doophones,snowfones,chatterboxes,nady's etc

[mmdtraveler]

hey all, looking into investing into a GOOD helmet communicating system for me ans a few of my fellow riders. just wondering who makes the best chatterbox, collet, nady,mottocom or cardo. I know I want bluetooth and music input option so that should narrow my choices and I also wear a ski-doo modular2 helmet so that'll prolly even narrow my choices even more. So far Ive only seen doofone(collet) and platinum900 w/DMS mic (collet) thatll prolly work for me. does any other companies make similar? Are the collets the way to go? Do they work good? Are they compatible with other systems? my freinds wear different helmet styles. just wanna get some feedback from owners of any of theses systems on there pros and cons.

[MAD670]

I have a basic cardo blue tooth set it works great but it does loose the connection with my nextel phone but its because its a nextel phone they have other models that will do everything you want and more they say it will fit any helmet . Any other questions just ask thats what id get

[PAULARIS600]

i have the coletts, and they don't work with others. you need to place an order for all that you are going to get, so that they all get on same channel. other wise you may have to send some back to get them fixed. that is how it was when i ordered mine few years back. otherwise they work prety good. it does take a bit to play with to get them fine tuned in. use them for sledding and ATVing. every once in a while you may pick up someone else. and you can get them set up to pick up the device that are installed on groomers to warn you that one is in the area. don't remember what they call that off hand right now. look around and you might find some good deals on used ones also.
good luck at your choices.

[The Great One]

I have a chatter box, fsx2 I think is the model. works very well. The range isn't the advertised 5 miles but for my group it works very well. In Iowa silencers are legal so I have the push to talk button installed or all you hear on the channel is exhaust with the VOX or voice activated. But I have been very impressed with the rest of the system.

[Budwick]

I have a collett and am very pleased with it. Range is good and there is plenty VOX control so you don't trigger the mic all the time with sled noise.

I use a wired mp3 player and don't mind the wire since the collett already has a wire for the battery which I keep in an inside jacket pocket. It helps to keep the two wires taped together to eliminate tangles. Bluetooth would be cool but it seems like just one more thing to not work.

Make sure you have a fully charged battery with the communicators. Otherwise you'll lose range before the end of the day.

[TommyBoy68]

I've got a pair of the Collet SnoFones that my wife and I use. They are a couple seasons old now, and I see that the current ones offer bluetooth support.

They were super-easy to install on the helmets. I believe that there is a specific one that is needed with the modular helmet, be sure to check before ordering.

It is a voice-activated microphone, which is a little tricky to get set up properly. After several outings, we finally have them set so the sled noise rarely opens the mic. Only one of the units can be broadcasting at a time, and once one mic opens the other cannot broadcast, only receive. They are not GREAT for long conversations, but work nice for quick alerts to the other rider. There was a little learning curve to get my speach pattern right for successful communication.

Have had NO issues with the units performance or battery life. Have not seen the range that was advertised, but can't really give you a limit because we usually ride close to each other anyway. Would like to experiment a little to find it's limitations.

My understanding is that they were all set to a specific broadcast channel, so you CAN buy one today to work with existing Collet units. (Not other manufacturers, though). BUT, if you were to make a purchase in quantity, you can get a dedicated channel on all of them, like for a club or something. And they have the "groomer beacon" which will beep if you are nearing a groomer (that has a transmitter, at least). Have not had a chance to experience this feature in action.