Chatterbox v. Autocom

[rickysnickers]

I'm possibly in the market for one of these units. Any input regarding either of these would be great, both positive and negative. Thanks in advance. Oh, it would be for my wife and me. She is a passenger on my FJR.

Rick

BTW, if any of the Admins read this, is it possible that I could get the 50% warn taken off my name? I've been good.

 

[bramfrank]

Autocom

 

[tripletango]

Autocom

Autocom or Starcom both are good. I have an autocom and finally got all the right cables to make everything work.

 

[Bike Effects]

Autocom

Autocom or Starcom both are good. I have an autocom and finally got all the right cables to make everything work.

Both systems are good, but compare features and prices carefully, not to mention size. Don't forget to check the forum discount link in my signature block.

Starcom at SportbikeEffects.com

 

[rickysnickers]

Autocom

Autocom or Starcom both are good. I have an autocom and finally got all the right cables to make everything work.

Both systems are good, but compare features and prices carefully, not to mention size. Don't forget to check the forum discount link in my signature block.

Starcom at SportbikeEffects.com

I already did Jeff...

Rick

 

[BioHazard]

THis is a bike to bike setup ------I've got the chatterbox for me & the little gal. THey work great but you MUST mount them to the helmet or rig a setup so the antenna is pointing up. At first we tried to velcro them to our tank bags. They worked intermittently. When both were positioned with the antenna vertically, we experienced much better reception. We both have our MP3 players/FM radios plugged in and the music mutes when transmitting or recieving. I have the Garmin 2730 plugged into mine.

The VOX sensitivity control was a pain so we both get the Push to Talk button mounted on the left grip. It's well worth the price if you want to talk about stuff when riding and don't want a passenger.

 

[quicksilver]

Chatter-crap has a long a distinguished history of spotty quality, connector issues, and senitivity to moisture.

Many customers are happy. Many, many, are not.

A bohemith distribution and advertising network is the only thing that keeps them on top.

Autocom seems the most popular and they have lots of models to choose from. Worth serious consideration. Lots of happy customers. Also many dealers stock parts and offer helmet mounting.

If you want to save a couple bucks Starcom1 is a good reliable British system, with limited distribution in the US. I've had one for 3 years.

There are a few quirks. Electronic noise will make my motorola phone unusable if I put it next to the output jack. It will work fine if the phone is in the opposite corner of the tank bag. Most phones seem to have no issue at all.

Also, the $30 audio input cable is worth about 30 cents. Mine failed early with no abuse. Luckly it is not special. You can pick up a nice heavy strain-releived, gold plated version from Radio Shack for about $8.

Another small quirk is that the design places connections on 2 different sides of the device. This means all the cables are not coming out the same side, so a little more space is required. This is probably a non-issue for an under seat install. But, I keep mine in the tank bag to eliminate cable routing issues.

But, overall Starcom1 reliability, sound and mic noise cancellation is stellar.

I use mine everytime I ride. Music, intercom, cell phone.

Beyond the cheesy audio cable, I still use all the original cables and connectors with no issues.

The first few times the wife jacked in, her connector popped out during the ride. But, she got the knack of giving it a firm final push in. No issues since.

Bike Effects is trying to hook you up. After you compare his offering to Autocom, it won't be a hard decission. Solid product, solid price, solid support.

Before you buy it, you tell yourself you'll just use it for long rides and 2-up.

But, ya get spoiled so fast. B)

 

[KYFJR]

I'm possibly in the market for one of these units. Any input regarding either of these would be great, both positive and negative. Thanks in advance. Oh, it would be for my wife and me. She is a passenger on my FJR.
Rick

Rick -

I just purchased two of the Starcom1's from Jeff and it works great! I have a blackberry phone plugged in as well as a motorola walkabout with Push to talk. True story: This morning on my way to work my boss called me when I was going 80mph on the interstate and he couldn't tell by listening that I was on the bike. Amazing. I am running the stock windshield on the '06 for the summer so I am getting a lot of wind noise and still no problem with communications.

My only complaint is having a wire to my helmet. Someday, everything will be bluetooth and we won't need wires but until then I can live with this.

Bike Effects plug: If you really are going to purchase a comm device, please consider utilizing Jeff. He was great to work with and answered my questions and brought up some extra good points. Plus he rides an FJR so he has that experience going for him! Thanks again, Jeff!

Rich

 

[Bike Effects]

I'm possibly in the market for one of these units. Any input regarding either of these would be great, both positive and negative. Thanks in advance. Oh, it would be for my wife and me. She is a passenger on my FJR.

Rick

Rick -

I just purchased two of the Starcom1's from Jeff and it works great! I have a blackberry phone plugged in as well as a motorola walkabout with Push to talk. True story: This morning on my way to work my boss called me when I was going 80mph on the interstate and he couldn't tell by listening that I was on the bike. Amazing. I am running the stock windshield on the '06 for the summer so I am getting a lot of wind noise and still no problem with communications.

My only complaint is having a wire to my helmet. Someday, everything will be bluetooth and we won't need wires but until then I can live with this.

Bike Effects plug: If you really are going to purchase a comm device, please consider utilizing Jeff. He was great to work with and answered my questions and brought up some extra good points. Plus he rides an FJR so he has that experience going for him! Thanks again, Jeff!

Rich

Thank you Rich!

 

[roadrash]

QUICKSILVER,

Thank you for your info on the Starcom1.

You sold me on one.

Now for a helmet thats quiet to go with it.

Thanks again, Bill

 

[Badcat]

Starcom1 is the best bang for the buck!

Burk

 

[mehaffydr]

We tried the chatterbox but it seamed like at least one persons was always screwed up so we finally just quit trying. there are three of us that ride together and someone was always sending in for warranty work or buying new headsets or something just newer worked that good.

 

[Penforhire]

Me and my two riding buddies are satisfied AutoCom users. If I didn't already have a friend with AutoCom I would have tried the StarCom for better bang-for-the-buck.

Chatterbox may have improved but they have a crap-durability rep from the old days to overcome.

 

[Luke]

2-up riding is much more pleasurable now that I have a Starcom unit!

And music from the iPod thru the Starcom is a treat.

 

[bikerskier]

Autocom++++ Very satisfied with setup!

 

[HaulinAshe]

I hate wires.

I purchased two Chatterbox GMRS-X1 units a few months ago. Like most every other accessory, it took some customization to suit me personally.

1. If you plan to use two units for rider-passenger comm, you must disconnect the antenna on one unit (passenger). That keeps the extremely powerful RF signals from swamping each other and feeding back. If you are just going to use one unit (rider only) there is no issue.

2. The helmet clamp mount did not "make me happy". So I used some black silicon adhesive and glued the outer portion of the clamp directly to my helmets. You can purchase replacement clamps from Chatterbox USA for $4.95 each, just in case you really want to move the unit from helmet to helmet.

I'm very happy with the signal quality, audio quality etc. of my units. I'm mostly happy with the overall lack of wires, cabling and NOT HAVING TO REMOVE THOSE DAMN FJR PANELS AGAIN, to add another wire.

Go wireless, it's evolving and improving.

My .02

 

[TheAxeman]

I would go with the Starcom or the Autocom also. I use a Starcom (from SportBikeEffects) and have had absolutely no problems with it mounted under the seat. As far as the Chatterbox's are concerned, been there and done that also and can honestly say they aren't worth the plastic they are made with. However, they do work for some as Jeff Ashe can attest....Coincidentally I just won another Starcom donated by Jeff at EOM a couple of weeks ago and will mount that one on my VFR.

Just happened to find this photo of TripleTango trying out JeffAshe's Chatterbox mod at EOM recentlyas Jeff walked to the other end of the parking lot with Jarmo and Grumpy looking on in amusement.......

 

[HaulinAshe]

Wow, I love that photo!

Grumpy said I needed more range. I said "Slow down Grumpy!"



One more thought, the new Garmin Zumo 550 GPS has BlueTooth that is touted to support multiple BlueTooth devices on one host. Add the XM module, an SD memory card (cheap), get yourself a BlueTooth cell phone, plug the audio from your RD into the GPS, buy the new BlueTooth Chatterbox for Christmas, and...

You have GPS, MP3 player, XM radio, Radar Detector audio and cell phone all piped into your BlueTooth Chatterbox wirelessly.

What can I say, I'm a dreamer! But it's where I am headed. WIRELESS!

 

[user 3529]

Not sure if anyone is still following this thread, but here are my 2 cents. I used to use a Motocomm, similar to the Starcomm only cheaper. I liked the number of inputs, range that comes with using a real 2-way radio, number of channels while using a real 2-way radio, and talking to my passanger w/o having to broadcast and having full duplex communication with her. I now use Chatterbox (2) and here is why: as others have said - wireless, you can talk w/o being tethered to the bike. I was really afraid sooner or later my girl would walk away from the bike and either have her helmet yanked from her hand or topple the bike over (should the cable not come unplugged). Another issue I had is that in my small riding group, everyone has a different type of bike and it can sometimes be fun to swap for a few miles. Everyone else had a Chatterbox so when we would switch bikes I felt out of the loop as my intercom stayed with my bike. In short - there are definite advantages to each. The only thing I really wish I could do with the Chatterbox is talk full duplex.