Interbike communication systems

[Pfaelzer]

Well, when my "better half" stops talking on the intercom, then I know, soon her helmet will knock against mine and she will fall asleep - time to reduce the pace a bit... That happens normally more often after a good road-side meal. In such cases I move a little backwards on the seat, lean a bit forward, she takes a nap and I have a quiet hour or so...

Not that bad to have an intercom. You'll learn to enjoy the beauty of silence more then.

Cheers,
AW.

[jape]

I hope she is tied on mate! Mine likes the vibration too and dozes off now and again but she tends to keep her hands in my pockets (no, not that, just warmth and security) so I know if she slackens off and I wake her. I have been tempted to handcuff her to the passenger grips ...

[felix]

Yeah i've often wondered what happens if the passenger dozes and you're not riding a goldwing. Handcuffs are a good idea, though it could get distracting when she starts slipping off the side and her head gets caught in the back wheel or something similar. I'm always a fan of duct tape, but of course the victim will probably be awake when it's applied and may not be very enthusiastic.

Anyway i don't have this problem as when i take the wife out it's usually on 3 wheels and her head is free to bob around in the bucket, which it usually does about 5 minutes after we set off. Euphonius, there's another argument for sidecars for you: no violent death for sleepy passengers.

[euphonius]

....when i take the wife out...

felix, did I miss something? when did "the girlfriend" morph into "the wife"??

[felix]

Ah yes sorry, we are not technically married as human-panda marriage is still not legal in china.

Man did this thread digress...

[Lao Jia Hou]

OK, back on the original boring topic …

I received the new headsets yesterday. I also managed to get my new Canon G11 camera out of its box so this is my first attempt at using it (and my first attempt at linking images).

As soon as I saw the headset package my first reaction was – wow, it is much bigger than the cheap one I bought previously. My second reaction was – Chinese industrial strength plastic bag. Sigh.

Using some of the money I saved from not buying an imported comm system, you can get an idea of the relative sizes of the headset parts.



There are three general parts in this setup. First, there is the headset (two ear pieces and one microphone) attached to wires. Each ear piece and the microphone has a sticky backing covered by a piece of paper.





The three wires for the ear pieces (two wires) and the microphone (one wire) merge into a single heavier gauge wire. The single wire then travels about 30 cms. to a DIN connector. It is hard to see the line-up arrows on the DIN connectors, so a spot of white paint (nail polish) will help those of us with aged eyesight.



The headset wire DIN connector is attached to the second part of the assembly - a “Y” connector.

[Lao Jia Hou]

The bottom of the “Y” connector is what attaches to the walkie talkie (two pin style, one pin larger than the other so you are ensured of always attaching it correctly). The larger pin is for the mic, the smaller pin is for ear pieces. I am not sure if this is a standardized connection, nor do I know which pin incorporates the PTT button.

One of the top ends of the Y connecting wire is for the headset (above), the other is for the PTT (push-to-talk) button wire. The connector for the PTT wire is also DIN style. Both DIN connectors are identical so it would be easy to mix them up. For reference, the slightly shorter wire of the “Y” connector goes to the headset, the longer wire goes to the PTT button. I’ll use some colored tape to make it easy to distinguish which goes where.

These are some pics of the PTT wire and button:













The PTT button seems to be great, and exactly what I had in mind. First, it seems to be reasonably well made (it probably isn’t waterproof but some silicon sealant might work). Second, the button is large, so it will be easy to use with gloves. Third, the Velcro strap is quite long so it can be attached to your glove finger (if you wish), or your handlebar (my preference), or directly onto a grip (scooter). Fourth, the backside of the PTT button is hard plastic so a little piece of rubber/vinyl will help it from moving/vibrating on the handlebars (the hard plastic against metal will mean zero friction resistance – it will move around). Fifth, it has a coiled wire – I am not sure about whether this is a good thing, as I recall what happens to coiled telephone handset wires – time will tell.

[Lao Jia Hou]

Mounting in the helmet.

I am using a flip-up full face. The ear pieces are easy to attach, but it took me two tries. On my first try, I just stuck them inside the helmet where I thought my ears went, and then put the helmet on. Surprise! My ears aren’t where I thought they were! Mock me if you wish, but give it a try and see if you know where your ears are actually seated inside your helmet.

So, I took the ear pieces out, put my helmet back on and then slid my fingers in and determined exactly where my ears are seated inside my helmet. And then I reset the ear pieces, accordingly. The sticky stuff was still sticky because I did this resetting right away, and only once. I’m guessing that sticky stuff would deteriorate quickly.

When I put the helmet back on, I could sense that there was something new inside the helmet but it was still quite comfortable. Good, now to the microphone.



Given my “ear experience”, I put my helmet on first, closed the flip-up front face, and wiggled my fingers around to determine where there was a decent mounting space (it is quite tight in there as this is a Chinese helmet and I, a Westerner, have a big nose and a big chin!).

I determined that slightly above my mouth and offset to the right was best – there was some room, and it would also clear the top of the helmet when the flip-up was opened / closed.

Off came the helmet, and the mic was attached to the appropriate place.



Put the helmet back on and voila! It is fine.

However, I do have these 3 wires coming out of my helmet which means that I will have to be careful putting my helmet on and taking it off. Five minutes of experimentation had me figuring out that it is pretty easy if you keep the wires held towards the back of the helmet while putting it on, and it is really a non-issue when you remove your helmet (as long as you remember that you have these wires attached to you). Also, the mic wire doesn’t interfere with the flip-up mechanism (great for toll booths, smoke breaks & wolf whistles).

[Lao Jia Hou]

My first “road test”.

I was doing this at home so I had to improvise a “road test”. Enlisting my sweety, I plugged my walkie talkie in, slid it in my pocket, put on my helmet and went outside while she stayed inside with the second walkie talkie. Note to readers – a better idea is to send your sweety outside, else neighbours will have their suspicions confirmed that foreigners are completely crazy when they see you walking around in a helmet, talking to yourself.

Results of the “road test” – absolutely perfect, crystal clear communication. The PTT button is big and provides good tactile feedback. And the headset is almost unnoticeable inside the helmet.

Not bad inter-bike communication for 244 rmb (122 each), IMHO. And I get to play with the walkie talkies in other venues (hiking, kayaking, mountain biking, etc), so the 600 rmb cost (300 each) can’t be attributed solely to my motorcycling pleasures.

I’ve just discovered that my walkie talkies have an FM radio built in, although I’m not really sure that is a good thing. I’ve also since discovered that a competing brand walkie talkie model includes a 12V cig lighter attachment. Mine has no provision for external power.

Mounting on the bike.

Now that I have my nifty Canon G11, you can see some first pics of my black beauty JH600. Of course, all that we’re interested in here is how to mount the PTT button.

Here it is on my handlebar





“can you hear me now?” … amazingly, sweety could, although not 100% clearly. I say “amazing” because I was five floors down in an underground parking lot. I have zero technical expertise in how walkie talkies work, but this surprised me. We live on the second floor of a concrete building & my parking space is three levels underground.

I was undecided about left or right mount. I chose left because I prefer to have my right hand devoted to brake & throttle (and a cigarette - TIC). The Velcro strap was too long, so I trimmed about 4 cm and used it as the friction device between the button’s hard plastic and my handlebar.

[Lao Jia Hou]

My next road test will come after I get my sweety’s helmet done and get her out on the street with her scooter. Here are the pair of his/her black beauties …





Bottom line – very happy with the new headsets (btw, the taobao vendor didn’t charge me shipping costs because I ordered two). I was also very happy with the walkie talkies, until I found out about the competing model’s cig lighter adaptor. That would be nicer. Or, as chinabiker noted, walkie talkies that are powered by AA batteries.

Endnote – yes, I did cover my fancy-shmancy aluminum cases with safety tape – TIC and if even only 1% of the new drivers out there go “look at that butt-ugly motorcycle luggage” I have achieved my objective – they have seen me! Of course, this might create the new problem of them bee-lining towards what they are looking at.

Happy riding
Richard (currently tuned to 400.125 frequency)