Instruct/student communicator?
#18
Side note: For those of you with integrated electronics in your helmets who despise ramming the communicator ear piece up your helmet, http://www.syncspeedinc.com/racing.htm makes an adapter cable to use your IMSA/NASCAR radio plug and electronics with the Chatterbox plug. I just bought one, haven't had a chance to use it yet.
#19
Rennlist Member
Can you do an adapter the other way, Chatterbox Earpiece to IMSA intercom? Would like to be able to use the chatterbox when in a students car, but use the higher quality intercom when in mine.
edit: that would be a 4 prong intercom plug to chatterbox headset... not imsa plug...
edit: that would be a 4 prong intercom plug to chatterbox headset... not imsa plug...
Last edited by jscott82; 03-03-2011 at 06:45 PM.
#20
Burning Brakes
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Columbus, OH, still back of the pack
Posts: 857
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Chatterbox for the win. Only pain is the rechargables dieing in the middle of the day - just grab your friend's head unit and go!
Zip tie the cable _and_ the foam windscreen over the mic.
Zip tie the cable _and_ the foam windscreen over the mic.
#21
Addict
Rennlist Member
Rennlist
Site Sponsor
Rennlist Member
Rennlist
Site Sponsor
Never had a problem with my chatterbox. I really wish someone would come out with a blue tooth headset though for crying out loud. Why in this day are we fumbling trying to untangle cords from ear pieces, etc.
#22
Can you do an adapter the other way, Chatterbox Earpiece to IMSA intercom? Would like to be able to use the chatterbox when in a students car, but use the higher quality intercom when in mine.
edit: that would be a 4 prong intercom plug to chatterbox headset... not imsa plug...
edit: that would be a 4 prong intercom plug to chatterbox headset... not imsa plug...
#23
Instructor
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Richmond, VA
Posts: 217
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
#25
Rennlist Member
Good tip, because my instructions say to charge for about 4 hrs the first time but say nothing about over charging. A few times I plugged it in the night before I left for the weekend and forgot it till morning. so It got 7-8 hrs of a charge. I will look into the replacement batteries.
#26
Rennlist Member
Its 2011 and when did you last see a device that won't go to trickle charge? What junk. I actually called Chatterbox a few years ago. The only safe and reliable way to charge them is to drain the battery and then do a full charge based on time. Time from empty to full is the only thing you can go with since it won't trickle-charge and overcharging a NICAD battery will cook it. Like everyone else, I have a bunch of them (don't want to be stuck with a dead communicator) , which makes the much more expensive Peltor (powered by a 9 volt battery) much less expensive in the long run - never mind the quality diff
#27
I also use the Chatterbox, it seems 95% of us do. I got my helmet wired up today for the "stereo" speakers and mic so am looking forward to a season of not having to deal with jaming the "lolipop" up under my helmet.
Regarding recharging, there is a lot of different information out there. In my first few years of ownership I did not know better and left it charging for differing lengths of time but typically a long time.
I knew there were different types of batteries and charging methods so don't ask me why but I never paid much attention to the Chatterbox. I plugged it in and gave it a long recharge. Never seemed to hurt it and never ran out of juice even on many 12 session days.
Last season a lot of guys were saying NEVER charge more than 3 hours so I began to assume (never checked) I had a lithium style battery.
Fast forward to today looking my system over closely. The Chatterbox CB50 http://www.chatterboxusa.com/cb50skit.html has a NI-MH battery. These have memory and performance suffers if you don't run them down and then fully charge. This business of "short charging" them, never more than 3-4 hours seems to be not entirely correct. It resulted in many of us plugging them in for short boosts and I believe that will not be good for the battery.
All this aside batteries are cheap for them but I think we all need to know short partial charges kill these batteries as they have "memory".
Regarding recharging, there is a lot of different information out there. In my first few years of ownership I did not know better and left it charging for differing lengths of time but typically a long time.
I knew there were different types of batteries and charging methods so don't ask me why but I never paid much attention to the Chatterbox. I plugged it in and gave it a long recharge. Never seemed to hurt it and never ran out of juice even on many 12 session days.
Last season a lot of guys were saying NEVER charge more than 3 hours so I began to assume (never checked) I had a lithium style battery.
Fast forward to today looking my system over closely. The Chatterbox CB50 http://www.chatterboxusa.com/cb50skit.html has a NI-MH battery. These have memory and performance suffers if you don't run them down and then fully charge. This business of "short charging" them, never more than 3-4 hours seems to be not entirely correct. It resulted in many of us plugging them in for short boosts and I believe that will not be good for the battery.
All this aside batteries are cheap for them but I think we all need to know short partial charges kill these batteries as they have "memory".
#28
I spoke to Chatterbox today. All the HJC-50 chaterboxes- old and new have nickle batteries.
Those batteries are the older technology battery that DO have a "memory" and can become less effective with partial charges.
Why do they use those batteries vs the "newer" lithium ones? Cost.
Here is what Chatterbox says. In a perfect world deplete the battery completely. Leave it on and kill it. Then, charge it for maybe EIGHT hours. Not much more but NEVER a short 30 minute type "boost" charge. A 24 hour charge will hurt it.
They should last for a minimum of 8 hours of normal on time. Talking non-stop will wear the battery more than someone who talks less. Turning it on and just letting it sit until discharged can take a good bit more than 8 hours too.
The key points are they last a long time so resist the temptation to give it a short quick trackside boost charge. That eventually kills the battery performance.
Replacement batteries are cheap if you may own one that was recharged incorrectly a bunch of times and you are not sure how good the battery may be.
Those batteries are the older technology battery that DO have a "memory" and can become less effective with partial charges.
Why do they use those batteries vs the "newer" lithium ones? Cost.
Here is what Chatterbox says. In a perfect world deplete the battery completely. Leave it on and kill it. Then, charge it for maybe EIGHT hours. Not much more but NEVER a short 30 minute type "boost" charge. A 24 hour charge will hurt it.
They should last for a minimum of 8 hours of normal on time. Talking non-stop will wear the battery more than someone who talks less. Turning it on and just letting it sit until discharged can take a good bit more than 8 hours too.
The key points are they last a long time so resist the temptation to give it a short quick trackside boost charge. That eventually kills the battery performance.
Replacement batteries are cheap if you may own one that was recharged incorrectly a bunch of times and you are not sure how good the battery may be.
Last edited by CT03911; 03-16-2011 at 08:41 PM. Reason: spelling
#30
The Penguin King
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
They make wireless http://www.chatterboxusa.com/cbxbiokit.html