Anybody use and if so which ones do you like the best?Thanks for any information !Sled to sled communication seems to be a little behind the times .

I use the Collett Communicators...very good system...and you can get them blue tooth capable now-a-days...fun times...and cheap when you get the last year models...

I and couple buddies have Collett Communicators. They work ok for sled to sled communication but I was a little disappointed with them. The custom programmed 'club' frequency seemed to have a lot of interference and the other shared frequencies weren't that much better and can pick up a lot of others running on the same channel in the area. Collett blamed the problems on a sled microprocessor, the funny thing is the problem also occurs when I'm running my old '97 sleds.

We also had problems with the headphone connections where we'd only get audio out of one ear speaker not both. After contacting their customer support and some fiddling I think the problem was just because we weren't getting the headphone jack jammed all the way in the main unit.

The bluetooth capability is sweet. I went riding one afternoon, hooked the unit up to my MP3 player and when I received a call the music muted and I heard a couple beeps from my phone letting my know the call was being answered. The phone conversation was clear and easy to understand. The person who called had no idea I was going 80 on my sled while talking.

"I was going 80 on my sled while talking" <--- That's terrifying.......

Does anybody use a Walkie talkie with a head set in the helmet ?

walkie talkie style is a PTT...or push to talk...and not voice activated...so you can use them but they are not as easy or good of quality compared to the sled based communicators

Not to steal this thread but this is the most recent post on the subject and was wondering if anyone has tried the new Cricket from Collett. The same as the platinum 900 but has only two channels and uses 4 AAA batteries instead of rechargeable pack. I'm looking to buy two of them can't decide.

chatterbox work very good. we ride about 10 guys with them and they are great to warn for oncoming sleds. last year i switched to a catcomm and that also worked well with the chatterbox.

New to communicators, but have been looking into getting some. Do the different brands all work together? Or does everyone have to have the same setup?

no as long as you are all on the same frequency and channel you can use different brands.

Thanks for the response. Much appreciated. Now to watch for a good deal on a pair. Anyone have any preferences of one brand over the others?

there is new set of midland radios that are water proof and have a 36 mile range ,i just bought them and they are heavy duty!Also bought the helmet mics.

The radio model number is GXT 1050

36 mile range? i doubt anything even comes close to that? we use the chatterbox gmrs with a 5 mile range and they are really only good for a mile or two when you get in the woods.

Shadetree just sent a flyer with a good deal on the "Cricket." I think they were just a shade over 100-120 bucks.

I agree totally that range is under perfect conditions ,i would expect about the same range as your getting .
Cant wait for the snow to try it out !

Just looked at them on the Midland website, so I assume they are the voice activated vs pressing a buttom to talk? Have you have tried them at home, how does the voice activation work? They seem like a really simple/cheap way to get into helmet communicators.

i bought the helmet mics and they have push to talk button that goes on the handel bar.

Thats too bad, from what the website says if you have just the radio it is voice activated

Iam sorry i must have misunderstood you ,yes you can set the radio for VOX operation as well.

I've thought about these for a while but we've never used them so I guess I've never missed them.

How convenient is the push to talk button? I don't thing I would want VOX. When I'm on my sled I'm in my own little world to a certian extent, the last thing I want to do it chat, or even worse, broad cast all the nasty thing I have to say when some dope almost puts me off the trail. :-P

K

Ah yes i ride with a few of those myself !

I use the Collett they seem to be nice but in truth only have about 1/4 mile range. If you are lucky on a sunny day and in the line of sight you might get up to a half mile but don;t count on it. One feature they do have is the groomer warning beacon. If the groomer driver does have it on it really makes a real racquet and is asfety feature for sure. Hope this helps

I have Cat Comm and my other riding buddies have ChatterBox. Push-to-talk, in my opinion, is very easy to use. We have tried VOX which is fine, but when you're accelerating it will kick in due to engine noise. You can fine tune it to where it wouldn't all the time, but I prefer push-to-talk which eliminates the VOX issues.
As for having communication on a snowmobile? In a word "Awesome!" Especially when riding with a group. Example: The lead rider lets us know of other sleds coming by simply saying "incoming." This is great for safety, lets the group know ahead of time and gives them a chance to anticipate other riders coming in their direction. Also helps to give others a heads up of icy corners, sharp corners, water holes, bad dips, etc. The list goes on and on........ and of course to BS. With that being said let me stress, "We "do not" soley rely on radio communication alone. There may be a time the lead rider doesn't come through, therefore safety practices should always be in place. My point here is that having the communication is both fun and helps with safety. I for one, love it!! Have a great season, Ray