BT interphone

[Sooty09]

Perhaps I expected too much for my first try at bike to bike intercom.
I recently purchased a pair of 1000m range BT units (£110 on e-buy)
The delivery was amazing 3 days from China to Leeds. When they arrived they were already charged and paired. A quick trial of the earphones and mikes proved they were working OK and a coupe of hundred metres in a built up area did not cause a problem.
It easily connected to my Sony phone and received calls and allowed me to redial the last number at the touch of a button.
I tried a few other blue tooth devices such as my Garmin Nuvi but cannot get a connection. Then when I tried to fit the head sets in a helmet one pulled off the wire, they are not very well constructed.
The intercom is not VOX, to start a discussion you press a button on the unit, this can connect to any one of three sets, so you do not always connect to the paired unit. Its very fiddly and not at all the simple system I was expecting.
For fool proof simple operation I would probably have been better buying a set of Cobra walky talkies.

 

[Bumpkin]

For fool proof simple operation I would probably have been better buying a set of Cobra walky talkies.

The trouble with any cheap solution, be it BT kit from Honkers or Maplin/Argos PMR radios, is that the results will be pretty disappointing to the extent that you will have pretty well wasted your money. The ability to converse at any sort of speed requires effective noise cancelling microphones, that's the critical bit really, that and build quality sufficient to stand the rigours of being used on a bike (and by a biker). Cobra radios are OK if on a budget but you'll need a decent headset rather than the feeble in-ear ones they tend to come with. Even the bike headsets from Maplin and similar off eBay are pretty useless over 40mph.

Best to hook up to an intercom, older Autocom units off eBay can be had for around £50 and upwards so it needn't break the bank. I can recommend the Active Plus and Super Pro Avi units, somewhat more recent models, which tend to go for around £80 and £110 respectively (a little cheaper in the winter).

 

[Sooty09]

Im not expecting to hold a full conversation or listen to music. Im expecting simple words like tea, wee, fuel, do you want to stop and look etc , and if we get seperated a quick "which way did you go".
The ability to hold a phone conversation if we stray outside the bluetooth range is an advantage.

 

[Bumpkin]

Im expecting simple words like tea, wee, fuel, do you want to stop and look etc , and if we get seperated a quick "which way did you go".

With the cheaper options, at road speed, you're not going to be able to distinguish tea and wee from each other, probably not fuel either and you'll have to practically stop to talk anyway. Once over a certain speed the wind noise will render a non noise cancelling mic useless.

Getting separated and out of sight will probably loose comms via BT and, at marginally greater range, PMR. That's unless you have some decent radios, external antennas etc. and then it's only a little better. Of course the costs ramp up exponentially. Once out of range you'll then need to use mobiles anyway which will mean pulling over to dial. You can dial via a Garmin GPS, if it's compatible with your phone, but doing this on the move isn't a great idea for obvious reasons.

On a slightly septate note but related to your "which way did you go", I'm looking into the practicality of using Google Latitude for the summers euro trip. There'll be 7 of us. The current issue revolves around the amount of data used as we'll be using roaming which could get expensive.

 

[Sumprat]

On a slightly septate note but related to your "which way did you go", I'm looking into the practicality of using Google Latitude for the summers euro trip. There'll be 7 of us. The current issue revolves around the amount of data used as we'll be using roaming which could get expensive.

Find your local Radio Amateur Club and hopefully they will be running the Foundation License course. Take the course, pass the exam and then have access to a whole range of radio equipment. The foundation license (the first of three progressive exams) allows you to use up to ten watts of power. This is power out of the radio presented to the antenna which can have gain to amplify the signal. Not like the half a watt or so radiated out of the antenna like the PMR 446 radios.

You can also use a tracking feature called APRS which utilises a simple radio/modem/gps configuration.

Take a look at aprs.fi and put in a/G6ZTZ-5,a/G6ZTZ-7,a/G6ZTZ-9 into the callsign box and click search. Now click on the show last box and select last seven days. For some strange reason it shows more than that.

You can now see my tracks, some from my Android phone running APRSDroid. Others from my self-contained tracker unit.

We use them to track lead (me) and sweep vehicles for events such as the Wokingham half marathon. Pickup Minibuses for the Three Towers long distant Scout hike etc.

For information G6ZTZ is my Ofcom issued callsign and the -5 -7 -9 is an identifier to indicate the type of equipment you are using.

Ok apart from the initial costs of the course and exam and radio costs there are no ongoing running costs.

In Reading I think we charge about £70 for the course and exam, over two weekends (Friday evening/Saturday). This covers the room hire, copy of the course book, and room hire.

The radio amateur license is now free for life so no costs there (used to be £15 annually).

Suitable handheld radios that can be modified for APRS can be picked up from £10 to £70.

A modem, or TNC, as we call them can be obtained for about $40 (Tinytrack)

A second hand GPS such as the Garmin E-Trex can be had for about £30 or £40. It must have some sort of connector and give out positional NMEA sentences.

Alternately you could splash out on one of these at about £430

Of course the downside of all this is that Foundation licenses don't have the 'reciprocal' agreement to use outside of the UK For that you need to progress to the Intermediate or Advanced license.



Simon

 

[Bumpkin]

Hi Simon, that's an impressive set-up

However, I assume that you still need to use a data connection from a mobile to upload the track points so that it can be presented in real time. Or is this handled by the TNC and a radio? Range would be an issue as we might want to check on someone's location from Alsace whilst they're between Calais and St Quentin for example, that's several hundred miles.

Google Latitude does appear to offer historical data as an option giving a similar result, security implications aside. Our requirement is to be able to see where one of our party is in real time so as to check progress of someone who's joining us (some are getting to our lodging in the Vosges mountains independently of the main group). Also the ability to track and find any 'lost sheep' when out on rides or check the other group if we split into two smaller groups intentionally.

All something of a gimmick, that is far from essential really. Just a thought to tinker with the available technology that we already have.

Taking exams (all of us) and re-equipping is out of the question I'm afraid. Even the cost of the limited amount of data Latitude uses may well be an issue for some of our party considering international roaming data costs.

Thanks for your input though.

 

[rce]

I recently purchased a pair of 1000m range BT units (£110 on e-buy)

Been there, done that. Looked a bargain to start with, and sort of worked OK....

But then we had to buy another pair as one packed up altogether, then we had more failures, they really don't like the rain.

The volume control was terrible to use, connections didn't always re-establish at switch on, or worse still they lost contact while riding then often it was a factory reset to get them working again.

In the end bit the bullet and bought a pair of Sena SMH10, it hurt paying so much but having had them over a year was the best purchase we have made.

Always pair, even going out of range they just reconnect when back in range. Buttons are dead easy to operate, everything makes logical sense. The volume control is excellent.

The range is easily double that of the ebay jobbies, and they are ultra reliable. The sound quality is very good and goes much louder than the cheap ones.

I also hated the way the cheap ones automatically answered an incoming phone call, unless you rejected it.

Paired with a Nokia phone you can use the voice control features of the phone, including dialling people from the address book, and to a certain extent the phones music player.

In all honesty they look expensive, but they really do work well. Me and wife can chat all day bike to bike without running out of power. Wouldn't be without the capability.

 

[Sumprat]

Hi Simon, that's an impressive set-up

However, I assume that you still need to use a data connection from a mobile to upload the track points so that it can be presented in real time. Or is this handled by the TNC and a radio? Range would be an issue as we might want to check on someone's location from Alsace whilst they're between Calais and St Quentin for example, that's several hundred miles.

Google Latitude does appear to offer historical data as an option giving a similar result, security implications aside. Our requirement is to be able to see where one of our party is in real time so as to check progress of someone who's joining us (some are getting to our lodging in the Vosges mountains independently of the main group). Also the ability to track and find any 'lost sheep' when out on rides or check the other group if we split into two smaller groups intentionally.

All something of a gimmick, that is far from essential really. Just a thought to tinker with the available technology that we already have.

Taking exams (all of us) and re-equipping is out of the question I'm afraid. Even the cost of the limited amount of data Latitude uses may well be an issue for some of our party considering international roaming data costs.

Thanks for your input though.

The data transmission is handled by the TNC and radio. Power and range isn't usually a problem as your report (or packet) is repeated by what we call digipeaters i.e. DIGItal reaPEATERS.

In the system setup you tell it how you want your report to be handled depending on how far you you want it to be distributed. If I set it right, I can recieve reports transmitted from the USA, on my tracking system sat in my living room in Reading. Not only are the reports sent and forwarded by radio they are also injected, by fellow radio amateurs into the internet for display on websites like aprs.fi

Using a smart phone you can track stations using the APRSDroid APP. There are Apps available for Apple as well. Failing that use a web browser.

You can also send simple sms like text messages to each other as well.

Something to think about for the future

Then there is always the SPOT tracker. A number UKGSERS have used them.

 

[Sooty09]

I have used the BT interphone units properly now out on a run. They work OK up to about 70mph with fairly clear communication. The buttons are still a bit small for use with gloves on. My problem with the previous tests was my impatience, it takes about 5 seconds to connect after pressing the talk button.
The range was about the 1000M quoted provided you can see the other person, as soon as you make a turn or go over a crest the link is broken, its very quick to reconnect though.
Im a bit happier now, the supplier is providing me a new set of headphone so I just have to see how they cope with the rain and keep reliable.

 

[Bumpkin]

I have used the BT interphone units properly now out on a run. They work OK up to about 70mph with fairly clear communication.

That's not too bad, what's letting them down at that point? The mic or the earphones? If it's latter then look at the positioning, both alignment of the centre of the speaker with each ear canal and proximity to the ear itself. Packing out with foam rubber to bring them closer made a huge difference with my Autocom, esp at higher speed.

Sent from my mobile using Tapatalk, typos R us...

 

[Sooty09]

From 50mph upwards the problem is I still have my custom earplugs fitted. 95% of the time I need no comms. I have had nothing but hand signals for the last 40 years. Im quite happy to slow down if i think my wife needs to talk to me.
If the BT system proves reliable on our next tour I will be happy. I like being out of communication most of the time, there is no chance I will use the set up to enable people to phone me while Im playing out, its only for our 4 weeks of euro touring.

 

[Sooty09]

The sets have now been returned to the seller, Ill wait to see if I get any money back as it was an ebuy deal from china.
When they worked they were good, but the plugs and sockets were so delicate that looking over your left shoulder disconnected the head set. The result was no coms, or you could only hear your own voice amplified into the headset. It needed a real good push to reconnect it.
Verdict- could have been good, similar sets with different bodies are available.
Im going the Autocom route now.