The Ref Stop

Communications system

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I would invest in a comms system if I could afford it! better communication is possible and really they do what buzzer flags do..... When you put your flag up for offside, you say 'offside' instead of pressing the button. Better all-round communication (is in the name!). I'm not at a level where they would be beneficial though so I would buy, and have looked at but I only ever use CARs at the moment (NARs on rare occasions ie tournaments), buzzer flags.
 
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The Ref Stop
DB said:
These comm kits you speak about are the ones marketed as "referee communications systems" - a fancy name for radios (transmitters and receivers). You can get good radio systems (essentially Walkie talkies) for much less than these "professional" sets. A communications system is made up of a few basic components... Receiver: A transducer to pick up the baseband (microphone picking up your voice), a synthesiser (to create a high frequency carrier wave (to carry the base and signal), an Audio Frequency amplifier and a Power amplifier (to get the distance).... then it needs an antenna. A transmitter is pretty much the same except you use an oscillator to remove the carrier wave, so you are left with a baseband signal for an earpiece. Sounds complicated but it's really not. You can pick up a good PTT radio system for a few hundred quid. They are just compact walkie talkies. Because big company's put there brand on it, that makes them more expensive. A plain fruit of the loom t shirt with no logo could cost you £5. The same t shirt with a Nike tick would cost £30.

I completely get what your saying and again I reiterate I'm simply researching a product :)
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The reason I mentioned it is I've used both ranges of the spectrum. One the line for a local league game where the ref had some fairly cheap set-up, like you say compact walkie talkies like you could buy at Maplin. The quality was very poor, there was a huge amount of background noise (including the referee's whistle), and it generally wasn't that good an experience.

Then I was lucky enough to use the top of the range system and it really was streets apart. Most of the background noise was filtered out, including the whistle, and all you could really hear was the referee and other assistant's voices. Although given one team was Norwegian and the other Danish, and the refereeing team were a combination of Norwegian, German and English I can't say that I got a lot of benefit out of it as I couldn't understand 99% of what was said.
 
Hi Guys,
Just been researching comms kits, and I've found a set for less than £200 and I am contemplating purchasing them!
I am 7, going to 6 next season, which would mean I would referee the lower leagues at Supply level, with NAR's, but like several other people have mentioned, I would rather have comms than buzzers every day of the week.

Comments appreciated!
 
A wise owl of a ref once told me to concentrate on getting the refereeing spot on before adding buzzing flags and communication systems. The ability to chat with lines isn't going to help if you can't handle what's going on in the middle in the first place.
 
Bradley Totney said:
Hi Guys,
Just been researching comms kits, and I've found a set for less than £200 and I am contemplating purchasing them!
I am 7, going to 6 next season, which would mean I would referee the lower leagues at Supply level, with NAR's, but like several other people have mentioned, I would rather have comms than buzzers every day of the week.

Comments appreciated!
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If you can afford it, and feel they'll really add to your game go for it. But remember, for £200 you're not getting anything like the kit they use in the football league.

You'll get plenty of strange looks from your ARs, players and probably observers and really, how many games will you actually use them on?

I'm a level 4 and cope fine without buzzers however.
 
Bradley Totney said:
Hi Guys,
Just been researching comms kits, and I've found a set for less than £200 and I am contemplating purchasing them!
I am 7, going to 6 next season, which would mean I would referee the lower leagues at Supply level, with NAR's, but like several other people have mentioned, I would rather have comms than buzzers every day of the week.

Comments appreciated!
Click to expand...
Buy an XBox or PS4 instead, you'll get more use out of them.

For hygiene purposes you should be allowing multiple users of your kit. At your level you may not have many opportunities to use the kit. Also as Elliott says above, you'll get a lot of strange looks.

Only time I have seen comma used outside pro game is when Level 1 used them for a County Final
 
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As Brian has said, save your money and use it for something else. A level 7 or 6 using comms system is frankly ridiculous and has a number of issues ...
  • They aren't sanctioned for use below the National League Premier, so you could land yourself in hot water
  • Colleagues won't know how to use them properly, when they were recently given out to National League referees there was an extensive training session on how to use them properly
  • Some colleagues will refuse to use it on the grounds that it isn't sanctioned
  • Some colleagues will refuse to use it on hygiene grounds. I'm not sure I'd want something going in my ear that has already been in 20 other assistant's ears. Remember that PL and FL referees and assistants keep their own ear tips that are specially moulded for them.
  • Players will take the p!ss relentlessly. They won't be used to seeing them so it will be a novelty, so prepare for comments like "I'll have a big mac please ref" or "f**k me, one direction have let themselves go a bit"
  • Some older school observers won't like it one bit. There are some that mark down, even as high as at level 4, when referees use buzzer flags, so the concept of comms kit is going to send them into meltdown. They shouldn't mark down for it, and they won't write down that they marked you down for it, but that doesn't mean they won't.
 
RustyRef said:
  • Some older school observers won't like it one bit. There are some that mark down, even as high as at level 4, when referees use buzzer flags, so the concept of comms kit is going to send them into meltdown. They shouldn't mark down for it, and they won't write down that they marked you down for it, but that doesn't mean they won't.
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This is so true. I remember one old school person telling how he hadn't liked the fact that the amount of white showing at the top of the ARs socks as it was uneven around the leg and when comparing both legs. It apparently detracted from his professionalism (at L3).
 
RustyRef said:
As Brian has said, save your money and use it for something else. A level 7 or 6 using comms system is frankly ridiculous and has a number of issues ...
  • They aren't sanctioned for use below the National League Premier, so you could land yourself in hot water
  • Colleagues won't know how to use them properly, when they were recently given out to National League referees there was an extensive training session on how to use them properly
  • Some colleagues will refuse to use it on the grounds that it isn't sanctioned
  • Some colleagues will refuse to use it on hygiene grounds. I'm not sure I'd want something going in my ear that has already been in 20 other assistant's ears. Remember that PL and FL referees and assistants keep their own ear tips that are specially moulded for them.
  • Players will take the p!ss relentlessly. They won't be used to seeing them so it will be a novelty, so prepare for comments like "I'll have a big mac please ref" or "f**k me, one direction have let themselves go a bit"
  • Some older school observers won't like it one bit. There are some that mark down, even as high as at level 4, when referees use buzzer flags, so the concept of comms kit is going to send them into meltdown. They shouldn't mark down for it, and they won't write down that they marked you down for it, but that doesn't mean they won't.
Click to expand...
There's no information that I can find that forbids using headsets.. If you have the information, I'll gladly give it a read
 
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