Walkie Talkie with Headsets Hands Free

AlanT, there is an exception always, yours is one such case, on a 72 footer I would have intercom for sure. As I described was for our 36 footer where it hardly matters. Yet since I have one earpiece already and another will cost $25 I will connect via cell phone and see how it works. The price of a case of beer forfeit for the experiment.

Soo-Valley said:

AlanT, there is an exception always, yours is one such case, on a 72 footer I would have intercom for sure. As I described was for our 36 footer where it hardly matters. Yet since I have one earpiece already and another will cost $25 I will connect via cell phone and see how it works. The price of a case of beer forfeit for the experiment.

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Understood, and like I said I didn't even consider headsets for prior smaller boats. You will get more pleasure from your case of beer I am sure!
~A

For anchoring, we use hand signals. When docking/mooring, we use our cell phones and Bose Bluetooth headsets.

We bought Eartech. Best prices is from a company that supplies to the stage/entertainment industry. Better than a marine supplier.

We have the Eartec. Expensive yes. Comfort level, while using , priceless!

amapola said:

For anchoring, we use hand signals. When docking/mooring, we use our cell phones and Bose Bluetooth headsets.

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We used to use hand signals but during some mid stressful occasions they would become socially unacceptable.

Like most, we looked at both Eartec and Sena and ended up buying the Sena. The Sena headset goes around the back of your head rather than on top so no danger of losing them overboard when you look down so that tipped the scales for us. We only have two units but I can see the benefit of having three. I helped a friend move his boat into lift slings and we used three headsets and it was quite helpful. I find the Sena a bit of a pain to turn on and pair, but my wife has mastered that and sets up the units when we are getting ready for anchoring or docking. She says its easy to do. The battery life is good, and after four years we charge them after four or five uses and don't really if they need it then. We leave two cords plugged into USB ports in the pilothouse so plugging them in is a pretty easy. Batteries are not removable in these units.

We consider the headsets a requirement. On our boat I can't see my wife most of the time during docking so hand signals don't work. And for stern in docking I can't see much of anything and my eyes are back in the cockpit with a headset on giving a steady stream of location info. One of the better purchases we have made.

We have been using Eartec for one season. I can't see my mate from my helm position on docking or departing. Nor on her lifting many of the fenders after we leave. Now when one of us leaves the bridge to go down into the salon while underway in windy conditions we can communicate well. Last, she can't see me while I am pulling our prawn traps but with the Eartec this too becomes a stress free process. This device works very well. Completely changes the whole experience from being sometimes stressful to a joy.

Yes, not cheap, but I wouldn't think twice about buy these units. Turns many experiences into total stress free pleasure.

AlanT said:

Check out Eartec. We have 3 units as we often have an extra hand who wants to feel involved. The clarity is amazing. We are 72' and have no problem with the distance from bow to stern. We have the version with only one ear-pad which I prefer as it keeps your peripheral hearing intact.

The only drawback we have found it that we have to be very careful when bending over to secure lines etc. as they can slip off. Wearing them over a baseball style hat seems to solve that problem.

I am sure some will propose hand signals etc. and we have used those successfully for decades, however there is no substitute in my mind for being able to communicate clearly and quietly when a hand signal simply will not do.
~A

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I agree entirely, including the fact that you have to be careful not to lose one. We used hand signals when circumnavigating, which is fine when the helm is aft, but when the crew's eyes are needed behind you, hand signals don't work. Highly recommended.


Jim

Ear tech, fresh batteries,lanyard clipped to shirt, pfd, they are delicate so don't abuse, remove battery on slave, keep charged, remove batteries when not using

Drummer48 said:

I have a question regarding what do people recommend ti use when you have someone of the foredeck and you as the captain want to communicate with them with a hands free unit?

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We love our Sena SPH10's Bluetooth hands free and noise cancelling great range Use them all the time for docking locking and anchoring

Drummer48 -

I went through this same research earlier this year. Several folks in our Marina recommended Sena headsets for two basic reasons: (1) they mount on your head with a band around the back of your neck so that when you are handling lines they do not fly off your head, (2) the clarity of the Bluetooth connection is outstanding. We used them this past summer and were very pleased with their performance. Having read a lot of folks saying use hand signals and certain common commands - forget all that ol' hand stuff and invest is a set of headsets. On our boat when coming into our slip the best driving visibility is from the fly bridge but I have no visibility into where my first mate is and if she is having trouble securing the boat. Bringing a 47' boat into a slip without verbal communications is crazy. This was one of the best safety investments we made to date - well worth the $200 + cost.

Bob

On board communication while docking

I purchased the Eartec set when I first bought my 42’GB Europa and never turned back. Originally they came out of the sound reinforcement and production industries, and were/are used to communicate between house and monitor consoles, among lighting personnel or whom ever.

I have no problem with their use while doing a function that requires two persons. They even work in my engine room while I am making my hourly checks. They are nicely made and fit most anyone, but I agree it’s a good idea to clip them to your shirt so they don’t fall overboard caused by a sudden movement. But generally speaking they stay on one’s head pretty well.

And you can add another set to an existing one to get a third listener.

Deciding between EarTec and Sena.

I like Eartec’s reputation but this “ recommended Sena headsets for two basic reasons: (1) they mount on your head with a band around the back of your neck so that when you are handling lines they do not fly off your head” appeals to me too.

Choice between them? Performance, ease of use, and comfort?

We had SENA sp10 and Expand. Made maneuvering and docking simple and changed my wife’s mind about handling the boat (65’). Light, strong,comfy. full-duplex means you can both talk at the same time which is infinitely better than a cell phone. You can pair with a cellphone and then listen to your music and use the phone. Noise canceling and cuts wind noise. My wife kept them charged and they always paired up.

I bought mine online from a motorcycle shop in Colorado.

We also have the Eartec, I've never seen the Senna. The Eartecs works seamlessly, the full duplex is a critical factor. However as others say the headsets need to have a lanyard added as they can slip off. It isn't a huge issue but a lighter weight unit would be an improvement.
Prior to the Eartec we tried walkie talkies with headsets but they simply were not reliable. They'd cut off at the worst moment and generally you have to push a transmit button.

We have had the Eartecs for 3 years and couldn’t be happier with them. We have had no issue at all or concerns about them falling off. We have a set of 4 and it’s one of the best boat accessory purchases that we have made.

bowball said:

Deciding between EarTec and Sena.

I like Eartec’s reputation but this “ recommended Sena headsets for two basic reasons: (1) they mount on your head with a band around the back of your neck so that when you are handling lines they do not fly off your head” appeals to me too.

Choice between them? Performance, ease of use, and comfort?

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Probably difficult for many of us to compare... only having used one or the other but not both.

I've read a drawback for the SENAs that we have is about the battery: not user replaceable. Don't know what that will mean in the long run.

-Chris

We had the wired Eartec. Sound quality was very good. Battery life was abysmal, as in we had to make sure they were charged every time we used them. Headset was featherweight. However, if the coax plug popped out slightly, the feedback screech was horrifically painful and we lost communication. The wireless of course wouldn’t have this issue.

Our first set of Sena Expands had ok to not so good sound quality largely due to the mic picking up virtually all background sounds and amplifying them as loud as speech making for huge amounts of static. As bad, the plastic headpiece bands on both broke in several places making them useless. Sena did replace them out of warranty after my wife complained on FB. The replacement itself didn’t go smoothly as I had to work through regular customer service channels explaining over and over that the company VP said on FB they would replace them. After a month of sending them photos of the units, serial numbers, FB screenshots, they then told me I had to mail the old ones back, on the other side of the country. I crammed them into the smallest USPS box that would fit and sent it as cheap as possible. That’s just a rant. They did replace them them two years out of warranty.

The next set have much improved sound quality, battery life is excellent. We make a deliberate effort to gently put them over our ears so as not to break them and after two years, still good. I needed the manual to pair them but once done we just turn them on, check battery level by number of light flashes, push a button and they connect.

Unlike the Eartec, I’ve paired the Sena with my phone and they can also pair with other BT audio devices if one is so inclined. They are lighter than the Eartec wireless and you can readily hear ambient sounds with the open air style. The Sena are firmware upgradable plugged into a laptop but, we’ve never done an update that had any noticeable change.

Use eartec.

Took a while to overcome the price objection, but . . .

Stress reduction was amazing. Can communicate is a quiet, calm voice. Both can speak at the same time.

Expensive, but worth it for us, for the comfort and stress reduction.

No regrets.

Drummer48 said:

I have a question regarding what do people recommend ti use when you have someone of the foredeck and you as the captain want to communicate with them with a hands free unit?

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Eartec's are amazing. Clear as a bell. Lots of range. One ear covered for crew communications and one ear uncovered for outside commumications. Love mine!

I have a 5 place set of Ear-Tec BT wireless duplex full muffs that I use for our long range rifle team comms. They have been in use for 5 years now and have been flawless. I do have a complete set of duplicate batteries as we cannot afford a failure mid match. The batteries are easily swapped in less than 10 seconds. They last a complete match day from 0830 to 1530 if my mates remember to turn off the headsets between stages. Although they are not water proof they have survived through some raining conditions. The range is impressive....over 150yds! I plan on keeping a set for boat use once I get another boat....hopefully in the next 48mos. I have no hesitation in recommending Ear-Tec BT headsets.

Single or double ear?

We love our EarTec's - I cannot see our stern corners from the flybridge, and my wife can direct me flawlessly with no yelling - no buttons to push, just talk normally. no problems with batteries, we remove them each night and charge them - it's part of our check-list.

bowball said:

Single or double ear?

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The single ear seems to be the most popular, from what I see. You can hear the radio clearly and still can hear what is going on around you, including someone on the dock that may be helping.



Swing the mic boom up and it turns off the mic, so you don't blow the eardrums of the person on the other headset when you talk loudly to the person on the dock.

I have double ear for extra hearing protection needed for the current purpose (we use high dB attenuation foamies inserted deeply under these minimally protective muffs). When the time comes for the boat I will likely purchase some single ear sets so we can hear ambient sounds.

Update on SENA’s. I had one that never had battery life issues and one that did. I purchased a new set and now have no issues. I currently have 3 that work and one that has been disposed of.

My boat is 60’ over all. If one person is at the front and one is at the back there can be static issues but other than that extreme communication is crystal clear. Many people report perfect communication at all times but I noticed their boats are not as large so don’t read too much into those reports. There is a limit to range but for most it’s not an issue.

I do not have any experience with Eartec. From what I can gather everyone is happy with both Eartec and SENA.

Me and the Admiral tried a whole bunch of different things and settled on the Eartec headsets after much trial and error. I am severely hearing impaired (deaf) and have a cochlear implant. Somewhat perversely, this means that sound quality and lack of latency is even more important for me to be able to communicate than hearing people. It also means that whatever solution we found had to work with all my hearing gear.

Initially, I thought the best option would be to just use cell phones, because my hearing gear is already paired by bluetooth to my phone. Well, that didn't even come close to working. On a cell call, the latency (voice delay) was horribly bad, and cell signals out in remote locations are not particularly reliable to begin with. There are "walkie talkie" apps available which use either bluetooth or wifi to communicate directly with another cell phone. These sort of work, in ideal conditions at short range, but are glitchy and not very boat friendly. The ones that use bluetooth are more reliable, but then you can't use a bluetooth headset at the same time. So no good there either.

I then went through a few different handheld radios, one with bluetooth headset capability and two which worked with a wired PTT headset connector. The sound quality on those was uniformly awful, so no go there either.

I used to be a motorcycle enthusiast, so then we tried the SENA route. Better, but very expensive. The headset didn't work with my hearing gear without massive feedback, and the setup was unnecessarily complicated. No go.

Then I got the Eartecs. Super easy to use and set up right out of the box. The dual full-ear noise cancelling headset works perfectly for me, making a good seal entirely around my hearing gear with no feedback. The sound quality is exceptionally good with zero latency or compression. They connect instantly as soon as the master headset is turned on, and the batteries last for hours. We even wear them now sometimes when sitting next to each other on the flybridge, because the sound quality and noise cancellation is so good that it's much easier for me to "hear" over the engine and wind noise than without the headset.

The main issue people have with battery life is that the Eartecs do not have an "off" switch. If the battery is in the unit, it's "on." So if you take it off and set it down without taking the battery out, it will drain while sitting wherever you put it. We bought an extra set of batteries because of the concerns I'd read on this, but actually don't use them much because we are careful to take them out and recharge them when not in use.

^^^ same experience, we love the EarTec, just have to take the batteries out when not using.