Phone and toons on the bike?

[King Rat]

I have looked through pages of the threads of past times, but cannot find what i am lookjng for.

All I want is to be able to answer my phone and maybe listen to the radio (BBC Wireless 2). I don't want an intercom, I don't want to talk dirty to the bike next to me, I don't need comms to other bikes for taking tests.....

Is there something on the market as simple as I am after, or do I have ot buy all the other peripherals that I don't want or need? Apparently, I have the radio on my mobile phone, but I will need ot look at the book (3 weeks reading) to find out how and where it is.

Do these iPhone things work on th ebike. I went into the O2 shop to ask but was told they don't answer questions on the technical side of phones or how they work.....really? I thought that is exactly what shops selling kit should do.

Anyone any thoughts that could sort me out - it will save all those missed calls and me singing to myself as I ride (you don't want to hear it, I can tell you!) helmet is a Schy S2 full face without the flippy up chin. 1150 Adv.

Possibly be able to use an iPhone as a road atlas with a blob on it to tell me where I am too? I don't want a sat nav, because I don't know where I am going half the time. I just go and find out where I am when I get there, if you know what I mean. So a map thattells me where I am on it, and no more is exactly what I need. Mystery tours are very interesting you know

 

[gipsymagpie]

Intercom does more

I have an Autocom intercom but I only ever ride solo. I don't have bike-to-bike radio, but the Autocom is brilliant!

It acts as a centre point for on-bike audio. You put a mic and phones into your helmet, then connect them to your Autocom. Then you connect all your gadgets to the Autocom. You then get the sound from your gadgets which are automatically muted or reduced in volume depending on what audio is more important. Eg. when you get a phone call your GPS and MP3 are muted. When you've just got MP3 then this is reduced in volume by 50% when a GPS voice steer comes in.

For you, the most basic Autocom from the old batch (pre-2007) would suit with a lead to your phone and one to your mp3/fm radio. The autocom is battery powered at the basic level and could fit in a tank bag. If you just want music you could put a set of headphones under your helmet.

Or if you have a bluetooth phone you could get something like a Scala headset which would let you listen to music and radio on your phone and take and receive phone calls.

G

 

[hops]

+1

for autocom, the iphone does work but there are limitations with the radio option. Not sure about the latest version but mine does not have an FM radio built-in. You can download an application which gives you radio streamed from the internet. Obviously this is dependent on getting a signal and can be a bit intermittent. The phone also works well with the bluetooth dongle so you can have it piped into your helmet without lots of wires everywhere. The only problem I've found is that the phone will not auto-answer unless it is left off the keylock, this means that the backlight is on (unless you turn it off on the menu) and therefore drains the already limited battery quickly. However that all said I have a charger set-up via the auxiliary socket and find is works pretty well for me. For me the benefits of the iphone greatly outweigh these little irritations.

If you don't want to go down the autocom route you can get custom earplugs made which will let you hear the phone but you will have problems making yourself heard especially at speed, with the autocom you can have clear calls up to silly speeds (obviously I've never been over 70mph so can not say that it will work perfectly at 100mph+)

 

[beemerboy9]

You need to understand whether the earphones that came with your mobile also act as the the aerial to receive BBC Wireless 2 . I know - 3 weeks reading!

 

[andyclift]

Getting radio is easy. I have used three ways with my Autocom.

(1) Use the radio in my mobile phone. Works but kills battery quickly.

(2) Use a little MP3 player style personal radio. These can be dead cheap but I used a DAB/FM one from Argos at about £60.00. It worked well but the DAB option was useless as it was either good quality or nothing - more often nothing as it could not get a good DAB signal. FM was OK but note that these type of radios use the earpiece wire as the antenna so it needs a carefully routed 3.5mm connecting lead from radio to Autocom.

(3) Radio adaptor for my Ipod. costs about £35.00 but an expensive solution if you don't already have an iPod. This works really well. The FM reception is good. I got the standard Apple one which plugs into the multi-purpose socket on the bottom of the iPod and has a longish lead going to a small remote which in turn has a headphone socket. When plugged into the iPod the Ipod menu has an extra entry called radio and all the tuning and favorite setting is done from the iPod display.

I used to have my phone plugged into the Autocom but now Bluetooth link my phone to my Zumo and have that plugged into the Autocom. This means I can see whos calling on the Zumo display and can dial out from the Zumo screen.

 

[King Rat]

Thanks chaps. Where do I go to see one of these Autocom things? Do they have dealers, or is it a one stop place thatyou need to go to.

I don't fully understand everything you have told me (collectively) but enough to go and look into what I would need, even if it means I am still singing tomyself unless someone calls me. At least the long list of missed calls would be solved!

I didn't realise the ear plugs (they fall lout too easily. I can't keep them in my ears even sat at the confuser doing my pictures) were the aerial for the wirelss, no. So that could be a problem.

Iphone is also an ipod I think. Battery life is supposed ot be brilliant, according to everyone I have spoken to about them. They say they watch video films and listen to music and talk all day on one charge....maybe a little exagerration?

Oh well, somehting to look into. You had better warn Mr. Autocom that I am coming.....they can prepare for their nervous breakdown.

 

[hops]

send

a PM to GSRich who is a member here. He works for autocom and will explain the various systems to you and advise what would suit you best. The headphone/radio issue is not a problem because the iphone does not have a built-in radio so does not need an aerial. Personally I would describe the battery life as average at best if you use it on the bike as an ipod/listen to radio via internet you will almost certainly need an additional power source. Even with fairly limited use I find it barely lasts a full day without needing a charge.

Autocom have a website and a network of dealers across the country. There are other systems on the market but personally I wouldn't go anywhere else now.

 

[ukaluk]

cardio scaler rider Q2 set

cardio scaler rider Q2 set

you will be able to answer your phone

listen to ipod/mp3 player

and it has a built in radio for the archers

does have to talk to other people mode but you can disable that

Al

 

[Andrew Dalton]

I have looked through pages of the threads of past times, but cannot find what i am lookjng for.

All I want is to be able to answer my phone and maybe listen to the radio (BBC Wireless 2). I don't want an intercom, I don't want to talk dirty to the bike next to me, I don't need comms to other bikes for taking tests.....

Is there something on the market as simple as I am after, or do I have ot buy all the other peripherals that I don't want or need? Apparently, I have the radio on my mobile phone, but I will need ot look at the book (3 weeks reading) to find out how and where it is.

Do these iPhone things work on th ebike. I went into the O2 shop to ask but was told they don't answer questions on the technical side of phones or how they work.....really? I thought that is exactly what shops selling kit should do.

Anyone any thoughts that could sort me out - it will save all those missed calls and me singing to myself as I ride (you don't want to hear it, I can tell you!) helmet is a Schy S2 full face without the flippy up chin. 1150 Adv.

Possibly be able to use an iPhone as a road atlas with a blob on it to tell me where I am too? I don't want a sat nav, because I don't know where I am going half the time. I just go and find out where I am when I get there, if you know what I mean. So a map thattells me where I am on it, and no more is exactly what I need. Mystery tours are very interesting you know

I reckon I have the answer. I soldiered on with a little Sony DAB radio (I listen to Absolute Radio - radio 2 for people who won't admit it) but the squelching etc and poor reception was a royal pain. I then got a Highwayman from Pure, with a dinky little aerial, fixed by magnet to a washer gaffer taped to my side box (stylish I know) and it works brilliantly through the Autocom. it is a bit pointless spending anything on FM because the government is going to sell the FM transmitters to someone or other but not the BBC. I had a Scala Rider - pretty good with the radio but with earplugs, it goes a bit weak at abpout 50mph but that is a pretty good solution if it is for a slow commute, but Autocom and Pure Highway with the little aerial is the way forward for any kind of speed work. Mine is wired into a cigarette lighter adapter in my top box, which goes on and off with the ignition. A soft wired solution might be a portable DAB (Pure again don't seem to suffer with interference and have decent battery life) with custom made plugs or soft earphones.

Andrew

 

[Silver Rat]

I was wondering how easy it would be to get DAB radio on the bike and found this post.

Andrew.........

The DAB Highway seems to fit the bill but on looking on the net, my understanding of the DAB Highway is that the signal is passed through a car radio, which obviously I do not have on the bike, so how can this be connected to a bike through the Autocom?

 

[SilverFish]

Hmmm Andrew, thats interesting... so to get DAB/FM with a proper aerial for use in poor reception areas you use one of these:

Connected to one of these:

Which connects magnetically to a washer which is gaffer taped to your pannier/top box.

Did you mean that the Highway radio is also in the 'box? If so dont you find that a PITA when it comes to changing frequency when you lose reception..?

Mike

 

[Silver Rat]

Opps, I have read further and the PURE highway can be used away from a car using headphones, so tha presumably is why you can connect it to the Autocom.