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Cheap afv comms sets


eddy8men

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hi fella's

the time is drawing close to when the carrier and other vehicles will be ready to go on the road which got me thinking about comms between driver and commander and owing to the fact that i wouldn't want to pay for a working wartime set in all the vehicles i thought i had better come up with another alternative which after a quick search on ebay i did. i decided to use existing afv headsets as they are obviously made for the job and combine them with a motorbike walkie talkie set with open helmet headsets, after an hour of fiddling both sets had been converted and work very well and look just like the originals, unlike the original they also have the benefit of wireless comms which is great when the vehicle is being guided from someone on the ground also when not in use you can disconnect the headsets and take the walkitalkie with you if you were at a show for those urgent messages back to base ie. red or brown sauce.

if you search on ebay for "clansman headsets" you should be able to get 2 for under £20 delivered. search for "motorbike intercom" for the walkie talkie and headset which is only limited by your budget i of course went for the cheapest which was £60 delivered it had a stated range of 3 miles (my arse) but that is more like 300m with buildings and trees so if you wanted to use it at something like beltring you might want to go for a better spec (i would).

the job of fitting the new headsets into the old clansman sets was easy and i've posted some pics for anyone that fancies a go at it.

first strip out the earphone that contains the mike boom and strip out the old wiring and earpiece and mike. the only hard bit is the ally threaded lug that holds the mike to the earpiece i used a hacksaw to cut it off and you should be left with the pieces in the first pic.

then drill out the holes to enable the mike and jack plug to pass through their holes. the jack plug goes through the hole to the back where the existing cable came in from, then fix the mike to the inside of the earpiece and push the mike through and silicon the mike from the inside to make it water tight.

the new speaker fits nicely into the old earpiece and can go back on it's original fittings. where the jack plug comes through the headset i used the old rubber bung from the original cable to seal it up again but this will need to be cut and glued back into place and that's it. there is no external difference from the original and it works great and cost under £80 for the 2 and if you liked to you can have upto 20 headsets linked although that would be some big arse afv you'd be driving to fit that many people in :D

 

eddy

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Good idea . Had payed with same idea myself but never went ahead in the end as I was able to get a very cheap clansman set up. But love the idea of having wirseless coms. Had looed at the bluetooth intercoms you can get know.;)

When I was on the flight line we used to use either mike headsets or throat mikes when talking to the aircrew . Always prefered to use the throat mikes s they alway tranmitted the sound better and would like to have this set for the Sabre. Wonder if there a easy way to use your wireless system with throat mikes? :cool2:

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just had a look on ebay for clansman and they do seem cheap, £50 for a working set is a bargain and would look better in a modern afv but i'll stick with the wireless headsets as they give you more flexibility plus you need to have a radio users licence for a 351 where as walkie talkies are free to use but it would be cool using the 351 if you were in a convoy, just like the old days back in Nam (wokingnam)

 

eddy

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If these use the free PMR frequencies then beware that they'll probably be completely useless at any event where the organisers (or members of the public) are also using PMR radios. There just aren't enough PMR channels to go round!

 

Andy

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Interesting thread, over here we have that issue with free channels being saturated in popular areas or big events.

 

We had the same need but different budget and we bought a set of Peltor wireless headsets. They truly are deluxe and double as fine noise reduction jobbies which is good in a BV206 under full power!

 

The Peltor units have a voice activated microphone which has to be used to be understood properly, as the first word in a sentence can get lost if you are not careful.

 

R

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i understand where you're coming from with regard to the other users on the net as there's only 8 channels to select on the handset i chose but they were the cheapest around and i'm sure the more you pay the better the choice (as ever), good point though as i hadn't thought about other users cocking up my transmissions also i wonder if they'll be any interference from the ignition circuit but it seems unlikely as they were made for motorbike comms but you never know with cheap gear until you try it.

 

 

eddy

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If these use the free PMR frequencies then beware that they'll probably be completely useless at any event where the organisers (or members of the public) are also using PMR radios. There just aren't enough PMR channels to go round!

 

Andy

 

On Crusader / Spearpoint 80 there weren't enough Clansman channels to go round! And Clansman was the panacea for all communication problems.

 

Mind to be fair we were only using half the freqs because not everyone had Clansman so we had to be careful to match channels. ISTR we were also using an unusual modulation method to achieve compatibility, but obviously it's over 30 years ago now.

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This is where the 351 came in as it has an intercom function that doesn't need the radio side of things to function so I'm led to believe. But to be correct you would need a radio licence to use the 351.

 

I could be wrong but I thought all Clansman sets had IC connectors. I am sure we had the capability to park the Scorpion on the reverse slope, run Don 10 over the top of the hill and put the OP on the forward slope communicating via remote handset, and we had twin 353s at the time.

 

IC itself was a function of the Clansman harness rather than the sets, Shirley?

 

Then after I packed it in they replaced one of the 353s with a manpack (351/2) and if necessary I assume we could rebroadcast the manpack onto the Combat Team Command Net via the two sets in the other vehicle.

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IC itself was a function of the Clansman harness rather than the sets, Shirley?

 

Agreed - it's a function of the IC2/3 and CB2/3 harness boxes, so you don't need a radio at all.

 

And don't call me Shirley! :-D

 

Andy

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Alien

 

I think for a vehicle intercom the IB2/IB3 and some CB2/CB3 boxes is the way to go.

 

The 321, 251/2 and 353 have a limited intercom function between the headset/handset and remote terminals so a local operator (who can tune the set) can be paged by a remote user at the end of a long D10 phone wire.

 

A number of the audio boxes intended for that kind of use also have support for intercom - in particular the remote combining unit and the Adapter Telegraph Radio (a RT321 sized box that sat beside the teleprinter).

 

You could implement a limited intercom between Clansman headsets with a 351 and an RCU more cheaply than using harness if you want a VHF radio anyway (and it has the advantage of not needing 12-pin harness cables or a 24V supply if the 351 battery is adequate).

 

I have read that it is also possible to use the D10 terminals on these sets as a star point for multiple remote handsets which will then be able to talk to each other and the radio operator, but I have not tried this myself.

 

Regards

 

Iain

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Buy a Clansman 351 radio with a good battery and use the intercom function. Throat mics were very cheap on ebay they even come with the ptt incorporated into the lead. Not tried throat mics in an AFV.

 

Just a thought - but if you want to use it for vehicle to vehicle or vehicle to banksman comms - don't OfCom take an VERY unhealthy interest in the the Clansman sets when transmitting???

 

I have a very long extension lead fitted to the Stalwarts intercom system - it allows the commander to get out and work from the rear of the vehicle if necessary. This too came from ebay.

 

Throat mikes - the Soviet comms kit in the OT is all throat mike and works much better than the boom mics on the clansman headsets in the Stalwart - no wind noise or extraneous noise at all. (and those radios all work in the UK's legal CB frequencies!! :cool2: )

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Just a thought - but if you want to use it for vehicle to vehicle or vehicle to banksman comms - don't OfCom take an VERY unhealthy interest in the the Clansman sets when transmitting???

 

I have a very long extension lead fitted to the Stalwarts intercom system - it allows the commander to get out and work from the rear of the vehicle if necessary. This too came from ebay.

 

Throat mikes - the Soviet comms kit in the OT is all throat mike and works much better than the boom mics on the clansman headsets in the Stalwart - no wind noise or extraneous noise at all. (and those radios all work in the UK's legal CB frequencies!! :cool2: )

 

Most definitely OfCom rather frown on transmissions of none licence holders. For good reason.... I shouldn't of mentioned it, to late now seemed a good idea at the time.

 

Radios now don't rub it in to much now will you lol

 

I'll try the throat mikes next time I am out and about in the Ferret.

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why not just take the radio users license exam, i remember something from my sailing days about the test being about £100. you'd be legal then and could slag off all the other callsigns on the net with out them being able to legally reply to your taunts :cool2: (making friends the eddy8men way)

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  • 1 year later...
why not just take the radio users license exam, i remember something from my sailing days about the test being about £100. you'd be legal then and could slag off all the other callsigns on the net with out them being able to legally reply to your taunts :cool2: (making friends the eddy8men way)

 

I dont think that having the licence makes it legal to use military radios as the frequency range is restricted,

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I have just passed my Radio Foundation Exam, I think it cost me £25 and now going to take the Intermediate Licence;as with regard's to using my Clansman in the FV432 vehicle I will need to write to Ofcom for a NOV (Notification of Variation) to use it in the vehicle and talk with Cadet Forces etc. to comply with regulations. If I can be of any help to anyone wishing to take the exam please feel free to PM me.

 

Arnie

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