Helmet communicators

[heelclickinonaR]

Does anyone have any experience with a helmet communicator, such as the Chatterbox? I was thinking that it would be nice to be able to talk to my wife while we are riding. Please post up any experiences or suggestions. Thanks.

[YFZ_Racer42]

The scalarider are better than the chartterbox, you can have the team set if it's for driver and passanger comunication or you'll need a set of the other model, I don't remember the name of this one but if you are each other on your quad, you'll need the other one because the team set don't have a big range that you can comunicate, with the other model you can talk even if you're at 500 feet of distance!

Hope it help!

[wilkin250r]

Personally, I don't like the chatterbox. It's bulky, just because of the timeframe which it was designed. But maybe I can't comment because I've never actually tried it (because I don't like the size).

There are a few terms you should know when you're searching around. SIMPLEX is like a walkie-talkie, only one person can talk at a time. DUPLEX ( or sometimes called full duplex, which is the exact same thing) is like a telephone, both parties can talk at the same time.

Some models that are Simplex-mode have a button that you attack to the handlebars, call Push To Talk (or PTT), and most of these models also have a Voice-activated feature ( called VOX) which automatically starts the transmission when you begin talking. These features often will get false-triggering, however, caused by road noise or your bike (because they trigger when sound reaches a certain level). The technology is getting much better in this area, I don't think false-triggering is as big an issue as it used to be.

Almost all models that have a duplex transmission use Bluetooth technology, which is limited in range, so they generally have shorter ranges. Also, because duplex is transmitting all the time, it generally has much shorter battery life as well. But Duplex will allow you to interrupt each other to warn of obstacles, while simplex will not. With simplex transmission, you have to wait until the other person is done talking. Bluetooth are a newer technology, so they're also generally smaller.

Be aware when reading the specs, because many models have duplex communication with rider-passenger on the same bike (because they are physically wired together), but SIMPLEX transmission from one bike to another.

And in the future, since this isn't 250r-related, I would appreciate it going in the Open Forum.

[heelclickinonaR]

Thanks for the info. It should help me out when I search for communication device. Sorry for posting this in the 250R section, but since I will be using it while riding my 250R, I figured all was good. It won't happen again.