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Collett Communicator 49

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The wife and I ordered the Collett Communicator 49 for an upcoming trip. Had its first tryout this weekend and thought I'd post a review and see if anyone here has them.

http://www.collett.mb.ca/index.htm

I'd heard pretty good things about this product but I have to say I'm not impressed. The ear speakers were large. Even in my new Quantum f they poke my ears and were very uncomfortable. The instruction manual actually suggests you take a soldering iron and take out material inside the helmet to accomodate the speakers. Sorry, not going to do that. All told, I made it less than 30 miles before I had to take them out.

Didn't really matter that I only tested it for this short period. Once past 55mph you can't hear jackspit. Fairly good reception up to 50, but after that it loses clarity really fast.

This model is voice operated (VOX) and has a rubberised tube that extends under the chinbar. The tube has to touch your lips lightly and your breath/voice turns it on. The system sucks if you forget to shave. My 5 o'clock shadow kept keying it up. Really PO'd the wife. And the noises it makes!! Sounds like a 1950's sci-fi movie with all the whirs and clicks. Very annoying.

I'm going to try it one more time before calling it a complete loss. Hopefuly it's something I'm doing rather than just being a piece of crap. Got the batteries on charge and they'll stay that way until next weekend and I'll double and triple check the manual.

Anyone here have any experience with these? FWIW it's too late to order a replacement or a different brand and have it by the time I leave on my trip.
 
Communicators

Howdy,

:tab We have the 900Mhz models.

:tab I carved out just a little foam right where the speaker sits. It did not take much. I did not worry about this because the rest of my head will be compressing the foam all around the ear before my ear starts taking the brunt of an impact. So I don't really think it is compromising my safety. However, the speakers do seem a bit large, but then, they work quite well even at fast highway speeds with earplugs in my ears.

:tab The range and clarity on the 900 models is very good. The VOX works very well also. However, there is a bit of a learning curve with using the system. The mic tube needs to be just in front of your lips with the open side of the tube facing your mouth. I place mine where it does not touch, but if I pucker, it touches. The other trick is to get used to adjusting the VOX sensitivity. As you speed up, you may need to slightly reduce the sensitivity so wind noise does not trigger it. We have used these up to just sub triple digit speeds with no problems.

:tab The battery packs will last about a day and a half of full use before they need to be recharged. Typically, we will just plug them in each night and we are good to go the next day. We've never had problems with them going dead except for when we forget to plug them in at night.

:tab We have friends that have some as well and it is really nice on a trip when we can all talk to each other. We don't carry on conversations, just quick blurbs. If part of the group wants to run faster than the rest of us, I can tell them what the next turn off is so they know when to pull off to wait for us. It is useful for warning trailing riders of trouble on the road, letting everyone know I am stopping to take pics and I'll catch up with them, etc,... We even had one guy's wife in their truck with a setup so she could talk with the riders. We also used the pilot/copilot version. It lets both the rider and passenger talk with the rest of the group. They also have private channels so I can talk only with my wife and not be overheard by anyone else.

:tab The new ones have phone inputs, audio inputs, and all kinds of nifty stuff. Ours were the original 900Mhz models and lack the new features. but they have worked great for about four years. We had one go bad and they repaired it and had it back to us quickly and with no hassle.

:tab The whole bike to bike communication issue seems to be more trouble than it should be with the technology at our disposal. It would be nice to see it completely incorporated into the helmet construction. This would be really nice if the helmet manufacturers could agree on some standards and features so that we could communicate across brands. I have no interest in spending a fortune for the Autocomm setup and then be hardwired to my bike :-( I'd like to know what kind of system the AMA Superbike guys are using now?
 
Re: Communicators

The wife and I went on another warm-up ride today and tried the Collet again. Much better reception this time. The only thing that I can figure is the batteries weren't fully charged the first time. There was no change in the VOX level or mic placement.

It's still not the "greatest thing since sliced bread" but it actually worked pretty good today. I guess at $60 each I really shouldn't b1tch. :wink:

Tourmeister said:
The new ones have phone inputs, audio inputs, and all kinds of nifty stuff.

No phone inputs on ours, but we do have the aux input for a cd player or stereo. I understand this drains batteries pretty quick though.
 
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