We installed a rally style intercom in the car today.
After 4 years of doing track days we have finally come to the conclusion that we should get a car intercom. A few years ago Ethan had some track day driving tuition and the instructor brought along an intercom set. This system worked really well. We have spent the fast few years just shouting at each other in the car when we are on track and most of the time we shout, "What?" at each other because we cannot hear each other.
We ordered a Stilo Trophy 2 intercom amplifier and headsets.
The headsets which we have ordered are a basic set of headphones/speakers that can be mounted on the inside part of the helmet shell and sit between the harder internal cushioning and the softer foam insert that your head makes contact with. As I have got an
open face helmet my headset has a boom mike. Ethan's headset has a microphone that sticks on the inside of his helmet near to his mouth area.
Ethan's helmet had a proper recess for the headset speakers, mine didn't.
After a bit of faffing around I managed to find a suitable place to put the speakers in my helmet. The headsets come with velcro to secure them in place. The boom mike came with a fixing screw to hold it in place so after a bit of careful drilling it was attached. Both of us then hid the rest of the headset wiring between the internal protective shell of the helmet and the soft moveable cushioning inside the helmet. The female cable connector comes out of the left side of each of our helmets.
The amplifier is powered by a 9v square battery. There seems to be a suggestion that when intercoms are wired in to the cars 12v supply it can pick up interference from other electrical components. The amplifier is installed on the roll hoop of the cage with the wires cable tied in place to route them to where they need to do.
The male input for our headsets is held in place by a velcro strap that was already on our TRS harnesses.
We have both cheap OMP helmets so for the time being the headsets will do. Maybe in the future we will actually invest in proper helmets with pre-cut cavities for earmuffs and speakers and HANS clips? The plan is that when both headsets are connected we will be able to hear each other despite the general noise that is generated by the car on a track day. As this system involves wires I am fairly sure at some point one of us will exit the car still attached to the intercom system.