dieseldoctor1
Expert Expediter
Someone mentioned, in a thread awhile back, about losing a load while out of the truck and their telephone didn't work. I've had the same problem and especially when in Canada we are afraid to go into a restaurant and sit down to eat because a lot of places up there a phone call won't come through. I don't use a pager anymore and alot of times it wouldn't work either.
I thought about this and came up with a fairly cheap solution. In fact I have two solutions that I use depending on the situation. One that will work for the fartherist distance from the truck is a set of the FRS radios with VOX (voice operated transmit). The brand I have is Insignia. One reason I got them is the VOX will operate with the built in mike. Some radios have to have a headset/mike unit plugged in before the VOX will work, They will still do the job. Just put the mike close to the QC.
What I do is set both radios to the same channel and subchannel. Then turn the VOX on one radio and put it close to the QC. Since my hearing is not the best I use a cheap little ear bud on the other one and clip it to my belt. Now when the QC beeps you won't hear the beep but the beep will key the transmitter and you will hear it key up and then unkey. Kinda sounds like two "pops" in the earbud. If you use a CB you've heard this before. If I hear the two "pops" and shortly after two more I figure it's a load and the fuel surcharge. Three real close is load, Canada info and fuel surcharge. Either way I know to head for the truck and check it out.
Sometimes there will be someone else around with radios on the same channel you selected and you may have to change your channel. We like to walk for 30-40 minutes everyday and in bad weather we try to find a mall to walk in. We've found this has plenty of range to work in any mall we have tried it in.
Now since we are in a van we can get pretty close to most restaurants. For that I bought a Radio Shack wireless intercom(cat.# 43-3102) system. It's kinda like a baby monitor. I set the one in the truck to monitor and that way I hear every little noise inside the van. I can even hear rain on the roof. It's easier to use than the radios because I can just set it on our table and hear the beep real well. I put rechargable batteries in ours and when they are in the van they are charging. Max range is about 900 ft so if your truck is in the back of the truck stop it probably won't reach the restaurant. If we park in a WalMart parking lot it will only reach about halfway back through the store. I also use these at home with one in truck and one in house.
Now most QCs are wired to the accessory side of the ignition switch and if you turn the switch off and take the keys with you the QC will go to "sleep" after about an hour. I wired mine to a double throw toggle switch with center off. In one position QC accessory circuit is same as installed and turns on and off with the ignition switch. Switch to center position and it turns the circuit off. Switch to other position and it connects the circuit direct to the aux battery and it will stay live. Just don't forget and leave it in this positon for a long time(8-10 hrs) or it will run the battery down.
Another little perk of these is that if anyone starts messing with your truck you will hear it.
Just another one of my "gadgets" LOL.
Dieseldoctor.
I thought about this and came up with a fairly cheap solution. In fact I have two solutions that I use depending on the situation. One that will work for the fartherist distance from the truck is a set of the FRS radios with VOX (voice operated transmit). The brand I have is Insignia. One reason I got them is the VOX will operate with the built in mike. Some radios have to have a headset/mike unit plugged in before the VOX will work, They will still do the job. Just put the mike close to the QC.
What I do is set both radios to the same channel and subchannel. Then turn the VOX on one radio and put it close to the QC. Since my hearing is not the best I use a cheap little ear bud on the other one and clip it to my belt. Now when the QC beeps you won't hear the beep but the beep will key the transmitter and you will hear it key up and then unkey. Kinda sounds like two "pops" in the earbud. If you use a CB you've heard this before. If I hear the two "pops" and shortly after two more I figure it's a load and the fuel surcharge. Three real close is load, Canada info and fuel surcharge. Either way I know to head for the truck and check it out.
Sometimes there will be someone else around with radios on the same channel you selected and you may have to change your channel. We like to walk for 30-40 minutes everyday and in bad weather we try to find a mall to walk in. We've found this has plenty of range to work in any mall we have tried it in.
Now since we are in a van we can get pretty close to most restaurants. For that I bought a Radio Shack wireless intercom(cat.# 43-3102) system. It's kinda like a baby monitor. I set the one in the truck to monitor and that way I hear every little noise inside the van. I can even hear rain on the roof. It's easier to use than the radios because I can just set it on our table and hear the beep real well. I put rechargable batteries in ours and when they are in the van they are charging. Max range is about 900 ft so if your truck is in the back of the truck stop it probably won't reach the restaurant. If we park in a WalMart parking lot it will only reach about halfway back through the store. I also use these at home with one in truck and one in house.
Now most QCs are wired to the accessory side of the ignition switch and if you turn the switch off and take the keys with you the QC will go to "sleep" after about an hour. I wired mine to a double throw toggle switch with center off. In one position QC accessory circuit is same as installed and turns on and off with the ignition switch. Switch to center position and it turns the circuit off. Switch to other position and it connects the circuit direct to the aux battery and it will stay live. Just don't forget and leave it in this positon for a long time(8-10 hrs) or it will run the battery down.
Another little perk of these is that if anyone starts messing with your truck you will hear it.
Just another one of my "gadgets" LOL.
Dieseldoctor.
