LuigiVampa

I've owned a Cahtterbox for a couple of years. At the end of this year I would have to twist the connections like I was trying to crack a safe to get it to work.

Was looking at a Peltor system but they are a little pricey.

Liked the bluetooth from Sena posted earlier in this thread but how would that work if your student doesn't have a prewired helmet?

Matt Romanowski

I just picked up a Peltor and a student headset to go with it from Andrew Wikstrom. I haven't used it on the track, but testing it out it seems great. I know I will love the dual volume controls. With my helmet wired for sound using earbuds, I would have to have the volume way too loud for me to get it acceptable for my student with the Chatterbox. Now we'll each have our own!

ShakeNBake

Can you take more about Andrew Wikstrom'a student imsa headset?

jwasilko

http://tachterion.us/products/rugged-radios/ is Drew's site.

fhp911

I am a long-time instructor who uses Chatterbox.

When they came out with the Tandem PRO2 system a few years back the sounds quality was WAY better than before. I have no complaints at all about the sound quality. (I use DUO REPLACEMENT MIC FOR FULL FACE headset with earpieces and microphone in my helmet.)

BUT ... the build quality of the STUDENT side (PRO2 STUDENT HEADSET) is very very poor. The wires going into the earpiece break frequently. I have tried taping and tie-wrapping -- to no avail. My solution is to always have 2 of these with me, so when the first one breaks I can right away switch the student to the other one; then I buy another one as soon as I get home.

Not an ideal solution but I'm not aware of a better system.

The Peltor system mentioned earlier by Matt Romanowski may be better, but it seems expensive -- $300+ for just the electronics (I think). MATT: What would the components and costs be for a full system -- meaning parts for student, parts for instructor (w/ builtin to helmet earpieces and microphone), and central electronics?

By contrast, that same full system for Chatterbox costs approx $135.

AudiOn19s

+1. I'd gladly pay for the peltor or other imsa units if we could find a high quality student headset to go with them.

Link above doesn't show said headset.

Matt Romanowski

Here is a shot of the Peltor and the student headset.

It seems to be very high quality. The mic is a heavy flex cable just like if you have your helmet professional wired. The speaker portion is a nice plastic piece that is screwed together (not snapped). The connector wire is heat shrinked to the mic cable to keep it from pulling out. Overall very nice.

The Peltor unit seems great. It has seperate volume controls and is powered by a 9v battery. The battery is supposed to last 10ish hours. There is a LED that is green and it turns red when there is approx. 1 hour of battery life left.

It's not cheap but I'm completely happy buying it. My volume with ear buds was always far too loud, so this will fix that. It's also nice it works with the IMSA wiring on my helmet. I can report more when I'm back in a car with a student in the spring.

ShakeNBake

Perfect!!! I didn't see it on his website, but I'll ask him.

jscott82

Call the guys at hms.. they just brought out a new intercom that is much needed. It's somewhere between the Chatterbox and and pro aviation intercoms...

I was up there a couple of weeks ago, and they said it's just about ready for market... I have an early prototype and it works well.

No affiliation, just a happy customer.

AudiOn19s

+1, I reached out this morning for more info.

surlynkid

The dual volume control is really needed. I have a Stilo with built in muffs and comm. My student always needs it much louder than I do. The students with open face helmets are an issue as well with all the wind noise in their mic. I don't know why it is so hard for them to know if the earpiece is actually over their ear or not, but I get a lot of students that can't place it over their ear.

Pilot_951S

Hi guys. I'm happy to see there is so much interest in this product. Feel free to go to my website to email me, respond here, or PM me. I haven't had time to update my website with this product information, and I probably won't until after the PRI trade show.

-Drew

MarcD147

I used the student part of this yesterday at Sebring.
it worked really really well. the only issue I had in one session I had trouble hearing my coach and I think put the earpiece in the wrong way speaker facing away from my ear...

I am now considering buying a stilo with imsa connectors...

Matt Romanowski

Also consider having your current helmet wired for ear buds and a mic. Depending on how many years it has left, it's fit, etc., it might be worth keeping it. But, having your helmet wired, whether a Stilo or professionally by someone like Speedcom, is worth it, IMHO.

AudiOn19s

Andrew shared some interesting insights with me on the IMSA style connectors...which is that despite appearing to all be the same there are different variations in how each of them is wired.

Chart describing the different wiring.

http://www.ruggedradios.com/images/w...-Explained.jpg

Unfortunately this means integrating with Stilo electronics vs. Peltor vs. standard IMSA means different wiring per whatever radio set you are using. That also means the Peltor radio isn't plug and play with the built-in electronics in my Stilo helmet.

He's looking to see if he can make a student headset to work with the Stilo WRC 03 communicator which is similar to the Peltor. If he can make that happen I'm all for it and think this would be a great solution.