David Danhof

Greetings all,

Has anyone had any luck with alternative helmet communicators other than the typical NADY units. Granted the NADY are relatively cheap ($60 +/-) but they are not up to the abuse students render on removal from a helmet. I am sick of replacing them each year.

Any good wireless options? Thanks in advance for the feedback

APKhaos

Chatterbox.
Its a wire line connection, but rock solid. Mine has two seasons of hard work, and has been terrific.
Your helmet gets built-in ear pieces and mike, and the amplifier unit [small, easily mounted].
The student gets a combo earpiece/mike.

Two instructors can link up to use their helmet mounted gear. Nice feature!

The one mod I recommend is to reinforce the area where the student mike boom enters the earpiece moulding. Students can [and will] pull the boom out of the moulding. Some silicon moulding tape [paragon products] works wonders to prevent that problem.

ltc

Ditto on the Chatterbox.
They do make a wireless version:
http://www.hjc-chatterbox.com/frs.htm
(I am actually considering something like this for my son's go kart)

Of course, if everyone has these and given the number of available channels and range, a DE could become interesting very quickly

APKhaos

The HJC-50 is the one we use.

Lewis,
I could be wrong, but the wireless FRS version is for vehicle to vehicle comms. The passenger gets a wired headset [like the HJC-50]. If you want true wireless between instructor and student, both would need the full FRS setup [transmitter/receiver etc]. Might be worth checking this before buying that setup.

Racer944

David;

I and most of our instructors in the Rennsport region have been using the HJC Chatterbox units for a few seasons with very good success. I don't think anybody has any complaints (except guys/gals that forget to charge their units!). They make the main units for both full face and open face helmets and as Tony says the student gets the combo boom mike/speaker piece that slids up and over his/her ear once the helmet is on

Nady's, etc never worked well for me from both a voice and product quality point of view...

Cheers;
Eric

P.S. A good overnight charge will usually last about two full days of instructing. Replacable battery packs can also be purchased should the ones in the unit ever fail.

HansB

Not sure I understand what you mean. Is it the CB50OFHS you mean for the student?

Racer944

Thats strange, I can't see the headset that I have on the main HJC page anymore... The part number I have for mine is the same as the one you list, but with an ST at the end - CB50OFHSST

If you look on this page http://www.fast44.com/chhjin.html and scroll down, you will see what it looks like (the one HJC shows is a stereo unit with two speakers). The HJC unit I am talking about is one speaker and boom mike all together. I use this with an extension cord and it works great.

Cheers;
Eric

ltc

Tony,
Thanks for the heads up.
I wasn't totally clear. The setup for my son (11) would be kart (him/single seat) to me (crew chief, transport driver, sponsor, frustrated driving coach).
Sort of an odd application, but something I think I could put togehter.

Matt

The basic Chatterbox setup (installed in instructor helmet, cable to student earpiece/mic) has become the standard in these parts and works very well. I have I think three years on mine without a problem. Far better than the fragile Nady stuff. Matt

David Danhof

Thanks all for the input. Sounds like Chatterbox is the way to go. I emailed them and they offered a "deal" not sure what that translates to but it sounds better than retail $. They recommended the following:

qty 1 cb50 skit
qty 1 cb50ffhs (full face headset)
qty 1 cbsrhs (student headset)

BrianKeithSmith

Check the prices at :
Wild Horses Racing

Wreck Me Otter

You may also want to get a headset extension if one is not included, it'll help keep the student headset cable from being stretched and possibly damaging the headset.

HansB

A question: How is the open face version attached to the helmet? Is this fixed (glued, screwed) or could it be taken of without too much trouble?

Wreck Me Otter

It has a boom mike attached to an ear piece that gets stuffed under the helmet. You stuff it under the helmet after you put the helmet on. It's kind of a pain for closed faced helmets, but maybe not so bad for an open faced helmet that it's designed for.

HansB

Thx Kim, but I was referring to the CB50OFHS headset. Is this fixed to the helmet? I have got an Mag 5 open face helmet myself. Experiences anybody?