Digital Voice Recorder while on Tour?

[mister_bill]

Does anyone use a digital voice recorder or some other means of keeping notes while on a long ride (other than pen and paper)? It would be great to be able to keep track of events, routes, gas stops, etc. in "real time". I find that if I don't keep notes in near "real time", by the end of the day I have forgotten about some things that I should have noted : .

Ideally, a remote control "start" to a recorder with voice input from a microphone installed in the helmet would work quite well. Simply activate a PTT button and speak. I am sure that I could rig up something to do this, but if anyone knows of "off the self" equipment, I would like to know more about it. I think Mick in the UK may use something like this for the narration of his videos. Any ideas ?

 

[EASt]

From the time I was taking road trips in college I started taking an old mini-cassette recorder with me to "narrate" my journeys. I love listening to those old tapes to this day...they spark my memory so much better than video tapes do for some odd reason.

That said, I never managed to wire a mic into my helmet. I would just do a trip update at every stop.

 

[ricopaolino]

Some of the outputs on autocom units can be configured to output to a recorder, and I would couple that with a "dictation" type digital recorder those are voice activated. So when you speak into the mic in your helmet the Vox in the autocomm will switch on then the vox in the recorder will switch on too. This will allow you to compress you journey on tape to just what you say and not all the white noise from the background. The autocom has a noise limiter so your voice will be clear but the Vox delays may give you a problem. With the autocom you will also be able to listen to music and not record that.

 

[Mellow]

Some of the outputs on autocom units can be configured to output to a recorder, and I would couple that with a "dictation" type digital recorder those are voice activated. So when you speak into the mic in your helmet the Vox in the autocomm will switch on then the vox in the recorder will switch on too. This will allow you to compress you journey on tape to just what you say and not all the white noise from the background. The autocom has a noise limiter so your voice will be clear but the Vox delays may give you a problem. With the autocom you will also be able to listen to music and not record that.

My luck... I'd get home and start listening to it and get 17hrs of me singing 'Born to be Wild'.....

 

[Burger]

Does anyone use a digital voice recorder or some other means of keeping notes while on a long ride (other than pen and paper)? It would be great to be able to keep track of events, routes, gas stops, etc. in "real time". I find that if I don't keep notes in near "real time", by the end of the day I have forgotten about some things that I should have noted : .

Ideally, a remote control "start" to a recorder with voice input from a microphone installed in the helmet would work quite well. Simply activate a PTT button and speak. I am sure that I could rig up something to do this, but if anyone knows of "off the self" equipment, I would like to know more about it. I think Mick in the UK may use something like this for the narration of his videos. Any ideas ?

I believe what Mick does is this...

He has a bullet cam connected to a video recorder in his trunk. He also takes the passenger cable from his Autocom and connects that to the audio input of the same recorder. The recorder is controlled from a LANC switch which enables him to turn on/off the recorder and start/stop recording. This is how he's able to real time narrate over his riding videos.

It's actually quite a straight forward set up but would be very expensive just to record voice.

However, what you could do is to get an old cassette player, mini disc or mp3 player with audio in and a remote control. If you have an intercom and don't carry a passenger, get a lead made up for the passenger socket to audio in. Otherwise, I reckon an old PC microphone or something would work too.

Hope that helps.

 

[Blrfl]

My luck... I'd get home and start listening to it and get 17hrs of me singing 'Born to be Wild'.....

'Cept that I figure your version goes like this:

Get your Wing a-runnin'
Head out on the highway
Lookin' for a D-Q
And whatever comes our way

I'm dyin' to have a Blizzard
Cheeseburgers in the top case
If it's late and they're not open
You can't stuff your face

Sorry, best I could do on a moment's notice.

--Mark

 

[ricopaolino]

'Cept that I figure your version goes like this:

Get your Wing a-runnin'
Head out on the highway
Lookin' for a D-Q
And whatever comes our way

I'm dyin' to have a Blizzard
Cheeseburgers in the top case
If it's late and they're not open
You can't stuff your face

Sorry, best I could do on a moment's notice.

--Mark

:clap2: Oh Man very good!!

 

[tricky_micky]

Does anyone use a digital voice recorder or some other means of keeping notes while on a long ride (other than pen and paper)? It would be great to be able to keep track of events, routes, gas stops, etc. in "real time". I find that if I don't keep notes in near "real time", by the end of the day I have forgotten about some things that I should have noted : .

Ideally, a remote control "start" to a recorder with voice input from a microphone installed in the helmet would work quite well. Simply activate a PTT button and speak. I am sure that I could rig up something to do this, but if anyone knows of "off the self" equipment, I would like to know more about it. I think Mick in the UK may use something like this for the narration of his videos. Any ideas ?

Bill

As Burger explains in his post, I use a video recorder that is hooked up to the Autocom, so I record as I ride.

I do have a small digital Olympus recorder that will do about 90 minutes of recording, and you can hook a small michrophone to it. Buttons are a little small to press with gloves on, not got a remote for it, but it is a good bit of kit.

TTFN

 

[ricopaolino]

Bill

As Burger explains in his post, I use a video recorder that is hooked up to the Autocom, so I record as I ride.

I do have a small digital Olympus recorder that will do about 90 minutes of recording, and you can hook a small michrophone to it. Buttons are a little small to press with gloves on, not got a remote for it, but it is a good bit of kit.

TTFN

Mick,
3 questions.
Which Olympus do you have? Do you use the voice activated ? Can you download mp3 onto your computer?

 

[tricky_micky]

Mick,
3 questions.
Which Olympus do you have? Do you use the voice activated ? Can you download mp3 onto your computer?

Not quite sure what you mean, sorry!

The recording equipment on the bike is a Sony Walkman, that is very expensive. This is hooked up to the Autocom unit via the passenger lead so I get direct speech onto the Hi8 tapes

I use a Lanc controller that sits on the fuel filler cap by velcro, and I can record and, pause and switch off using the Lanc.

I do use VOX settings when recording as I find it better than the PTT button, it all works a treat but the system cost over ?1,000.

The digital recorder I have is a small hand held Olympus, not quite sure of the model, and it gives 90 minutes of record time. You can hook a mike and earpiece to it, but they are the ones you see on cellphones etc.

I only use the recorder for recording small reports, much the same as a dictaphone, so I think we may have our wires crossed on this one!

Sorry if it sounds as clear as muddy water, but perhaps I was a little misleading in my previous post.

 

[mister_bill]

Thanks

Thanks for the information. I have googled until I am dizzy. I have found a few combinations that may do what I am attempting. Next week, when I return home, I will see what I can put my hands on. It would seem simple enough, a remote PTT record switch, a remote microphone, and a digital voice recorder - we'll see. I will post here again if / when I have a solution.

 

[Blrfl]

The digital recorder I have is a small hand held Olympus, not quite sure of the model, and it gives 90 minutes of record time. You can hook a mike and earpiece to it, but they are the ones you see on cellphones etc.

Aha! That being the case, you could probably plug one into an Autocom using the cell phone cable, set the recorder to VOX and it would work just fine.

--Mark

 

[tricky_micky]

Aha! That being the case, you could probably plug one into an Autocom using the cell phone cable, set the recorder to VOX and it would work just fine.

--Mark

There ya go!

Good thinking Mark

 

[mister_bill]

Found the solution - Digital Voice Recorder

This thread has a little age to it, but I said that I would post if I came up with a solution. Several have posted what I am sure would work with an existing intercomm system. Since I do not yet have a specific need for an intercomm or bike-to-bike system, I do not have one. Therefore, I needed a way to use a digital voice recorder without having an existing full-blown system on the bike.

I did have a Motocomm headset/communicator interface I used for operating a CB radio on a trip to the Alaska hwy.

http://www.casporttouring.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=17600&Category_Code=MotoComm

I also had an old digital voice recorder - an inexpensive RCA with "Automatic Voice Control" or VOR. The Motocomm comes with Push to Talk capability which I used to selectively record my voice into the recorder. By using the push to talk button, I did not have to be concerned about background noise keying the recorder. The only other equipment I had to purchase was an adapter which changed the 2.5mm transmit portion of the Motocomm plug to 3.5mm so as to fit the recorder external microphone socket. I mounted the recorder on a ram mount on the throttle side bar where I could see the display.

The end result is that I could simply push the push-to-talk button (mounted on the clutch side grip) and talk into the microphone mounted in my helmet. The recorder was only activated when the PTT button was pushed. Worked really well on a recent 4 day trip to Arkansas. The first time I listened to the recordings, I was reminded of things that I had already forgotten or was not sure of the location or circumstances. My need for this type of system seems to be directly related to the passage of time (I am no spring chicken ).

Anyway, I hope this helps anyone who may be looking to do the same.