Squash Court Intercom

[ShawnR]

We have two enclosed squash courts, although they have viewing windows in back wall.

While reffing matches, it is sometimes necessary to communicate with the players. Up until now, we hold up fingers, point, make facial gestures...;-) and if necessary, open the door. The viewing glass is tempered so drilling holes in it is not an option.
I would be able to install an intercom but there is no power receptacle in the court, nor would you want wires. Not sure if one is nearby in hall way. Does anyone have any suggestions? I did find a very old Radio Shack wired model on ebay which may work. I also found another no name brand, location Hong Kong and no time on delivery so am hesitant to commit. With the radio shack model, I know the wire is a very small wire we could slip under door and we only need it while matches are being reffed. It would not remain there permanently. But this purchase could lead to 3 in total so I would like them to match. Has anyone done such a project? Any recommendations?

So I guess my biggest need is battery and cost effective without a gamble...

I thought I would throw it out there.

Thanks
Shawn

 

[ShawnR]

After I posted, I decided to gamble...We will see what happens and if it works OK, then I can order more.

**broken link removed**

Anyone familiar with this supplier or intercom?

 

[JimB]

Anyone familiar with this supplier or intercom?

I guess that it is just one of millions of no-name products which come out of China every day.
The probability of any one here having experience of that model is quite low.

While it will not be HiFi, it will probably be "fit for purpose".
Let us know how it works out.

Seeing the e-bay advert gave me a 40 year flash-back.
The company where I worked decided to re-locate the stores form the ground floor (where the workshop was located) to the second floor.
The management brains behind this move realised that this may be a bit of a pain for us mere technicians who needed stuff to repair things, so to ease our pain they installed an intercom so we could ask the stores if they had the part before we trudged up two floors to go and get it.

This was all well and good until one day I asked on the intercom about a part and received what seemed like a positive reply.
So, up I go with requisition pad in hand, only to be greeted in a gruff negative manner by the storeman who informed me that there were none in stock.
But you just told me "We have got one" I replied.
No said the store man, I said "We have got none"

So, beware of cheap intercom units!

JimB

 

[crutschow]

Why not use a pair of wireless walkie-talkies? They are relatively cheap.

 

[ShawnR]

I toyed with that one too but the players would need to be activating the button each time. The intercom is one way till the main station hits the button so the players just have to speak into the intercom, no interaction on their part. I think that activating a button would be more of a pain than just opening the door. The idea is to keep the flow of the game going as smoothly as possible.
Thanks for the input.
I like your tagline! Many times I have said, "Why did I start this?"

 

[ChrisP58]

Back when I was in the commercial audio business, we installed a lot of Aiphone intercom systems. There might be something on this page that would work for you.

**broken link removed**

Just remember that the unit in the court needs to stand up to being hit with a fast moving ball.

 

[ShawnR]

Thanks Chris. That is an interesting site. I like the LS-NVP as it could be permanently mounted and looks like it could withstand the occasional ball strike. Our local "distributor" was not much help (he just wants to sell stuff and could not even find that number...) so I have sent a note to Aiphone, summarizing my wants/needs and see if they respond. From their website, it looks like they really only want to deal with contractors.

I will report back.
Cheers,

 

[ShawnR]

I received the intercoms last week and tried them last night. The idea works fairly well but the product does need some "tuning" for this application. The ref needs to hold the intercom very close to his mouth to be heard in the court. This system uses the same speaker for the mic. I am wondering if I can somehow ad a mic or make the hallway unit (master unit) more sensitive. For $30, gives me something to work with.

I received pricing on an Aiphone system, as Chris suggested and it was over $250 per court. Still not bad as far as capital cost goes but still almost $600 to do 2 courts. I think the acoustics in a squash court make it a little harder for the players to discern what the ref is saying too.

 

[ShawnR]

I thought I would update this thread. I found two Aiphone (intercoms) LEM's locally (at a pawn shop, very inexpensive) and then found I needed a slightly different model LEA for the other half of the system. Maintenance at the club installed a receptacle outside the court for the AC adapter and ran wire into the court to the half of the system that stays there (protected in a wire cage). The intercom outside the court plugs into a 1/4" jack to connect it to the incourt unit, therefore, we can put the reffing unit away when not in use. The system seems to work quite well. Thank you ChrisP58 for pointing me to Aiphone. I lucked out with local availability of half and Amazon.com for other half so the whole system (actually, 2 complete systems, 2 courts) was done for ~$150.
Thanks, Cheers, Shawn

 

[ChrisP58]

I'm happy to know that it all worked out well for you.

 

[jamesmount]

Why not use a pair of wireless walkie-talkies? They are relatively cheap.

Hello crutschow ! i thing to fixed this problem we use cat5 wire instead of wireless wire.

 

[crutschow]

Hello crutschow ! i thing to fixed this problem we use cat5 wire instead of wireless wire.

Wireless wire is air (or a vacuum). You don't replace that with wire.

 

[jamesmount]

I mean to use wire. Ok And how wireless is cheaper ? Wireless have different problem like FM.

 

[jamesmount]

Hi Crutschow ! i know still your problem is not solve, so i suggest to solve your problem visit https://www.certifiedphonesolutions.com/Aiphone-Intercoms-s/1170.htm
i hope by the help of this site your problem will solved.

 

[jamesmount]

Hi Crutschow ! I hope your problem have solved by the help of this My link.

 

[crutschow]

Hi Crutschow ! I hope your problem have solved by the help of this My link.

It's not my problem, it's the OP's.