KK4DAN
Member
So, I was doing some reading and came upon some old threads that talked about Nextel Direct Talk (Not Direct Connect) where the phones have the ability to go off network and talk directly over the 900mhz ISM band frequencies. First off I had no idea that some of these iDen phones did that, but it suddenly sparked an idea in my head. From the reading it sounds like this is basically a digital simplex 900mhz system. I understand that that the Nextel phones do not communicate with the Tri-Square or Motorola DTR radio's that also use 900mhz, but that is fine. There are some pretty cheap older Motorola iDen phones out there on ebay with this direct talk feature and most times these phones are pretty rugged too.
Now my interest around these is mostly with the models that do support BT. Does Direct Talk work over say a normal BT headset or is it by speaker phone only? I'm hoping they work over BT. Is the PTT button on the side of the phone the only way to key up if BT headsets work? Do some phones support an external PTT switch by chance?
I'm a motorcycle rider and already have a BT headset communicator on my helmet as does my wife. Now BT to BT communication works fine when its just us on a street ride and we stay close together, but when in a large group and we get separated, we frequently get out of range of the headsets and we also can't talk to anyone else unless they have the same headset and we are already paired, not very feasible. My wife and I both have the Scala Q2's, but will be upgrading to the Sena SMH10's here shortly, but regardless, the concept behind them is the same. All the BT headset communicators have the ability to connect to a cell phone that supports BT and talk over that connection.
Now I already use my Ham radio via a BT chip in the radio and have that setup, but I'm looking for a dual sport setup where the mounted ham radio isn't as feasible and also when we are riding with people that aren't ham operators. Plus being dual sport with dust & water and such, I don't want to ruin expensive equipment due to the elements we'll be riding in.
My main point in this thread is focusing around an upcoming 10 day dual sport motorcycle trip with up about 8 riders. At least 4 of us are trying to find ways to talk to each other. The most obvious choice for talking in a large group is using basic FRS/GMRS radio's and what we had planned to do, but believe it or not, incorporating FRS/GMRS radio into this mix of our BT headsets is actually not that easy. No one has started making BT capable FRS/GMRS radios yet and although there are BT adapters to plug into a FRS/GMRS radio, they all are pricey. Sena has finally released the SR10 which is basically a BT hub which you can hook a 2 way radio to and talk from the BT headset through the BT Hub over any 2 way radio you hook up, but the entire setup is very pricey; well over $300 just for one person. I do have the SR10 setup for myself, but convincing 7 other friends to spend that kind of money ($300+ for a BT communicator, headset, 2 way radio and corresponding plug) isn't going to happen so looking at cheaper options. Now some friends already have their own BT communicators and others were just going to use wired headsets which don't work that well for noise cancelling, but would at least let them hear us.
So when I started reading about these Motorola iDen phones that have Direct Talk capabilities and some even have BT built in, the light bulbs started going off. If these types of phones support the most basic HFP/HSP (Hands free profile or Head Set Profile) for BT, then they should sync to our BT helmet communicators just fine instead of our normal cell phones. The two big questions are do these phones support Direct Talk over BT and what ways can you initiate the PTT button on these phones? If its only the phone, that makes it a bit trickier as far as placement, but not impossible. A remote PTT button would work better, but we can work with it if not.
So assuming Direct Talk works over BT, the other questions I have is how Direct Talk works in practice with a large group? Say 7-10 people? I would assume all phones would need to be programmed to the same channel/code and when one person keys up, everyone else can hear the conversation, just like most 2 way radio's operate? Am I missing anything that would make someone feel this won't work as I assume it would?
Now it appears the Motorola i355 has been one of the more popular models for this and is cheap on ebay ( <$20), but it doesn't appear to have BT. Now I do own a Jabra A210 and a Cardo BTA II BT adapter that is specifically for Non BT phones and it appears the 2.5mm plug found on both these devices is the same type of plug used on this phone and many others. So essentially, I can turn a non BT phone into a BT phone. I already know both of these BT adapters sync to our helmet communicators, so I'm good there. However, personally I think I would rather spend a bit more and find a phone that supports BT. I see one that I just found is the I335 model. I'm sure even more recent ones support BT too.
The final question I have is SIM cards. My understanding is that getting any of these phones to work with Direct Talk, they need to have a Sim Card in them? This page gives some info about that, but doesn't go into a whole lot of data - http://blogs.n1zyy.com/n1zyy/direct-talk-compatible-phones/ Anything in particular to look for when buying a cheap sim card off ebay for one of these?
So let me know your thoughts and ideas about this?
Now my interest around these is mostly with the models that do support BT. Does Direct Talk work over say a normal BT headset or is it by speaker phone only? I'm hoping they work over BT. Is the PTT button on the side of the phone the only way to key up if BT headsets work? Do some phones support an external PTT switch by chance?
I'm a motorcycle rider and already have a BT headset communicator on my helmet as does my wife. Now BT to BT communication works fine when its just us on a street ride and we stay close together, but when in a large group and we get separated, we frequently get out of range of the headsets and we also can't talk to anyone else unless they have the same headset and we are already paired, not very feasible. My wife and I both have the Scala Q2's, but will be upgrading to the Sena SMH10's here shortly, but regardless, the concept behind them is the same. All the BT headset communicators have the ability to connect to a cell phone that supports BT and talk over that connection.
Now I already use my Ham radio via a BT chip in the radio and have that setup, but I'm looking for a dual sport setup where the mounted ham radio isn't as feasible and also when we are riding with people that aren't ham operators. Plus being dual sport with dust & water and such, I don't want to ruin expensive equipment due to the elements we'll be riding in.
My main point in this thread is focusing around an upcoming 10 day dual sport motorcycle trip with up about 8 riders. At least 4 of us are trying to find ways to talk to each other. The most obvious choice for talking in a large group is using basic FRS/GMRS radio's and what we had planned to do, but believe it or not, incorporating FRS/GMRS radio into this mix of our BT headsets is actually not that easy. No one has started making BT capable FRS/GMRS radios yet and although there are BT adapters to plug into a FRS/GMRS radio, they all are pricey. Sena has finally released the SR10 which is basically a BT hub which you can hook a 2 way radio to and talk from the BT headset through the BT Hub over any 2 way radio you hook up, but the entire setup is very pricey; well over $300 just for one person. I do have the SR10 setup for myself, but convincing 7 other friends to spend that kind of money ($300+ for a BT communicator, headset, 2 way radio and corresponding plug) isn't going to happen so looking at cheaper options. Now some friends already have their own BT communicators and others were just going to use wired headsets which don't work that well for noise cancelling, but would at least let them hear us.
So when I started reading about these Motorola iDen phones that have Direct Talk capabilities and some even have BT built in, the light bulbs started going off. If these types of phones support the most basic HFP/HSP (Hands free profile or Head Set Profile) for BT, then they should sync to our BT helmet communicators just fine instead of our normal cell phones. The two big questions are do these phones support Direct Talk over BT and what ways can you initiate the PTT button on these phones? If its only the phone, that makes it a bit trickier as far as placement, but not impossible. A remote PTT button would work better, but we can work with it if not.
So assuming Direct Talk works over BT, the other questions I have is how Direct Talk works in practice with a large group? Say 7-10 people? I would assume all phones would need to be programmed to the same channel/code and when one person keys up, everyone else can hear the conversation, just like most 2 way radio's operate? Am I missing anything that would make someone feel this won't work as I assume it would?
Now it appears the Motorola i355 has been one of the more popular models for this and is cheap on ebay ( <$20), but it doesn't appear to have BT. Now I do own a Jabra A210 and a Cardo BTA II BT adapter that is specifically for Non BT phones and it appears the 2.5mm plug found on both these devices is the same type of plug used on this phone and many others. So essentially, I can turn a non BT phone into a BT phone. I already know both of these BT adapters sync to our helmet communicators, so I'm good there. However, personally I think I would rather spend a bit more and find a phone that supports BT. I see one that I just found is the I335 model. I'm sure even more recent ones support BT too.
The final question I have is SIM cards. My understanding is that getting any of these phones to work with Direct Talk, they need to have a Sim Card in them? This page gives some info about that, but doesn't go into a whole lot of data - http://blogs.n1zyy.com/n1zyy/direct-talk-compatible-phones/ Anything in particular to look for when buying a cheap sim card off ebay for one of these?
So let me know your thoughts and ideas about this?
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