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FRS, CB, or semaphore
- Thread starter suzukijay
- Start date
Exactly! That is why I figured that I'd ask the question to see which is more predominant.BBAR said:I would like to communicate easier. But I don't bother because I ride with a lot of different people. And it seems like everyone who actually spends the money on a set up, has something different!
L
locksmith
Guest
Guest
I selected FRS, but I have much more capability than that. I'm a ham and have a dual band radio installed. I can listen to anything from short wave to cellular. I can talk on a bunch of it too.
RETXMTR722
Tricycle
On group rides we usually communicate by hand signals. Sometimes a couple of bikes with cb's are at the front and the rear. We make frequent enough stops so that everyone can agree when the next fuel stop will be and other planned breaks. And, if someone does have a problem the folks following pull over, too, so that no one is left behind.
A cb is, however, on my wish list...
A cb is, however, on my wish list...
What, no amateur radio on the list?? Yep, you need a license but Morse code hasn't been required for over 10 years! I routinely talk over 20 miles through VHF and UHF repeaters, often LOTS more. I'm using a 'real antenna' on Vrooomm, but I know guys that just use the hand held radio with it's rubber duck 'antenna' and do 'ok'.
slybonesjesse
Sport Tourer
I voted for Semaphore.
I have an Autocomm on the Connie the wife and I use for an intercom when riding. I also have the V1 signal and MP3 player plugged in on long rides. Dont bother on daily commute. Now that she has her own little Ninja 250 I am thinking about Chatterbox's. I believe they use FRS radio channels. Can't rely on everyone wanting or having one, so we should all learn semaphore.
CB seems a little old fashion in some respects. Great for listening to truckers on the freeway, etc. Might be nice if you needed help. Have one in the truck and the truck club guys use ch10 for group events. Works out nice. Glad I have one when I participate in the club events. But I dont bother for general driving or just trips with the wife and I. But for truck club events its really nice.
I have an Autocomm on the Connie the wife and I use for an intercom when riding. I also have the V1 signal and MP3 player plugged in on long rides. Dont bother on daily commute. Now that she has her own little Ninja 250 I am thinking about Chatterbox's. I believe they use FRS radio channels. Can't rely on everyone wanting or having one, so we should all learn semaphore.
CB seems a little old fashion in some respects. Great for listening to truckers on the freeway, etc. Might be nice if you needed help. Have one in the truck and the truck club guys use ch10 for group events. Works out nice. Glad I have one when I participate in the club events. But I dont bother for general driving or just trips with the wife and I. But for truck club events its really nice.
L
locksmith
Guest
Guest
mdr said:
My riding buddy and I are both hams. We usually use a UHF simplex. We both use autocom equipment with Larsen 2/70 antennas. Even on low power (100mw) we have no range problems at all.
VA7RX
L
locksmith
Guest
Guest
Slybones said:
If you already have an Autocom system, why not just add the frs radio? Pretty easy to do and the audio quality is much better than CB.
We aren't that far apart. I'd be happy to ride down and show you how it all works. Sounds like a RTE in the making!
slybonesjesse
Sport Tourer
Locksmith said:
I agree about the CB. Its not my choice for the Connie. I am just stating that IMO it does work well for group activities. I like it in the truck when I participate in truck club activities. I don't have use it for stereo, etc. I have a stereo for that. I don't have to worry about the size, antennas, sound quality, there is plenty of room on the truck, etc. Its not what I am going to do, but it does work well for that purpose. People need to decide for themselves whether its worth the various trade offs.
I have looked at adding the FRS radio to the Autocomm. I even have a set of Motorola ones the wife and I have had for a long time. My focus with the wife now having her own bike ( a little ninja 250 ) is bike to bike for the two of us. For me adding the FRS to the Autocomm is a solution. But that means getting a whole Autocomm/Starcom/?? setup for the wife too.
For that same cost I could get a Scala Rider Q2 Multiset for $170 and free shipping. Helmet mounted systems that are paired bluetooth units. Have built in FM radio, bluetooth phone and gps connections, and MP3 player input. Decent features, and good reviews. And no more cables to the tank bag etc. All helmet mounted and bluetooth. -- Now this would not allow for me to talk with all sorts of other riders. Limited amount of pairings. But the wife and I can have bike to bike, music, phone, no cords, and with a $13 car charger for $183 shipped. Yeah it means semaphore if there are others in the group. But its also a modest cost. Gives the wife and I bike to bike, simple to use and no wiring, etc. When riding solo I dont loose any MP3 player. I dont care about bluetooth to the GPS. No way I am listening to that thing constantly telling me to make a u-turn. - If I could get a bluetooth audio adapter and plug the V1 into and sync with it instead of GPS I would set.
L
locksmith
Guest
Guest
I had the cardo q2 system. It worked ok, but there were flaws. It had occasional troubles with more than 1 bluetooth connection at once. It would occasionally forget its pairings, or lock up completely causing a complete reset of the whole system. It also didn't like if I used it with another q2 system every now and then. For example, I could chat with the wife as passenger. If next weekend I went with a buddy and talked, it wouldn't like the wife later on.
It also caused me to have a very odd startup proceedure. If I remember correctly, I had to start my Zumo 550. Then let it pair with my iphone. Then I could start the cardo. If my riding buddy was nearby it almost always got it screwed up somehow.
The autocom was the solution I needed and I replaced the cardo with it. The cardo also had lousy speakers for listening to music. Almost no base response. Made the music sound weird.
I would suggest adding the FRS to your autocom system and picking up a FRS Chatterbox for your wife.
I don't have any experience with the chatterbox stuff, but it seems to have a decent reputation.
Then you'd have FRS on both bikes and could communicate with other riders as well. Something you can't do with the cardo.
It also caused me to have a very odd startup proceedure. If I remember correctly, I had to start my Zumo 550. Then let it pair with my iphone. Then I could start the cardo. If my riding buddy was nearby it almost always got it screwed up somehow.
The autocom was the solution I needed and I replaced the cardo with it. The cardo also had lousy speakers for listening to music. Almost no base response. Made the music sound weird.
I would suggest adding the FRS to your autocom system and picking up a FRS Chatterbox for your wife.
I don't have any experience with the chatterbox stuff, but it seems to have a decent reputation.
Then you'd have FRS on both bikes and could communicate with other riders as well. Something you can't do with the cardo.
I have the Autocomm system. Picked up one for me, and one for my daughter, when we go riding together - Really makes the ride so much better. The VOX system on the Autocomm is very good and I can run at high speed without it tripping on due to road noise ( I do run with a full helmet so that does limit the external wind noise).
I have a set for FRS radios that I use for my Bike to Bike when riding with my daughter, or with the COG group. I find that when riding with a group having a sweep in radio contact with the lead makes things much safer and easier on the lead.
For the time when I ride with the Harly / Goldwing groups I switch over to a CB set-up, still with the Autocomm. I find the CB systems noisier, less clear, more outside interferance, and more fillding with the squelch. Both my FRS and CB are handheld units.
Autocomm does not "recommend" using thier unit with CBs. there are numerious discussions on feedback and other bad effects. The primary iss is appareently both the microphone use on the Autocomm and how it works with most CBs and and the usual position of the connection on the CB Radios.
When I was making my choice of radios I talk to two COGers who had tried Bluetooth sysems and both had moved onto wired systems. Neither liked the delay cutoff between when they started to speak to when the bluetooth system became active.
Ont hte other hand - you will find I think that the Autocomm system is probably one of the more expensive systems. It does however hook up to my iPhone, GPS, Radar Detector, and iPod. I found the FRS radios less expensive than the CB systems.
I have a set for FRS radios that I use for my Bike to Bike when riding with my daughter, or with the COG group. I find that when riding with a group having a sweep in radio contact with the lead makes things much safer and easier on the lead.
For the time when I ride with the Harly / Goldwing groups I switch over to a CB set-up, still with the Autocomm. I find the CB systems noisier, less clear, more outside interferance, and more fillding with the squelch. Both my FRS and CB are handheld units.
Autocomm does not "recommend" using thier unit with CBs. there are numerious discussions on feedback and other bad effects. The primary iss is appareently both the microphone use on the Autocomm and how it works with most CBs and and the usual position of the connection on the CB Radios.
When I was making my choice of radios I talk to two COGers who had tried Bluetooth sysems and both had moved onto wired systems. Neither liked the delay cutoff between when they started to speak to when the bluetooth system became active.
Ont hte other hand - you will find I think that the Autocomm system is probably one of the more expensive systems. It does however hook up to my iPhone, GPS, Radar Detector, and iPod. I found the FRS radios less expensive than the CB systems.
Merlin
Training Wheels
I use the Chatterbox GMRS X1 Bluetooth and it's.... tolerable.. ish... I actually wouldn't suggest it unfortunately, for how expensive it is I'm not loving it.
I have a full face lid and got the proper headset, but the noise for the person on the other end makes it unusable. Basically if I get a call I can hear it ring but I have to pull over to answer and talk...
The output volume is way too low as well, even if I just want to use it for music it's just not useful. When I exceed 50mph the music is drowned out by street/engine/wind noise..
Also the integration with the iPhone is not there, you can pause music but not start, you can answer, hang up and redial but can't initiate voice dialing, and you can't move next/prev track...
I'm actively looking for a new solution. Not sure I like helmet mounted, but don't want to install anything on the bike (I have three bikes and the other two don't really have plastics to secure something behind) Maybe a bar mounted system is in my future....
I have a full face lid and got the proper headset, but the noise for the person on the other end makes it unusable. Basically if I get a call I can hear it ring but I have to pull over to answer and talk...
The output volume is way too low as well, even if I just want to use it for music it's just not useful. When I exceed 50mph the music is drowned out by street/engine/wind noise..
Also the integration with the iPhone is not there, you can pause music but not start, you can answer, hang up and redial but can't initiate voice dialing, and you can't move next/prev track...
I'm actively looking for a new solution. Not sure I like helmet mounted, but don't want to install anything on the bike (I have three bikes and the other two don't really have plastics to secure something behind) Maybe a bar mounted system is in my future....
Autocom with intercom for 2 up, use a FRS with Weather radio. Also can plug older style cell phone into it if needed, and can run GPS audio output as well as MP3 or other music sources through.
Got the the FRS primarily for the weather radio capability, and have only used the FRS for communications on 2 trips. One didn't work so well with the other riders radio, the 2nd trip (with different riders) worked great.
Got the the FRS primarily for the weather radio capability, and have only used the FRS for communications on 2 trips. One didn't work so well with the other riders radio, the 2nd trip (with different riders) worked great.
I also have a CB, mostly because I ride with Goldwingers and HD Ultra guys, and if you let them decide where to eat, it will be BBQ everytime...
Wayne_Sikorski_NJ said:While I don't ride a C10, I have the J&M CB. Nice on longer highway runs as you can listen to what's going on up ahead via the truckers on chann 19.
Don't forget the antenna, you need a good antenna...
That's not an antenna! That is a LIGHTING ROD!!! :-\
Some great ideas here. The wife and I have, use and enjoy the Sena SMH-10 bluetooth setups. The VOX to open mic delay is noticeable, but rarely an issue (it may be an issue if mic's were not open and you hollared "DEER!"). The versatility and reasonable cost for the pair, not to mention excellant WBW reviews, is what led us to buy. The sound quality, while I'm no audiophile, has been excellent and I wear ear plugs on all rides. The real world range of the bike to bike communications is about 1/4 mile, sometimes better. If we want more range, we can call each other on BT linked phones, or use BT adapters (dongles) to link to CB or FRS radio's. We previously used old Autocom units which were great when they worked. There were numerous cable issues during the time we owned them, but the VOX to open mic time could not be beat. We now love the lack of wires and available options. We just sent out units back to Sena as part of their $49.00 upgrade offer, our new units will be firmware upgradeable via mini USB/charger port, something the old units lacked. Conference intercom is rumored to be among the first upgrades, hopefully a quicker VOX will follow soon as well.