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Bluetooth Intercom


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#1 3vd

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Posted 04 May 2010 - 08:56 pm

After much debating about wired or wireless intercoms I've ordered..... a wireless one, based on having 3 bikes a wife and 3 kids who all like a go!

So I've just ordered one of these,

http://cgi.ebay.co.u...T#ht_6513wt_958
Edit. above link is no longer available but you can get them from www.buybits.com, linky;
http://www.buybits.c...t/sku_6087.aspx

Basically the same spec and design as other kits cost 3 or 4 times the price, but you get what you pay for..... we'll see I guess.

I've emailed ebay members who've bought these previously and I've searched for as much feedback on them as possible, so far so good. The vast majority like the intercom and get on well with it, one or two negative comments but then you always get that.

So in the end I bit the bullet and bought a pair, I'll report my findings here!

Edited by maximuspetrolhead, 13 June 2010 - 03:49 pm.


#2 jim850wav

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Posted 04 May 2010 - 09:04 pm

QUOTE(maximuspetrolhead @ Tue 4th May 2010, 10:56 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
After much debating about wired or wireless intercoms I've ordered..... a wireless one, based on having 3 bikes a wife and 3 kids who all like a go!

So I've just ordered one of these,

http://cgi.ebay.co.u...T#ht_6513wt_958
Basically the same spec and design as other kits cost 3 or 4 times the price, but you get what you pay for..... we'll see I guess.

I've emailed ebay members who've bought these previously and I've searched for as much feedback on them as possible, so far so good. The vast majority like the intercom and get on well with it, one or two negative comments but then you always get that.

So in the end I bit the bullet and bought a pair, I'll report my findings here!

will wait to hear your report... my wifes learning at present and was thinking of buying a set ...
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#3 newstu

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Posted 04 May 2010 - 09:08 pm

great heads up - look forward to hearing how you get on with it


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#4 Cavey

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Posted 04 May 2010 - 11:23 pm

Be interested to hear your findings. I have a Cardo bluetooth headset and it's kwaliteee (don't use it for intercom though - only phone and FM receiver). The equivalent Cardo rig would be mega-bucks.
It's not having what you want, it's wanting what you've got.

#5 3vd

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Posted 05 May 2010 - 05:55 am

The other system I considered was the Blue At Interphone F4, as two blokes at work have the older mono version of this and highly rate it.
http://www.myblueant...ne/f4/index.php

An excellent place for reviews, for those who'dlike to read a bit more is,
http://www.webbikewo...ycle-intercoms/



#6 3vd

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Posted 12 May 2010 - 07:44 am

Well my new intercom has turned up and so far I'm well pleased with it.
I've paired one with my phone, which has sat nav and music.
I paired the other one with my sons phone as he'll be using it the most.
I've also paired them with each other.

So I've tried connecting them together in intercom mode and set off down the street while my son stayed in the house to check range, seems quite good, obstructions do make it break up as expected.

I've ridden to work this morning and phoned the missus, one press and voice dial and hey presto connected. She said she couldn't tell I was on the bike until I got to 70mph, and then I tucked behind the MRA Vario screen and she said it was fine again. (Note, I've got a noisy Arai Chaser)
Having two ear pieces makes it very clear, even with ear plugs, again I could hear the missus up to 70mph, when the wind noise gets quite high, but tucking in I could hear her fine again. I figure this is fast enough.

So next test is GPS directions and then music.

The ear pieces are quite tinny sounding but then are fairly loud, fine for speach but I'm not sure how the music will sound.

The size of the ear pieces and bluetooth module are really quite small, much smaller then I expected.

Fitting to the helmet was fairly straight forward, the Arai cheek pads are removeable so this made it quite easy.
The HJC helmet was much the same.

So far so good. I'll do more testing and report back, with some photos.
In conclusion at this point, yes I'd recommend them, especially as they're £100 (for the pair) and the other system I was looking at was £300

Edited by maximuspetrolhead, 12 May 2010 - 07:45 am.


#7 welshwizard

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Posted 12 May 2010 - 08:36 am

Bloody useful info' maximus, -been pondering myself as to which way to go. keep it coming & thank you.

#8 mit

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Posted 12 May 2010 - 08:40 am

2 x SETS MOTORBIKE BLUETOOTH HEADSET INTERCOM HANDSFREE
GPS For LESS
ebay
=
good.gif
Thanks for the review.
might pick up a pair

Edited by mit, 12 May 2010 - 08:40 am.


#9 dmmsta

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Posted 13 May 2010 - 07:35 am

Have you noticed any extra wind noise from the control unit stuck out the side of your helmet?

I've been looking for something at a sensible price, and this definitely seems to tick the boxes.

Anyone interested in going halves at pay day?


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#10 3vd

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Posted 13 May 2010 - 10:03 am

Don't even notice the bluetooth module is on the side of the helmet, mounting bracket is secure and there is a second option of a stick on bracket.

I've now tried the kit with Sat Nav directions.

I found I had to set my phone to use the BlueTooth Headset in Stereo mode (as in music mode, AD2P) in order to hear the Sat Nav directions. This works well.
I asked the missus to call me when I was out. The phone rang and after 5 seconds auto answered, spoke the the missus for 10 minutes, she hung and the phone went back to Sat Nav mode. Unfortunately when the phone is in AD2P mode for music and Sat Nav, the little phone button on the headset only plays and pauses the music. When in normal headset mode the phone button allows you to voice dial. So a bit of a compromise there.
On my way home I tried music, again this worked well, I was able to pause the music when I wanted and play again, just by pressing the Phone button on the headset.

Now my only gripe, the ear pieces are pretty poor for music. Bear in mind I always use ear plugs due to my noisy helmet (Arai Chaser). I can get plenty of volume, enough for 95mph on a test track tongue.gif but the sound quality is really quite poor. This is down to the ear pieces as I tried a PC Headset plugged into the bluetooth module and the sound quality was much better. So my next job is to find replacement ear pieces. I'm not upset about this as I expected the ear pieces to be quite tinny, even with buying new ear pieces it still works out much better value than any other system.
Of course if your not bothered about music the standard ear pieces are actually fine for voice.

I fully charged both modules when I received them and so far I've done 1.5 hours on my set, so I'll not charge it and see how long it lasts.

Edited by maximuspetrolhead, 15 May 2010 - 02:05 pm.


#11 poldark

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Posted 13 May 2010 - 10:39 am

Thanks for doing all the testing and reporting for the rest of us to benefit from. good.gif
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#12 dmmsta

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Posted 13 May 2010 - 11:10 am

QUOTE(poldark @ Thu 13th May 2010, 11:39 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Thanks for doing all the testing and reporting for the rest of us to benefit from. good.gif

wifgeni.gif
Cheers for all the work!
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#13 Fernihough

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Posted 13 May 2010 - 11:41 am

Very interesting. I am not too concerned about the phone function. I think hand free is distracting enough in the car and you need more concentration on a bike. Let's stay safe.

Can this intercom work with your pillion only or can you speak with a friend following you on an other bike?
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#14 dmmsta

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Posted 13 May 2010 - 11:43 am

The spec states 500m (300m in town) operating range on the BT.

One wonders if it will just re-sync if the range is exceeded, and then come back into range?! Maximus...?!
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#15 3vd

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Posted 13 May 2010 - 11:51 am

Yup, when they lose contact, they re-establish comms no probs.

I talked to the missus for about 10 - 15 mins riding round the Oxford Ring Road then into Headington in rush hour traffic.

Now each to their own but I found it ok talking on the phone. A few times the missus said she couldn't hear me and I had to inform her it was because I wasn't talking, as in I was concentrating on the traffic.

I need to do more testing as to the intercom function as I've only done it with Ryan (my eldest) staying in the house while I went for a walk.

Just looking at Sennheiser headphones to rob the ear pieces to graft into my helmet for better sounding music!

Edited by maximuspetrolhead, 15 May 2010 - 02:06 pm.


#16 ChrisG

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Posted 13 May 2010 - 01:25 pm

A few people on here use those seinheissein ear jobbies to listen to music on the bike and reckon their pretty good. Having gone from a system that used in ear speakers to one that has speakers in the helmet I find the in helmet one a lot less hassle. Might be worth looking for an old autocom headset to rob the speakers as I find the music quite good on it.

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#17 poldark

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Posted 13 May 2010 - 01:50 pm

QUOTE(maximuspetrolhead @ Thu 13th May 2010, 12:51 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Just looking at Sennheiser headphones to rob the ear pieces to graft into my helmet for better sounding music!

I love Sennheisers! Are the earpieces connected using special socket or is it standard 3.5mm, if so I can just use my in-ear CX300/II that I use for music only at the moment.
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#18 3vd

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Posted 13 May 2010 - 08:39 pm


This is the Interphone unit fitted to my Arai Chaser.


Mounting clip from below, one part slips inside the shell and the outer part screws on to it. It secures really well and removes without a trace.


Here you can see the microphone, there's not loads of room here but it fits ok.


Bare mounting clip on my sons HJC helmet.


Here you can see the screws.


With the cheek pads removed I placed the earpiece inside the cheek pad under the soft lining and poked the microphone out at the front.


Can you see the earpiece? It's well hidden and can be removed again without any damage.


Full view of Interphone unit.


Here we can see the 3.5mm jack. This is a 4 pole jack, microphone, left right and ground. So you can use standard headphones. Charging is via a standard mini USB lead, very handy as all my phones use this too!


This is the mounting point on the back of the unit.


Here's the Interphone unit compared to my old SPV C550 phone.


Right side cheek pad of my Arai Chaser, here's the earpiece. There's Velcro on the back to secure, just remove the backing and stick the Velcro in place.


Here's where the wire pokes through to the back.


Cover refitted, can't see it at all.


Left side cheek pad, earpiece mounts with Velcro and the microphone pokes through under the foam and out at the frot.


Here's where the microphone pokes out.

Edited by maximuspetrolhead, 13 May 2010 - 09:23 pm.


#19 3vd

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Posted 13 May 2010 - 08:51 pm

Did some testing with the intercom function tonight. Works really well round town and up to 60mph no problem. 70 to 80 mph is do-able but you do have to raise your voice, as you'd expect!
I tried swapping between intercom and phone mode, making calls via voice dialling. This worked a few times but in the end my phone locked up... but the intercom function still worked ok. Once we'd stopped and I restarted my phone we were back in business. While out testing the missus rang Ryan (my son) so he had a quick chat with her and then informed my via the intercom that we were due home again.

So my unit has done about 2.5 hours service so far, including phone calls, SatNav, music and intercom.

I've tried using it without earplugs and wow is it loud, no wonder it's distorting with music, maybe a quieter helmet and no earplugs would be a good idea!

I'll have a look and see if there's any Autocom headsets on eBay, I'll chop the lead and graft a 4 pole 3.5mm jack on it.



#20 3vd

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Posted 23 May 2010 - 03:09 pm

It's been a few weeks now since I bought my BT Interphone intercom units. I charged both of them when I first got them and have not charged them since and they're still going strong! This include daily commuting, trips to the climbing wall in Oxford twice a week, jollies out on the bike etc. all on 1 charge, so I'm well chuffed with battery life.

I can confirm they do not pair with the BlueAnt/Cellularline/Acumen (same units just branded differently) Interphone units, which is a bit of a shame as a mate of mine has one of these. But all is not lost, we just have to use the phone instead.




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