Re: Intercom

[Eric Sheley <SprintST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 11:44 AM 07/31/1999 -0500, dan & ann curcio wrote:
 >I am going to go one step further and ask if anyone out there knows of a 
system
 >that allows you to talk to someone on another bike?  (Now the heads are 
really
 >shaking)  I am interested in this because my wife is learning to ride and I
 >feel
 >totally helpless when riding my ST in traffic behind her and she is becoming
 >nervous because she can't see me.  It would also be nice to talk to her about
 >riding techniques while moving instead of having to scream at her through an
 >open visor at the next intersection after the fact.  I would appreciate any
 >input.

Dan,

I started my search for exactly the same reason. I tried several different 
units before testing the Communicator900 by Collett.

Because I think it is interesting, here is the scoop behind the company.

The first communicator that Les Collett designed was born from a first hand 
accident experience. "The very first communicators I made came as a result 
of watching helplessly as a friend of mine was nearly killed in a 
snowmobile accident. It was dark, he was about 500 feet in front of me, and 
when I tried to catch him he thought I wanted to race and went even faster. 
I knew what he didn't - that a guard rail lay directly across the way ahead."

The guy survived the crash, but his sled was several feet shorter in length.

Anyway, that lead him to develop a couple of products for snowmobiles which 
are now marketed for motorcycles. They have their info on a page 
at  http://www.collett.mb.ca/

The first thing I noticed on the unit was the quality of construction - 
this is no $99 toy (as is reflected in its $200US price tag). They offer 
systems in 49 and 900 Mhz, but I find the 49Mhz units are a waste unless 
you plan on staying right next to each other (in general - I did not try 
the Collett 49Mhz units).  We were very happy with the sound quality and 
had almost decided to keep them when we found that they could not be used 
in a rider / passenger configuration - they were just way too strong and 
you would get all kinds of strange sounds.

Anyway, as we spend most of our time as rider / passenger we were 
disappointed. I called the company to see if anything could be done and the 
person I spoke with asked why I didn't get the intercom unit ? For only 
$259US they had a unit that comes with a second headset that wires to the 
first. So now I can go bike to bike or rider to passenger.

The unit has an audio in (for my cd player) and features audio cut out on 
talk. So we can listen to cd's and then talk when we want to and it 
automatically drops the cd audio. The units are adjustable sensitivity vox 
units to compensate for wind / helmet noise. Adjustable squelch to filter 
out electronic interference. The unit comes with a battery back with hi-cap 
nicad AA batteries and a charger  - I normally get about 8 hours of 
communication off a fully charged set. The nice thing is that if I can't 
recharge, I can always throw in some regular AA cells and be back in business.

The only complaint I had with the unit was that I had some cellular towers 
that were activating the "Groomer warning" signal - designed to warn 
snowmobiles of approaching slope groomers or snow plows. As I was in Miami 
at the time, I was fairly confident that there were no plows in the area. 
Anyway, I sent the units back to the factory and they modified them at no 
charge.

I did experience a little discomfort with the helmet earphones when I was 
doing a lot of miles, so I have been looking into getting a set of custom 
molded earplugs.

Sorry for the length - hope that helps

- - Eric


and 

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