A frugal comms set up...

Gaoler

Gaoler

Well-known member
fru·gal
[ˈfro͞oɡ(ə)l]
adjective
frugal (adjective)
  1. sparing or economical with regard to money or food:
    "he led a remarkably frugal existence"
    • simple and plain and costing little:
      "a frugal meal"
    • Origin
mid 16th century: from Latin frugalis, from frugi ‘economical, thrifty’, from frux, frug- ‘fruit’.


Ingredients:
2 or more Motorolla T600 radios @ <$150/pair
2 or more Earpieces w/ PTT @ $24/pair
*May also add a RAM ball/arm or two and clippy thing, depending upon application.

Pretty simple, low tech solution to coordinating pee breaks with your... Ummm, "retirement age" riding buddy(s).

T600 Radios can be had for about $150 a pair.
The ear piece(s) I have are from the Amazon for $24 a pair. They have a built in/in line "Press to Talk" mic. that can be clipped to your lapel.
I wear a modular skid-lid so I imagine it'll be pretty easy to use my clutch hand to press the button to transmit/talk into the mic.
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Radio fits into my tit pocket easily...
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Or... 'Could mount it on the bars using some RAM stuff. 'Will need to remember I'm tethered though.
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Standing in my garage it seems to work fine... Earpiece is comfy under my helmet. the in-line mic works nicely.
'Will try it out on the road this week.
 
I tried a setup like this in the past. In the end, like many other things, I found that you get what you pay for. The earpiece ended up being very uncomfortable after long hours, it precluded being able to wear earplugs, and the lack of noise cancellation meant that sometimes what was being said was unintelligible.

We ended up buying a set of well used but still operational Cardo's on Kijiji and have never looked back - used them for several years but the batteries started to get weak in one of them, so we replaced them with identical brand new units.
 
PrivatePilot said:
In the end, like many other things, I found that you get what you pay for.
Click to expand...

Agreed.

Everyone's different in terms of budget and prioritization.

If you don't use it that much, or that kind of kit is low on your priority on things to spend money on, and it's good enough for your use case, then thumbs up for your frugality. More $$$ left over for things that are more important to you in life.

I'm the same way with most non-motorcycle things - I buy a new smartphone only when my old one breaks (which works out to once every 6-7 years), my laptop computer was released in 2017 and I have no intention of replacing it anytime soon, I wear cheap sunglasses, if I wore a watch, it would be a $39 one, I don't spend hundreds of dollars on a knife, fancy (non-motorcycle) clothes, etc.

But when it comes to motorcycle gear and kit, that is my (pretty much only) priority. So I don't mind dishing out money if I see the value in it. I hate cheaping out on stuff, and then realizing I have to spend the $$$ I originally should have spent on it in the first place, and having to throw out/sell my "frugal" gear because it really didn't meet my needs.
 
I've carried/used a radio almost every single working day of my adult life...
They certainly have their limitations, but their simplicity and reliability are simple and reliable.
I'll see how this set up works and if it turns out it doesn't... it'll be back to hand signals and/or losing track of my riding buddy 'cuz he pulled over to pee and I didn't notice so I just kept going. :)
 
If you don’t really need comms aside from “I need to pee/drink/eat/get gas“, back in the days before intercom we went with basically “pull up behind me and beep your horn until I acknowledge“ as the universal signal forl “stop at the next gas station please“.
 
PrivatePilot said:
If you don’t really need comms aside from “I need to pee/drink/eat/get gas“, back in the days before intercom we went with basically “pull up behind me and beep your horn until I acknowledge“ as the universal signal forl “stop at the next gas station please“.
Click to expand...
Any chance of someone sharing what the universal signals are?
(illustrations would be nice!)
This way, the newer riders will know and the more experienced riders will be on the same page.
 
Chris-CJ said:
Any chance of someone sharing what the universal signals are?
(illustrations would be nice!)
This way, the newer riders will know and the more experienced riders will be on the same page.
Click to expand...

A few of us in my riding buddies group have an inside joke funny one for “I desperately need to pee” – open hand on top of helmet with fingers all wiggling. ie, if we don’t stop asap you’re going to be dodging liquid spraying off my bike soon lol.
 
Chris-CJ said:
Any chance of someone sharing what the universal signals are?
(illustrations would be nice!)
This way, the newer riders will know and the more experienced riders will be on the same page.
Click to expand...

Back when I first started riding, we didn't have these fancy communicator doodads. I rode with my wife a lot, so I told her, "I'll ride up beside you, hold my hand near my crotch and stick my index finger out to let you know that I need to pee"

She told me, "Yeah, that signal's not gonna work for me..."
 
Gaoler said:
I've carried/used a radio almost every single working day of my adult life...
They certainly have their limitations, but their simplicity and reliability are simple and reliable.
Click to expand...

Also range is better. The current batch of motorcycle comms are extremely limited to line-of-sight, topping out at well under a km in optimum conditions. Used to be about a km before they went digital. And when you rounded a corner, forget it, you're not talking to anybody till they also round the same corner.

Because of this limitation, our off-road group uses VHF radios which get about 4kms of real-world range @ 2 watts, immersed in heavily forested terrain with lots of elevation in between. They're tied into our exisiting motorcycle comms using Bluetooth, and you do technically need a ham radio license to transmit, so definitely not the frugal option.
 
Lightcycle said:
our off-road group uses VHF radios which get about 4kms of real-world range @ 2 watts, immersed in heavily forested terrain with lots of elevation in between. They're tied into our exisiting motorcycle comms using Bluetooth, and you do technically need a ham radio license
Click to expand...

Baller
 
This solution wouldn't work well in a motorcycle application.

One of the biggest use cases for comms in a ride is immediacy of urgent communication. (ex: gravel in the corner, pothole/roadkill in left track, ******* is tailgating us, cop, etc...). Can't do that fast and safe enough with PTT.

Next is music. Don't know if that walkie has audio pass through, but I doubt it!

Next is the earbuds/speakers and compatibility with ear plugs. I'm sure you can buy a special earpiece solution though.

The microphone is probably not noise cancelling nor windproof. There's only so much a dead cat can do on it's own.
 
We'll see... :)

My main riding buddy is a HAM radio nerd..
All the points brought up are valid...
My guess is we'd only use this set up when necessary...
Like the time buddy stopped to take 💩 I kept going and didn't realize he wasn't behind me 15 min later...
He's got no sense of direction... Took a wrong turn... took half an hour to find him.
Would have been easy to even just pull over, get on the radio... "where the hell are you?"
 
Lightcycle said:
The ham walkie talkies are surprisingly cheap
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Getting a ham license is in the back of my head but just one of those things I’ve never settled down to actually do, plus I’m not completely into the whole thing so far as talking to strangers mostly for the sole purpose of saying you talked to them lol.

And lord knows I already have enough past times that I often barely have time for and don’t need to add another.

But a friend has some old ham gear that belonged to her dad that she’s mentioned she might be looking to get rid of, so hey, maybe I’ll check it out and it’ll give me something for the winter months.

/derails thread
 
I don't think modern ham comms require you to actually talk to people...
My guy's set up includes a computer set up that does the talking to other ham nerd's set ups...
Just data on a screen...

"Oh. Look... I got a contact in Belize..."
 
PrivatePilot said:
Getting a ham license is in the back of my head but just one of those things I’ve never settled down to actually do
Click to expand...

Not that expensive. It's $60 fee and then you take 100 question multiple choice test. They say the pass rate is 70% the first time.

Legally, you need a Ham license to use the VHF frequencies on the walkies, but with only 4 km radius out in the bush it's unlikely an FCC officer will be close enough in the middle of nowhere to hone in on your specific frequency and fine you for transmitting without a license.

Gaoler said:
I don't think modern ham comms require you to actually talk to people...
My guy's set up includes a computer set up that does the talking to other ham nerd's set ups...
Just data on a screen...

"Oh. Look... I got a contact in Belize..."
Click to expand...

As far as I understand, you don't need a license to listen in, but if you want to transmit, you need a call sign, so that's when you need to get licensed.
 
Lightcycle said:
Legally, you need a Ham license to use the VHF frequencies on the walkies, but with only 4 km radius out in the bush it's unlikely an FCC officer will be close enough in the middle of nowhere to hone in on your specific frequency and fine you for transmitting without a license.
Click to expand...

I've heard many Hams themselves can get pretty ornery at people who shouldn't be transmitting flaunting the rules and deciding to do so anyways, and next thing you know you've got VE3DIK foxhunting you to find where you live and report you to the authoritays.
 
PrivatePilot said:
I've heard many Hams themselves can get pretty ornery at people who shouldn't be transmitting flaunting the rules and deciding to do so anyways, and next thing you know you've got VE3DIK foxhunting you to find where you live and report you to the authoritays.
Click to expand...

My buddy says nobody in Canada has ever been fined for transmitting on ham frequency without a license.

These are the low-wattage walkies, not the stationary radios with powerful transmitters.

*shrug*
 
Maybe we can start a GTAM HAM chat group.

I figure it would be something like this:

<static> Hey who's using Rotella?

<bzzt static> ROTELLA SUX, use Amsoil!

Hey who's riding tomorrow?

Me, but I'm on a Harley and unless you're on a Harley I don't want to ride with you

<static>

<revving noises>

I'm riding but I'm on a BMW and unless you're on a BMW too I don't want to ride with you

<random revbombing, beeping horn>

<beep beep beep beep beepdebeep beep beep> (that one advanced licence baller tapping morse telling us all to bite him, none of us understand we're being insulted)

<Hey I just got my M1 yesterday and bought a Busa, any recommendations for insurance companies OVER (static)>

<F!CK TRUDEAU!>

<burnout noises>. yeeeeeehhhhaaawwwww (screeching and crashing noise) F*CK (static)

hey, I torqued my oil drain pan to 150 foot pounds and now it won't come out, what happened?

<beep de beep beep beep BEEEP beepbeep>. (More morse insults)

<random mumbling, something something Trudeau, mumbling>

YO I'm at Timmies, where is everyone?

Hey, I greased my axel sticks!
 
PrivatePilot said:
Maybe we can start a GTAM HAM chat group.

I figure it would be something like this:

<static> Hey who's using Rotella?

<bzzt static> ROTELLA SUX, use Amsoil!

Hey who's riding tomorrow?

Me, but I'm on a Harley and unless you're on a Harley I don't want to ride with you

<static>

<revving noises>

I'm riding but I'm on a BMW and unless you're on a BMW too I don't want to ride with you

<random revbombing, beeping horn>

<beep beep beep beep beepdebeep beep beep> (that one advanced licence baller tapping morse telling us all to bite him, none of us understand we're being insulted)

<Hey I just got my M1 yesterday and bought a Busa, any recommendations for insurance companies OVER (static)>

<F!CK TRUDEAU!>

<burnout noises>. yeeeeeehhhhaaawwwww (screeching and crashing noise) F*CK (static)

hey, I torqued my oil drain pan to 150 foot pounds and now it won't come out, what happened?

<beep de beep beep beep BEEEP beepbeep>. (More morse insults)

<random mumbling, something something Trudeau, mumbling>

YO I'm at Timmies, where is everyone?

Hey, I greased my axel sticks!
Click to expand...

Accurate.
 
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