Having radio communications between dirt bike or snowmobile riders is like getting a cell phone. You never want to be without one once you see how much it adds. The ability to call up the trail to your buddy when you crashed or broke down behind him on the trail, or to tell the guy in the dust behind you that you stayed on the main trail at the Y, or even just share how much fun you are having is priceless. But the price of quality off-road communication is serious. The reining standard is Rugged Radio’s $400/rider kit (http://www.ruggedradios.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=763_764&products_id=353 ) for helmet headset, waterproof VHF radio and handlebar Push-to-talk (PTT) from the leading supplier, RuggedRadios.com.
Rugged Radios is a major supplier and support to the desert racing community. You will find other rugged off-road helmet headsets out there, but these look like they are simply reselling the Rugged Radio kits at the same price. The headset kit without radio is $225/headset with radio jumper cable to match your radio. The commercial-bargain competing options with similar functionality is a Motocomm or Midland helmet headset kit and “bubble pack” FRS radios for $75/rider, or a bluetooth helmet kit for $100/rider. So what do you get for $800 to talk between two riders?
Radio Kit Trade-offs
Online reviews show how many people have tried cheaper helmet headsets kits from MotoComm, Midland, etc, with “bubble pack” FRS radio, but the radio communication has been difficult to hear, the headsets quickly break off-road and range is short for off-road situations. The short range is even more true with bluetooth headsets, which seem to work best for road riders that stay within site of each other. Don’t believe the marketing range on the package. People report only getting <500 yards on the trail with bluetooth or other low power helmet mounted stuff. With the FRS radios, one difficulty hearing the other rider seems to stem from the cheaper headsets not including noise cancelling mics, so wind or motor noise dominates voice input. Plus the FRS radios are not loud enough on their headset jack due to low volume from the radio for public ear safety. So these setups end up only being usable when you are very slow or stopped due to the audio quality issues in both directions. Like the Rugged Radio helmet headset kit, these retail helmet headset kits must be pre-installed in your main helmet and it is difficult to move between helmets in most cases due to mic mounting and helmet pad removal (YMMV). If your purpose is casual trail riding, they will get you started, and reliability can be dealt with by simply replacing them and still being money ahead. But the FRS radio is still much shorter on range, despite exaggerated claims on the package. If there are trees or any low hills in the way, you should only expect to count on 1/2 mile from the FRS/GMRS bubble pack radios. The combination of low reliability, quiet audio, noisy mic, and shorter than preferred range, mean these systems will be barely satisfying. So what else can we do in the middle?
Price-Performance Radio ($40-50/radio)
The best thing you should do is upgrade the radio so they can reach each other and talk with volume. If you are willing to sacrifice waterproof on the radio, the best performance per dollar option is the Baofeng UV-B5 for $40-$50 per radio (http://www.amazon.com/Baofeng-Newest-Walkie-Talkie-5-watt/dp/B00BXVOKTW ). The stock antenna and range of these is nearly as good as professional radios costing 6x the price and reach out 2-5 miles in the forest and much further if you are on a hill top with line of site. Many RF technician HAM operators were impressed at the RF performance of these low cost radios and these are really just a handheld HAM radio. The main downside I see is the lack of waterproofing, but that can be dealt with by storing it inside a plastic carry case or bag on rainy days. They are also more complicated to operate than a professional radio due to the HAM options. It uses a “kenwood” 2-pin headset connector so your headset solution must match. They have 14+ hour battery life, work on both VHF and UHF, with good range in the forest (a large ridge between the riders can always get you out of range though at .5 mile). Baofeng also makes similar performing radios like the UV-B6 (LED replaces channel selector knob) and UV-82 (dual transmit PTT button, LED light and tougher chassis). All will work as well with only ease of use differences.
Waterproof Radio Options ($125-150/radio)
To get both long range with waterproof reliability, as well as improved drop specs you need a professional grade radio. The Rugged Radios recommendation is the Standard Horizon HX370s, which is a good value VHF radio at $175 in the bundle or ~$150 at Amazon or ebay. VHF works well for longer battery life and improved range when you have line of site stretching across the desert or for boating (it is often called marine band). But UHF band will penetrate obstacles and rebound better so it is used by many city public safety crews and most in building businesses. UHF can also be programmed to be compatible with all the FRS/GMRS bubble pack radios out there that your friends might carry. The Baofeng UV-B5 is both UHF and VHF, but the HX370s is VHF only and I wanted UHF for my forest focus. So I found that the HYT TC-610 is both waterproof (IP-66, water jet proof) and UHF, and can be purchased at a similar price to the HX370s on ebay or Amazon. HYT is the second largest professional radio supplier in the world, and Rugged Radios sells the HYT TC-508 (IP-54, falling rain proof) for UHF as well, but their offerings are less waterproof than the TC610. The TC610 is $140 on Amazon-China shipped and $329 for Amazon-USA shipped, then $180 from ebay-USA, $125 ebay-china. I got a pair of TC-610s from ebay-china for $125/set and it came with Chinese manuals and probably does not have a USA 2 year warranty. It did have USA wall plug though. It feels and works like a business radio…solid and simple. It uses a Motorola 2 pin headset jack so buy headsets that are compatible. A “free” helmet audio solution here is that the headset jack supports the standard stereo 3.5mm earbuds we all own and most fit inside the helmet. With this, the radio’s audio out goes on only one ear to hear when someone is calling you. But then you need to stop to pick up the radio in your hand and push to talk back. This setup is also a good option for a new rider in party that can get functional without any helmet headset installation process. One downside is that the HYT TC610 has a claimed 9 hour battery life, vs 14hrs on the HX370s, even though the HYT sells a larger battery to get 14 hours too.
The DIY project: Upgraded Motocomm Helmet Kit ($40-90/headset)
You can get the MotoComm helmet headset variant with the kenwood connector for $40/headset. The audio output from the Baofeng or HYT is good enough to hear the radios in your helmet. If you are only riding at casual trail speeds, the background mic noise is more acceptable so this kit could have full audio functionality like the Rugged Radios setup. But you still have the reliability issues with the more fragile connectors and wires. You also need a break way connectors at the PTT to allow you to separate from your bike when you fall, and preferably another one at your helmet. A hobbyist should be able to install the PTT breakaway jack connectors with a 1/4″ headphone jack/plug (2 wire PTT) and then replace the helmet jack with either an XLR connector (http://store.acousticom.com/4-pin-female-xlr-connector-a4f-black ) or the expensive Nexus style 4-pin break away jacks (http://store.acousticom.com/u-174u-tp-101 ) to use Rugged Radio’s proven connectors, then hard-wire/remove some of the intermediate connectors. Some will find this customization/fix to be unacceptable, but this should bring it closer to Rugged Radios reliability, albeit still using a cheaper speaker, mic, PTT and strain reliefs. By the way, the similar no-name helmet headset kits sell on Amazon too with fewer intermediate connectors for $25/headset and ready for the same customization. Another issue is that bubble pack radios reportedly are setup for DC offset powered electret microphones, and professional radios like the Rugged Radio kit use high impedance mics. So if you are using the bubble pack radios, get a mic that matches or test the compatibility.
The bargain champion setup: Baofeng+Mono Earbud ($50/rider)
The best low cost radio + head set option that I found that has no need for custom mods is a Baofeng UV-B5 with a Kenwood/Baofeng mono earbud with inline PTT. (http://www.amazon.com/Earpiece-Headset-QUANSHENG-WEIERWEI-KG-UVD1P/dp/B00HDIP3AY).
This configuration does not need breakaway connectors because the earpiece stays on your body when you take the helmet off and you clip the PTT to your shirt collar. This still means that you have to stop or ride slow enough to ride with one hand when you want to push to talk the button that is clipped on your shirt collar, but you don’t have to pull out your radio to talk because it might be best located in your backpack and you don’t want to drop it. But you will be listening at all times and the in-ear bud is quite comfortable in the helmet. Another big plus for this options is that this setup can readily be handed to a new rider in the party without going thru the integrated helmet headset installation process. This “headset” only costs $8 per rider, making the total of $100 for a pair of trail riders, saving you over $700 per pair to be on the trail with safe, long range trail communications.
General Radio Background
The professional radios come from the factory with a set of frequencies that the OEM selected, so they match up between units of the same model, but not between brands. They are meant to be programmed for your company’s frequencies that you are going to legally use. To program these radio, you have to buy the ~$20 programming USB cable that has the matching radio connector included, then the OEM programming software or the public domain CHIRP software. Any of these long range radios (even the GMRS mode of the bubble pack radios) require FCC HAM Technician class licensing, which is about $15 for test fee to take a 35 question test on radio theory and good for 10 years if you renew it. But 22 million GMRS radios have been sold and a tiny fraction of those are operated by licensed people, such that the FCC has proposed to remove that requirement for the GMRS frequencies. So I programmed my UHF radios to the FRS/GMRS frequencies (http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/FRS/GMRS_combined_channel_chart ) and then added two custom channels that were not used anywhere I planned to be according to the registered radio reference database at http://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/ . My theory is that this should keep me out of trouble and let me talk to the bubble pack crowd.
The decision between UHF and VHF is tough because the best answer is so situational. VHF will go twice as far if you don’t have any obstacles between radios, but the UHF will go between and thru obstacles better. That’s why most in building businesses and police use UHF, but desert racers, boaters, and even forest services with mountain top repeaters use VHF. You get to decide which band fits your situation. My research found people who tested both in a forested valley and found UHF to be superior. So far, my forest testing has yet to find a spot where only one is out of range, but the UHF has more clear audio at the edge of coverage so far. When I do get only one out of coverage, it will only be situational testing so no broad conclusions can be made unless I carried both for many situations that I liken to my rides and observed a trend. If you do serious desert racing like the Baja 1000, they require VHF for course communications. The chance to use GMRS frequencies on my trail bike radio was a strong deciding factor so I can chat with family that use the FRS radios. On the other hand, emergency services primarily live on the VHF or HAM UHF frequencies that the HYT TC-610 cannot access, so I will have to phone home, or bring a Baofeng UV-B5 with us to directly call into search and rescue or the HAM emergency channels.
My Personal Decisions
For a long life, maximum performance solution, the Rugged Radio headset kit can’t be beat for the effort and component costs it included. I got the RR headset kits without radio for my personal helmets, but set them up with the HYT TC-610 instead of the Standard Horizon VHF. I feel I got the most reliable and clear solution on a preferred UHF band and a little cheaper. But I also got a couple Baofeng radios with Kenwood mono in-ear sets to hand to my kids or fellow riders to use for the day. All are programmed to be on my FRS-GMRS channel set so all we have to do is set the same channel numbers and the frequencies will line up.
Recent Comments