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[tunnie]

Audio!

Got a couple of long rides comming up in the summer on the beemer, plan to take it for some longer runs too, need to look into audio/sat nav options.

Simple way, get Zumo 660 (£400)

http://www.brighthub.com/electronics/gps/reviews/35188.aspx

Have it mounted like this... (image big so linking)

http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb315/Yonkyo/P5050016.jpg

Has SD slot, so can chuck tunes on that, allows custom route planning to pick the nice roads, can be paired to my phone, has mic and headphone jacks so easy to plug in. I have a company phone which has unlimited bills, so to talk to people on the go, i can just call them....

Power wise can just get the aux socket installed next to the screen on the bike.

Other option, and more proffesional route. Is Autocom...

http://www.autocom.co.uk/Systems/

Basic kit not cheap, £300 for that, then need to buy a VOX radio, i could plug my PDA into that for TomTom (use Tyre for custom route planning) then get a cheapo mp3 player or use the PDA for both. Would need to get some kind of ciggy adaptor to run muliple plugs, as my bluetooth GPS would need charging too, also have to get a tank bag to put it all in.   

I am swining more to the Zumo as it will just be plug and play  :-/

[Kevin Wood]

Hmm. Not tried a Zumo but previous experience of Garmin is that the hardware initially seems well made but breaks the day after the warranty runs out and the supporting software is sh1te.

I use an Autocom in the Westfield and it works very well. No limits to what you can plug into it although the connecting cables are a bit of a rip off and easy to make up yourself. A must if you are ever going to consider carrying a passenger or using 2 way radio.

Kevin

[TheBoy]

Don't mess about. Get the Autocom. Get a decent one (I've not looked for a while, but the old base ones were a bit limited).

My Autocom, despite being far from leading edge now, has served me very well.  The Icom transceiver failed, as you know, but thats nothing to do with the Autocom kit.


Fitting in helmet is a challenge first time around.


IIRC, BMW dealer at Northampton is an Autocom dealer.

[TheBoy]

Reminds me, I could do with getting a headset in her helmet...

[tunnie]

my thoughts are that the Zumo acts as the hub anyway, only thing Zumo does not do is VOX radio. (which could be added separately)

Zumo, has mic and headphone jack outputs, can play music (SD card), and pair to the phone, so it does nearly all that i want. I could get a VOX radio and another mic, and split my headphone feed and plug that into a radio and keep it in my pocket.

Also looks like autocom have gone bust and the receivers are in?  :-/

[Turk]

Had Autocom myself about 12 years ago and it was excellent kit.
We've been Starcom dealers for about 4 years and although I've not used it myself, we've had good reports and nothing bad that springs to mind.
The Starcom kit looks an awful lot like Autocom...but about half the price.
Several Bluetooth set-ups on the market too.

[tunnie]

Had Autocom myself about 12 years ago and it was excellent kit.
We've been Starcom dealers for about 4 years and although I've not used it myself, we've had good reports and nothing bad that springs to mind.
The Starcom kit looks an awful lot like Autocom...but about half the price.
Several Bluetooth set-ups on the market too.

They look much better priced, as you say half the cost of autocom but look like the do the same job:

http://www.starcom1.com/price_list.htm

[tunnie]

still not sure, kit looks ok:

http://www.starcom1.com/AdvanceKit-B.jpg

But it has speakers for the helment, i prefer using my Bose in ear headphones that cancel out the noise and pump music in. Speakers have to drown out road noise first 

Its still £150 to add VOX support as well at the end of the day  :-/

[Kevin Wood]

The thing that Autocom got right is the VOX triggering, which can be a real pain if you have to suffer a system that triggers falsely on background / wind noise all the time.

Reminds me. I need to fix some water ingress on one of my headsets.

Kevin

[tunnie]

The thing that Autocom got right is the VOX triggering, which can be a real pain if you have to suffer a system that triggers falsely on background / wind noise all the time.

Reminds me. I need to fix some water ingress on one of my headsets.

Kevin

The actual radio plays no part in picking it up, its all done by Autocom?

[Kevin Wood]

The thing that Autocom got right is the VOX triggering, which can be a real pain if you have to suffer a system that triggers falsely on background / wind noise all the time.

Reminds me. I need to fix some water ingress on one of my headsets.

Kevin

The actual radio plays no part in picking it up, its all done by Autocom?

Yep. Autocom fades out the music and triggers the PTT of the radio when it detects speech from one of the headsets.

Kevin

[tunnie]

The thing that Autocom got right is the VOX triggering, which can be a real pain if you have to suffer a system that triggers falsely on background / wind noise all the time.

Reminds me. I need to fix some water ingress on one of my headsets.

Kevin

The actual radio plays no part in picking it up, its all done by Autocom?

Yep. Autocom fades out the music and triggers the PTT of the radio when it detects speech from one of the headsets.

Kevin

Might have to bite the bullet then 

[TheBoy]

my thoughts are that the Zumo acts as the hub anyway, only thing Zumo does not do is VOX radio. (which could be added separately)

Zumo, has mic and headphone jack outputs, can play music (SD card), and pair to the phone, so it does nearly all that i want. I could get a VOX radio and another mic, and split my headphone feed and plug that into a radio and keep it in my pocket.

Also looks like autocom have gone bust and the receivers are in?  :-/

As I have said to you before, I was recommended the Autocom kit by friends, but chose to ignore it due to cost, so tried many cheaper solutions. Cost more in the long run, as I had to go out and buy the Autocom anyway.  It just does what it says on the tin, and does it well.


As you know, I have the old iPaq playing MP3s and running satnav software (with camera warnings ), the phone and the transciever, all plugged into the different ports.  Priority is (least first):

MP3/Satnav
Transciever
Phone


I don't have a 2nd headset yet, its on the shopping list, but that obviously allows taliking to pillion, who can also listen to music etc.

[tunnie]

going to get a tank bag first to house this all in i think, then go from there. Take it you just go on audio instructions from TT?

[Chris_H]

If any of your long rides include Portugal then be prepared to be fined for just having the capability to play stuff into your ears.  Don't have to actually do it apparently!