VFR Audio System

[Guest xp-]

After reading and thinking about this for about a year, I finally put together what I think is a pretty awesome audio system for my VFR. I'll provide links, prices and pictures. Obviously, your choices might vary, but this is a complete working setup.

First - The Gear:

Ear Plugs - Koss Spark Plug - ER4 Hybrid

Basically, these are Koss plugs with Etymotic isolators. Instead of paying $100 for the Etymotic plugs, this guy creates a hybrid by using the lower cost plugs and the higher end Etymotic attenuators. I found them on eBay for $24 including shipping. The ebay seller's name is turbanjungle and here's a link to his store:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...Y_BIN_Stores_IT

AMP/Mixer - Tesseractcorp's XMA3 v2. I also considered the Mix-It amp, but the Tesseract device just looked like it was a higher end piece. It only has three inputs and no volume knob, but he claims you don't need it. I wish it had a 4th input, but I can get by with three.

http://www.tesseractcorp.com/xma3.htm

FRS Radios (Bike to Bike) - Insignia GMRS 10 Mile - To integrate the FRS into the mixer, the sound has to go through the AMP, and the VOX Mic doesn't. This was the hardest find because I had to get Radios that had a SEPERATE Mic and Speaker port. Most FRS radios seem to have a single jack for both mic/speaker. The other trick is that apparently some FRS radios don't support the VOX function with a Mic plugged in. These radios do support VOX while using a mic.

http://insignia-products.com/pc-60-18-insi...-pack-pair.aspx

Microphone - Medium Duty XL Throat Mic for Motorola Talkabout. I found a pretty high quality throat mic on ebay for $39. It's a DUAL Mic device with pickups on both tabs. Lower end throat mics only have a pickup on one side. The vendor is in Hong Kong, but he has 10-20 day shipping for $5. I ordered 2-3 day for $20 and the mic arrived in 3 days.

This is the ebay seller's store, so you should be able to find one of these there. His eBay name is gadgetinfinity

http://cgi.ebay.com/Medium-Duty-VOX-Throat...7QQcmdZViewItem

Radar Mount - Cycle Gadgets 19mm Stem Mount (2002 VFR VTEC). Remove the stem cap, plug the mount in, align, tighten screws, done. Easy as can be.

http://cyclegadgets.com/Products/product.asp?Item=HG

Radar Detector - Beltronics V995. Seems like the best all around detector in its class. (Had this already)

http://beltronics.com

Satellite Radio - XM Roady2. You can find these all over eBay for about $20. (Had this already)

MP3 Player - Generic 2g player also from eBay. It's a USB Flash drive type player. Very small, small screen, and of course----RED

Ok, time for the work:

First I mounted the Radar detector on the stem mount, and with a $10 direct wire kit from Beltronics, tied into a switched 12v source on the bike. Easy stuff.

Next came the thoat mic. The mic comes with a PTT switch that supposedly allows switching between PTT and VOX. This did not work with my radios. So I opened the PTT switch up, desoldered the wires from the switch and just joined all the like colors to make the mic cable straight through.

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The I folded the joint for the wires over like a "Z" then put two zip ties around it and completed by wrapping with electrical tape. I did put shrink wrap on the main wire before soldering, but it wasn't big enough to accomodate the joint, so I just sealed up the end of the electrical tape to prevent unravelling.

The final setup less radar and satellite looks like this:

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You'll probably notice the zip tie around the mic cord going into one of the radios. That's there because if the mic plug backs out even a little bit, the radio is put into permanent TX and it doesn't broadcast from the mic. The zip tie ensures it stays put while on the bike.

Here's another pic:

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A little explanation on experience with the setup and why I chose the parts I did:

- The throat mic is immune to wind noise. There aren't even any holes on the mic and because it's a dual pickup unit, the TX quality is higher than a single pickup unit. Since the mic works off of vibration and not accoustic noise (ie like from your mouth), there's no chance of windnoise toggling on VOX the whole time. This particular model also extend to fit 15-17" necks. I'm a 16.5" and it fits very comfortably. I had my wife trail me around for a few miles and she said I sounded like I was in a quiet room.

- The radios had to have individual jack for mic and speakers. You can probably see now why this was important. The radios also had to support VOX because I didn't want to fiddle with a PTT switch if I could get away with it. Success!

- I went back and forth with helmet mounted earphones and some type of earplug. Standard earplugs required the volume for my satellite radio to be set on 9 while going down the highway, and the sound quality was poor. These plugs directly into the satellite radio allow a setting of 3 and the sound quality is very very good. I can go lower with the amp. Using earplugs and helmet speakers wasn't acceptable either because the sound quality was VERY muted/poor.

- MP3 and Satellite: No particular reason for these other than I wanted a small, solid state MP3 player with a limited screen area to avoid potential cracking. It's a 2g player so I have about 250 songs on it and it's only half full. If I fill it up and average 4 minutes per song, that'll give about 33 hours of listening time This MP3 player also has built-in FM with 40 presets!

- AMP: Mix-It and Tesseract seemed to be the best options. The tesseract is a REALLY cool box though, aluminum case, and they even encourage you to open it up and inspect the quality of their work. Doesn't void the warranty if you do. That seemed pretty high end to me, so I took it. A few very cool features: When the FRS kicks in, the music is faded down to a lower volume level, when FRS is done, the music fades back up to listening level. The radar is noise gated to prevent static or humming from transmitting through the amp, you only get a 'real signal' It also comes with a direct wire kit, and it supports a 9v battery which is supposed to yield 18-20 hours of listening time.

I haven't finalized how I'll mount all of this in my tank bag, but a buddy of mine has access to high density foam that can be laser cut. He's having a piece cut to fit my tank bag and to support the AMP. I'll exacto knife the mp3 player and FRS radio into it when it arrives.

So this system was:

$192 (AMP)

$60 (FRS)

$90 (MP3)

$20 (Satellite)

$199 (Radar Detector)

$59 (Stem Mount)

$20 (Earbuds)

So $640 for a complete system with crossfade amplification, auto-muting, Radar, MP3, FM, Satellite, and Bike-to-Bike.

I'll come back and post additional pics with everything on the bike after I get the foam taken care of.

If you have any questions, please feel free to let me know. I hope this helps anyone that's been trying to put together a decent audio package for their bike.

I'm taking a trip to The Dragon in two weeks, and I KNOW this will help the boring miles fly by.

Safe Riding!

John

[Guest xp-]

Here are a couple of pics of the system installed:

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[Hobie1dog]

Thanks for posting this up with the pictures as I am interested in doing the same thing. You are like me, the music is important. :wheel:

[Guest xp-]

Thanks for posting this up with the pictures as I am interested in doing the same thing.  You are like me, the music is important. :beer:

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sure thing. Let me know if you have any questions. A thing about the music: The Tesseract only has one Stereo input. On their FAQ page, one of the questions asked is if a splitter can be used to source two audio devices into the single input and the answer they provided is 'no' because splitters are designed to take 1 source to two outputs, not 2 sources to 1 input.

If anybody knows any different than that, I'd be interested. The jacks are all 3.5mm (mini).

Thanks,

John

[Guest]

Great advice on the throat mike. I'm just looking for MP3 + FRS on the cheap. I normally just ride with my MP3. Any one know of an FRS with an input? The FRS could mute the music when someone talked. Seems like there would be a market based on all the people I see wearing FRS headsets nowadays.

[Synaptic Misfire]

Good stuff I will be looking in to this!

[Guest]

Any idea where a guy could find some of that laser/exacto cut-able foam?

I use a Mix-it 2 with my Sirius and Radar detector but would like a better way to fasten things down a bit more in my tank bag...

Also, has anyone had any experience with using a Satelite radio with foam? These radios get pretty hot during use, am not sure it would be too good for them to run them while sitting in a cutout of the foam... y'know?

[Guest]

can you detail how you installed the radar detector. i have the same beltronics in my car and want it on my bike.

how do i run power? - i see beltronics sells the straight wire kit. how did you wire yours and where does the wire run

how do i mount it? - i know i can do it to the windshield but is there a better way for the best coverage

does it cover the rear good?

Thanks and i love the work youve done.

[Guest]

XP - how are the hybrid headphones working out? I tried the Koss's with the standard squeeshy plugs but couldn't get them to stay in my ears. I don't have any trouble with normal disposable earplugs though.

Have you ridden with them yet? Were they quiet?

thanks and great write up. Nice add to the site.

[Guest Ikazuchi]

Cool setup. I've always had problems with bud earphones in my helmet...too uncomfortable and a pain while putting my helmet on and off. I currently have a set of cheap headphone integrated into my Arai that work pretty well.

I'm thinking about intrgrating something like this into my helmet:

http://www.tentechnology.com/products/products_headset.php

I'd just have to figure out how to rebuild the remote into an accessible place and see if I can wire up my own mic. The throat mic is a great idea and I'd love to see if I can get one to work with this setup.

Wireless would be sweet if I can figure out how to integrate everything without compromising the helmet. Worst case I could run a wire down to my jacket pocket.