Updated 08/07/01
Welcome to my bike page
I decided to put this page up after I spent a
fair time trying to find a good intercom so I could use my mobile phone whilst riding into
London (my motor bike 1100ST Pan European) in the end a friend I work with recommended the
"Autocom" system.
I ended up buying the "Eurocom" unit which as standard allows me to have
rider and pillion and my GSM mobile phone and a music input from a small walkman radio.
I must admit the claim from Autocom was that the audio was good for 100mph+ and as I
have had experiences of 2 way radios on motorbikes I was somewhat sceptical to say the
least.
Phone Interface (old version)
I use a Nokia 6150 (same as a 6110,702,402,6130,7110,6210 & 6190) and I made my own phone holder out of a old Nokia 6100 carkit. The old bit I used was the actual phone holder and none of the electronics, I could have used a plug of a personal handsfree kit which would have worked just as well.
The holder fits in the accessory pocket of the 1100ST and is waterproof once the cover is closed down. The phone automatically goes onto handsfree once its in the holder.
Phone Interface (New version)
I decided this weekend to update my phone on my bike. The main reason was I couldn't see who was ringing me. and if I needed to dial out it was a pain (aka dangerous). I picked up a secondhand Nokia 3310 which is a basic phone but has everything I need. I decide to mount the phone on the handle bars using the same tough velcro I use for the radios. As the 3310 case are interchangable it ddin't matter if I stuck velro on it as replacement cases cost as little a £4.00.
The little
plug on the left is a contvertor which converts the Nokia 4pin 2.5mm to 2.5mm
3pin (Autocom standard)
The Nokia also
has voice dialing which seems to work fine. You hold the top middle key for
a few seconds then it beeps and you say the name.
This is the back
of the replacement case. It takes second to remove.
I'm waiting for the New Nokia 8310 which is half the size of the 3310 but has a built in FM radio and so this will make life a bit easier.
The 2Way radio
I decided to get rid of the Yeasu FT90 It was ackward to use and the high power screwed up the ABS and TCS lights.
I bought a Yeasu VX-5 which is multi band MW > 1.2GHz RX (I think) and TC on 50,144,430MHz. It also has wide band FM and medium wave so I tend to use this to listen to the radio in place of the Sony walkman. The old good this it the Yeasu is water resistant and 5w TX.
The radio is a Yeasu FT 90 with is a VHF
UHF amateur unit which can be modified for wideband recieve/transmit.
Its 50 watts but I run it a around 10 watts. You can see the antenna in the
background of the picture just above the mirror.
The Aerial
The antennas are mounted above the mirrors using the police bike strobe mounts. I bought the mounts from Sonic Communications in Birmingham UK who specialise is communication systems.
Here you can see the mount with the BNC sticking out. I had the
strobe mount drilled out so it would accept a standard
BNC (crimp type) I then had a grub screw drilled (1) and to stop water entering
the cable I used heated shrink sleeve (2)
which contains glue. I noticed that the holes had some rust showing so I will
remove and and have these coated.
This is the aerial mounting bracket.
The mounts cost are 70 uk pounds
The Music
For the music side of things I used a small Sony walkman (radio only) this I hold in place with Velcro as its not affected by the rain.
The radio has 5 pre-sets and is easy to remove and pop in my pocket when I leave the bike, it's also has large enough buttons so I can turn it on & off whilst riding or when I'm talking on the phone.
The Results
I can only say the Autocom (Eurocom) is everything I could have hoped for, the audio when talking on the phone (totally handsfree) is that good that people don't realise I'm on a bike! I've used the phone at speeds above the UK legal limit and it is excellent. The radio sound is good quality and autofades when talking to the pillion passenger. The pillion can also talk on the phone as well.
The Cost
The basic unit for both rider and pillion costs around £300 in the UK on top of that I sent around £40 on the walkman and the phone interface cost a few pound for the plug and a secondhand holder and the time to make and test it. The phone aerial was around £15.
The Future
I want to add a third input into the Eurocom to enable me to connect a 2 way radio.
I used one of the existing
hole on the ST1100 to mount the headset jack
The mike is about 25mm across and 8mm thick, it's covered in a felt like material and when you talk you get your lips as close as possible to it.
I mounted the junction box under the seat at the rear of the bike, and on to of the left-hand pannier you can see the pillion headset jack.
This just shows where I mounted the phone aerial. I am currently having a better bracket made which will use the standard topbox holes and hold both the phone and a amateur radio aerial. I tried to buy one of the mounting brackets the Police, AA and paramedics have on the rear of there bikes but no one seems to know where they come from.
The above drawing shows the basic layout of the intercom system.
If you have any questions mail me here I'm not a hardened biker just someone who enjoys it as a great way of getting round.
The intercom I use is an M1 from www.autocom.co.uk
Last updated 08/07/01