Communication

[mktmhoward]

In the summer I am off to the Alps with two others for five days. We have decided that bike to bike communication might be useful. So what’s the best way without spending a fortune? In the past my old travelling mate and I bought PMR radio kits cheaply from Lidl’s, they were OK but battery life was a bit crap and quality was only OK. We could use phones; you can make a lot of calls for the price of an Interphone or maybe be clever with satnavs/Bluetooth. However, making a call is a pain if you just want to say ‘look out for the coach full of tourists round the next bend’ or ‘I have taken a left turn because it looked interesting’. So any good advice or should we just spend the cash?
Cheers.

[pinball1008]

I think if you want inter-bike comma then there are no cheap quality solutions. If it's something that you'll use regularly, then buy the best you can. Plenty of options around and often some good secondhand deals about from the usual suspects, Scala etc. I've been looking at a company called Uclear, but they are not cheap at all. Big advantage is you can bounce the signal from headset to headset to increase the usable distance between bikes and no boom mike stuck out your helmet.

[dmac]

I had my heart set on a pair of SMH10's however have seen reports about water damage. Living in Ireland where it rains all the fecking time its put me right off.

Have seen promising reviews of some of the cheaper Chinese BT sets, and at £60 for a pair they might be worth a punt even if water did damage them.

Might still hold out for the SMH10's and then add in the BT radio module meaning you could converse with peeps using autocom I think.

[Bernard Smith]

Myself and my wife (who was blind) spent a long, long time looking into all variations. I think in this case it is a matter of you get what you pay for. We had three different sets altogether. Our most recent one was the Scala Rider multiset.

It set up easy and performed perfectly from day one. The distance is supposed to be very good re. between riders but we only used a fraction of the distance (me going to pay for petrol etc.)

I do think though - you will get what you pay for.

Best wishes

Bernard.

[Buggles]

I second Pinball's comment: there is no cheap quality solution.

For our trip to Norway, me & my brother bought the Midland Bluetooth Kit (EUR 285 for the pair). They came with a "Best of Test" stamp of approval from a Dutch bike mag.

About 4 days into our 15 day trip they stopped working properly (he could hear me, I couldn't hear him, he could hear himself but not me, etc).

I still need to return them to the store, either get them fixed or get my money back. I'll probably go with the proper PMR solution Starcom or Autocom next time... Spend a little more, save a lot in the long run!

JB

[Heff]

I use an Autocom system, (Pro 7 Sport) bought used from a friend. This is connected to a Kenwood TK1321 PMR radio, again bought second hand. The Autocom is connected via an adapter to the bikes 12v system to power both the Autocom and the radio. (in this case the live feed for the lights, so the system is only live when the lights are on, so as I always ride with heights on anyway this isn't an issue) and fixed into my Givi topbox. This means it can't be left on accidentally and drain the battery. The helmet is connected to the Autocom by a lead which is located beside the seat. The Autocom also has a push to talk button on the left handlebars to activate it when required. A bonus is that I can also connect my Garmin to it and listen to music etc, etc.

You get what you pay for in my book, buy cheap, buy twice.?

I would guess as the wired Autocom is now a few years old, it can be purchased quite reasonably now from the likes of eBay etc, as the newer Bluetooth sets are now the order of the day

The radio would be the most expensive part to purchase, maybe £75 but other PMR radios can be used with the correct adapter.

Wouldn't be without the bike to bike system now, great fun when your mates are on the same network

[CBSTD]

We used scalla Q4 sets for 2 european tours with great success, really made a huge difference instead of listening to yourself in your helmet you have to listen to someone else witter on . Range is about 0.5 mile in some of the steep sided valleys of the Pyrennes it can be line of sight,batteries would go down by the end of some of the longer days,we used a latex glove to waterproof the putting the antena up the thumb and pulling the palm round the unit an taping it off round the cable be sure to pull the glove over the outside of the mounting plate.Be-aware someone will talk filth in your ear when you are paying the stunning blonde kiosk attendant.

[dmac]

I want comms mainly for when I am out on spins with my wife, so if I went autocom I would have to go two fold, and I'm not sure it would power off a 125 battery? Secondly I'm not sure I would use it much outside of this, none of my m8's have comms etc. Decisions, decisions....

[Heff]

Dmac

Regardless of what system you go for, you will need 2 sets.

I dont know if the Autocom works on 6v (if thats what Mrs dmac 125 is)

The Autocom can be powered off a 9vPP3 type battery also

I have a mate who I think still has a pair Midland PMR radios for sale? but you would still need to get the speakers, mic's etc

I can ask him for you if you wish and he could bring them to ABR Ireland to check out

PM me if interested and I'll make a phone call

[dmac]

I actually have a pair of radios already, we used them with a cheapo set of mics and speakers to varying degrees of success, (ie little). If you could give me a tour of your setup next weekend, so that I know what to look for then that'll help me. Thanks for the help!