Helmet Intercom

[Nick]

Over the years I had lots of luck with helmet intercoms.  Unfortunately, its all been bad!  Can someone recommend a system that holds up and works well in the driver ed environment?

 

[ccm911]

Nick:

As a student, I cringe when an instructor wants me to use a communicator.  They are indeed horrible.

To ease the pain, have you ever considered permanently mounting a speaker and microphone in your helmet?  That way, you would be able to mount the transceiver to the car, and plug in when you need to.  I would bet that there would be a heck of a lot less wear on the equipment that way.

Just my two cents.

CCM 

[Nick]

Chris,

One of my students rides motorcycles.  He has a chatterbox mic and speaker mounted in his helmet and it works great. 

Unfortunately, we can't expect all students to have their helmet and car set up for instructor/student communications.


Currently I have a Nandy intercom that breaks up at about 100mph.  I purchased the best headsets that I could find but their plugs/jacks create lots of static. Also, they can't handle the abuse of being shoved in and out of a helmet 10 times a day.


Nick

[Brian Minkin]

Nick,

I use a chatter box as do a lot of the RTR instructors and find that their intercom works very well with clear audio and no static.  Never a problem at high speed and a noisy car. Chatter box offers an option to mount it on the instructors helmet.

[jakp993]

+1 on the Chatterbox.

Much better than the older Nady systems.

They aren't perfect, as nothing can overcome the noise in an unmufflered car, and the student headsets are a pain to slide into a properly fitted helmet.  But, IMHO, they are better than the alternative untis out there and they are definitely better than nothing.

Definitely go with the in helmet option for your helmet.

Jack

[RallyJon]

You guys realize there are systems for professionals that rely on them in rally conditions? You wouldn't even have to turn the volume up for drivers' ed.

Terraphone: http://www.rallylights.com/Terratrip/ter...ercoms.asp

Peltor: http://www.fourstarmotorsports.com/Produ...fault.aspx

Stilo: http://www.davenportracingusa.com/stilo.php

Terraphone is certainly the value leader--very cheap and works fine.

[JeffConklin]

As a student I think the intercoms are a must.  They allow me to concentrate on my driving rather than trying to decipher what my instructor is saying. They also allow me to better understand the urgency or ease of what my instructor is saying based on the tone since we don't have to yell to be heard. 

Chatterbox makes a solid unit.  I think as a student (a phase that likely lasts several seasons)  These are a good investment.  I picked up a new unit, a headset that mounts in my helmet and a slide in headset for a willing instructor from CDOC for $100 or so.

Jeff

[stentech]

I like the intercom especially when the instructor would get nurvous. They would say things that they thought I could not hear like. "I got to get f___out of hear" or "this guy is going to F___ing kill me" one that I heard alot was "I hope this a-- hole hits the brakes soon" and I also heard "I have never been in a 911 when this sideways" Freudian slips are great especially on quality intercom systems.

[Nick]

What your insturctor was trying to say was:  maybe you should try a different hobby.hock:

[Tony356993]

2 w/e's ago my Chatterbox was not fully charged and therefore did not work for one session and I really missed not having it. The think I like the most is the ability to listen to the students breathing. (don't go there Meenan - ) I get advanced notice if they are a little overly excited and try to calm them down so they can think and focus on their driving.