I have a walkie-talkie set supposed to allow bike-to bike communication, but both loudspeakers and microphones are useless above 30 kph. You get what you pay for. We are required to have communication while practicing, but since the quality was so annoying and the mic and speakers tended to fall out, we've just ignored them. However, having the ability to speak and explain stuff to the kid while we ride is something I miss. As I see it, I have several options: 1) Use the mobile phones. We can call each other free of charge as much as we want. Range is usually great, but it can be a PITA if the call is dropped. Will require good bluetooth stuff to work. 2) Buy bluetooth intercom. Reviews vary. Seems you either must carry big lump on helmet or some wires, but I haven't checked much. 3) Radio transmitters. AFAIK, needs wires, but range and sound seems to be better than bluetooth stuff from Autocom(?) equipment. 4) I can get digital VHF radios of the sort used by the emergency service. Great range, and since they are stationary models wired to the bikes they will never need charging. But they do not come with bluetooth, so I will need to push a button to talk and I will also need a wire to connect mic and speaker to the unit. Which I really do not fancy. The ideal for me mic/speaker would be a small unit I could put in my ear that connected to a stationary radio on the bike in a wireless manner and voice activation. But whatever I get, I feel it should A) be wireless up to the helmet and B) hands free operated and C) offer great sound at all normal speeds and D) have a range of at least 300 metres. What would you recommend?
Bluetooth thingies are the go, but it's a bit modern, Eirik, with buttons and stuff, so you might get confused
Any models I can permanently mount/wire to the bike and have wireless connection to the headset that happens to have brilliant sound both ways?
I use this one with the GPS and mobile http://www.cardosystems.com/scala-rider/scala-rider-q2 Battery life outlasts the GPS battery and if I use the charger on the GPS have ridden 9 hours without the headset going flat. If you were listening to the radio it would drain faster. I turn it on then forget it as its voice activated. You want to contact Russ, he uses a headset when with his dad all the time
I bought a chinese knock off of a scala rider. I think this one: http://dx.com/p/bt-interphone-hands...ing-helmet-7-hour-talk-100-hour-standby-35613 I've not used the phone function on it much but use it to listen to music on longer trips frequently. Sound quality is rubbish but at over 60km/h I don't think it matters too much. Could possibly put better speakers in but it may be the amp in it that is at fault. Battery life is okay, gets at least 3-4 hours of music use per charge. If you only used it for phone calls it should last longer. For US$44 its pretty awesome. I didn't expect it to be as good as a scala but was surprised at its quality.
You still have to carry that box on the helmet, which would be nice to omit. But I can live with it. I can NOT live with anything but great sound both ways at any speed up to 100 kph because it would mean they would not serve the purpose. So no wind noise from the mic and clear audio from the speakers. What's the difference between the Q2 and Q4 other than range? Normally, we are within 50 metres of each other, never more than 200 metres. But if the sound quality is better with the Q4, it may be worth paying double.
I tried a bunch of the Scala ones but sound quality was really bad. They're just OK for voice/phone, but for music they are horrid. I settled on the Sena SMH10 with an optional mic set that lets me use my own in-ear phones. It turns out the Sena speakers are pretty damn good anyway, much better than any of the Scala ones. Helmet and wind noise completely sucks the bass and mids out, so don't rely on a static test. I found the Scala speakers so bad while riding, i'd rather have nothing at all. The battery lasts for ages, I can ride to work with music playing via bluetooth, make and receive a few calls and I don't need to charge it for a couple of weeks, that's about 10hrs of use. You can easily get a full day out of it. And it's so easy to use, even the missus can do it.
I'm not going to use it for anything but voice, talking to my kid and receiving what he says. But it must be clear and easy to understand. What sort do the police use? One would expect those systems to be good, or?
F1 drivers seem to have pretty good communications, why not suss that out?:lol: BTW, why don't MotoGP riders have F1 type communication to team? Surely it's not beyond the means of present technology?