Anyone looking for a more sensibly priced intercom?

Look in here for tips on buying a 'Kit', using Sat Nav, keeping your car in 'good nick' - and more......

Moderator: Contaminated

User avatar
DJ.
Posts: 5991
Joined: Mon May 30, 2011 7:31 pm
Contact:

Anyone looking for a more sensibly priced intercom?

Postby DJ. » Mon Sep 07, 2015 9:42 pm

My wife and I went for a weekend away in the Seven and afterwards she said how frustrating it was not being able to talk at speed.

So I've spent a lot of time looking into intercoms online. Most people recommend Starcom1 or Autocom.
When I looked into these, I was gobsmacked by the the total cost for a simple set up!

Starcom1 advertise a kitcar set with ear defender headsets priced from £259. When I contacted them, they recommended their cheaper non noise canceling intercom at £180, but then the ear defender headsets shown in the picture were £120 each :evil: So, not £259, actually £420!

The better Starcom1 Digital noise canceling intercom looked best option, and that is £259, but try and order it online and a second helmet headset takes the price to £299.

Finally I discovered the Starcom1 Digital intercom on Ebay for £230 including two helmet headsets. I have read on Blatchat about people installing open face headsets into ear defenders, so I ordered one of these with two open face headsets and two pairs of Peltor Optime 2 ear defenders for £28 from another seller.

I have now installed these headsets into the ear defenders using a soldering iron and hot glue gun, and I have a functioning noise reducing intercom and two ear defender headsets for £260 all in.

If anyone is interested, I took some pictures of the headset installation.

User avatar
b33fy
Posts: 6321
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2012 11:40 am
Location: Tonbridge
Contact:

Re: Anyone looking for a more sensibly priced intercom?

Postby b33fy » Mon Sep 07, 2015 11:35 pm

Good idea Duncan, never thought to convert some defenders, looked at some setups when I had the storm, the so called accessories that you need to make these systems work add considerably to the cost
Power.. small nail, fast hammer, Torque.. small nail, big hammer.. I got a big hammer :P

User avatar
Crunchie Gears
Posts: 3617
Joined: Mon May 21, 2012 7:08 pm
Location: Bracknell
Contact:

Re: Anyone looking for a more sensibly priced intercom?

Postby Crunchie Gears » Tue Sep 08, 2015 6:32 am

I used ear defenders to install the open face kits for my intercom. But everyone who has tried to use the intercom mess it up. :(

One passenger managed to put the headset into Polish menus and reseting it to English took me hours :lol: :lol: I should have asked a builder!

User avatar
DJ.
Posts: 5991
Joined: Mon May 30, 2011 7:31 pm
Contact:

Re: Anyone looking for a more sensibly priced intercom?

Postby DJ. » Tue Sep 08, 2015 8:39 am

Don't give them any buttons to press!

Once set up, mine should be tucked out of the way as it automatically mutes music when you talk and switches on when the headsets are connected.

greenwoo
Site Admin
Posts: 10185
Joined: Thu Dec 03, 2009 10:34 am
Contact:

Re: Anyone looking for a more sensibly priced intercom?

Postby greenwoo » Mon Sep 14, 2015 7:16 pm

Duncan, if you wanted to input a 2 way radio, is that a question of buying another bit of kit from Starcom?

User avatar
DJ.
Posts: 5991
Joined: Mon May 30, 2011 7:31 pm
Contact:

Re: Anyone looking for a more sensibly priced intercom?

Postby DJ. » Mon Sep 14, 2015 7:58 pm

As I understand it, I would need a Starcom cable to connect the radio. It could then transmit using the voice activated control, but that would work every time I spoke to a passenger, so I would also need a push to talk unit. Unfortunately, Starcom want £60 for the Kenwood cable and push to talk button :evil:

User avatar
David T
Posts: 3961
Joined: Sun Mar 18, 2012 9:48 am
Contact:

Re: Anyone looking for a more sensibly priced intercom?

Postby David T » Tue Sep 15, 2015 9:40 am

Hi Duncan,

I did the same earlier this summer. Got an eBay Starcom Digital for about £35, then took two new Starcom open face headsets and wired them into Peltor II ear defenders (better than Starcom's own cheaper Peltors). Very pleased with the results.

The Starcom Kenwood radio lead and PTT lead work great with the Bofeng radios too. I've had the phone (for sat nav and/or music) wired in via a cable, but have just made my own bluetooth link (using a 99p USB cigar lighter innards paired with a bluetooth USB dongle). Can't do hands free calls like the Starcom bluetooth module, but just fine for one way audio.

All in all, a million miles better than the Terratrip set up. Plus, I can knock up additional/replacement headsets for just over £50 a piece. The Starcom parts are not cheap, but they are top quality.

Happy days.

User avatar
DJ.
Posts: 5991
Joined: Mon May 30, 2011 7:31 pm
Contact:

Re: Anyone looking for a more sensibly priced intercom?

Postby DJ. » Tue Sep 15, 2015 10:06 am

Yes they do work well, wish mine had been £35 though :)

User avatar
David T
Posts: 3961
Joined: Sun Mar 18, 2012 9:48 am
Contact:

Re: Anyone looking for a more sensibly priced intercom?

Postby David T » Tue Sep 15, 2015 12:08 pm

It was priced much more, including a Garmin motorcycle sat nav mount and cabling. I thought that could go in the bin, but then chanced it on ebay and it went for good proportion of the original bundle. A bit of luck really.

User avatar
ChrisL
Posts: 1799
Joined: Wed Jun 15, 2011 9:42 pm
Location: Bedfordshire
Contact:

Re: Anyone looking for a more sensibly priced intercom?

Postby ChrisL » Tue Sep 15, 2015 2:14 pm

I tried using the vox activated transmit for the 2 way radio, however even with a full face helmet and the highest setting, it always transmitted above 40MPH
Yes I've been drinking, what of it!!


Return to “Useful Info - tips, tricks ....”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 11 guests