basilr Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 Right now, I have my Sirius/XM satellite radio sending an FM frequence to the BMW radio. I listen to it through the bike speakers. I don't have any helmet speakers but do use dedicated earplugs when riding. I will be mounting a Zumo 660 GPS soon and figured if there was some sort of helmet mounted FM/speaker arrangement out there, I could tune it to the sat radio frequence for music and still hear the GPS instructions as needed. I don't know how practical it would be as far as volume setting, muting or frequency changing, but you never know. Perhaps others have something like this and could pass on their knowledge. Thanks. Link to comment
Downs Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 Does the 660 do FM? Personally I'd do a SENA SMH10 with a SR10 bluetooth hub for the sat radio. http://www.senabluetooth.com/ Link to comment
basilr Posted September 16, 2012 Author Share Posted September 16, 2012 I don't think the Zumo does FM. My wife has the Sena bluetooth, so that may let us do a bike to bike, but if I could get an FM reception in the helmet, that would be all the better. Link to comment
hopz Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 Zumo does not do FM... My solution to your questions was/is a full Autocomm system... wires, not bluetooth. My wife and I have speakers in the helmets and microphones. The autocomm unit manages the various priorities... we have intercomm, GPS Navigation prompts, The Audio on the GPS (tunes) if we want it... the Telephone bluetooths to the GPS to the helmets (that is send and receive full telephone, with all the phone book etc), I have a small AM/FM/Weather band radio that connects to the Autocomm as well... If I choose to plug in the mp3 player from my iPod it replaces the radio. I have full FRS radio for bike to bike... with push-to-tak button on the handlebar. Love the set-up but understand that some guys would rather do bluetooth. I started with Bluetooth myself but did not find the quality acceptable. Things have gotten better in more recent models. You are going to want speakers and microphones in the helmet no matter what... Link to comment
TrickLidz Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 I'm with Hopz on this...BUT...these things are getting harder to find and maintain. I'd still like to know how to get the audio from the phone to work though. Link to comment
basilr Posted September 18, 2012 Author Share Posted September 18, 2012 It looks like the Scala Q2 Pro does everything I need it for, so if anyone has one, please let me know what you think about it. Link to comment
hopz Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 Tricklids... Do you have a Zumo GPS? If so, do you have it paired to the phone? If it will pair to the phone it will allow you to send/receive calls via the zumo. basilr... wish you well on the Scala. My unit could not produce enough volume to be useful at highway speeds. Your mileage May Vary.... Link to comment
Downs Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 Tricklids... Do you have a Zumo GPS? If so, do you have it paired to the phone? If it will pair to the phone it will allow you to send/receive calls via the zumo. basilr... wish you well on the Scala. My unit could not produce enough volume to be useful at highway speeds. Your mileage May Vary.... I had the same issue with the Scala unit I had. I switched to SENA and it was more than adequate. Link to comment
basilr Posted September 19, 2012 Author Share Posted September 19, 2012 Thanks for that information. Unfortunately, Sena doesn't appear to make a unit with a built-in FM. Maybe they will with their next generation of products. Link to comment
hopz Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 FM? Part of the best solution depends on what you want and why. FM is pretty good for some things but lousy for others. It is a line-of-sight signal so if you ride in mountains you may be spending a lot of time and energy looking for a station that works... music or talk radio or ? You did not say what kind of GPS you have... if it is a zumo then you can easily add XM radio. Gives great signal almost anywhere, and you can easily change channels with gloves on. If its music you want, get the memory card for the zumo and you can have over 1,000 tunes right there. Ever actually had the Scala unit mounted on the side of your helmet and tried to change channels with your gloves on at 75 miles per hour? You might want to find someone who is actually using the thing. Truth is... I was on Harleys when I got the Scala. Not too bad unit for putting around town at city speeds and using the intercomm to/from my passenger. Useless on the highway. Just my personal opinions and experience. Link to comment
basilr Posted September 19, 2012 Author Share Posted September 19, 2012 Thanks so much for this info, hopz. The reason I wanted FM is so that my Sirius satellite radio, (which goes from house to car to bike) has something to send its info to. But what it needs, of course, is an FM frequency that is not being used by a local station. As long as the selected and changeable frequency are the set the same on both the sat radio and the BMW radio, I get the satellite broadcast. Of course, right now, it comes through the bike speakers. If I had an FM in a headset, the signal would go to it. If the Zumo 660 can be set up to receive FM radio, then I would be fine with a SENA. If Zumo has a different method then that is something to look into. Going fishing for 4 to 5 days, but thank you all for the great information. Link to comment
hopz Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 zumo 660 will not receive FM directly. It will connect to an XM Antenna... (cable to the antenna puck.) You can then get the audio out of the zumo either by cable to the radio/speakers or via Bluetooth to a receiver such as in a helmet... if the helmet B/T pairs with the zumo. Link to comment
TrickLidz Posted September 21, 2012 Share Posted September 21, 2012 hopz, my zumo 550 pairs fine with my Iphone and I can get incoming calls, but I can't send audio out to the phone through the Autocom!! Link to comment
John Bentall Posted September 21, 2012 Share Posted September 21, 2012 hopz, my zumo 550 pairs fine with my Iphone and I can get incoming calls, but I can't send audio out to the phone through the Autocom!! This depends on what Autocom unit you have and what cables and interfaces are used to interface the Zumo 500 and Autocom. Only the current generation of Autocom units have been designed to integrate EASILY with stereo GPRS units. All previous generations require multiple cables or workarounds to obtain full GPRS, Cellphone and Stereo music. Reply #5 in this old thread http://www.bmwlt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35815 gives an example of the discussions that were had at the time. Link to comment
basilr Posted September 27, 2012 Author Share Posted September 27, 2012 To go at this from a different direction, does anyone know how to get the BMW radio (the one on a 05RT) sound out to speakers in a helmet? I know there are only two ways, wired or wireless, but perhaps knowing how to do it a wired way may lead to how to do it the wireless way. Link to comment
John Bentall Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 Radio only is easy. My solution, used by many, is to use an Autocom unit with cable #2275 that connects into the speaker wiring. Others have gone even further by removing the radio and tapping into the Front/rear fader connections at the rear of the unit. If you want to go wireless to the helmet then buy an Autocom Wire3A (there is one for sale in the classifieds). The Autocom will connect into most brands of BT headset. Link to comment
basilr Posted September 28, 2012 Author Share Posted September 28, 2012 Thanks, John. And thanks again to the others on this thread that have provided information. I hope others have benefitted. Link to comment
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