Short answer: Anywhere from 1/2 mile to 2 miles.

Long answer: It all depends on the situation. If you're at the top of a hill and there are few obstructions in the signal path, it's often possible to have operating distances of 3 miles. On flat land, again with few obstructions, 2 miles is regularly obtained.

* The degree to which your ignition system radiates radio noise and interferes with your PLATINUM 900's receiver, can vary the operating ranges stated above. Our instruction manuals tell you how to diagnose a noisy ignition system, and how to correct the problem.

Answer: Yes, it's a result of advances in cellular telephone technology. The explosion in cell-phone use has created the potential for a lot of interference on cell-phone frequencies. In answer to this, parts manufactures produced better radio frequency filters. By filtering out all but the narrowest window of frequencies ( keeping just the ones you want) you can make a radio's receiver much more sensitive, and still not run into unwanted radio signals. The more sensitive the receiver, the greater the operating range.

Answer: I hate this question, because there's no easy answer. The range varies from year to year (with the sun spot cycle ), season to season and even from hour to hour throughout the day. What you're standing on can make a big difference too.

The trouble is signals transmitted on the 49 MHz ( megahertz ) frequency travel by two signal paths. The most important, the one that transmits the most energy, is the " ground wave ". It travels slang, and a few inches below the surface of the earth. The other signal path is through space and is called the " space wave ".

Unfortunately the electrical conductivity of the earth you are on determines how well the ground wave travels. This can result in some dramatic differences in operating range. On lake water, which is electrically conductive, you can easily get 1/2 mile and sometimes more with a 49 MHz radio. Ride on that same lake when it's frozen, and now electrically non-conductive, and you can get as little as 200 feet. ( Other things can come into play here, too. Background radio noise from a vehicle's ignition system, the sun and northern lights, can affect the reception of the remaining space wave and further contribute to poor operating range. )

1. In summer, on average about 3/4 mile.
2. in winter; on average about 1/4 mile.

Answer: Magazines need advertising to stay in business and the editors and writers of the magazines do pay attention to the people who advertise with them. Attention is one thing, telling out right lies is quite another. They would never do it, they have too much to lose! Writers and editors value their credibility with their readers more than anything. If, after having tested a product, they didn't feel they could endorse it, in all probability, they simply wouldn't do the article. ( We have never had this happen, by the way. )

Answer: There are four reasons we do not supply such a cord. And they are;

1. The " free " power would come at a great cost in Communicator performance. Ignition noise would be injected directly into the radio's receiver, drastically reducing operating range. A filter could be designed to eliminate the noise, but there's no guarantee it would work effectively with all or even most ignition systems. A voltage regulator would also have to be built-in so if the snowmobile's voltage regulator quit ( as they often do, burning out the headlight ) the Communicator wouldn't be destroyed by a voltage surge. Doing all this would add to the cost of the Communicator and again, there's no guarantee it work for everyone.

2. We hate creating warranty problems. Broken power cords are already our biggest source of warranty work, so we don't need more. We know from past experience that most people will forget they are attached to the machine and just jump off without disconnecting the cord. This can result in damage to the cord, the Communicator, the helmet or maybe all three. As well, just thinking about the " bulldogging " effect on riders heads and necks if they are thrown from their snowmobiles, sends shivers down our company lawyer's spine.

3. You shouldn't become dependent on power from the snowmobile's battery. If you get stuck, run out of gas, or have an accident which disables your snowmobile, you want the option of walking to get help. If you don't have a power source on your person you are faced with the choice of either staying with the machine to use it's power or leaving and giving up all possibility of calling for help over your radio.

4. After a season's evaluation and feedback from customers, we can report our new rechargeable NI-MH ( Nickel -Metal Hydride ) batteries can operate a PLATINUM 900 for a full day's ride. And they can operate 49MHz for about 2 days of riding. There is really no reason to have an alternate power source.

*** One thing we are considering is producing a cord which allows you to charge the Battery Pac from the vehicle's battery. The reason we don't immediately do it is we are concerned what will happen if batteries are charged at very low temperatures. Will they explode?

Answer: We would do it in a second ... if it was practical. There are a lot of ideas that seem brilliant at first glance, but on closer scrutiny, turn out to be real duds. And this is one of them.

We would like nothing better than to be able to safeguard our power source inside our Communicators' waterproof case. It would be so convenient, and it would eliminate all possibility of power cord warranty work. But it's just not practical.

The reasons we don't do it, are these;

1. Even using the best NI-MH( Nickel-Metal Hydride) rechargeable batteries ... which hold about twice the charge of Ni-Cad ( Nickel- Cadmium) batteries ... what could be reasonably, physically incorporated inside the case of a helmet mounted radio, would be too small a power source to use for normal conversation, on anything but a 1 or 2 hour ride. That's fine for around town, but not for touring.

Well, what's that worth? Not much, especially with the people who are inclined to buy our Communicators. They like to travel, and it's not uncommon for these touring people to ride 12 hours a day. Our Battery Pac, (For older Communicators) with the Ni-MH batteries, not only offers long-life, it also offers the option of using conventional batteries when a recharge isn't possible.

2. Snowmobilers take note: If you expose the communicator's power source ( the batteries ) to low temperatures they will quit working. ( By the way, this is the reason that if you want to store batteries for a long period, it helps to keep them in the refrigerator. ) Any helmet radio with a self- contained power source will be able to operate only until the batteries freeze. And that's not a long time, under normal winter conditions. We estimate that a person riding a snowmobile at 40 m.p.h, at a temperature of -20F, could have as little as 20 minutes before the batteries froze and the radio quit.

Answer: Call Buttons are a feature on many walkie talkies. Pressing it sends out a loud high pitched tone that is supposed to alert an individual ( who either has his volume down or is away from his radio ) that someone is about to send a message. The individual then turns up the volume or walks over to get the walkie-talkie. The ear piercing sound the call button produces is extremely annoying and serves no useful purpose on a helmet radio.

Short answer: No!

Long answer: We considered it, but decided against it.

First it's important to understand some things about the 462 MHz region of the radio spectrum. The radio wave propagation characteristics of the 462 MHz frequencies are superior to those of the 49 MHz frequencies, but are inferior to those in the 900 MHz region. Radios using 462 MHz have comparable operating ranges to 900 MHz radios only because they are, by law, allowed to radiate nearly twice as power as a 900 MHz radio. ( Both the low-powered 462 MHz radios and the PLATINUM 900 can be operated without a license. ) If the law in Canada and the United States allowed the same power output at 900 MHz as it does at 462 MHz, the 900 MHz radios would win by miles. The only real attributes a 462 MHz radio has over a 900 MHz radio is that it is far easier and far less expensive to manufacture than a 900 MHz radio. The down side of unlicensed, low-powered 462 MHz is if you want the maximum range possible ( ie. radiate maximum legal power) you have to expend nearly twice as much battery power as you would if using a 900 MHz radio. It is for this reason, if a 462 MHz radio is to be used for conversation on an all-day ride( as opposed to the occasional message) it must be powered by a vehicle's battery or by some other auxiliary means. .

2-Watt 462 MHz ( Licensed) Radios

The 2-watt radios consume over 30 times as much power as a PLATINUM 900 and either must be powered by a vehicle's battery or be used very sparingly.

There are two types of 2-watt 462 MHz radios available. One type is a walkie-talkie which the user wears on a belt around the waist. The other is a transceiver which is mounted directly to the frame of the motorcycle or snowmobile. They both claim ranges of up to 4 miles and under certain conditions are capable of doing it. However ...

2-Watt Walkie -Talkies
First, it's important to realize that for a radio to send and receive to its full potential operating distance, its antenna must be;

1. elevated as high as possible
2. have an unobstructed signal path

For a walkie-talkie to reach its full potential operating distance, the individual using it must be standing and holding the walkie-talkie up in front of them.

Both these criteria are violated when a radio is worn on a user's waist belt. Not only is the antenna down quite low (especially when the user is seated on a snowmobile) but it's signal path is blocked on one side by the user's body! As well, since the radio's battery must be kept warm in order to continue working, the radio must be kept under the user's outer clothing, further obstructing the signal path. The result is an operating distance far less than the optimum claimed.

Vehicle Mounted Radios
To answer the problem of being able to power a 2-watt radio for conversation on an all-day ride, at least one manufacturer has marketed a radio which is mounted directly to the frame of the snowmobile.

This is a bad mistake! Aside form the inconvenience of being physically connected to the vehicle by a cord, and then being unable to communicate when not sitting on the vehicle, there are some very serious drawbacks to vehicle mounted radios. And they are;

1. The most serious problem is that because these radios are mounted directly to the vehicle their circuit boards will sooner or later be physically destroyed by the vibration of the engine.

People have tried mounting transceivers to snowmobiles before with disastrous results. Back in the 1970's at the height of the C.B. craze a company marketed a C.B. called " ROUGH RIDER " . It was mounted on a shock absorbing base of rubber and it's circuit board was extra thick. These measures, the company said, would ensure the radio could withstand the extreme stress the 2-stroke engine vibrations would inflict. But it wasn't enough. Eventually all the radios failed and the company went out of business.

What happened was the circuit boards developed microscopic cracks in the printed circuit part of the board, as well as breaks in the solder joints connecting the parts to the board. ( And the colder the operating temperatures, the faster this type of destruction occurred. )This is also the worst kind of problem to troubleshoot. The breaks are microscopic, and problems are often intermittent because of the expansion and contraction of the circuit board, with changes in temperature. A technician's nightmare!

Another negative is that the engine vibrations affect the radio off-frequency. Radios are tuned by precisely screwing what's known as a " slug " into the center of a small coil. There are a number of these coils in every transceiver. If a transceiver is to perform properly, these slugs must never turn after they have been adjusted at the factory. The vibration of a snowmobile engine, coupled with the fact that the slug will shrink in size with the cold (and make movement easier ), guarantees the radio will gradually go off-frequency. This is manifested by a gradual decrease in operating range, which only gets worst as time goes on.

The same thing would happen to our Communicators if we mounted them on the snowmobile. In fact, for this very reason, in our instruction manuals we specifically tell people never to put Communicators into the carrying compartment of an operating snowmobile.

Power consumption isn't the only drawback to using the 462 MHz frequencies. 462 MHz radios are legal in Canada and the United States, but there are differences in the rules. In Canada their use requires buying a license ( presently $40.00 ) every year. This is also true in the United States, if the power output exceeds 100 mw ( 100 milliwatts ). Even worse, the frequencies ( channels ) legally allowed are different. This means a 462 MHz radio legal for use in the U.S. is not legal in Canada.

However, the biggest drawback is the very limited number of channels. There are only 14 channels available for use in the 462 MHz region, and they are already so crowded, that in urban areas there is nothing but constant chatter on every channel.

Why would it be otherwise? Radio Shack sells hand-held 462 MHz walkie-talkies for $20.00 each. Almost every kid can afford one, and at least in urban areas, it seems they're all on-air. In contrast, the 900 MHz region of the radio spectrum is virtually unused and has many thousands of possible legal channels in the U.S. and Canada. In fact, depending on how close you put these channels together, there are from 10,000 to 13,000 channels available!