PA though Stereo

Steve_B · 17 January 2010, 10:34

When I was viewing the Ribcraft Sea Safari boat at the Seawork expo, Jason was showing me the Fusion Ipod stereo and how they had a seperate hand mic plugged into system so that the crew could talk to the passengers via the stereo speakers.

Having not bought a Ribcraft, I am a bit reluctant to ask Jason how this was done, as I would like to do this on the Parker, having been so impressed at what Ribcraft achieved. I have emailed Fusion and they have not even bothered to reply!

So the question is, does anyone know who this set up is achieved?

Steve

Erin · 17 January 2010, 13:38

I would imagine it just uses one of the Aux inputs on the radio. You'd probably need a small line amp to boost the mic levels to suit the input requriements of the Fusion.

My Fusion has something like three zones for speakers. This means you can decide which speakers the music or voice comes out of.

Poly · 17 January 2010, 13:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by Erin

I would imagine it just uses one of the Aux inputs on the radio. You'd probably need a small line amp to boost the mic levels to suit the input requriements of the Fusion.

My Fusion has something like three zones for speakers. This means you can decide which speakers the music or voice comes out of.

Not sure how easy it will be to find a robust/waterproof mic? would it be feasible to use the VHF mic/handset if your radio has a PA function and feed the 'PA/speaker' output from the VHF to the input on the Fusion. Thats just a suggestion - i'm not sure how good an idea that is (if eg. the outout of the VHF will match the input requirements of the fusion).

Steve_B · 17 January 2010, 19:52

Thanks for the feedback, no pun intended.

I am going to ring round some electrical engineers to see if they have done similar, and ifI pluck enough courage, may even call Jason at Ribcraft, he can only say no.

Brian, have I missed something or was the comment meant for another thread, AIS perhaps??

Steve

Poly · 17 January 2010, 20:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by 250kts

Brian, have I missed something or was the comment meant for another thread, AIS perhaps??

I presumes so - now moved!

Steve_B · 17 January 2010, 21:44

Just a quick thought, could I use a speaker mic, for a handheld radio??

It would be waterproof and some come with the sort of plugs normally used for aux sockets on stereos.

IBWET · 17 January 2010, 23:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by 250kts

When I was viewing the Ribcraft Sea Safari boat at the Seawork expo, Jason was showing me the Fusion Ipod stereo and how they had a seperate hand mic plugged into system so that the crew could talk to the passengers via the stereo speakers.

Having not bought a Ribcraft, I am a bit reluctant to ask Jason how this was done, as I would like to do this on the Parker, having been so impressed at what Ribcraft achieved. I have emailed Fusion and they have not even bothered to reply!

So the question is, does anyone know who this set up is achieved?

Steve

The radio on my rib has a hailer function, which would do what I think your trying to achieve, as a external mic,it also gets round any issues with being waterproof etc. It may be cheaper to change the radio? it's an ICOM 505.

Steve_B · 25 January 2010, 21:34

Finally got a reply from Fusion. And it proved that the Rib.Net population are a mine of information!

Erin you were correct, their advice was to use an amplified PA mic, plugged into Aux socket.

So next question, where do I get one??

Steve

seafariskye · 25 January 2010, 22:27

looked into this as well, using the fusion - after messing around and getting the pa mic, and there was something else, but cannot remem what it was, i decided against it - so used the icom 505, which has an excellent hail feature, is loud and is part of the 'working for a living' parts of the boat.
, and keeps everything waterproof.

The stereo is for pleasure, so decided to keep them seperate, wrks out cheaper as well if remember........

pete

Rogue Wave · 25 January 2010, 23:47

THE STANDARD HORIZON 3000 HAS A PA FEATURE, AS WELL AS A FOGHORN AND OBVOUSLY A DSC RADIO. yOU CAN ALSO BUY STANDARD SPEAKERS WHICH ARE TWO WAY WATERPRROF HORNS. THAT' S HOW I'D BE TALKING TO MY PASSENGERS ONE HORN ON THE CONSOLE AND THE OTHER ON THE A FRAMe

http://www.standardhorizon.co.uk/pro...roducts_id=919

http://www.standardhorizon.co.uk/pro...ucts_id=100003

http://www.standardhorizon.co.uk/pro...products_id=92

I have installed this solution on 4 boats i drive frequently and it works great and you get change from 350 quid. Stream marine will do you a good deal. another bonus is if you capsize the stuff is waterproof so you can talk to the whales for half an hour, ( I bet thats a Unique Selling Point that Standard Horizon haven't thought about)

As an audiophile and a gadget inspector i kinda klike the thought of an in boat entertainment system having a mic but theMariner in me believes it's a bit gadgettty and you'd be better off with a more industrial PA like the SH.

Another thing to ask yourself is what do you want the passenegers to hear and when. If the boat is rocking in the middle of a thrill ride two way verbal comunications are limited. I'm presuming your Console is towards the rear

re the mic going in to the Aux input if experience serves me right an Aux input usually works at line level which is about .7 v RMS (its been 23 years since i did this for a living so things might have changed) and a mic bangs out a voltage about a hundred times less than this. so some sort of gain stage has to be utilised which could be a simple external preamp (could be built into a mic Phantom powered perhaps) or the amp could have a dedicated mic input. I looked at the fusion website and couldn't find a mention of a mic input inany of the head units or Amps

I'd be interested to know what kit Ribcraft used

Steve_B · 26 January 2010, 14:18

Thanks for the help, the Standard Horizon kit looks very good.

However as the RIB already has a good radio and I also need a stereo, I would like to pursue the original idea if poss.

Therefore does anyone know the guys who operate the Blue & Yellow Ribcraft ribs in Cardiff Bay, as they have exactly what I am looking to do. They may be willing to have a look inside the console and tell me how its been achieved.

Steve

mark-f · 26 January 2010, 15:14

I havent done it myself but it should be real easy to set up,

as said previously on this thread use a microphone preamp such as this one from Maplin

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=29908

and a waterproof microphone

or if you are feeling adventurous and the route i would probably try you could use an old VHF microphone ( ebay? ) and re wire it with the switch in series with the microphone to activiate the Mic when you want to speak.

Or if you are really flash this unit looks interesting

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-09-PYLE-BO...item5d27b5a3d8

Enjoy

Steve_B · 26 January 2010, 21:18

Mark

Your a star, thanks very much. Just got to work how adventurous i feel.

Spoke to the owner of the Cardiff Ribcraft and apparently the system uses a PA Crossover box so that the radio hand mic can also be used for the PA through stereo. Very helpful gentleman, who is very impressedwith his Ribcrafts

Steve

mark-f · 28 January 2010, 12:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by 250kts

Mark

Your a star, thanks very much. Just got to work how adventurous i feel.

Spoke to the owner of the Cardiff Ribcraft and apparently the system uses a PA Crossover box so that the radio hand mic can also be used for the PA through stereo. Very helpful gentleman, who is very impressedwith his Ribcrafts

Steve

One other place to try is talking headsets

http://www.talkingheadsets.co.uk/index.php

A friend of mine had some bespoke PTT switcher box's made up for VHF radios and apparently they were really helpfull in coming up with a solution.

Mark

Andre · 29 January 2010, 07:38

SeaSafari 1 if fitted out with the Icom 505 VHF radio. This unit has the hailer facility so no problem to connect the radio to a speaker and use this for talking to the passengers via radio's handheld microphone. No need to fit any other unit say Standard Horizon 3000. Either one or the other.

Steve_B · 03 February 2010, 17:51

Thanks to all the advice and comments the technical issues have been resolved.

However, the only suitable location for the stereo in the console, is in/on the top flat surface. Ideally I would like the mount it at a 45degree angle.

Does anyone know of an off the self monting unit, that would allow this??

Steve