPS links its ideal.

Range is obviously line of sight but up to 2 km & sound is good to 100+km.

Incidently, I bought Lidl's rider/ pillion intercom recently. Cracking piece of kit for only €8.

Can now talk to my son on the move without twisting around & shouting 'ok?' - gotta be a safer option.

 

[Chainspeed]

Ive got the Autocom Pro 7 with a Kenwood TK3101 and its all bike powered with a Garmin 2610, Road Angel, Creative Zen Touch 20Gb and mobile phone etc etc. Its awesome but not the cheapest. I use the bike for work so I call it a tool which enables me to justify the money spent.

The other half has got the much cheaper Autocom press to talk B-B outfit on her Faser which was about £160 and came with 2 Motorola radios. It works well up to about 3/4 to 1 mile or so. Well worth the money.

About a year ago we tried other systems and found they all had a limit where the noise became louder than the voice signal. I suppose we all have to learn the hard way now and again.

 

[Pukmeister]

I also have the Autocom Pro 7 sport system with mobile phone, 20GB Zen Touch Mp3 player and GPS, plus Kenwood Funkey PMR446 radio.

For the radio, I would recommend setting the volume to halfway, setting the radios own VOX sensitivity to +2 and the post-talk transmit to +0.5 secs. This makes it cut in more positively when speaking, and continue to transmit slightly when speech ends so the listener gets the whole message.

For the Autocom unit, set the VOX sensitivity to about 2/3 rds (rather than 1/2) to prevent wind noise from falsely triggering during overtakes etc. (The radios own vox being set to +2 seems to compensate well for the reduction in sensitivity of the autocom unit).

My Arai is also hellishly noisy so I put gaffer tape on the inside of the chin vent, not ideal in high summer but generally OK.

I don't wish to rubbish anyone that has done well with a cheap purchase, however I believe that with all things (especially audio comms) you get what you pay for. Buy the best you can afford, cheap stuff just leads to serious frustration when it fails to perform.

 

[Eddy802]

I used my Kenwood 3107 this weekend hooked to bike power through Autocom Pro 7. It has an mp3 player, mobile and 2610 hoooked up too. No PTT.

Relying solely on Autocom Vox the units prioritisation muted out SWMBO's transmissions in and around GPS routing speak. Nor could she hear my transmissions when Betty was guiding us.

It was a bit frustrating to pass on directional info beyond indicators.

It helped in the end to have my music on, so that when it faded back in, I knew I could expect my calls to be heard.

Is this somehting anyone else has experienced?
Does the inclusion of a PTT over-ride this prioritisation?

 

[Deleted account 250319001]

im on the verge of getting : StarCom1
Kit-D
(EU only) (Bike to Bike) includes: 1xStarCom1 + 1xHelmet kit (SH-004 or SH-006)+ 1xKenwood FunKey446

when the MP3, Mobile and radio are plugged in, will they charge if it is hardwired to the bike?

and

am i right in thinking that i will have 3 wires hanging out from my seat??

 

[Eddy802]

I don't know of the specifics of that set up but I'd be very surprised if your MP3 and mobile where powered through it.

Cables wise it will depend on how you install it on your bike. If you've room you can put the mp3, mobile and radio in a cubby hole and leave them there whilst riding. This will leave only the intercom cable to plug into as you mount.

Personally I have 2 wires at my headstock that feed into my tank bag to connect to mobile and mp3 player. Then at the seat I connect to my intercom. If bike-to-bike is in play too then I need to connect the radio too. Slave to the gadgetry, there are ways to neaten the whole proces but they depend on comprimise.

 

[Deleted account 250319001]

Cheers for that Eddie

 

[Pukmeister]

Eddy, I think the Autocom mutes out everything and gives exclusive use of the audio amplifier for an incoming phone call or the GPS info to prevent you missing something important due to either a pillion chatting at the wrong moment, or a bike-to-bike conversation doing the same . Lets face it, if your pillion or riding buddies have to wait briefly to chat its hardly a problem.

For a definitive answer, why not speak to or email Autocom themselves, they are reported to be second to none for customer support and advice, even on out-of-warranty period items.

 

[Eddy802]

Horses mouth

Thanks Puckmeister, I did just that and you are correct. There are options though...

Autocom offered two options, each reqiring a further cable between £25 and £29 and each re-prioritising the traffic and muting.

I wrote it all down and can pass on part numbers and priorities to those interested, but don't have the detail to hand at the moment.

 

[Eddy802]

Complete

I hate loose ends...


The options on my Pro7 are -

Autocom part 65 £29 allows you to parallel the music with GPS. This means they compete for your attention but I guess the volume setting on each would mean you could come to some workable arrangement. Priority would work like this... Phone would mute music and GPS 100%. Bike to bike would mute them 50%

Autocom part 173 £24 allows you to put GPS direct to Music socket (one or the other I'm afraid). Priority would be as above less music!

Either option emoves the need for my red and black phone/GPS combining box.