Autocom Pro 3000 Installation

Contributed by:

John Parker

Reseda, California, USA

mailto: cpmodem@bigfoot.com

Here's a report on my experiences and some tips and how-to-do install of the Autocom Pro 3000 intercom on my '93 ST1100A:

• Installing the headset into a Shoei RF800
  • considerations of speaker placement
    • sound level The speakers must be mounted close enough to the eaes to overcome ambiant noise, which is even quite substantial with an RF800 Shoei, behind a +3 Clearview, and on an ST1100. Some experimentation was required and I wound up with the speakers appx 1" higher and 1/2" closer to my ears than the original location. I found that even a very slight adjustment in speaker location results in a perceptable change is sound volumn and quality. The Pro 3000 has two loudness switch positions. One for no ear plugs and one for with them. I wear the foam cylinder type ear plugs which I insert very deep into my ear canals (almost flush). At first I had trouble hearing my cell phone or music even on the high switch setting. After optimizing the speaker locations, ......................
    • comfort The consideration here is that if the speakers touch the ears even a little bit, they will cause pain. Therefore there is a very narrow area in which the speakers work optimally without causing pain.
    • helmet integrety If any padding or styrofoam is removed or compressed inside a helmet there will be some degredation in impact protection. The meer fact that the speakers and mic are in the hemet may be enough to degrade protection, even without removal of padding. How much degredation is up for conjecture. Some padding had to be removed from my RF800 to allow for speaker placement without causing me pain. I will just have to live with that, and it is something that anyone considering a helmet headset should consider before proceeding with this modification.
  • considerations of mic placement
    • sensitivity No padding had to be removed for the mic, as it uses an ingenius padded flat mic enclosure with a formable stem. The mic must be touching the lips for the VOX and noise cancelling circuits to work properly. Each side of the mic has a different color material. This is because the noise cancelling sensor is on the black side and the mic input is on the grey side. Don't reverse these or you will wind up broadcasting wind noise and cancelling your voice ;-} So far the VOX seems to work very well. I normally don't like VOX because most cut off the first word of every communication and shut off transmission in the middle if you don't keep talking. The VOX in the Pro 3000 works the best of any I have tried so far (including the VERY high dollar units in our aircraft crash trucks). It is very quick to turn on and no word are cut on startup. I stil must get used to getting shut off while "thinking on-the-air" however, the pro 3000 seems to be more forgiving.
• Installing the Pro 3000
  • location I first tried mounting the intercom unit in a tank bag. This would be the ideal location because of portability and less wires to and from the bag. This hasn't worked out due to interference I was getting when the cell phone was operating. More on that later. I wound up with the unit in the tail section where it "seems" to have less interference.
  • power I purchased the Autocom XXXX 9 vdc power cable. I connected it to the back of the fuse panel on the ignition switched side. The unit will also run on its own 9 vdv battery for pocket portability.
• Considerations for Sony Diskman
  • location The Diskman must be in an easy to reach location so I can switch radio stations or play the CD when out of radio range. The top of my tank bag works well, and I installed a strap and velcro mounting system to hold the unit secure. I purchased the Autocom music cable XXXX and donnected the diskman via the earphone jack to the music input of the Pro 3000. Weather could also be a consideration, and I will need to either deploy a rain cover (shower cap), or stash the Diskman in the tank bag or saddlebag in the event of rain.
  • power I installed a universal 12v to 4.5 v converter down by the battery, inside the side fairing. I first tried to use a cig plug on my left fairing, but I got so much engine static that I wired directly to the accessory circuit in back of the fuse panel. The static appears to have disappeared or diminished substantially.
• Considerations for Nokia 6160 cell phone
  • location The Nokia phone can be set to answer automatically on "headset" mode, so I could stash the phone almost anywhere. I chose to mount it with two nylon straps on top of the tank bag, forward of the Diskman, for convienience.
  • power I can plug my phone into a 12v outlet, but the battery will last for more than 2 weeks on a charge so that hasn't proven neccessary yet.
  • settings As I stated above, I set the phone to auto answer when the headset is plugged in (the phone knows when the headset is plugged in :-0 I also set the levels at maximum and lock the keys. To make a call I will have to pull off the road and stop, but this is the safest way to opperate a cell phone anyway.
  • interference The first thing I noticed when I used the Nokia through the Pro 3000 was that it caused a "clicking" interference when in the phone was in operation. After a call to First Gear, the Autocom importer for the USA, I was told that some people have reported the same interference using Nokia 6100 series phones with AT&T service. That, unluckily, is just my situation. Fortunately, the interference seems to be reduced with the Procom mounted in the tail piece. More testing will confirm or deny this.
• Considerations for FRS radio communications
  • Chatterbox
    • radar detector audio warning
    • VOX
    • push to talk
    • connector adaption
    • pin-out
  • Motorola
  • VOX
• Schematics
• Photos
• Costs
  • Pro 3000
  • Headset
  • 9v power cord
  • music cord
  • 2 way radio cable