When my wife and I are out riding, I like to have her in front of me to keep her under control, but I would like to be able to tell her where to go. I was thinking about putting two way radios on the Polaris's. I was thinking about getting Motorala hand held radios with earphones and microphones. Has anyone used these on the atv's or does anyone use any thing different for on-trail communication? Shadetree sells a system that attaches to helments, but it is kinda expensive and the range is not very good. Anyone have any ideas?

 

You want to start telling her where to go??? Man are you brave!!!

The Motorola radios are excellent. In the US the Talkabout series is available in 2 and 5 mile ranges. I have used the 2 mile units. They are crystal clear, most excellent. I have not used them with headsets however. My guess, being Motorola, they will be excellent.

In Canada we do not have the Talkabout series because the frequency allocations are different. Motorola recently released the FRS series which is our equivalent. We also have the Spirit series which offer the 5 mile range in either VHF or UHF. I have a set of the Spirits here and really like them.

There is an excellent radio made by Collett Electronics out of Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada. This is the radio we use for snowmobiling. It has helmet speakers that fit right in the helmet. A VOX speach system that works well.

For ATVing I would choose the Talkabouts, simply because they can be used elsewhere. We use ours when we travel with multiple cars, camping, when we are walking around Las Vegas, shopping malls, everywhere.

The Motorola website is pretty good at describing the accessories for the Talkabout series.

Good luck!

DJ

 

MAGNUM I have the sport 10 by motorola,bought them from cabbelas,about $200 a piece but they are great and clear will really give you good range.Your right about the collet no range unless you can see each other.We use ours snowmobileing and atving,we have mics like you see the cops use works real well.If you buy cheapies you'll kick yourself later.CM

 

Hey,
If you wnt some good quality radios, go with th motorola talkabouts. For just ATVing, you dont need the best ones. You dont have to waste your money unless you are like me, and want the best. Radio Shack also sells some cheap ones that are nice on the budget.

 

Funny this post shows up today. We use Cobra Microtalk FRS radios (same power and channels as the Motorola talkabout .5 watt series with 2-mile range) when we ride and have the little cop speaker/mike from Radioshack. They do very well (especially when you're up high talking to some
one) and are pretty tough. The bad thing is that whie riding up in West Point, Tn. today, I waded across a creek that I hadn't been in before to get to a cave and when the creek dropped off above my waist, the radio went under. I quickly grabbed the radio, but it was too late. Now, the radio does not transmit or receive, but does have power.
So, mabye it will dry out and return to normal. Oh about the cave, it didn't go into the rock but about 4 ar 5 feet, but another one looks like there might be an enterance under the water.

 

Cobra makes a nice set that is fairly inexpensive. they run about $50.oo a pair and they work quite well and also have the external mic and speaker jack.

 

I use the smallest radio shack ones. They will fit in a shirt pocket. I also have the radio shack earbud with a tiny clip-on mike. The foam covered earbud doesn't fit very well with a helmet on. The clip-on mike works great. I also have just an earbud(radio shack) only that has a clip that goes around the ear. Now,that one fits good with a helmet, but it has no mike. I wish I could get that type of bud with the cilp-on mike.

 

Wife and I have Uniden Pro 510 mounted on the handle bars with the mike clip mounted near the l.h. brake. Can easily activate with your thumb with out taking your eyes of the trail. Antennas mounted on the back.We just carry a piece of plastic to cover them when it rains. Friends of mine have been using the same setup for 10 years and no problems. A cheap way to go. Lots of discount stores carry similar radios.

 

Have any of you used the radios with ear piece and microphone in your helmet WHILE YOU WERE RIDING? I don't know if the engine noise would drown it out or worse yet, if it's a voice activated microphone the engine could broadcast and annoy anyone else listening in. Anyone had experience with this?

 

ChopperBill
On the Uniden, if the mic is mounted next to the left handlebar, do you have a microphone mounted in the helment? Also, where are these available?

Thanks