Cheap, Easy, and Usable In-Car Comm (Page 1 of 5)

I think that cheap, easy, and usable are the mythical project management triangle of radio comms, just like fast, cheap, and reliable are for Lemons cars. You only get to pick 2.

We use those type of FRS/GMRS radios.  We also go with the in helmet mic system for them.  Again, you can hear the pits but understanding the driver is a bit of a stretch. 

Our other car went with the high-end solution - $175 per helmet and then they rent radios for the weekend.  Crystal clear both ways and no misunderstandings.

I would love to buy the $$ kit for my own helmet but the rest of my team wont, I know it.

It seems like everything out there says its noise canceling these days. Anyone have a decent brand that they have used. That firefox throat mic thing was said to be noise canceling and it was useless. Granted, I didnt pay for them:-)

I have heard good things about those Midland GXT1000. That might be right in our budget. You can actually find those radios pretty cheap. I think its the headsets and getting the crew chief/spotter a headset will really make the difference.

Right, helmet mics are the key I think. We have 3 helmets for our team. I bought all my own gear and the other share. Any ideas on a decent headset for the driver? Brands that actually work.
I am currently reading up on the Midlands gear. This is all new to me. You need a license to use the high frequencies? FCC at it again.

Those are the ones we use. 

Be careful and test all you helmet wires with whatever PTT button you install in the car.  There are 2 different wiring specs and they are not compatible with each other.

Be careful. The midland radios are ok.  But we have had nothing but trouble out of the helmet kits with PTT harnesses.

The PTT butons and sometime the mics themselves just mysteriously die on us.

If any of you saw my earlier post this is what sent me down the road of looking at the more expensive NASCAR/IMSA harness gear.

I am sorry to say I am having issues there as well, although that is partly because I did not buy a turnkey kit, but instead chose to try and piece things together with used/fleabay equipment.

I can't speak to some of the non-midland consumer grade equipment. It maybe fine, but the big weakness seems to be the mini din connectors.  They are just not up to being constantly plugged and unplugged like we do at these races.

I did see these linked to here or on the chump car forum:

http://www.hitechwireless.com/RiderComm … 2C129.aspx

which looks interesting because they are using 1/4" jacks instead of the DIN plugs. 

Also, someone mentioned a 199 nascar in one forum or another (need to find it again) kit that includes the adapator, harness, one helmet kit and a crew kit.

I am going to see if he might be willing to work a deal with multiple helmet kits.

-Mike

Please let me know. That headset looks interesting. If we went with the Midlands radios, what type of plugs will we need to connect to headset/PTT to the radio?

That's cause the Crew Chief never pays attention to the driver.  The Driver heads off out onto the track, the Crew head off out for lunch.

Ok, so any good suggestions?

Ok, I think I get what your talking about. To get rid of the small plugs, just splice in a 1/4" jack somewhere that is easy to get at and will eliminate the need to keep tugging on the DIN plugs.

By spider-wire, you are talking the fishing line, right? Wrap that all around the wires and then wrap a heat-shrink around to help strengthen it all up. Us the ends of the spider-wire to attach it to somewhere to keep it from getting caught or pulled needlessly.

I wonder if that will help keep things from crapping out on these units.

We've actually had very good experiences with the Midland. i mean, yes, I'll agree, we did have some PTT issues early on, but I've got my headset soft-mounted in my helmet with electical tape and zip ties along the edging of the helmet to keep it from shifting/getting tugged on the fragile areas. but when the system works, everyone; driver to pit, pit to driver, all clear as a bell. my personal nit pick is that since they're popular options and easy to get, with only 20 channels at best there's always a TON of sharing channels at Lemons events. not necessarily bad but guys screaming at their headsets, someone's 6yr old running around with one, etc all make it somewhat difficult to get your message across ANYWAY.