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Tork Communicator HeadsetIn-helmet headset for FRS/GMRS radiosJune 14/10 Written by Greg Anyone who has ridden a quad knows that the ability to communicate between riders is a desirable option. To this end, many of us use FRS/GMRS two-way radios. Whether for asking or giving directions, for warning others of a trail hazard or oncoming vehicle, or just for discussion and banter, these radios are a useful and inexpensive solution for our on-trail communications. However, there are practical limitations with these radios. The radio is either stored in a pocket or mounted in a bracket, and using the radio while wearing gloves and a helmet can be inconvenient. If it's in your pocket, you have to pull it out, hold the radio somewhere near your mouth, then push the push-to-talk button (PTT) with your gloved hand to talk, and hope you can hear the reply through your helmet. If the radio is mounted, you have to lean over to the radio (which isn't always possible in some situations), press the PTT to talk, and again hope you can hear the reply through your helmet. Personally, I use a Garmin Rino 530HCx, which is a combination GPS and FRS/GMRS radio. I have it mounted to the front rack with a RAM mount. In that location, it's out of the way yet is close enough to read the display. But it's really inconvenient for voice communications, requiring me to lean way over the handlebars to speak into the microphone. Also, depending on engine and other noise, I don't always hear somebody calling me. Consequently, I haven't been doing a lot of speaking, and primarily use the Rino for its non-voice functions. Obviously there has to be a better way.   Enter the Tork Communicator. Tork has several models of headsets, depending on your application. The two of interest to us are the Sport model, designed for full-face and motocross helmets, and the Touring model, designed for open-face helmets. The difference is the Sport model has a small microphone that is designed to Velcro in to the front area of your helmet in front of your mouth, and the Touring model comes with a boom microphone.Despite this, Tom at BikeIntercom.com in Burnaby suggested the Tork Touring model for ATV use, as the boom microphone assembly is more robust than the Sport model's wire-only microphone. I left the shop with two Touring models, one for me and one for Treds. The Communicator consists of a single 2.5mm plug for your radio, two earphones, a specially-designed wind-noise reducing boom microphone, a PTT button, and a water-proof quick-disconnect between the helmet and the rest of the wiring.   Installation is pretty straightforward; Treds and I did ours at the same time and it only took us about 15 minutes. The earphones are supplied with adhesive-backed velcro, and are designed to be placed into the ear hollows of your helmet. We started off by cleaning off the surface of the hollows as they were totally coated in dust. Looking at the earphone wiring harness, we observed that one wire was longer than the other. My Rino is mounted on the left side of my quad, so that's the side that the wiring harness entered my helmet. Therefore, the short side went to the left side and the long side went to the right. I fed the long-side earphone under the left-side helmet liner, under the top helmet liner, and under the right-side helmet liner, then stuck the earphone into the right-side hollow, oriented so that the wire dropped down from the top. The adhesive appeared to be of good quality, and as soon as the earphone was pressed into place, it was solidly-mounted.I then fed the short-side earphone under the left-side liner, and pressed it into place, again orienting the wire so that it dropped down from the liner. There was a little bit of excess wire, which I tucked under the liner.   Since the boom microphone was designed to be mounted to the outside of an open-face helmet, and I was planning on mounting it to the inside of my helmet, I carefully massaged the boom angle so that it was facing in the opposite direction. I then unsnapped the jaw padding from the left side of my helmet, and cleaned the dust off the helmet surface. The boom mic mount is supplied with the same adhesive-backed Velcro as the earphones, and once I had figured out where I wanted the microphone to end up, I stuck it in place, and snapped the padding back into position. Although the mount and boom added some slight additional thickness to the padding, I couldn't tell it was there when I was wearing my helmet. The boom and mic were not at all in the way.I pulled up the rubber raincap from the Rino's headset jack, inserted the Tork headset plug, then clicked the Rino into my RAM mount.    The PTT button is supplied with the usual adhesive-backed Velcro, which is attached to a Velcro strip. I wrapped the strip tightly around my left-side handlebar grip, positioned so that I could easily press it with my thumb, and when not in use was located in the area between my thumb and first finger.I used one of the twistable wire ties that came with the Communicator to tie the wiring harness to one of the cables on my handlebars, just to keep it out of the way. I didn't use a zap strap because I wanted to be able to change or undo it if I didn't like where it was attached. If you use a single-plug Motorola Talkabout FRS/GMRS radio, I think the headset will just work (but I didn't have one to test). Adapters are available for some other FRS/GMRS radios; contact BikeIntercom.com to verify if yours is one of them. The Communicator plugged directly into my Garmin Rino, but I had to enter the radio-setup menu to change a couple of settings.  I started off by changing the headset type from "Ask When Detected" to "Boom Mic Using PTT". At that point, I could hear, but could not transmit with the Tork PTT. Then I discovered that I could press the Rino's PTT and it would transmit. I then changed the headset type to "Lapel Microphone", which allowed me to use the Tork PTT button.Next, under "Microphone Sensitivity" I selected "Headset" and adjusted it down to 50%, which is the same setting that I use for the "Internal" microphone. A back-and-forth test with Treds revealed that the received audio was crystal clear into both ears, which means that the microphone and earphones are of decent quality. No muddiness, distortion, or feedback was detected, and we didn't need to run our radios at full volume any more. When I call them "earphones", I should really call them "speakers" because that's essentially what they are; full-spectrum speakers that sound great, and not some cheap little tinny earphones. The PTT button is rubberized and has a nice tactile click when pressed, even while wearing gloves. It was sure nice to operate the radio without removing my hands from the handlebars, and not having to lean over the handlebars to speak. I was hoping that the harness would have a quick-disconnect that would unplug when tugged, in the event of an unplanned event requiring quick egress from the quad (read: roll-over). However, the "quick-disconnect" is a 4-pin connector with a screw-on collar; Tom informed me that this is to keep it water-tight. So given the choice between a quick-disconnect and a water-tight disconnect, I'll take the water-tight disconect because I ride in wet conditions more often than I roll my quad. The disconnect is easy to use; there's an arrow on one side that corresponds to a keyway on the other side, and you can't connect it incorrectly. For the most part, I just removed my helmet when I exited my quad instead of using the disconnect. The big test would be tomorrow, as we were heading out on the annual Quads.ca Monster Ride, so-called due to the distance travelled. The 2010 Monster RideWe had about 38 quads show up, some with Rinos and some with Motorola and other radios. We were on the trail for about 12 hours, and used our radios frequently. I am happy to report that the Tork Communicators worked great! One of the first incidents occured only 3 kms from the start; one of the riders had blown her CVT belt, so I pressed my handlebar-mounted PTT, called her riding partner, and asked her to come back. After a short delay (while she stopped her quad and fumbled for her non-headset-equipped radio), I received the acknowledgement through my in-helmet earphones. Awesome! As we spread out along the trail, partly due to varying riding speeds and partly to reduce the amount of dust, we used our radios for instructions like "stay left after the bridge". When we encountered deep snow and ended up sending one quad through at a time, we used the radios to communicate "send the next quad through" and "I'm stuck; send Greg back with the strap". I was the designated tow quad, so I was on the radio a lot during this 3-hour stuck-fest. Having the headset made using the radio very easy for me. Easy is good. 
 The wiring harness was just the right length for me; not too short and no excess wire hanging down and getting snagged on things. The operation was smooth and did not require me to change my riding habits. No physical or electrical problems were experienced. As can be expected, the boom and mic slightly shifted position once in a while as I bounced along the trails, which I relocated by hand while riding, so I'm thinking that I might run a small black plastic wire-tie around the boom to help hold it in place. The Sport model's non-boom Velcro'd-in mic would not have done this, but as we subject our equipment to harsh environments, the Touring model's more-rugged boom mic is the better way to go. We did notice that we had to slow down a bit to reduce the wind noise while transmitting, but I haven't adjusted the Rino's microphone sensitivity beyond the initial setting so I think I can improve it. I'll update after further testing. The received audio was just fine at any speed. The Tork Communicators are $49.99 each from BikeIntercom.com. Tell them you heard about them from Quads.ca. Verdict: Highly recommended. • Discussion thread Contact InfoBikeIntercom.com Website: www.bikeintercom.com Phone: 604-801-6984 or 1-877-801-6984 Address: 6735 Hastings Street, Burnaby, BC |
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