Wireless Motorcycle Intercom?
Posted by OffThePace
OffThePace Michael Waterhouse Ultra Moderator Location: Voorheesville, NY Join Date: 11/22/2014 Age: Midlife Crisis Posts: 19 Rally Car: 1990 Eagle Talon AWD |
Hello,
I'm wondering if anyone has experience with the wireless intercoms made for motorcyclists like from the manufacturer Sena: http://www.sena.com/product/20s/ The Sena intercom gets decent reviews and I'm guessing the noise from a motorcycle is similar to the inside of a rally car. What do you recommend? Price is a factor of course but I like the convenience of a wireless system. The alternative I'm considering is the Terra Trip Professional V2. Thanks! -Michael Michael Waterhouse Voorheesville NY 1990 Eagle Talon |
john vanlandingham John Vanlandingham Infallible Moderator Location: Ford Asylum, Sleezattle, WA Join Date: 12/20/2005 Age: Fossilized Posts: 14,152 Rally Car: Saab 96 V4 |
Comparisons are useless without knowing effectiveness and importantly price. What's it cost..no obvious prices in you links and I won't waste time on moronic web-sites that don't show prices. And Terrible Phone is called that for a reason. So ANYTHINg is likely to be better than the Terror-phone John Vanlandingham Sleezattle, WA, USA Vive le Prole-le-ralliat www.rallyrace.net/jvab CALL +1 206 431-9696 Remember! Pacific Standard Time is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time. |
Doivi Clarkinen Banned Mod Moderator Location: the end of the universe Join Date: 02/12/2006 Age: Possibly Wise Posts: 1,432 Rally Car: 1980 Opel Ascona B |
I was always quite happy with my Terraphone. It always worked perfectly and I never had a problem with it. Hardwired so no batteries to run out at the worst moment plus it had an actual volume knob for each headset. Why do you think the Terraphone is so bad? Personal experience? |
Perry Perry Seaman Professional Moderator Location: Pittsburgh-ish Join Date: 12/15/2013 Age: Midlife Crisis Posts: 66 Rally Car: under construction |
I think it may work if needed, but isn't a solution I'd buy just for rally.
I have the smh10 stuff for moto use and have used the peltor intercoms in course cars. In the end the money is similar for either setup, so if you own the sena stuff already it'd be worth a try but if it's pure rally use just get a wired intercom. I'd worry about damaging the wireless intercom on the drivers helmet inside a caged car. The performance of both is similar although all my Sena use has been with closed face helmets, I'd bet the peltor stuff I've used is better with open face but I haven't tried it. The battery life on the smh10 is around 12 hours of continuous use. You can charge it while using it too, which I've done on the bikes on long days. I used to use a Peltor helmet kit wired to the ham radio directly on the course bike. Now I use a pair of SMH10s with modifications which puts the ham radio into my helmet when doing course work on the bike. you need LOTS of volume for that, and even at 80 something mph flat out on the bike I can clearly hear the rally net on both setups. I'm also half deaf for a week afterwards.. It takes about 4 to 6 watts at the speakers to do this. The bigger issue with all these coms is the helmet, and blocking ambient noise around your ears. In a rally car I'd try the molded earplugs with buds in them hooked to whatever system you use. On the course bike I have to talk to people on the road all the time so I just crank it up, although recently I have discovered acoustic filters in hearing protection so I'll try running that with the open speakers at sandblast. I feel like I just dumped a bunch of random info on ya, specific questions? Perry Perry FE570s course bike KTM 950 ADV 74 Beetle turbo-efi etc.. 72 Beetle stage rally project WRX powered Attended about 15 rallies, usually a volunteer in a course car. |
OffThePace Michael Waterhouse Ultra Moderator Location: Voorheesville, NY Join Date: 11/22/2014 Age: Midlife Crisis Posts: 19 Rally Car: 1990 Eagle Talon AWD |
Hey Perry, that was good information from someone who's actually used a Sena system. One of the interesting features that some of the Sena systems have now is an "ambient" mode that sends the ambient noise around you to the earphones so you can hear what's going on around you so you can talk with other people.
I like the idea of the molded ear buds to block out the ambient. John, the Sena systems range from $180 for a set to $750 on Amazon depending on the model. The Sena website makes it very hard to cut through to the specs and compare models. I'm hoping other people with experience with the wireless intercoms can comment on their effectiveness. The Terra Trip systems are a great price...I'm interested to hear why you don't like them and what you suggest as an alternative. Also, how old was the system you used and what model? I like the volume limiter feature of the Professional model so you can communicate with the control people easier and not deafen the other driver. -Michael Michael Waterhouse Voorheesville NY 1990 Eagle Talon |
john vanlandingham John Vanlandingham Infallible Moderator Location: Ford Asylum, Sleezattle, WA Join Date: 12/20/2005 Age: Fossilized Posts: 14,152 Rally Car: Saab 96 V4 |
Yes. And from experience with simple stuff that was way better...worked--ie cancelled noise--better John Vanlandingham Sleezattle, WA, USA Vive le Prole-le-ralliat www.rallyrace.net/jvab CALL +1 206 431-9696 Remember! Pacific Standard Time is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time. |
czwalga steve czwalga Mega Moderator Location: Pittsburgh, PA Join Date: 09/16/2011 Age: Settling Down Posts: 376 Rally Car: 95 awd celica |
I lost a total of 4 headsets during rallies, between my co-driver and driver. Couple that with a few broken exhausts I remember having to let off throttle just so my dad could scream some notes at me. Terrible-phone...is right. I'm not for spending money to spend money, but the stilo intercom upgrade was very nice in the new car. First rally I had to constantly tell my dad to be quiet; normally used to yelling with the terrible phone. |
BobOfTheFuture Rob Mod Moderator Location: LI, NY Join Date: 09/25/2010 Age: Settling Down Posts: 629 Rally Car: None, anymore. |
You can put me in as 'not a fan' of terraphone as well. With my aviation-grade hearing my volume is nearly maxed with normal rally car noises. And the big square dealie housing the 1/4 jack is begging to grab something (belts) and get torn off.
If you can get into contact with Gary D (V8 Ranger guy) he is always going on about some wireless intercom he uses. Enablers, All of you. |
Doivi Clarkinen Banned Mod Moderator Location: the end of the universe Join Date: 02/12/2006 Age: Possibly Wise Posts: 1,432 Rally Car: 1980 Opel Ascona B |
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hoche Michel Hoche-Mong Junior Moderator Location: Campbell, CA Join Date: 02/28/2006 Age: Possibly Wise Posts: 1,156 Rally Car: Golf, Golf, RX-3 |
I reverse-engineered a Terraphone Clubman awhile back. They're ok. Could be better.
http://www.specialstage.com/forums/showthread.php?77313-Reverse-Engineered-Terraphone-Clubman-(first-Gen) After having run two events with them last year, I was really happy to get back into cars with Peltor intercoms. Self-righteous douche canoe |
Paul Buck Paul Buck Infallible Moderator Location: Portland, OR Join Date: 03/23/2015 Age: Midlife Crisis Posts: 156 Rally Car: Volvo 242 in progress |
I just found your schematic over there a few days ago and thanks for putting it up. I think your suggestions for filtering are spot on and i'll also bet one could find a drop in replacement (maybe) for the amp chip that puts out a bit more juice. I halfway tempted to burn a few out next time i make boards... |
hoche Michel Hoche-Mong Junior Moderator Location: Campbell, CA Join Date: 02/28/2006 Age: Possibly Wise Posts: 1,156 Rally Car: Golf, Golf, RX-3 |
Sheesh. I just reread my post. It's pretty obvious I wrote it at 4:30am - there're all sorts of grammar mistakes.
Anyway...I don't think you'll find a drop-in replacement for the amp chip. I looked around on both Mouser and DigiKey and didn't find anything. I keep thinking I should just make a surface-mount kit that's a replacement for the original board though. Self-righteous douche canoe |
john vanlandingham John Vanlandingham Infallible Moderator Location: Ford Asylum, Sleezattle, WA Join Date: 12/20/2005 Age: Fossilized Posts: 14,152 Rally Car: Saab 96 V4 |
The word I got from a fellow who was Senior Instructor at British Telecom's Tech School in Harrogate and who made for years the superb Brantz tripmeters was "The Terror-phone is a direct copy of a very early prototype version of the excellent Greytronics intercom which was made by a friend of mine who is (was) also a Senior Instructor at Harrogate...direct right down to a fault in the filtering part of the amp circuit"...and "and it went downhill from there"..
Probably better things to reverse injur-near. John Vanlandingham Sleezattle, WA, USA Vive le Prole-le-ralliat www.rallyrace.net/jvab CALL +1 206 431-9696 Remember! Pacific Standard Time is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time. |
czwalga steve czwalga Mega Moderator Location: Pittsburgh, PA Join Date: 09/16/2011 Age: Settling Down Posts: 376 Rally Car: 95 awd celica |
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hoche Michel Hoche-Mong Junior Moderator Location: Campbell, CA Join Date: 02/28/2006 Age: Possibly Wise Posts: 1,156 Rally Car: Golf, Golf, RX-3 |
Well, we're talking intercoms here, and they're all just analog. Even the low-end Peltors like the FMT-100/110, both of which I took apart a few years ago because I was curious. The FMT-200 presumably has some sort of microcontroller to handle button presses and the LED's, but I haven't taken apart one.
John: If you can remember more details of what the fault was, I'd be curious to know. I only reverse-engineered it because I was fixing one for someone. I didn't see anything egregiously wrong, just a lot of "well, this could be better" stuff. The only filtering issue I see is what looks like an RC high-pass filter that should cut off anything below about 15Hz, which seems sort of useless to me. Self-righteous douche canoe |
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