PS/2 Cables for Starcom

[MCML]

I have used a Starcom unit (One and, more recently, Digital) for six years. All other issues aside, one thing that bugs me is the lack of durability of the extension cables. They fail too frequently. Usually, the metal ring around the male connector cracks and becomes difficult, or impossible, to seat. We all know how susceptable to failure the pins can be. I had one fail where the plug end is molded to the cord. Altogether, I have been through a half-dozen of these cables. Not too bad, given the time involved but, at $18 list, it seems a waste - no matter how much I like and respect Jeff and Bikeeffects.

The cable is, by all accounts, a PS/2 coiled mouse cable. These can be had much more inexpensively than the "official" Starcom cables. Has anyone actually used a generic PS/2 cable with their Starcom and, if so, did it work well and hold up in use?

I have not run a test because the one PS/2 cable I have around the house has a molded housing around the male side that would need to be shaved down to fit inside the collar on the Starcom female connector. Has anyone run into this or into other issues that need to be addressed? If so, are there brands of PS/2 cables that fit/work better than others?

 

[exskibum]

Don't know, Joseph, but this is a thread I'll be watching. I, too, really like the Starcom unit up to the point of the coiled cables. Though I haven't had one fail yet, I can sure see how easy it would be to have that happen, and note the extreme care I must take to get them to seat straight in. Worse, Judy is a one woman demolition team with ANYTHING small and/or intricate (my electric razor is only the latest casualty). One thing I need to do is to permanently mark (in a contrasting white or yellow) the line up points of male to female connectors, so that in dim light I'm not jamming them together incorrectly.

An even bigger peeve to me is the headsets. Judy managed to destroy hers after only one week of the '08 CFR trip (I picked her up in Kalispell the day we left Nakusp), and even my headset is now intermittent due to its flimsy wiring and connections. I have to call Jeff and discuss some options and tricks, but have mostly just avoided using the Starcom since the last trip back from LA when my Dad died in September. Did you ever have any success with your experiments on sound isolation with a helmet speaker?

Perfect headset for me would include the following:

1) wires and connectors robust enough to take the predictable pulling and thrashing around that motorcycle touring imposes.

2) helmet speakers and mic in the helmet WITH an integral disconnecting coupler that allowed one to plug in earphones (which, when plugged in, would disconnect the speakers), thus accommodating molded in-ear systems when desired. Seems to me this would solve the problem of ear soreness from using nothing but in-ear buds, make the system more usable for short jaunts without buds even if they are your preferred long distance sound option (not to mention legal in Calif where 2 in ear speakers are illegal), and allow flexibility -- esp. for a pillion.

3) have a means of attaching the connectors closely and firmly to the helmet, rather than being left with one or two pigtails hanging down 8 to 12 inches from the back of the helmet to thrash in the wind (or, as in Judy's case, to get pinned between her back and the top case pad so that when she turned her head, it pulled on the wire and the flimsy POS pulled apart at the soldered connection of the headset itself.

Wish list stuff would be an inline volume control for at least the pillion helmet that could be adjusted by the pillion without raising the seat to fiddle and experiment with the controls on the Starcom unit to equalize between two helmets of different make, size and fit in two different buffeting and noise environments.

Problem (for me at least) is that while I can imagine the wiring schematics for such a headset, the dang wires in them are so small as to make it a practical impossibility for me to ever solder an improvised solution, much less make it a clean app.

 

[BobOdenweller]

I used a PS2 cable once. I spliced into the middle of it to add a 3.5mm earphone jack. I would occasionally get a loud buzzing no doubt because of a faulty modification on my part. Otherwise I think the cable would have been fine. Shortly afterward Starcom made this cable available with the 3.5mm jack so I bought one. I remember it being somewhat difficult to find a PS2 extension cable. More and more computers don't even have a PS2 port anymore.

 

[MCML]

I now always travel with a spare extension cable. If riding two-up, the frequency of (un)plugging one or two helmets just for parking, backing up, settling in at a hotel, and other baisc logistics virtually ensures a problem at some point.

I never did have any luck with sound insulation/isolation. I am back to using Etymotic plugs which are fine for a day or two or three but on long rides my ears get bruised and, on more than one occaision, bloody. The alternative, using speakers and blasting desired sounds through foam earplugs is acceptable but also far from optimal.

An extremely quiet helmet with speakers seems ideal but I know of no one who has accomplished this.

As for cable management, using cable ties and stick-on wiring blocks (a trick I learned from Brother Tim) helps a lot. I tie my earplug wires to the assembly to keep the plug from pulling out but it is still easy to pull the plugs out of the ears with the wires flapping around (even if routed to the back of the neck).

BTW - Carer knows a nice trick for dealing with the mic!

BobO - You are correct about the lack of P/S2 cables being used currently but I have been able to find some coiled P/S2 cables on-line at prices around $4 delivered. Time to stock up.... if they'll work.

 

[exskibum]

Your system beats mine, Joseph. But still not as neat as I've seen for AutoComs with an apparently more robust cabling. E.g., madmike2 (and Bluestreek too ?) have a reasonably nice set up with stick on blocks. I'm considering getting custom molded in-ear speakers (Now Hear This or other), and getting them made so that the lead to a male connector is short -- just long enough to give me a few inches extra to plug into the female you have at the back of your helmet**. This would avoid most of the flopping and tangling, but would require care in taking the helmet off and/or remembering always to disconnect first. I need to spend some time cleaning this up and optimizing what I have.

But having the redundancy of in-helmet speakers as an alternative when the headphones are unplugged would be a lot nicer for those short local jaunts or as an alternative for when my ears ache (haven't made them them bleed yet). Wondering what it would take to get something like that made, and where to get it done, since I don't have the skills for that kind of precise small scale electronics work.

Thanks for posting the pics -- the more I see, the more ideas I have about how to set it up in a way that would work for me.

**I'd like to also have them make me a longer lead with female on one end and male on the other, so I could use the in-ear speakers with other applications, too, effectively having a standard length lead when coupled together.

 

[HaulinAshe]

I use PS2 extension cables to go from the passenger headset connection through the engine compartment and underneath the seats. The longevity of today's consumer computer cables has left me disappointed and forced to pick up spares on the road at Best Buy etc. A real PITA.

Personally, I've had much better life from Starcom cables than off-the-shelf PS2 cables. But I can confirm they work just fine when new.

 

[MCML]

Thanks, Jeff (I hope I remembered your name correctly) for the info. At four for one, price-wise, I might be inclined to wear out a few computer peripheral device cables.

 

[Fred W]

I'm not using any ear speakers, just the regular Starcom1 helmet speakers and mike, but have had pretty good luck with the connectors (knock on wood). I have my cables exiting the helmets on the right sides and run the cable in front of us (not down our backs) which may make it a bit easier to see what's happening. The cables only run forward to the forward end of the tank bag that holds my Starcom1 box. When under way the cable drapes down the right side of my chest and my passengers cable passes along my right side about waist high. I don't know if this cable arrangement is common, but I don't get a lot of flapping around of cables this way.

 

[BobOdenweller]

I wonder if a PS/2 to USB adapter would work. Hmmmm? May have to look into this.

These 3 things might do it:

https://www.antonline.com/p_StarTech.com--G...F-)-_175485.htm

https://www.antonline.com/p_StarTech.com--G...M-)-_169337.htm

https://www.antonline.com/p_Belkin-Componen...2.6-_203187.htm

 

[canyonman]

(my electric razor is only the latest casualty).

Im not gonna ask

(not to mention legal in Calif where 2 in ear speakers are illegal

Do I understand you correctly? Ear buds [SIZE=12pt]are[/SIZE] legal but helmet speakers are [SIZE=12pt]not[/SIZE] ? :blink:

 

[Fred W]

I wonder if a PS/2 to USB adapter would work. Hmmmm? May have to look into this.

The problem with that will be that USB only uses 4 wires.

For your starcom headset you do need all 6 of the mini-DIN pins, 2 for each ear speaker and 2 for the mike.

PS - here's the wiring / pinouts of a PS2 to USB adapter.

 

[exskibum]

(not to mention legal in Calif where 2 in ear speakers are illegal

Do I understand you correctly? Ear buds [SIZE=12pt]are[/SIZE] legal but helmet speakers are [SIZE=12pt]not[/SIZE] ? :blink:

No, the opposite. In California, it is illegal to have ear buds in BOTH ears. One is ok, two is not. The wording is such that noise suppression ear plugs seem to pass muster in both ears, but ear buds (in-ear speakers) do not. Nothing that says helmet speakers are illegal.

 

[canyonman]

(not to mention legal in Calif where 2 in ear speakers are illegal

Do I understand you correctly? Ear buds [SIZE=12pt]are[/SIZE] legal but helmet speakers are [SIZE=12pt]not[/SIZE] ? :blink:

No, the opposite. In California, it is illegal to have ear buds in BOTH ears. One is ok, two is not. The wording is such that noise suppression ear plugs seem to pass muster in both ears, but ear buds (in-ear speakers) do not. Nothing that says helmet speakers are illegal.

Ok thanks. and now that I re-read it it makes perfect sense. need to work on reading comprehension.