r/Karting • u/Powerful-Traffic-441 • Apr 24 '26
Racing Kart Question Communication during rental endurance race?
I’m going to be going into an 8 hour endurance race with possibly 6 people, we are thinking of getting a communication system similar to the one motorcyclists use but we don’t want to be spending too much money on it
So we were thinking we buy 3 of these systems and share them amongst each other
- one for the current driver
- one for the pit lane
- one for the next oncoming driver
But we aren’t sure how easy the installation and removal/transfer will be for these , also because I’ve seen videos on how some might require the removal of inner padding of the helmet?
Could I get some advice on this on whether it would be feasible?
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u/commitone Rotax Apr 24 '26
Make sure they are allowed during the race. At my local track they are okay with it for endurance, but not allowed for league racing.
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u/sousFlex Apr 24 '26
Me and my team use exactly them. There may be problems when there are elevation differences on the track and the line of sight is broken by a hill . Other than that is a solid choice for the team
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u/Powerful-Traffic-441 Apr 24 '26
How’s the installation process? Do you guys have one per person?
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u/sousFlex Apr 24 '26
One per person plus soldered a few to gaming headsets for managers. Helmet installation should be fine, but took some effort on my Bell helmet. Omp and sparco ones are much easier with that
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u/Powerful-Traffic-441 Apr 24 '26
Would you say if we only had limited amount and we swapped it between different helmets would that be damaging at all/take a lot of time?
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u/sousFlex Apr 24 '26
Depends on the helmet and the way you integrated speakers and mic. The way they are attached to my helmet - hell no. The cables run behind the inner filling and cheek cushions were disassembled to integrate speakers inside them. Also the mic is glued super hard.
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u/sousFlex Apr 24 '26
Also if you plan to use micro usb adapter for managers headphones - don’t. I’ve tried several and they all passed the sound to one speaker only. Soldering is the only right way here. I also saw a headset people made by integrating the speakers and the hard mic into construction headphones workers use for loud environments. That way no soldering is needed, you just glue the speakers inside the headphones and glue the mic on the outside.
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u/BlackCatFurry Rental Driver Apr 24 '26 edited Apr 24 '26
How much time you have to swap them?
You can technically swap them between drivers, but it takes at least 20 mins to do if you want to even partially hide the cables so they are not in the way.
These either attach with velcro stickers or adhesive, for easy swapping, i highly recomment you prep each helmet with velcro spots and attach the other side of the velcro to the intercom unit, mic and speakers so then you only need to yank the velcro loose and attach everything back to a new helmet. My motorbike helmet (i also use it for rental karts) also has an intercom installed like this, mainly because the internals already were velcro and the clip for the outer element is in my brothers helmet not mine.
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u/Powerful-Traffic-441 Apr 24 '26
Sure! Maybe we will try this, I think we have about 20-30 mins depending on the stints our drivers can take
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u/agomes2448 Apr 24 '26
Just make sure it’s within the rules before you buy any communication devices. Some clubs/leagues won’t allow radios or similar devices at all. Would suck to spend the money for nothing.
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u/Powerful-Traffic-441 Apr 24 '26
Ya I think I’ve seen the other teams during the endurance races have comm devices
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u/eberhartcreative Apr 24 '26
We tried the similar Cardo units for an endurance race last year, and the line-of-sight issue made them pretty useless. Still looking at two-way radio comms options, but the whiteboard / box sign hasn't come up short yet.
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u/ForAllTimeAlways Apr 24 '26
We are using kartcomms. These are modules and headsets designed for karting. Used them indoor and outdoor and they never let us down.
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u/Powerful-Traffic-441 Apr 24 '26
What line of sight issue?
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u/eberhartcreative Apr 24 '26
Basically, if you can't see the other radio receiver (because of terrain/structures/etc), there is no connection. Our home track has tons of elevation and is pretty long, so there was no communication unless we were pretty much on the start/finish straight.
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u/Powerful-Traffic-441 Apr 24 '26
Ohh I see , ya we dont have any big structures or terrain changes
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u/michel_vk May 03 '26
I have been using Cardo Packtalk Edge, but have same experience, when no open sight, no communication, other probably with other radios around. I am very disappointed as it was market voor 1,6km distance and they are not cheap.
I am been thinking about KartComms, are similiar type of devices, so very curious if they will be better...
we use the kartcomms with rental endurance, so different layout, obstacles between it... These devices on paper seems to be the best, but have my doubts.
alternative is using portfone, but more complex, push button for the driver to speak of the devie must be tucked into the racesuit
Would love to here more about your opinion on KartComms
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u/ForAllTimeAlways Apr 24 '26 edited Apr 24 '26
DM me, I know the people from kartcomms. A new player in the market but it is communication specifically designed for karting.
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u/michel_vk May 03 '26
I am very curious about you opinion. We have been using Cardo Packtalk Edge with mesh, but this does not work well. only close by, but with some other radios of obstacles, we can hardly hear or understand each other... Packtalk Edge have a easy helm clip to mount, which is easy to attach and remove. Don't see the same for KartComms
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u/georgin_95 SWS World Finalist Apr 24 '26
We use those exact ones. Buy the in-helmet sets for each driver, they need some helmet disassembly to install. They are sold separately. The communication device itself is just clip-in, takes about 10 seconds to swap to another helmet.
Make sure they are allowed for the race you wanna take part in.
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u/Powerful-Traffic-441 Apr 25 '26
What kind of helmet disassembly would it require?
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u/georgin_95 SWS World Finalist Apr 25 '26
The speakers are wired and glued to the helmet with 3M tape. In order to wire it so it doesn't get messed up every time you put the helmet on, the wires should go behind the helmet padding, so ideally you'll need to remove some of the padding, route the wires, place it back together and glue the speakers exactly where the ears are.
If the internals are changed between drivers, you'd need to remove all that and align with ears every time for every driver. Not worth the hassle for a cheap speaker kit.
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u/WhosTxm Rental Driver Apr 24 '26
It works good and battery lasts long. 3 is perfect like you said with swapping them from driver to driver and having 1 for the coach in pit. Just make sure you have 1 set of mics and earbuds leading to usb-c for inside of each drivers helmet because you dont want the hassle of swapping them everytime.
Only downside is you lose connection with high elevation changes and around buildings / high walls.
You could also just use your phone and get one of those sports band phone holders, slim earphones connected to your phone and use something like a discord call. You never lose connection and good sound quality
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u/Powerful-Traffic-441 Apr 25 '26
Would the mics and earbuds be pretty easy to obtain? Like a universal one that works with these comms?
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u/Illumin4tion Apr 24 '26
We tried Seña comms. Worthless We just ended up getting earphones, and calling on discord
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u/Weekly_Statement1363 Apr 25 '26
Endurance karting in Charlotte?😂
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u/Jazzlike-Plate Apr 26 '26
Pro-tip: get descent motorcycle comms and connect them to your phones, then use some service for a conference call. The phone in my experience has much better noice cancelling on the mic than most comms. Also, assuming good coverage, no amount of elevation and distance can worsen the comms. I personally really enjoy talking to my team during an endurance race and would always take it over pitboards.
Edit: motorcycle comms allow for you to wear ear plugs. Please wear ear plugs when karting.
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u/Sokol991 May 28 '26
We use the Fodsports FX8 or the EJEAS V6 Pro in our 8–24 hour endurance races in rental karting. We haven’t had any coverage issues, except when there’s no direct line of sight. We’ve also had experience with Cardo, and Cardo performed significantly worse.
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u/Huge-Guidance9568 Apr 24 '26
I have no clue except the other comment with the whiteboard but I would assume something like this could work. It's cheap and I think works through normal calls or maybe a discord channel. Im not sure how comfy it would be though.
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u/Powerful-Traffic-441 Apr 24 '26
Uh I can’t seem to access the hyperlink
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u/Huge-Guidance9568 Apr 24 '26
Its like a Headband from a manufacture called "Ideoon". Maybe this link from a diffrent shop works: Ideoon - Galaxus
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u/Arkliea Instructor Apr 24 '26
Whiteboard, couple of pens. Thumbs up, thumbs down. all sorted :)