Two-Way/Hands-Free Intercom For Cycling?
 

Does anybody know of a reliable two-way/hands-free intercom I can use while riding (leisurely) with my wife? We are both tired of screaming at each other every time we have to signal a turn or discuss where we want to have lunch! I figure this is something touring cyclists might have some experience with. I have seen all the intercoms made for motorcyclists, but they won't work without an over-the-ear helmet.

Sena makes good communicators, and make some for cycling. https://www.sena.com/cycling

Thanks. The one item that may fit the bill (I don't want helmets with all the bells and whistles built in) has been discontinued.

You might want to consider getting an Amateur Radio license. There are a lot of nifty things in the radio world that Amateur Radio would open the doors to.

That having been said, below is a link to a cheap(!!) headset that I have used. I think I have 3 of them around here. One of them I took apart and bent the headband to fit my bike helmet. They are a "behind the head" style headband. Though that works better than a conventional "over the head" headband would with a helmet, I can't wear the behind-the-head style with the helmet. The helmet still pushes it down. So I made the band fit the helmet instead.
Behind-the-head style headset for UV-5R UV-5RA UV-5RA-UU UV-5RA-plus 409shop,walkie-talkie,Handheld Transceiver- Radio

Both the mic and speaker/earphone work surprisingly well for such a cheap headset. The speaker can get way louder than what I can stand. In fact, I should put a resistor in-line with it to knock the volume range down even further because the main handheld radios I use it with (Anytone d868's - DMR/Analog VHF/UHF radios) have segmented volume settings (they don't have pot control - they have increments 1-10 or 1-20 or so) and the lowest level is still too loud through the headset.

The vendor is an over-seas (china) vendor - ordering from them can take 2-3 weeks to be shipped and your orders are usually labeled as something goofy to get through customs (especially anything with lithium batteries).

As far as radios go - there are a lot of options. I am not all up to speed on FRS radios (unlicensed), however there may be a way you can tie one of these headsets in with one of those. The headsets I have (along with some other speaker mic type accessories) use a round multipin connector and then an adapter from that to the style plug any particular radio uses (most of my handhelds use the K style plug as the headset in the link takes you to). If an FRS radio has a plug on it that you can get an adapter (or fixed connector) to work with on the headset then it is conceivable that would work just as well. You just have a lot more flexibility on the Amatuer/Ham side.

Another note is an Amatuer or FRS radio will require a PTT button. Yes, lots of radios have VOX (voice operated transmit), however when riding VOX will drive you crazy. It will trip when you don't want it to. So my 2 cents worth is to throw VOX in the can and run a remote switch or button. To that point - you can get a velcro strap mounted PTT button for the above headset/adapter system. I mount that to my handlebar to where I can press the button with my thumb mostly. That way I am not needing to do anything more than hold the handlebars, maybe just in a slightly different position, but that is where the velcro is nice - it can be moved around to change positions if need-be.

I hope this helps give you some ideas.

My wife and I use GMRS radios for when we get too far apart. I have some that can use headsets, but we don't use the headsets. As I said, we just use them for when we are on a trail, like the GAP, and are out of sight of each other. We don't always have cell phone reception there. GMRS requires a license, but no test, you simply pay for the license, and it covers your family, so your license is good for your wife as well.

There are other bluetooth cycling communicators out there. Google turned up some. A friend of mine used to use some with his wife, but I don't recall the brand.

Here is one that seems to still be available. It mounts in a helmet. https://www.terranosystems.com

Thanks, phughes.The Terrano gadgets are much pricier than I'm prepared to spend. If I could only figure out a way to keep my Motorola FRS walkie talkies open for 2-way communication all the time, I'd figure out a way to mount them to the handlebars and be done with it.

You scream art each other while riding leisurely?

You should be able to get a headset for them.

dude's name is Papa Tom, I'm guessing hearing someone while riding with background noise isnt something that's been easily done for years.

Your post doesn't make 100% sense yet as to what you're after.

Bold added.

In radio terminology there are two methods of communicating:
1. Simplex - This is direct radio-to-radio on the same frequency ("sim" meaning 1)
2. Duplex - This is more complicated in that it has to make use of a "repeater". Your signal is split between 2 frequencies (hence the term "duplex", the "du" meaning 2) - when you transmit your radio switches to the input side of the repeater so that the repeater hears your transmission. When you unkey your radio it switches to the repeater output so it can hear what ever comes through the repeater.

Both of these modes are "1 transmission at a time". Your PTT button (or VOX, if you so choose to use VOX - but as I mentioned before it is a PITA for high noise environments like vehicles and bikes) is what switches between transmit and receive.

[There are a few different definitions of simplex and duplex, but what I listed above is how I have customarily heard them referred to as. "Half Duplex" and "Full Duplex" complicate things further - where telephones are commonly described as "Full Duplex". Though, repeater use in two-way radio terminology is always "Duplex", and radio-to-radio is always "Simplex". Outside of two-way radio terminology those terms mean different things in that Simplex is a 1 way transmission, such as a broadcast FM station, and Half Duplex is a 2 way radio [cornfuzed yet?])

Your cell phone or landline phone does not operate this way. Phones have both lines open all the time - transmit and receive. You can't do that with a conventional radio because only 1 frequency can be active at a time and that frequency carries 1 audio signal.

Verizon, I believe, used to have a walke-talkie mode, for lack of a better term, that would use the CDMA, TDMA, or GPRS signal (cellular encoding) direct between 2 phones (no cell tower). I do not recall exactly what the mode was called, but I believe (I could be wrong) would allow the same transmit/receive of audio at the same time direct between phones.

I am not aware of any other wireless technique or service between 2 devices (like a phone or radio) that does not operate in either simplex or duplex mode as described above - where only 1 side of the conversation is active at a time. Even digital radios (like P25, Mototrbo, DMR, DPMR, Fusion, and DStar), though they encode very much like a cellular signal, are only 1 side of the conversation at a time as best I know. I've run DMR/Mototrbo and Fusion and that is how those run, for sure, unless there is a special attribute Motorola has that is proprietary to Trbo and not compatible with DMR that allows both sides to be active at a time.

Wow! That was quite a comprehensive and thoughtful reply!

I used to have a wired Radio Shack intercom that had (what I believe was called) "Monitor Mode." In this mode, both channels were open at the same time so you could carry on a natural conversation without having to press any buttons or end each sentence with "over." I know that wired and wireless communications are two different animals, but it seems the Bluetooth intercoms used by motorcyclists have this feature so that riders can speak naturally and keep their hands on the bars all the time.

My wife is a shaky rider, so I don't want her fiddling with buttons or a headset when I have something urgent to say, like "LOOKOUT FOR THE CAR ON YOUR LEFT!!!!" Also, wearing an inserted earpiece with a bicycle helmet can be really uncomfortable, which is why I was looking for some type of stand-off speaker that can be mounted to the helmet, and perhaps a pilot-style mic that extends below the chin - or better off, just a few inches below the helmet, like this:

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...7fc3e4785b.jpg

The wire band headset I linked to previously is exactly what you pictured. Though, it doesn't from the get-go mount to the helmet. You would have to bend it and find a way to attach it (tape is what I used).

That doesn't answer the "device" question though - the radio, phone, intercom box, bluetooth box, what ever you want to call it.

A phone in an active call is the closest I can picture to what exists and is customary that you are asking for - but that requires cell towers. You can't link a bluetooth headset to another bluetooth headset - the bluetooth headset is an extension of the device (cell phone), not a stand-alone device.

For what it is worth, I have adapted a bluetooth headset to a bluetooth box for 2-way radio use that allows PTT control. The box I use is a RigBlaster Blue. The down side to the box is that with a bluetooth headset it only does VOX (internal to the RigBlaster, not the radio). Going back to my comments on VOX being a PITA in mobile/high noise environments - the same holds true with the bluetooth headset. So I modified the RigBlaster to run PTT with a Bluetooth headset. See video.


Best of luck on your search.

Have you looked into a FRS radio and throat mic's?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CB7RWOC..._f0AXFbT5G7947

Thanks. I already have earpiece/mic combinations for my Motorolas. My wife doesn't like all that. I want something that just stays on the helmet. Also, I'd prefer not to have to use a headset AND a handheld transmitter/receiver.

Not as a direct reply to the post quoted, but I should mention that my hearing is impeccable. I am saying this because I know that people often complain about a lot these intercoms not being loud enough.

OK, I guess what I want doesn't exist. Thanks anyway, everybody.

What about a tandem?

I know nothing about these but a friend of mine and his wife communicate with one another while on their bikes using a small headset system from a company called Vertix. He claims they have a fairly decent distance of communication but then again, we're flatlanders. Best of luck and hope you can find something that works for you.

https://www.vertixglobal.com/

Hardy Har Har. Good one!

Looks cool, but way too expensive for the dopey ten-mile rides I take my wife on. Thanks for the suggestion, though.

Find a discontinued but used SENSA unit on ebay or adapt a motorcycle unit to work on a bicycle. I use the motorcycle unit currently ad they work very well.

Again, too expensive. With the boom in bicycling we are currently experiencing, maybe there will be something new in the spring. Until then, I'm putting this search to sleep.

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone.