TT and walkie talkies

Anything goes in here.....
pete
Vexatious Litigant
Posts: 4708
Joined: Tue Mar 15, 2005 3:23 pm
Location: Kilmarnock

TT and walkie talkies

Post by pete » Mon Jun 04, 2007 12:20 am

I know they won't work over long distances but they would be great for driving in convoys, (eg "wait until after the blue van and then there is nothing coming so overtake"*).
And Maplins are doing 4 for 70 quid.

Anyone else think it is a good idea or is it just m wanting to play with walkie talkies and looking for an excuse.

AFAIK they are legal to usein a car as they are not duplex...

Pete

*ALthough it could go horribly wrong -
"Sorry I should have said the SECOND blue van."
"hello. Hello... Ermm are you still there?"
'99 - '03 Titanium S1 111S.
'03 - '10 Starlight Black S2 111S
'11 - '17 S2 135R
'17 - '19 S2 Exige S+
'23 - ?? Evora

User avatar
mac
Posts: 6880
Joined: Mon Sep 19, 2005 4:36 pm

Post by mac » Mon Jun 04, 2007 7:34 am

Hands free?

Could the signal be heard by others?


Mac
S2 Elise (cobalt blue with stripes) - toy spec
Caterham 7 - hillclimb spec
Yamaha Thundercat - 2 wheeled toy spec

User avatar
tut
Barefoot Ninja
Posts: 22975
Joined: Tue Mar 15, 2005 5:53 pm
Location: Tut End, Glen of Newmill

Post by tut » Mon Jun 04, 2007 8:03 am

When the cloggies came over the other week, they all had them and use them all the time, but they were top range models.

Seems to work for them, but I would not use it. I think it takes concentration away from what you should be doing, and I think they were mostly handheld. In fact one driver dropped his and had to stop quickly as it went under a pedal.

However they were staying together as a group of nine, I prefer the five in a group, and whereas I can safely overtake on a blind bend as long as I can see that the car in front is over the centre line, not just indicating, I could not trust a radio message.

The system that we use with an experienced leader, and preferably the others in the group having used it before, is proven to work well.

tut

User avatar
kenny
Posts: 7666
Joined: Thu Mar 10, 2005 9:10 pm
Location: Bearsden

Post by kenny » Mon Jun 04, 2007 8:06 am

:withstupid

User avatar
alicrozier
Posts: 4390
Joined: Thu Sep 01, 2005 12:58 pm
Location: Aberdeen

Post by alicrozier » Mon Jun 04, 2007 8:58 am

As tut says I wouldn't recommend for 'immediate' communication. The system seems to work best.

Maybe better as an alternative to mobile phones especially for European trips. Just used as and when...an idea for FF?
All characters appearing in this post are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Any references to laptimes, speed or driving on the public highway are purely for dramatic effect.

User avatar
MacK
Posts: 2071
Joined: Mon Sep 19, 2005 3:27 pm
Location: Edinburgh

Post by MacK » Mon Jun 04, 2007 9:33 am

I wouldn't use them for overtaking assists etc, but for general comms or to get directions then they could be usefull.
I have a pair with hands free mics, but never used them in-car.
Green Subaru Impreza Turbo, a 'classic'.

Silver Jeep Cherokee 2.5 TD, on SORN spec...

Black Disco 3, black van man spec...

User avatar
graeme
Posts: 3528
Joined: Tue Mar 15, 2005 11:29 am
Location: Kintore

Post by graeme » Mon Jun 04, 2007 9:45 am

Save your money. It really doesn't work. The mic at the transmitting end picks up so much wind/car noise that you can't hear anything.

It sounds like a cool idea, but I took mine back to the shop and got a refund, as I had no other use for them.

:(

As for overtaking going horribly wrong, I think that's very likely. I wouldn't trust it.

Graeme
211
958

User avatar
Skyenet
Posts: 972
Joined: Thu Mar 10, 2005 6:29 am
Location: 90 seconds from Strathclyde Park

Re: TT and walkie talkies

Post by Skyenet » Mon Jun 04, 2007 10:04 am

pete wrote: Anyone else think it is a good idea or is it just m wanting to play with walkie talkies and looking for an excuse.
I am with what everyone else has said above.

I have reasonably good sets with hands free but have used them for airsofting, on the bike and in the car and they are more of a hinderance than a help.

Save your money for some other gadget such as AMP3's Shure E2g headphones which do work :wink:

YvoTuk
Posts: 253
Joined: Fri Aug 19, 2005 9:05 am
Location: Holland
Contact:

Post by YvoTuk » Mon Jun 04, 2007 10:11 am

Sorry, it works absolutely great!

The trick indeed is to buy top of the line radios. We've all bought Motorola GP340 radios. These can be programmed (you will need one programming cable and could *cough*borrow*cough* the programming software.

You will be surprised by the quality of the sound! Then again, driving with windows open above 100mph doesn't work ;)

The ones we've got are GP340 from Motorola. You can pick them up relatively cheap at Ebay (that's where I got them from).

The system we use is:

The leading car does the map reading, the driver is either listening in or the reader is listening in, they normally don't communicate.

The second car is active on the radio. When the leader overtakes, there's enough visual for the second car to do the same. From that moment on, both the leader and second car start driving away from the group while mentioning "FREE" or "UPCOMING TRAFFIC".
If there's upcoming traffic and there's a gap, we say "FREE AFTER WHITE FORD TRANSIT (or something".

When the group is complete, the last car calls "COMPLETE".

The rest of the group does nothing else then listening in while we're driving.

When we're on boring sections, people start chatting etc. :)

We've started this approx. two years ago and developed this system. It works absolutely great for us. A lot better then any of the other systems we've used as you can really talk people through. We're able to guide a relatively large group through tight traffic, which saves us a lot of time. (and boring stretches because of the waits :))

User avatar
mac
Posts: 6880
Joined: Mon Sep 19, 2005 4:36 pm

Post by mac » Mon Jun 04, 2007 10:23 am

Different systems work for different folk I suppose.

My concern would getting cut out of the car with someone like tut standing over me saying " I could have made that gap..."


:D


Mac
S2 Elise (cobalt blue with stripes) - toy spec
Caterham 7 - hillclimb spec
Yamaha Thundercat - 2 wheeled toy spec

YvoTuk
Posts: 253
Joined: Fri Aug 19, 2005 9:05 am
Location: Holland
Contact:

Post by YvoTuk » Mon Jun 04, 2007 10:25 am

:lol:

We do try to be on the safe side when calling "FREE" ;)

User avatar
Skyenet
Posts: 972
Joined: Thu Mar 10, 2005 6:29 am
Location: 90 seconds from Strathclyde Park

Post by Skyenet » Mon Jun 04, 2007 10:47 am

YvoTuk wrote:Sorry, it works absolutely great!
I forgot that the reason they probably never worked great for me is that I am half deaf :roll:

User avatar
DDtB
Dodgy Dave the Ba***rd
Posts: 5023
Joined: Sat Aug 13, 2005 8:18 pm

Post by DDtB » Mon Jun 04, 2007 1:12 pm

We used some cheaper ones on the trip to Le Mans last year.....

great at slow speeds for meeting up if contact lost... but over 30mph, just got interference from them..... pretty much useless!

was still good fun though.... especially when the car in front was at a toll booth and you shouted "BAWBAG" etc. through it!!.....

:D

User avatar
Dominic
Posts: 14453
Joined: Sat Mar 19, 2005 10:14 am
Location: Milton Of Campsie
Contact:

Post by Dominic » Mon Jun 04, 2007 1:27 pm

DDtB wrote:
was still good fun though.... especially when the car in front was at a toll booth and you shouted "BAWBAG" etc. through it!!.....

:D
As only you would :lol: :lol:

I have heard of a hands free system that activates the mike when the driver speaks... and has headphones/ear pieces. No idea what or where it can be found :?
http://www.dsaccountancy.com

1999 Lotus Elise Sport 135'99

User avatar
MacK
Posts: 2071
Joined: Mon Sep 19, 2005 3:27 pm
Location: Edinburgh

Post by MacK » Mon Jun 04, 2007 1:36 pm

Dominic wrote:I have heard of a hands free system that activates the mike when the driver speaks... and has headphones/ear pieces. No idea what or where it can be found :?
BT Freeway Pro.

That's the ones I have, got them in Costco for a reasonable price. :)
Green Subaru Impreza Turbo, a 'classic'.

Silver Jeep Cherokee 2.5 TD, on SORN spec...

Black Disco 3, black van man spec...

Post Reply