Wireless Radio Comms!

Running Comms is essential, especially for large events when coordination and battlefield awareness can be the key to victory. A UHF/VHF radio with a cabled PTT and earpiece is a common low cost solution that has proven to be effective and practical for Magfed paintball. Due to the full face masks worn in paintball, military style over-the-ear devices like the Peltor Comtacs or MSA Sordins are not only less practical but also much more expensive and reserved for only the Gucci-est of players! But with all these system there is one major headache, the CABLES!

Tangled in vests, carriers, guns and trees cables can be a real annoyance if not properly managed. But could there be an effective wireless solution that not only works technically but also practically for Magfed? in short... YES, if you're willing to compromise.

The imaginatively named "Walkie Talkie Bluetooth Headset" is a simple and affordable from the Far East that provides Bluetooth connectivity between your favourite radio, an earpiece and most importantly a wireless PTT button. This £39 kit eliminates all cables providing unparalleled degrees of freedom in how you carry and mount your Comms system. But is it any good?

Before purchasing this system I had two major concerns. battery life and latency.

With three additional devices that required power, could the system survive long enough for it to be of practical use? and introducing analogue to digital conversions, would the increase in transmission latency prove too annoying and unusable? (think Eurovision results).

In the Box

The set comes with a Kenwood Plug Bluetooth dongle (other connectors available), a PPT button with velcro strap and an "handsfree"earpiece straight from the early 2000's. The handy duel USB micro B charging cable allows you to charge two of the three components at the same time and all the devices have charging LED indicators giving you that warm feeling that something is happening!

Setting up your wireless communication system by plugging the dongle in to your radio then pairing the three devices to each other which turned out to be far easier than I was expecting. Once paired you can simply use the remote PTT or an in-build PTT in the earpiece to transmit. It works!

Field tests

After thoroughly testing this system at OMG's Ragnarok and New Beginnings events, here's the results.

Battery- Surprisingly the devices outlasted the standard UV5-R battery!

on one charge, the dongle, ear-piece and PTT can easily last a weekend of heavy used. I do expect the lifespan to diminish with charge cycles but I hope to be pleasantly surprised again.

Latency- Yes there is latency, both in receiving and broadcasting. once you press the ptt there is a noticeable delay of around 0.5-1 second before the confirmation beeps the same for when receiving transmissions. This is annoying for sure but nowhere near bad enough to make it unusable.

The freedom from cables in itself was a great improvement but an even greater benefit was the ability to seamless activate the PTT without moving either hand away from the marker. This

The Issues- It's not all sunshine and roses! firstly the in-ear bud was way too short to actually fit into the ear and with the ear protectors form the mask pressing your earlobes against the bulky battery pack you soon notice the discomfort. For some reason the volume controls also started playing up and at one point the headset would only stay at maximum volume which made them way too loud to wear! I did fix the volume and earbud issue with a simple mod, replacing the buds with an long ear plug.

Robustness- Be warned this price, you can't expect too much from these units in terms of build quality. The earpiece did come apart but this was easy enough to fix with a little glue.

Conclusions

These units are a great affordable wireless communication solution.They are simple to use effective and provide a superb advantage on the field. Whilst there are a number of flaws such as build quality and comfort these units deliver more than adequate performance where it counts.

Where to Buy: Ebay/ Amazon