InterPhone Bluetooth BlueAnt Comms review

**Edbear** · 3rd January 2008, 21:13

Originally Posted by Hitcher

Thanks for the tip. I'll try that plugging/unplugging suggestion next time. This time of the year we're out most days, so overnight recharging is the go, and with not always enough time to run things flat. Such is life!

Being Lithium batteries, they don't have the memory effect that the old Ni-Cad's did so charging up each night is fine. On our trip I could probably have managed on one charge, the standby mode made all the difference!

We haven't bothered pairing them with the cell phones, as Mrs. Bear texts while we're riding...

and I just check my phone each time we stop. The kids all know when we're on the bike and they wait for our replies.

**Qkchk:Me** · 24th January 2008, 11:13

Well we have bitten the bullet and have purchased 2 units for myself and Qkkid. Gonna test them tonight on the ATNR and over the long weekend on the Northern Exposure Tour.

Best price in NZ! $172.26+GST!

https://itstore.homebizbuzz.co.nz/acquire/default.asp

Type in Keyword "Interphone" and hey presto!
If you sign up you will get that cheaper price of $172+ plus all the other goodies online.

**shafty** · 24th January 2008, 11:44

Originally Posted by Qkchk

Well we have bitten the bullet and have purchased 2 units for myself and Qkkid. Gonna test them tonight on the ATNR and over the long weekend on the Northern Exposure Tour.

Best price in NZ! $172.26+GST!

https://itstore.homebizbuzz.co.nz/acquire/default.asp

Type in Keyword "Interphone" and hey presto!
If you sign up you will get that cheaper price of $172+ plus all the other goodies online.

Kool! Thanks for the price heads up and looking forward to your feedback!

**aroberts** · 31st January 2008, 15:43

Has anyone tried pairing more than two interphones? If you can store up to 5other devices, I'm hoping you could pair to another rider and also pair to your pillion then switch between them to talk.

I guess the only issue will be that you will probably want to be connected to the other rider by default then just switch to the pillion if they nudge you in the back. If you connected to your pillion all the time, the other rider would have to use some hand signal to get you to connect back to them.

I see people think it is possible but I'd like to know it has been done before we go out buy 3 or 4 of them (2 riders, 2 pillions).

**Qkchk:Me** · 1st February 2008, 11:27

Well, we purchased the 2 units from Acquire at a bloody good price (see previous posting for link). Myself and Qkkid ride seperate bikes, so this writeup is for the use of bike to bike. We did try them as bike to Pillion with the same results. However we have not tested the 'Unit to Mobile Phone' side of the unit.

Installation took approx 1/2hr but could take more/less depends on the lid you are fitting it to. We have Arais, mine being a Condor (which it fitted the easiest) and Qkkids a RX7. I pulled the lining away from the shell enough to stick the earpiece and boom between the inside liner and the foam/cusioning of the helmet. Plugged the units into the wall mains - took only 3 hours to charge from new (must of had a residue charge in them) plugged them back into the helmet set and paired the units up (as per included instructions). We put our helmets on walked away from each other, still with in the house. About 20 meters away and around the corner, we were both struck by the digital clarity - The speech was as clear as a digital phonecall. Very impressed. Push the main button, hold down and you will hear 1 beep - That means phone mode (which we havent tested yet) is engaged. Hold the button down again and you will hear 1 beep then a second beep 3 seconds after. If there is another paired unit within 150M range you will hear a little blip and then hear the other person. So after studying the guide a little bit more, we suited up and took to the road in great anticipation.

On the road the wind-noise cancelling technology started to show. 50kph there was no audible unwanted noise and at 100kph there was a small amount but not enough to annoy you. The positioning of the microphone and boom is essential to elimanate any excess wind noise or heavy breathing.

We speed tested the units to over the 'Im walking home speed' (yes on a closed road) and could still understand what we were saying to each other. The only downfall of this unit is the distance. Any further apart than 150Meters and the units start to breakdown. However if you are apart for a given length of time eg: 10mins the units seem to automatically switch back to phone mode/standby so as soon as you think you are back in range you just push the main button and it tries to re-connect.

As for my opinion:

8/10 - Would get 10/10 if only you could boost the range, however I still think it is WORTH EVERY CENT! Lets hope Blueant can sort the technology to extend the range to a couple of kms in the near future..

I would recommend this unit to people who ride together and keep together in a bunch or no further apart than 100M (for best results). You will be surprised how often you use the unit when its there! Come in handy when there is a cop coming around the corner.

This system would make an excellent Mentor/Rider Training Tool as you can guide them through road procedures, point out mistakes while they are doing it (turn your indicator off) and play 'Spot the Hazards'.

**johnnyflash** · 2nd February 2008, 21:37

Originally Posted by aroberts

Has anyone tried pairing more than two interphones? If you can store up to 5other devices, I'm hoping you could pair to another rider and also pair to your pillion then switch between them to talk.

I guess the only issue will be that you will probably want to be connected to the other rider by default then just switch to the pillion if they nudge you in the back. If you connected to your pillion all the time, the other rider would have to use some hand signal to get you to connect back to them.

I see people think it is possible but I'd like to know it has been done before we go out buy 3 or 4 of them (2 riders, 2 pillions).

NO, SORRY, you missunderstand what the 5 memories are all about, it will remember the last 5 bluetooth phones its been paired to, so you can just reconnect to whichever one you want WITHOUT having to pair them again....BUT, you can only pair to ONE other BLUEANT INTERPHONE, yes it is physically possible to pair it to another set, but thats not really possible to do whilst you are riding, if you want to hook up to another interphone unit (not mobile phone) then you need to put both units in pair mode, and go through the process as per the book, but you wont be abvle to manage that while you are both riding down the road :-). If you want multiple intercoms between many bikes then buy some two way/multichannel radios (RT),
you will still need a headset as well ofcourse..

**bugjuice** · 2nd February 2008, 22:12

Originally Posted by Qkchk

The only downfall of this unit is the distance. Any further apart than 150Meters and the units start to breakdown.

I had thought about this, and I came to the conclusion that if you're going hard out in the twisties, and loose each other, then talking is the last thing I'd want to be doing anyway, cos you're concentrating on the road. Where as when you do want to talk, it's more often than not when you've slowed the pace and/or on the open boring roads where you have to behave.. For that, I'd be happy.
Shame you (by the looks of it) can't have a 'group' talk, where a few (not just 2) can all chat together. My situ would be riding with one or two others, and having Char on the back too.. It'd be good to talk to everyone for things like where we're heading/doing.. but still, I like the idea, and almost half the price of what 'Treads have them at (I think)..

nice write up. can't wait to have the readies to get a pair myself

**Qkchk:Me** · 3rd February 2008, 18:55

Originally Posted by bugjuice

Shame you (by the looks of it) can't have a 'group' talk, where a few (not just 2) can all chat together.

Well maybe that will be next project for Blueant and we might see something in the next 2years that will work like with the pairing of phones.... instead of learning only 1 other we might be able to pair up to 5 other units and talk together. But does bluetooth have the capacity to talk like an open channel? Bluetooth at this stage only talks to one other 'paired' appliance on a secure channel.....

If you really needed to, you could use the phone feature of the system, make a call and talk to the "other" riders, however it wouldnt be a cost effective way..........

Lets hope the future of bluetooth gets better.............

**NZsarge** · 4th February 2008, 08:51

Originally Posted by johnnyflash

NO, SORRY, you missunderstand what the 5 memories are all about, it will remember the last 5 bluetooth phones its been paired to, so you can just reconnect to whichever one you want WITHOUT having to pair them again....BUT, you can only pair to ONE other BLUEANT INTERPHONE.
If you want multiple intercoms between many bikes then buy some two way/multichannel radios (RT),
you will still need a headset as well ofcourse..

Bugger!

Thanks for that info.

**Idubbs** · 4th February 2008, 23:20

Originally Posted by Qkchk

Well maybe that will be next project for Blueant and we might see something in the next 2years that will work like with the pairing of phones.... instead of learning only 1 other we might be able to pair up to 5 other units and talk together. But does bluetooth have the capacity to talk like an open channel? Bluetooth at this stage only talks to one other 'paired' appliance on a secure channel.....

If you really needed to, you could use the phone feature of the system, make a call and talk to the "other" riders, however it wouldnt be a cost effective way..........

Lets hope the future of bluetooth gets better.............

Check this out.....

http://www.beta-zone.dainese.com/eng/dnect/default.asp

**Hitcher** · 5th February 2008, 08:49

Originally Posted by Idubbs

Check this out...

One predicts with a high degree of certainty that these will not be available in large sizes.

**Hitcher** · 15th February 2008, 18:17

Sigh.

Two weeks ago, the functional brilliance of our Blueants failed.

Our two Interphones appear to pair OK, but only one set can hear the other talk. This appears to be a fault with one of the mike/earpieces -- swapping the base sets from helmet to helmet doesn't reverse the effect, which logic suggests it would if the problem was in the base unit. The "deaf" headset can hear the other being plugged and unplugged, but not what is being spoken on that unit.

The units had been working brilliantly up until this happened about two weeks ago. I have tried re-pairing the units on two occasions, but this doesn't help.

Is there somebody in the Wellington region who has an Interphone in working order that we can use to eliminate where the fault in ours may be? I suspect it's either the microphone or a plug failure in Mrs H's helmet.

**Edbear** · 15th February 2008, 18:23

Originally Posted by Hitcher

Sigh.

Two weeks ago, the functional brilliance of our Blueants failed.

Our two Interphones appear to pair OK, but only one set can hear the other talk. This appears to be a fault with one of the mike/earpieces -- swapping the base sets from helmet to helmet doesn't reverse the effect, which logic suggests it would if the problem was in the base unit. The "deaf" headset can hear the other being plugged and unplugged, but not what is being spoken on that unit.

The units had been working brilliantly up until this happened about two weeks ago. I have tried re-pairing the units on two occasions, but this doesn't help.

Is there somebody in the Wellington region who has an Interphone in working order that we can use to eliminate where the fault in ours may be? I suspect it's either the microphone or a plug failure in Mrs H's helmet.

We had the same problem. I know it's a toll call, but give Lyndsay at Cycletreads in Takapuna a call, he's the guru on these things. He fixed ours but I can't remember what the problem was. It was a programing thing, I think.

**Hitcher** · 15th February 2008, 18:29

Originally Posted by Edbear

We had the same problem. I know it's a toll call, but give Lyndsay at Cycletreads in Takapuna a call, he's the guru on these things. He fixed ours but I can't remember what the problem was. It was a programing thing, I think.

I've sent an email to Blueant's Australian help desk thingie. We'll see what transpires. Otherwise a call to Cycletreads will be made.

**Edbear** · 15th February 2008, 18:31

I also had them cut out on us last trip, but found I hadn't fully plugged in one of the units. Carefully plugging them back in after charging meant no more problems and they've been fine since.