I’m getting a bit mutton in my dotage and my wife insists that I get some form of intercom that we can use when whizzing along with the top down. Don’t really want to tell her that I don’t mind not being able to hear her but despite extensive searching I haven’t been able to find anything suitable. Motorcycle intercoms might fit the bill but their earpieces are usually designed to fit into a helmet and I’m really looking for an earpiece that clips over my ear. Have any of you needed such a thing? Found anything suitable?
Most of our Rally guys use a Peltor system, but that is usually built into the helmet. They do however do a large range of equipment -have a look here
http://peltorcomms.3m.com/World/
It might also be possible to use a couple of the cheap personal radios with hands free kits, which would probably be a cheaper option.
I will try and have a word with Andy Elcomb, who is also on here as he has just competed on a long distance Rally, and has also co-driven on stage rallies so will probably have a better idea of what is available.
Bought a pair of wired intercoms from ebay (brand new), battery powered but do the job, for £15. same as I’d used on the motorbike I’d used before buying the 5. If anyone’s interested it’s called Tronic H 3167
This is he ebay description:- a brand new Tronic H 3167 Hands free Motorbike Intercom kit. This useful and very popular piece of kit allows for easy communication between the passenger and the driver and would prove a very worthwhile investment particularily if you feel you are about to fall off or one of you is bursting for a pee!!! This is assisted by personalised volume control!!! In addition there is a multi-function socket for audio systems should you wish to listen to your mp3 etc whilst gleefully whizzing round the countryside. There is also a LED Display control so you can see thats its all working fine without the need to take your hands of!!!
Hmm, to be honest without going to the expense of a proper set of “cans” (see the Peltor website for the best stuff - www.peltor.com) I really don’t know an effective and cheap solution.
What about your domestic cordless phones? You can get earpieces for most of them and they could go with you as an intercom?
The main problem is ambient noise. Unless you get the real thing with good noise cancelling microphones you’ll probably still be shouting at one another.
Just got back from a trip to the Spring rally in Falmouth - a long way from Durham. Intercoms worked brilliantly and we could talk very comfortably, even at motorway speeds with the top down.