Triumphrat

BonnieLass · 06-20-2007

Spent 500 miles with our new Chatterbox comms and thought I'd pass on what we've learned so far.

INSTALLATION: Box with a cellphone-like antennae clamps to your helmet, wires run from a port in the transmitter to the inside of your helmet. Speakers and mike held with velcro so you can stash them comfortably (we ran the speakers and wires under the padding inside our full-face helmets, mike sticks to the chin bar). Box looks clunky, but you forget it's there after a couple minutes. It also comes with a push-to-talk button on a wire that plugs into transmitter and can be secured to your handlebar for thumb activated speech. And you can get a cord to connect to your cellphone if you like. (They now offer a bluetooth version). Manual offers minimal instructions, you'll have to play with it during installation and figuring out how to get it to work for you.

VOICE ACTIVATED VOX: Voice Activated communications worked well for me (female) but the noise-cancelling system had a hard time distinguishing my husband's voice from background noise. If he spoke in a higher pitch it worked fine. Puff air at the mike to turn it on in VOX mode then expect a syllable or two to be lost at the beginning or your sentence. Set the VOX as low as possible or airflow may trip the mike. If it "sticks open" turn it completely off, then back on. Adjust the VOX if you go from a highway to a sidestreet.

PUSH TO TALK PTT: Er.. we didn't actually notice the PTT cable till we got home, so haven't used it, but expect to rely heavily on it. We did use PTT by using the button on the transmitter box. Push to open the mike, talk, then release. It worked fine.

AUDIO QUALITY: Wind makes it difficult to distinguish syllables, therefore, don't expect to be able to hear well at highway speeds, close chin vents during use. At 45mph or less we could talk comfortably.

BATTERIES: They use nicad batteries which give very little warning from charged to dead, so, consider carrying an extra charged set. Manual recommends 14 hr charge. Not sure what the battery life is yet, since one had a low factory charge, then we got confused about which one had the fresh charge, but we got 3 days of 3 hr rides in.

OTHER: Pull the mike loose in order to put on or remove helmet (or risk velcro scratching your nose!). They don't seem to work well if you are very close together, so we couldn't use them stopped shoulder-to-shoulder at a stoplight. But maybe that was a VOX issue and PTT would have worked. It's water-resistant, but not water-proof, so carry some baggies along.

OVERALL OPINION: Super helpful when we got separated in traffic. Adds to enjoyment when we can chat about what we're observing along the way. Annoying when we can't get the message across at highway speeds. Worth the investment if you ride with someone frequently or for a long distance on secondary roads.