Barry
P. Blank, Ph.D." <PsychB@Concentric.Net>
was one of the first on the list to respond: "I, and
many others on the IBMWR list, have an Autocom Pro - and
I am very pleased with it. It is expensive, but still cheaper
than going through a number of the less expensive units
until you’re satisfied.
I
keep it under the front of my seat and have it wired into
a BEL radar detector which I keep in my tank bag window
and a CD player which I keep in the tank bag’s top
compartment. Been using it for over a year and the only
fault I have with it is that the amplifier on the CD is
too weak to put out decent sound ( with a Boostaroo and
Maxx earplugs :^) ).
Overall,
IMO it is <the> way to go.
Seth
Miller <mailto:seth.miller@worldnet.att.net>
agrees with Barry in that its best to just go for it and
drop the big bucks the first time and get something that
really works. "The Autocom unit (manufactured in England,
but now available from several distributors in the US) is
about the best thing going (great audio quality, excellent
VOX operation, etc.), but it is a higher-end unit and priced
accordingly. In the intercom field, many have found it less
expensive in the long run to purchase a quality unit first
off, rather than eventually after several cheaper units
have been tried out and then tossed for one reason or another.
I think you will find many who second this opinion.
The
Autocom unit doesn’t have a built-in radio, but you
can plug in a Walkman-type unit of your choice. It has a
lot of nice features, such as automatic music cancellation
when either the rider or passenger speak, individually adjustable
music volume levels for rider and passenger, etc. There
is also a nifty automatic volume control feature that raises
or lowers the volume based on your speed (by sensing ambient
wind noise). This is a mandatory feature if you don’t
want to be endlessly playing with the volume control."
Robert
T. Edmiston <edmiston@research.nj.nec.com>
took the time to share the address for AutoCom and their
US Distributor. He wrote: "Please find below the URL
for the manufacturer of the AutoCom Product and directly
below that the contact info for the primary US Distributor.
There may also be a local distributor in your area. If you
contact Top Gear they will be happy to assist you.
http://www.autocom.co.uk/
Top
Gear Accessories
P.O.
Box 1477
Slingerlands
N.Y. 12159 U.S.A.
Tel:
+1 518 449 8677
Fax:
+1 518 449 8876
Email:
topgear@worldnet.att.net
Harry
G. Greenspun, M.D. <hgg@clinpath.com>
is well traveled on his RT and wrote a product review for
his personal web page. Harry says " Check out my Autocom
write up: http://www.greenspun.com/harry/autocom.htm
I have the Eurocom interfaced with a CD walkman and a CB
radio. It’s a great system."
Sean
Williams < sean@crushtot.demon.co.uk>
Agrees: "I have the Autocom Pro and confirm everything
the others have said -it’s top quality with top features
but is expensive. You can also hook your mobile phone up
to it and provided you have the right phone it will auto
answer and you can chat as you ride!
Dave
Harmacek, <daveh@shore.net>
shared his experience with both NADY and AUTOCOM:
"NADY
- We tried the one with the FM radio for two years. The
fidelity was good only for the talk and news stations.
I had to repair the wires many times. We couldn’t
talk when traveling over 45 mph on my RT. Not recommended
(want to buy mine?)
AUTOCOM
- We installed the Eurocom model with the standard headsets.
Very pricy but we missed an intercom and wanted one for
our long trip from Boston to Missoula. I found the fidelity
better than NADY, but tinny on music. This was resolved,
later. Wife always complained that my voice was distorted.
Her voice was fine to me, even with or without earplugs,
and at any speed.
On
our way to Missoula one of my speakers stopped working,
and then my microphone stopped working.
In
Missoula I found the booth of TopGear Accessories who I
bought the unit from. They moved our helmet speakers lower
(in our X-9s). This improved the fidelity, drastically.
They replaced my entire headset and microphone under warranty.
They shortened the lead to from the Eurocom for the front
and put on a new connector. This fixed my speaker and microphone
problems. Wife continues to have some problem understanding
me at higher speed. Maybe I’m mumbling?"
However,
not everyone is pleased with the Autocom system. Phil
Space <Space@dina.com>
says that he has tried others and likes Chatterbox best
for bike to bike Communications: "If you want to do
bike to bike comms and audio, highly recommend the the Chatterbox
HJC-27A. After Chatterbox 90's and Autocom Eurocom's the
HJC's have worked flawlessly, we listen to the CB for police
etc. and talk bike to bike. We both have R1100RT's and used
the BMWOGA http://home.sprintmail.com/~damian/
solution for mounting CB antennas on the bikes. Incredible
range and has made back and forth for bike week this year
with no problems."
"The
only down side is tank bag. The radio comes in a very small
Eclipse made tank bag. Mounts well, but is small. It worked
very well, and protected the radio from some very heavy
rains courtesy of alot of silicon spray, but the map area
is very small."
Jerry
Cook <jcook@capcity.com>
echoes Phil’s comments on the HJC system: "I am
just about to switch from Autocom to a unit from HJC (Chatterbox
folks) They make the HJC-27A.
Retail
for $300 US Dollars. Includes radio, headset , power lead
, tank bag , Push to talk button ,antenna Optional Remote
control unit for $49 This unit is a CB Radio. 40 channel.
I think that with the remote control unit you get intercom
features also. There is a jack for an audio input. (This
needs to be connected properly to the bikes radioPre-amp
levels??) The remote control unit gives you control of the
volume and squelch and channel. Push to Talk to Key the
transmitter.
Phil
and Becky Space each have one mounted on their R11RT's and
they seem to be happy with them. This is after lots of attempts
with Autocom and Cobra 45 Handheld CB radios. Their units
worked better than my Midland but it was tough to adjust
volume etc. They also have the Firestick CB antenna that
does NOT require a ground plane, but you get 17 feet of
cable that has to be wound around the bike. I think i will
start with the stock one! The HJC is a complete system and
therefore I would expect everything to work. Wish it had
the weather channels but I dont think it does We also looked
at a C"B unit from Honda for the Valkyrie interstate.
seemed nice but it cost more .
I
have also seen a unit that is probably a $50 CB radio that
has its front panel remoted into an aluminum box. the cigar
box size main unit has to be hidden somewhere on the bike.
Cost was about $500 seemed too expensive and looked bad.
also very large but they work good."
"I
will probably sell my Autocom stuff and buy the HJC-27A
also. My Autocom Pro and my Midland have problems when I
try to use 12volt power for the Midland 820 CB (handheld).
Autocom says that the problem is with the Midland CB Radio.
Midland has a different opinion!"
David
Nelson <dnelson@jump.net>
Installed the Eurocom on his GS and offered the following
observations: "I went with the Euro-com setup. The
main unit it velcroed behind the passanger on the left side.
I run the wires along the frame using nylon tiestraps. The
drivers headset and audio input are also tie strapped to
one of the straps that fasten to the rear of the Rev-Pack
to keep them tidy. I can also coil the leads and lay then
on top of the air-box if I’m not using the intercom
system and still use the tank bag. I’ve also put on
shrink-tubing for the audio-in connector to help keep dust/moister
from getting into the jack/plug."
"I
use the Autocom headset that are supposed to be used for
the Pro-Comm. Do NOT use the Autocom coiled lead that is
designed for the Pro-Comm. The lead has a small microphone
in it that provides a feedback signal for the Pro-Comm so
that it can automagically adjust the volume in response
to outside noise. Instead, I use a standard PC/AT keyboard
cable available at any good computer store and usually cost
about $5 (vs. $50 for the autocom lead). I’ve head
that autocom now makes a coiled lead for use with the Euro-Comm
but I have not seen/priced it."
I
have finally gotten around to getting an Autocom Pro system
and I am really pleased with it. The only time I have any
problem is in strong cross-winds - they tend to key the
mic. My favorit feature is the automatic volume control.
I installed the system with velcro into the tail assembly
of my bike. Here are a couple of pictures of how it all
looks:
As of
July 2000, <pthombs@gateway.net>
reported that "A staff member @ TOPGEAR recently told
me the Eurocoms are "back ordered". what that
really seems to mean is that the old Eurocom is being replaced
with an updated model, more robust case & leads. The
price however is apparently going up to circa $260."
Will
<bergamot56@aol.com>
confirmed it: "Yes, the Eurocom has been superceded
by the Eurocom M2. It's now $259.99. The folks at Topgear
said there were no more Eurocom units available, so I bought
the new unit. It's larger (4.5x2.5x1.25") and heavier
than the old unit."
