just purchased SMH10

[randy]

Today I received my SMH10 from Rocket MOTO. what a great company.

 

Have not even used this product yet, but a few observations

 

design, why in the heck would you put the USB on the "top" of the main unit. Off the bike location is not important, but once I plugged it into the holder on my helmet the USB is right on top IN THE RAIN. I am no engineer but plenty of room on the bottom of unit for the USB port, just seem logical to me.

 

I purchased the Ear PLug holder (have not even looked at the standard holders) and the mic wire comes out the back. Once again I am no engineer, and there maybe a reason for this, but the wire is in the back of the unit. So basically you have to make a 180 degree turn of the wire to take it back to the chin bar. Seems unecessary strain on an integral part of the unit.

 

 

Once the helmet is on, it is not even noticed. But just happens that right were I put my hands to pull down on the helmet I have the unit. I am going to practice changing my hands location, or moving the unit or a combination of both.

 

I may change my mind, but it seems a dual kit is overkill. I think just a single kit with all the wires, and charges etc. is more than enough, if it is rider/passenger set up. Just buy a single user kit, then just the holder and main unit for the passenger, it may save you a few bucks. However the kits are discounted so much it maynot make senss, but check out the pricing.

 

really looking forward to reading the owners manual and using this between now and BRR. Hope there are some other SMH users at BRR so we can check out the new three way group discussion feature. Rumor has it that update is ready sometime in Feb.

[randy]

Forgot to mention primary reason for buying was to use when riding off road with my son and maybe eventually for training. If this works well I am hoping I can ride with some more experienced riders and they can help me my communicating with me as I am riding off road. Otherwise I do plan on using it to sync with my Garmin 665 for the xm radio and guidance instructions. No current plan for phone use. I am hoping with just other rider sync and GPS sync my set up wiill be easy.

[KDeline]

Ours worked right out of the box, but we only use them to talk to each other. My phone at the time drained the battery (Phone battery) in a few hours using blue tooth that I just stopped trying it. We got different phones, I should try it again. My GPS is so old it does not have blue tooth. I use my MP3 player with ear buds so again I don't use the SENA for that either. So I pretty much don't use any of it's other options. Jeeze, wonder why I have the thing.......Still to old school I guess. Keith (OoPEZoO) has very good results with his, and he uses it the way it should be.

[Rougarou]

KD, why don't you just plug your MP3 player into the Sena's, it works pretty darn good.

[texasaggie97]

Does anyone know of a blue tooth headset the will let you plug in your owe headphones? I have custom headphones and I would prefer to my ear phones than the ones that you instal into the helmet.

[marcopolo]

Does anyone know of a blue tooth headset the will let you plug in your owe headphones? I have custom headphones and I would prefer to my ear phones than the ones that you instal into the helmet.

 

Yes, the Sena allows that -- if you buy the optional helmet clamp designed for that purpose. I have it and it works well.

[randy]

I also purchased the ear plug helmet clamp, in fact I bought three of them. Wife's helmet, my street helmet and my dirt bike helmet. At 32.00 each i felt it was cheap enough to eliminate the moving. Plus I am selling my two helmet clamps that came with the dual kit for 30.00 shipped each so I will get back most of my money. I have the clamp on the helmet, but did not have time to read the instructions to mate the GPS to the unit last night. Will try to do so tonight.

[randy]

this mornign I mated the Garmin 665 to the Sena unit on my street helmet.

 

I use stereo ear plugs so volume for me is great. Onee benefit, that was not planned, use to be when I was hard connected to the GPS and needed to listen to someone Ihad to go into the mute on the GPS, now I just "dial" down the volume on the sena main unit, really like that.

 

for me with stereo plugs, no real time savings to getting on the bike, I still have to inset plugs, but for people using helmet speakers it does eliminate the pluging in.

 

the syncing to the gps was straight forward and they recongnized each other right away. I turned everyhting off for an hour and came back and they synced up again with no change.

 

do not have anyone to test out the other unit for bike to bike yet, so going to do that next.

 

assuming I get similar range as my old kenwood GMRS radio set up I will like not having that extra item on my bike. so just for that it is worth the upgrade for me.

[Rocer]

Randy, are you saying that you used your Kenwood GMRS as a stand alone unit? If so I presume a push to talk button on the handle bars wired to unit and a wire from the unit to a set of speakers/boom mike in your helmet. I'd appreciate hearing back from you on range comparisons between the GMRS unit and the Sena unit once you're able to compare them.

[randy]

I used my kenwood with my autocomm set up. It was nice, just a extra set of wires and on long weekends another charger to carry. I did have the kenwood running into a push to talk autocomm button.

 

Today I set the sena unit to VOX, and did some testing off the bike. Both units were hand held for this test, and we were off the bike and walking around the neighborhood. We were about 1/8 mile apart with a full three story house between us. there was some static but we could understand each other. As we moved about 1/8 mile apart but in line sight the clarity was great.

 

Very much looking for on bike testing next weekend. In the meantime will be using the sena to commute each day this week and listen to XM on my garmin 665.

 

so far very happy with the product and used autocomm should be posted soon.

[randy]

some unexpected "features" of bluetooth. on my second day of commuting I have noticed two features. first now that I am not "plugged" in, when I turn on my XM and then go into the house to get my computer bag, I am listening to XM. I hit me (i know I am slow) but so long as I am reasonably close to the bike I do not have to "unplug" from my XM. So no long missing the punchline to a joke, or that one last comment on talk radio. Also when stoping and filling up or maybe waiting on side of road, I can still communicate with other riders without yelling out my helmet

 

So two features of the new bluetooth technology I had not expected that I really like. Now I just need to get out riding this weekend and test the actual intercomm between bikes as they are moving down the road.

[jaytee]

The Sena mics have shockingly good noise cancelation although they do require that you speak loudly and directly into the mic with your mouth nearly touching it. I think you will be pleased!

 

I def like the Sena best of the bunch for spot-on ergos and technogy that just plain works.

 

JT

[OoPEZoO]

On that note Randy, one of the things we really liked about the Sena units was the ability to chat freely while off the bike at gas stops and such. Before, it was always a chore because I wore foam ear plugs. When Danielle would want to talk to me, she would have to pretty much tap me on the shoulder to get my attention, and then yell at me through our helmets. Not now. There have been times that she will even walk into the store to get something to drink while I am gassing up the bike and we carry on a conversation the whole time.

 

If you ever decide to pair it with your phone......its great to be able to answer phone calls with your helmet on. I very rarely answer calls while I am riding, but I can't tell you how many times my phone rings when I'm standing there in full gear and my phone is buried in one of my pockets.

 

Just remember to disable the intercom function when you head in to take a leak.....no one wants to hear that

[randy]

that is what I am also finding out. Maybe I just missed it in my searches, but I never really noticed people talking about those features. However I am finding the ability to talk and listen off the bike a great feature. also the (not tested yet) but if I could walk into a convience store and then intercom back to my passenger "hey they do not have XXX would YYY work" that would be a nice time saver. So far nothing tested with other riders but I hope to do that this weekend.

 

one final note, first day of commuting, full battery, I left home at 7am listen to xm for the hour commute, took helmet off and forgot to turn off the smh10 all day. then put helmet on and listened to xm on commute home. about 1 hour for both commutes. unit was still 1/2 charged. so with no talking or xm, battery life is well into 14 hour range.

[marcopolo]

... if I could walk into a convience store and then intercom back to my passenger "hey they do not have XXX would YYY work" that would be a nice time saver. So far nothing tested with other riders but I hope to do that this weekend.

 

 

Got a dual pack last year and you can most certainly do what you describe above, i.e., talk to your passenger while she's in the convenience store and you're outside pumping gas. Works like a charm. We use the Senas in place of our Autocom. After one riding season I'd summarize our experience as: the Sena's convenience trumps the Autocom's better audio quality. Guess it depends on what's more important to you. BTW, I use earbuds (having bought the optional helmet clamp that permits this). My wife uses the stock speakers, but then again she will not wear earplugs. We've found the VOX on/off function on the Sena to be virtually useless and we just turn them on/off by tapping the jog dial. Battery life is good (we've never had them run down, even with them on constantly for much of the day). Our units do not hav ethe USB plug for software upgrades, so perhaps the VOX has improved on the newer version; I don't know.

[randy]

i have not figured out how to talk to another unit yet. I have to read the instructions. Generally on my autocomm I preferred/used the push to talk button and found that superior to vox. It will be interesting to see how the sena works.

 

I do have the latest (just purchased last week) smh10 unit. I upgraded the unit to software version 3.3 before I installed on my helmet or linked to the gps. so I am on the latest hardware and latest software version.

 

[OoPEZoO]

... if I could walk into a convience store and then intercom back to my passenger "hey they do not have XXX would YYY work" that would be a nice time saver. So far nothing tested with other riders but I hope to do that this weekend.

 

 

Got a dual pack last year and you can most certainly do what you describe above, i.e., talk to your passenger while she's in the convenience store and you're outside pumping gas. Works like a charm. We use the Senas in place of our Autocom. After one riding season I'd summarize our experience as: the Sena's convenience trumps the Autocom's better audio quality. Guess it depends on what's more important to you. BTW, I use earbuds (having bought the optional helmet clamp that permits this). My wife uses the stock speakers, but then again she will not wear earplugs. We've found the VOX on/off function on the Sena to be virtually useless and we just turn them on/off by tapping the jog dial. Battery life is good (we've never had them run down, even with them on constantly for much of the day). Our units do not hav ethe USB plug for software upgrades, so perhaps the VOX has improved on the newer version; I don't know.

 

+1 on all counts.

 

Randy......using custom ear buds, I streamed constant bluetooth music w/ the occational switch to intercom mode for our ride home from the UNrally this summer. We were booking it up I81, but that was over 600 miles of constant use without a recharge. Before I started using the ear bud setup, I would kill it in about 7 hours or so. I'm guessing the shorter run time was due to cranking the volume to 100% for hours on end to overpower my cheap foam earplugs. Ever since I switched over to the custom ear buds, I haven't killed it in a day of riding yet. I even did a 3 day camping weekend on one charge. These things impress me more and more as time goes on.

[OoPEZoO]

i have not figured out how to talk to another unit yet. I have to read the instructions. Generally on my autocomm I preferred/used the push to talk button and found that superior to vox. It will be interesting to see how the sena works.

 

I do have the latest (just purchased last week) smh10 unit. I upgraded the unit to software version 3.3 before I installed on my helmet or linked to the gps. so I am on the latest hardware and latest software version.

 

You pair the units together, then just reach up and tap the big jog button. Wait about 1/2 a second and you will hear the unit switch over to intercom mode. Say what you want to say, and tap the button again to switch back. I also don't use the VOX. I played with it on previous intercoms and always prefered the PTT, so I haven't explored it on the SENA. From my research, its pretty useless at highway speed anyway.

[randy]

ok, I must be remembering the manual wrong, but I thought single taps were to "change" the receipent connected unit. i.e. 1 tap is rider 1, 2 taps rider 2 etc

 

Before this weekend I will have to go read the manual in more detail now.

[cruisin]

OK, I must be way behind on technology lingo. I see this thread and one in classified talking about an SMH. What the heck is an SMH? Confused old fart wants to know.

[BULLman]

OK, I must be way behind on technology lingo. I see this thread and one in classified talking about an SMH. What the heck is an SMH? Confused old fart wants to know.

 

http://www.senabluetooth.com/

[cruisin]

OK, it's a model number of a bluetooth headset? correct?

[marcopolo]

OK, it a model number of a bluetooth headset? correct?

 

Yes, the SMH-10, made by the company Sena.

[cruisin]

thank you.

[OoPEZoO]

ok, I must be remembering the manual wrong, but I thought single taps were to "change" the receipent connected unit. i.e. 1 tap is rider 1, 2 taps rider 2 etc

 

Before this weekend I will have to go read the manual in more detail now.

 

You are correct, but when you are only paired with one other headset the single tap just activates/deactivates the intercom connection between the two headsets. In my case, I'm streaming music from my iPhone.......tap the button once and it goes into intercom mode so I can talk to Danielle. When we are done with the conversation, I tap it again and it switches back over to music.

 

I don't have any experience with multiple pairings yet. I'm curious to see how I would get back to my music after finishing a conversation with the 2nd or 3rd paired headset. One, two, or three taps to leave your music and start a conversation, but it makes me wonder about swapping between paired headsets directly, or do I have to go back to the music before I can choose another rider to converse with? I would assume tapping the jog button once should take me back to music regardless of who I was talking to, but it makes me wonder if tapping it once would instead take me to the 1rst paired headset?

[Rougarou]

When you have multiple paired headsets, getting back to the music is the same. The tap for the 3rd rider, tap, tap, tap, then you talk, then tap again and you are back to music. The Sena doesn't continue on with the sequence of taps through all the riders once your conversation is complete. You can tap, tap, talk to rider two, then tap and back to music.

 

Remember, last headset synced, is the first tap. My neighbor and I have two sets each (wives included) and we had a good little time getting the things in the right order that we wanted. I wanted one tap for my wife, second for my buddy, and third for his wife. We had fun with them until we finally got them all where we wanted.

[OoPEZoO]

Its a shame they can't reverse that order. Seems really counter inntuative.

 

Since you have experience......can you switch directly from one rider to another, or do you have to go from rider 2, back to the music, and then triple tap to rider 3?

[w2ge]

Just an FYI, Sena is talking about a 4.0 Firmware update coming up soon to allow 4 way conversation. Right now they are at 3.3v firmware. Which allows 3 way conversation without toggling, ala Scala.(Possibly mid February for v4 firmware)

 

I have the SMH10 dual set and love it. iPhone paired to Zumo 660 to my SMH10.. can receive phone calls, listen to MP3 via 660, GPS voice commands, wife on back w/ intercom.. and multi person rides.. can chat the "boring stretches away".. Cept' I hate when someone starts to sing! ;-)

[Rougarou]

Its a shame they can't reverse that order. Seems really counter inntuative.

 

Since you have experience......can you switch directly from one rider to another, or do you have to go from rider 2, back to the music, and then triple tap to rider 3?

 

Yes, you have to go back to music, tap, tap, tap to get to the third rider.

 

Right now, although I haven't tried it, the firmware is supposed to allow 3-way conversation. If 4-way is coming up like Phil stated, that would be perfect for my neighbor and I and our wives.

[OoPEZoO]

Firmware upgrading won't work for me. I have the older style units that don't allow firmware upgrades. I thought about trading them in for the newer style, but the added cost wasn't worth it to me at the time. I ride with a group maybe once or twice a year at most, and so far none of those people have a Sena.

[Rougarou]

Firmware upgrading won't work for me. I have the older style units that don't allow firmware upgrades. I thought about trading them in for the newer style, but the added cost wasn't worth it to me at the time. I ride with a group maybe once or twice a year at most, and so far none of those people have a Sena.

 

The warranty is for two years, if there is the slightest complaint, send them a request and I'd bet bottom dollar that you'd get the newer model.

 

 

[Foot]

Can anyone tell me how the units work for bike to bike. Deb and I are using the autocom with kenwood TK 3131's. Both are set up on VOX and work reasonably well. The setup requires you say something like Hey then finish the statement. The first word almost always gets dropped. I am curious does the Sena do the same thing. Also is the communication between the unit duplex or simplex like the autocom/kenwood set up.

 

Alan

[OoPEZoO]

Can anyone tell me how the units work for bike to bike. Deb and I are using the autocom with kenwood TK 3131's. Both are set up on VOX and work reasonably well. The setup requires you say something like Hey then finish the statement. The first word almost always gets dropped. I am curious does the Sena do the same thing. Also is the communication between the unit duplex or simplex like the autocom/kenwood set up.

 

Alan

 

We haven't messed with the VOX feature. Every report I read about it said that it was too sensitive at highway speed, so I never bothered to tried it. I have always prefered PTT.

 

The communication is Duplex, it is just like talking on the telephone.

 

Ken (KDeline) and his wife Kate use them for B2B, and I believe are happy with them. Might want to drop him a PM

[Rougarou]

We use them B2B as well and the sound is great. Never used the VOX and don't really intend to as it is no issue to reach up and tap the big knob to speak. I have spoken to my neighbor for as far as I could see him in open terrain with no issues.

[marcopolo]

Firmware upgrading won't work for me. I have the older style units that don't allow firmware upgrades. I thought about trading them in for the newer style, but the added cost wasn't worth it to me at the time. I ride with a group maybe once or twice a year at most, and so far none of those people have a Sena.

 

The warranty is for two years, if there is the slightest complaint, send them a request and I'd bet bottom dollar that you'd get the newer model.

 

 

Sena already went down that road last summer. They offered a "trade-up" exchange program through which then current owners could send them the original main module and get the newer version for $50. I considered it, but having just bought mine, I didn't opt for it. I also didn't want to get caught without an intercom for our ride to/from the UnRally.

[KDeline]

Can anyone tell me how the units work for bike to bike. Deb and I are using the autocom with kenwood TK 3131's. Both are set up on VOX and work reasonably well. The setup requires you say something like Hey then finish the statement. The first word almost always gets dropped. I am curious does the Sena do the same thing. Also is the communication between the unit duplex or simplex like the autocom/kenwood set up.

 

Alan

 

We haven't messed with the VOX feature. Every report I read about it said that it was too sensitive at highway speed, so I never bothered to tried it. I have always prefered PTT.

 

The communication is Duplex, it is just like talking on the telephone.

 

Ken (KDeline) and his wife Kate use them for B2B, and I believe are happy with them. Might want to drop him a PM

 

 

Foot, you reach up, tap the large knob, it will connect in 2 to 4 seconds with a confirming tone, then you talk away, just like a phone. When you are done, tap the knob again to disconnect, with a confirming tone. The only thing that would be better is a quicker connect time. You see a pothole and may not be able to warn your partner. Line of sight range is maybe a quarter of a mile, less in the mountains. IMO these things are surpassing AutoCom by a wide margin. Less then a quarter of the price and not nickel and diming you (more like $75 for each wire added) at every needed add on. I to am more impressed by this thing every time we use it. It just plain works out of the box, no spending weeks getting it dialed in, if you ever can.

[OoPEZoO]

The only thing that would be better is a quicker connect time. You see a pothole and may not be able to warn your partner.

 

Agreed. That is my only real nit pick. There have been times where I want to point something out to my wife while riding 2-up. By the time I hit the button and it connects, we have already blown by what I wanted her to see.

 

"Hey, did you see the deer?"......."Huh? What? I was asleep."......"Nevermind."

 

This is solved by leaving the intercom feature active all the time......which we do sometimes, but there are times I want silence or to jam out to some tunes.

 

For us, the pros still heavily outweigh the cons.

[Chris K]

Keith - Does leaving the intercom active allow both of you to listen to the same music source?

[Rougarou]

Keith - Does leaving the intercom active allow both of you to listen to the same music source?

 

Nope, what you need to do is use the Sena's external jack, and a dual headphone adapter. I have the wife control the music as we ride and we're listening to the same stuff. When I want to chat or she wants to chat, we tap in.

[randy]

i have not tested it yet, but I am assuming if you have a bluetooth GPS i.e. my Garmin 665, then the rider and passenger will both be listening to the same music. It is only with a non blue tooth device that you need the external connection and splitter. but I have not actually hooked up both of my helemts yet and tried the 665 out with both helmets.

[OoPEZoO]

i have not tested it yet, but I am assuming if you have a bluetooth GPS i.e. my Garmin 665, then the rider and passenger will both be listening to the same music. It is only with a non blue tooth device that you need the external connection and splitter. but I have not actually hooked up both of my helemts yet and tried the 665 out with both helmets.

 

I don't think that will work. As far as I know, Garmins only have one bluetooth transmitter. I don't think it would allow you to pair the Garmin with two separate headsets. That would require two bluetooth channels, priority setting, and introduce a whole bunch more problems that I'm sure I haven't mentioned.

 

The way we have ours set up is. I pair my headset with my iPhone 3Gs. Danielle pairs her headset with her iPhone 4. And the two headsets are paired together. I listen to my music and use my phone exclusively, she listens to her music and uses her phone exclusively, and then we can chat back and forth via the intercom function.

 

She sits on the back of the bike scrolling through her phonebook calling people on every ride. I know when she is on a call because when I try and tap over to the intercom I get a "failed to connect" tone. Like it was mentioned above, I believe the only way to share any sort of audio source would be to use a headphone splitter and plug wires into the AUX input on the headsets.

[randy]

thanks, good update. I guess I did not realize the gps would need "dual channel" functionality. I was just thinking it would send via bluetooth and the headset would pick it up. Did not think about the need to actually pair both units.

[KDeline]

 

"Hey, did you see the deer?"......."Huh? What? I was asleep."......"Nevermind."

 

 

 

For us, the pros still heavily outweigh the cons.

 

You've heard our conversations......? That is unfortunately a big con, but to me the only one. Compaired to the AutoCom with all of its quirks, and that huge price tag, the SENA is fairly cheap, small, and literally Plug and Play. We even had a problem with one unit after three months, sent it back and got a brand new one, no questions asked.

[OoPEZoO]

The price was why I made my initial gamble. My headsets for my J&M system were pretty much all toast. The complete dual Sena setup was cheaper than replacing just the headsets on that system. After realizing I could buy several "inexpensive" clamps for multiple helmets, and could replace the modules independently from the rest of the system if something went wrong, it was a done deal.

[Rocer]

I'm not sure that I've seen any comments on Sena's performance with open helmets. My riding partner wears what I believe is called a 3/4 helmet. Is there any point in considering a Sena in this application?

[mwood7800]

I have one on a half shell divida, works great, throw the speakers and get the earbud adapter

[KDeline]

I'm not sure that I've seen any comments on Sena's performance with open helmets. My riding partner wears what I believe is called a 3/4 helmet. Is there any point in considering a Sena in this application?

 

You will hear wind noise, when my wife has her chinbar up I can hear the wind so I disconnect or she closes the helmut.

[johnlt]

come on Randy, give us the report from the weekend on B2B performance.

[Autocom Matt]

Apples and oranges. The Sena headset works very well for connecting to one device. I'm excited for there 4.0 firmware coming out, it will handle 2 HSP connections. Unfortunately, you still can't listen to music through Garmin and hear radar detector, but it's a move in the right direction.

 

Autocom quirks are the responsibility of the installing dealer... buy local and you don't have to worry.

[randy]

I have now been commuting for about 3 weeks.

 

items one, I upgraded both units to latest software. the update was straightforward and both units gave update succesful response

 

with a little bit of reading, and some great you tube video I was able to connect both units to the Garmin 665 and to each other

 

I am using the additional mount for ear plug use.

 

I find if I do not shut off the garmin first it seems I need to reconnect the sena to the garmin the next time. If I shut off the Garmin first and then the sena next "connection" is made automoatically on next start up.

 

no test with another rider yet. Both weekend dual sport rides have had to be cancelled.

 

currently I find as a single rider commuting to and from work no real advantage over my autocomm. however with that said I really like the volume control on the sena. I set my Garmin 665 to 100% volume and use the knob on the sena to "dial in" the sound level. I know it seems like a little thing, but I would recommned/buy the unit just for that. trying to turn down the volume prior to the sena was a pain.

 

I have no radar dector or other device (i.e phone etc) to hook up, so from that regard I find the sena great.