Uclear intercom with earplugs

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Jonno

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I thought I would share with you my findings on using the Uclear HBC200 intercom... A number of my friends have all bought these units and found them to be pretty good at communicating as a group - we researched the market and found the Uclear to be one of the few systems that could accommodate 8 riders, all talking as an open group.
The system isn't perfect, riders drop out as the range increases, but overall we have found them to work well. The unit also links to my satnav, and to my phone, via dual bluetooth connections.
One area in particular has caused a problem, which is the generic problem of wind noise as speeds increase (i.e. over about 60mph). Whilst the Uclear helmet speakers are adequate at lower speeds, they can't really cope with the increasing wind noise, which I personally find particularly tiring on a long trip. The solution is that I ordered the optional Uclear earbuds - these have tiny inline microphones situated just below the earbud itself (i.e. avoids the need for a boom microphone). Whilst this improves the ability to hear riders talking whilst at higher speeds, its still not as good at cutting out wind noise as the cheap foam earplugs that I normally use. The trick was to buy a pair of the foam earplugs - the yellow ones that they give you on airlines (3M 'Classic' earplugs)- not the more bullet-shaped rubbery ones that you can also buy), then use a small drill bit to drill a small hole right through lengthways - and then insert the end of the Uclear earbud tip into the foam plug. Hey presto - you have about 80-90% of the benefit of wearing earplugs, with the ability to listen to music / talk to friends as well....The additional side effect was that for some reason, the quality of the sound has also increased vs the standard earbud sound.
 
Just to be sure. Can you get directions from a garmin and play music from your phone without the devices interfering with each other.

I have that issue when using my |zumo 660>Interphone F5<Note3 for music|

It has to be one or the other. Music will be playing, when instructions come on from the Zumo all I get is static and can't hear anything from either device.
 
Jonno, thanks for the write up. Would mind posting a pic of your earplug / speaker solution? I've got a good idea what you mean but want an idea of the size of the speaker in the ear plug.

Cheers.
 
in the market for a new setup for the wife and I and wondering why you went for the uclear?

The reason why I chose the Uclear were:
1. Its the only intercom on the market (that I could find) that doesnt need a separate microphone - so it can be used on half-face helmets without needing a boom microphone... the microphones are built in to the speakers. Within a full face helmet, it likewise means no microphone right in front of your lips..
2. It was one of the few systems that could cope with a large group of riders, all talking on an open channel - we've had 8 riders...
3. I like the fact that whilst the range of one unit to another is not huge (prob no more than 200-300m), they daisy chain to each other - so you can talk to the rider furthest away via the intermediary units.
4. The units are quite small and discreet - whereas some competitors look like you have a shoebox stuck on the side of your helmet - complete with aerials!
5. We bought ours from the USA, via Ebay UK and they were v good value (£135 each).

Btw, on the downside, having read reviews on most of the competitors - eg Scala etc, they all seem to have their supporters and critics. The downside of the UClear is the fact that they are a bit tempermental to operate - for instance, they have to be paired up in just the right way - but for the money, I still think they do a good job. We just rode down to Spain and back (1600 miles) and we all said it wouldnt have been the same without these intercoms...
 
Yes - for a Tomtom - so that should be the same for a Garmin. I rode down through France on my own listening to music, and my Tomtom Rider broke through the music to give me instructions. The only shortcoming was that when the Tomtom gave out alert pings (eg for 'safety cameras' alerts), I noticed that the Uclear wasnt stopping the music quick enough to hear the actual 'ping' - I quickly learned that if the music stopped for a second, it meant to look at the Satnav. Once the instruction/alert has been given by the Satnav, the music automatically starts again. Similarly, we found that if we were in a group of riders, the system doesnt cope well with interupting the music everytime someone in the group starts talking - so we normally unpaired the intercom function if we wanted to listen to music (whilst still allowing Satnav).
 
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As promised, here are the pictures...
The first one shows the hole drilled in the earplug, the second shows it fitted to the earbud. For comparison, you can see the standard fitment. The small black rectangles fitted into the wire are the microphones... The standard earpieces are actually quite small, so don't tend to get caught when pulling on the helmet.

Jonno
IMG_3051.jpgplug1.jpg
 
I use something very similar
I use a sena smh5 bike to bike kit and have the plug cut off and run a set of Shure SE535's on it , you can use cheaper buds ( they are very similar to the pics)
couldnt recommend them enough
 
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