jeremiahkellam Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Throw me your likes and dislikes. Anybody have an opinion on this one?? http://www.saferacer.com/sampson-racing-communications-racing-radio-starter-package.html?productid=573 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluebandit48 Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 i say if you are going to get something you might as well go with something a little better. i have racing electrionics radios and absolutly love them. and just keep in mind.. you get what you pay for. my two pennies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mitchntx1548534714 Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 JK, its really not the radio that dives the price up, its the gear to actually USE the radio while in flight. I went the cheap route and have wound up spending more than the cost of a decent "system" by replacing the PTT switch, car harness so that it adapts to a better mic/ear bud set-up. The cheaper rig works, but clarity and ease of use are HUGE drawbacks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremiahkellam Posted July 9, 2009 Author Share Posted July 9, 2009 JK, its really not the radio that dives the price up, its the gear to actually USE the radio while in flight. I went the cheap route and have wound up spending more than the cost of a decent "system" by replacing the PTT switch, car harness so that it adapts to a better mic/ear bud set-up. The cheaper rig works, but clarity and ease of use are HUGE drawbacks. I found a set of Motorola radios and crew headset for a good deal. If I was going to piece together the harnesses and helmet kit, what should I use?? RE?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mitchntx1548534714 Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 JK, its really not the radio that dives the price up, its the gear to actually USE the radio while in flight. I went the cheap route and have wound up spending more than the cost of a decent "system" by replacing the PTT switch, car harness so that it adapts to a better mic/ear bud set-up. The cheaper rig works, but clarity and ease of use are HUGE drawbacks. I found a set of Motorola radios and crew headset for a good deal. If I was going to piece together the harnesses and helmet kit, what should I use?? RE?? It's not necessarily the manufacturer, rather the style plug. Not sure what the actual nomenclature is, but there is "NASCAR" style and "IMSA" style. Ask around the pits what style everyone is using and match what your friends are using incase you need to beg, borrow or steal a component. LAW Motorsports has been using these guys ... http://gtsradio.com/ Great service and nice quality at a reasonable price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tacovini Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 <> Blasphemy! Aren't you the product cover model for another brand? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boudy1548534717 Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 If you're going to spend any money on communications, spend it wisely. Sampson has good equipment but that package isn't it. You'll end up with nothing more than what you pay for. First off, I recommend staying very very far away from FRS radios. You'll never be happy with performance, privacy, or channel availability. As long as you run any decent pair of name brand licensed radios, you'll be fine. There's also a dozen or so off brands marketing to this industry and most of them are also acceptable. However, while more affordable the off brands will offer some side effects. A couple are battery longevity, a shorter product life cycle, and poor audio circuits that won't drive high impedance ear buds. Secondly, accessories make the system. It's also where the money comes into the equation. - Helmet kits run about $120. A good kit will have a noise cancelling mic and there's really no way around it. Cheap kits also won't have the connections to upgrade to better parts later. - Ear buds run about $80. A good set of ear buds is an absolute must if you want to hear in a race car. Cheap speakers work but not well. Semi-molded buds are the better way to go and are less than $120. - PTT buttons are a plenty but get one that is large enough to work with gloves on and has some tactile feedback for the same reason. Also, the cheap buttons have too small of a cable that get too easily tangled in the steering knuckle and stuff. They run about $60. - Car harnesses have no real advantage either way. There are 2 models on the helmet end, IMSA style and Stockcar style. IMSA is the short fat one and is less popular. Stockcar or Nascar is the longer 1/4 inch phono style and is more popular. They also have 2 model primary models on the radio end, Motorola and Kenwood style. These run between $80 and $120. - Antennas help the performance of whatever you use. Get a 3dB gain vs unity gain for maximum benefit. These run about $80. Many companies fall into the trap of offering customers what they ask for, a cheap system. The end result is a happy customer for about 15 minutes because lower end systems are lower end for a reason. Yes, you get what you pay for. I've sold many dozens of systems and over a 150 receive only kits and the end has always been the same. "Thanks for the good deal, but..." Hope that helps. Boudy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady in Nomex Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 Props to Boudy for backing up his product! Sign me "Happy Customer!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Ginsberg Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 FWIW, I'm still using the same kit Boudy provided to me at the 2006 Nats. The only failed item has been the PTT button, and he replaced it. Mine is used as receive only, as I don't have anyone at the track to use the other radio since I typically go alone. When my son, or or Burch has been on the other end, I've not had any issues hearing them using the Argent Lab supplied earpiece. Some don't care for it, but I like it, and have no issues using it. Count me in as a satisfied Argent Lab equipment user. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boudy1548534717 Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 Thanks for the cuddos guys. However, I'm just trying to give the advise asked for. Argent Lab is currently providing warranty service to past customers only. We have future plans of redesigning our product line but until then, I'm no longer selling the old line of accessories. Although they were exactly what customers asked for, they were not ideally what customers needed. Boudy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mitchntx1548534714 Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 <> Blasphemy! Aren't you the product cover model for another brand? Argent Lab is currently providing warranty service to past customers only. We have future plans of redesigning our product line but until then, I'm no longer selling the old line of accessories. Boudy Guess your Grand AM gig keeps you from keeping up with the little people ... no offense Boudy. Robert has been a great resource for this racing community. It will be great to have ALR back in the game once again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremiahkellam Posted July 15, 2009 Author Share Posted July 15, 2009 I think I will be "building" the system the way I want, no packages here. I've been looking at RE and Sampson components. Does anybody have any experience or opinions with these radios?: http://www.headsetusa.com/blackbox-trade-uhf-2-way-radio.html They say they are comparable to the Vertex VX160... Would these work pretty well if we used quality hardware with them?? Thanks for the input so far Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nasa-rm Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 For that price, why don't you just go with a known quality and buy the Vertex? I've found the 160's for close to $200. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mitchntx1548534714 Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 Jermaih, this is something that you get EXACTLY what you pay for. If you save $50 or even $100 and it's not useable, then everything you spent was wasted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremiahkellam Posted July 16, 2009 Author Share Posted July 16, 2009 I was asking about those because a friend of mine has some the he will sell me for $125 for each radio (with chargers). His son used them karting for a couple of years but has stopped racing and doesn't need them anymore. I did notice on their site they compare them to the Vertex, and I have found new Vertex VX 160s for about $130 on ebay. I wonder if it is better to buy new radios or if these lightly used radios are any good. I'm not really so worried about the total price, I am in the mind set to spend more now and use it for a long time. But are the cheaper radios (vertex 160 or lower priced motorolas) worth a dang or should I be looking a little higher in the price scale?? What benefits do you gain from a more expensive radio?? Again, all this given the idea of using good quality hardware with the radio... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boudy1548534717 Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 What benefits do you gain from a more expensive radio?? 1) Battery - Low end radios often use lower quality cells in the batteries and/or lower quality chargers for the battery. They may not charge consistently, the charge may not last as long, an the overall battery life (number of charges) may be less. 2) Receiver Sensitivity - Another way to produce cheaper is to use lower quality components which reduces the specs. Sensitivity will decrease your range vs other similar radios of equal power output on the TX side. They are always sold based on TX power which is useless if you have poor RX. 3) Receiver Selectivity - Same as above but this is the ability to select the monitored frequency in a spectrum of other frequencies. Poor selectivity will cause more interference from outside sources. Co-channels will become an issue as other teams use channels in the same spectrum. Other sources would be power lines, transformers, cell phones,... Poor selectivity opens up your RX to all kinds of crap. 4) Poor TX - Low end transmitters experience frequency drift, modulation drift, and co-channel interference. All of these make your system seem to work OK one event and awful at another. It's better to buy a quality used radio than a new piece of junk. Repeat... It's better to buy a quality used radio than a new piece of junk. Boudy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nasa-rm Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 Boudy... you were breaking up man. Can you repeat? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nasa-rm Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 Oh... BTW, we have 6 of the VX-160 radios we use for our safety team, tow and ambulance. They are very good for the price. We did upgrade to the big 1800mAh battery since we need all day talk time. Sampson set us up. Price isn't always a good indicator of quality. We have a bunch of Tekk radios that were a similar cost and they are junk. Anybody want to buy 20 radios ? We've been through many radios in our cars including trying to build my own harnesses for "cheaper". I consider myself a good engineer and build test systems, custom wiring harnesses, custom circuit boards and I've never managed to build a cheap in car radio system that worked and lasted. I gave up and bought a complete one from the pros. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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