Sena Users...

ST Gui

240Robert
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My GW buddy and I have been using the Sena 20s units with great success. The learning curve is a little daunting but listening to music and communication are our two goals.

We want to include our ST buddy so I'm going to order another unit and pair it to ours.

But the instructions aren't all that helpful. So my main questions are— once the third Sena is paired how will this all work?

•With two Senas we have full duplex communication. Will that be the same with a third Sena? Full duplex conference calling?

•Once all three are configured will any two Senas communicate without any reconfiguring?

There'll only ever be the three of us using them so we hope to keep it simple.
 

Dave.David

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Can I piggyback off this post please. Anyone know the Sena system and the Cardo system? I just got the pack talk made by Cardo. If I were to ride up to St Gui and his buddy's, could I use maybe the Bluetooth to join in on the conversation?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk
 

Earl43P

Wrencher turned Rider
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8943
If they are like the 10's, yes. All three of you can talk and hear each other. Any of the 3 can disconnect at the touch of the button and enjoy your own tunes in solitude. Very versatile, but read the directions and practice before you ride. One group ride and you'll have it down (until you need retrained for the NEXT ride, if you're like me!)

The Sena will pair with many or all other brands, absolutely. It's one of their features.
 
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OhioDeere

Been There, Done That, Got the Shirt.
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I don't believe you can conference more than one other headset together at a time with the 10's ??? However. I've found that if there is one 20 in the group it will conference everyone together.
Any opinions??
 

rjs987

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I recall someone on this forum writing about how to do this. IIRC I think it was something about rider 1 pairing with riders 2 and 3, then either rider 2 OR 3 pairing with rider 4, etc. But not entirely sure about this. Hopefully that someone who posted before will see the thread and clarify.

And to add +1 to pairing with other brands, I've gone riding with my Sena smh5fm paired just fine with another rider using a Cardo Scala Q2 (old one). Not sure if the Cardo will conference in with the entire group or just the one with which they are paired.
 

mlheck

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The 10's require a daisy chain pairing where each additional intercom is added to the end of the chain. But if rider #2 drops out of the chain, then the chain falls apart. With the 20's one headset acts as command central and everybody can pair off of it. Last year Ohiodeer and several other riders that were using the 10's were able to pair with my 20 and we could all talk to each other. Search YouTube for videos showing how to set this up.

Short answer to OP question is Yes multiple 20's can be paired together with full duplex communication.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
 
Joined
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Yes pairing up to 9 other headset is possible but I have never done that many. The instructions in the manual 14 Intercom pairing is a tad confusing although if you go step by step it works. I find that I use a few functions of the 20S the majority of the times, like the FM radio, Stereo music, intercom with one or two only, and the full use of my phone via BT. Once your onto the common functions the rest can be reserved for the manual lookup on the rare occasions that you would want to do something else, or use voice activation and ask Sena to do something. If I get into a place I don't want to be I shut it down and restart faster than I can exit or "Stop" and I am back to my comfort zone. It is a great unit although the range isn't as advertised but still OK.
 

OhioDeere

Been There, Done That, Got the Shirt.
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When a bunch of Sena people are together. It reminds me of the Verizon cell phone commercial. CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? For the next 200 miles!!! Lol
 
Joined
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I now have four of the Sena "10R" units and they also use Bluetooth 4.1.
I can pair them all together and have full duplex between all members of the group.
I've never experienced a crash of the "daisy chain" just because one driver leaves the group (as was said).

I went with the 10R's for better battery life and slimmer design.


Just my $.02.

Jim
 
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ST Gui

ST Gui

240Robert
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The 20s don't daisy chain the same way the 10s do if I'm interpolating the instructions correctly. At some point if a rider leaves the group some riders are out of the loop. Fortunately for me I think that group is larger than three.

Being RF and BT specifically I had no delusions that we'd get 1.5mi or whatever for range. But I was impressed at the line of site range. Rounding curves cut the range dramatically as expected but it was still better than not having them. And if we need to contact one or the other when OOR there's always the phone.

My phone is also my GPS and music player so connections for me are pretty straight forward. We haven't paired my GW/BMW buddy's GPS yet. My ST buddy is still a bit of a Luddite with some smartphone and a flip phone with minutes to use up before leaving it behind.
 
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... Being RF and BT specifically I had no delusions that we'd get 1.5mi or whatever for range. But I was impressed at the line of site range. Rounding curves cut the range dramatically as expected but it was still better than not having them. And if we need to contact one or the other when OOR there's always the phone.
I invested in my 10R's mostly because I was teaching my daughter to ride.
Frankly, if my daughter gets outside of eyesight of me, I'm in a panic... so I wasn't expecting to have, or need, a great range.
I've noticed when riding with others that are paired with me, I get a hundred yards and start getting static.
Beyond that distance, it's time to slow up and let others get back in range.

The new Sena RideConnect App lets you include others that are not even on the ride (using cellular).
But seriously... I mean really...


Jim
 

Earl43P

Wrencher turned Rider
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Stafford, VA
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8943
I don't believe you can conference more than one other headset together at a time with the 10's ??? However. I've found that if there is one 20 in the group it will conference everyone together.
Any opinions??
We absolutely conferenced all 3 of our 10's, on many trips. I'm reading the manual right now and par. 17.4 covers 4 way universal intercom, with either 3 smh10s and one non-Sena, or two smh10s and two non-Senas.

Right out of the User's Guide from my SMH10B Dualpack.

If I were buying today, it wouldn't be a 10.

Funny story (not), riding home in the rain about a month ago on a Friday, had a cager giving me an issue right after merging from the onramp, so I reached up and flipped the faceshield wide open, meaning to flip the whole modular part open to yell at the jerk. Realizing my mistake, I closed the shield, opened the modular and the "moment had passed" to yell at his window. Closed the modular, opened the shield again and pulled off the foggy amber glasses and brushed against the SMH10 module, dislodging it and sending it skittering down the thoroughfare at about 50mph.
Never to be seen again.

So, I'm in the market for either another 10 module only, already having the helmet part installed, or an upgrade to the 20 for far more $$.

Gotta do something before the 6/24 weekend because we3 are doing "the state of WV" for 4 days. Rules for this trip are no interstate miles within the state; must eat at local non-chain restaurants; when given a choice - must take the road without painted lines and of course the standard - the hotel must have a waffle iron at the breakfast nook.

No pre-planning, no reservations, we simply go. Whoever is leading at the time determines stops and we do collaborate and discuss potential destinations for the night. Most small towns have a suitable hotel with a waffle iron, so that's easy. The hard part is NOT getting on the Interstate to FIND those hotels, which tend to be located at Interstate exits.

/off to research the Sena 20s!!/
 
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ST Gui

ST Gui

240Robert
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I got the third 20S from MotorcycleDave on Thursday and we put it in my ST's buddy's Shoei. After finally figuring out how to pair his 20S to ours a quick ride to lunch showed they worked well. I really like having comms.

BUT (and there's always one) there was one problem. My GW buddy and I got a 20S dual pack and they're paired. So we paired my ST buddy's Sena and it seems it's only pair with my GW buddy.

At the end of the day we split up. My GW buddy went one way and we went another. As soon as GW was out of range ST and I couldn't communicate! WTW??

So we conference just fine but unless I'm missing something it seems will have to pair and re-pair depending on who's riding with who. Is that the case or can we have actual 'mesh' communications?
 

nerSTeve

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Many pairings with other senas. The 20 holds 16 pairing and I currently have 12. Zero issue connecting to any. Load the sena manager software on a computer and verify firmware would be my first thought.
 
Joined
Jun 13, 2017
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Ontario,Canada
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ST 1300A
I have been looking at comm sets too. However my dad uses the Cardo SmartTalk with his quad group so that's what I was researching before I started reading this thread... the Pack Talk and Smart talk models from Cardo are all free pairing systems, so you can pair other headsets. Some of the cheaper Cardo models are pre-paired so that the headsets are limited to only communicating with it's mate. I would assume that the 10 and 20 series Sena's are open network as well if I am reading correctly. My questions for everyone is battery life and sound quality ? how good is the battery life and how do they sound for tunes and receiving phone calls.

The one point I was given on the Cardo's is that there are two separate modes via the phone app, one is pure blue tooth and draws more from the phone battery, the second is more like using an FRS and the battery lasts longer but there's lag in the conversation - like using a sat phone or field radio (for anyone who served)...

I'm interested in reading everyone else's experiences, They are too expensive to buy an inferior product and then regret it...

Bryan
 

dduelin

Tune my heart to sing Thy grace
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Last Sunday morning four of us with Sena 20s units met in a coffee shop to pair everybody up and create a group intercom list in everyone's Sena app. Three of us had paired up with at least one of the others but not all three and the fourth was new to the party. I'm sure we looked funny sitting around a table with our helmets on repeating "can you hear me now?" Once we got them all named and paired we went for a ride and the group intercom went well. I learned a lot thanks to Ashley.
 
Joined
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Collierville TN.
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2012 honda ST1300
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8864
At my church we have a motorcycle ministry with about 40 riders. All type of bikes. We have planned rides set up for once a month. We regularly have 7 to 10 riders show up for the rides. Sometime we have a bunch. Two weekends ago we had only 4 regular riders show, but 12 new riders that joined us. Our leader has a Sena 10 and so do I. I ran the rear as the sweep and sometimes we would get strung out pretty long. The Sena worked pretty good on straight roads but on the hills had some static but no drop off. It was about 16 to 20 seconds between the leader and me at the rear about 1500 ft, give or take a 100 foot or so. I was told by the leader that he liked me running the rear because my high viz HJC helmet could be seen before I told him we where all accounted for at the rear. I guess better to be seen before you are heard.
 
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The Chatterbox FRS/GMRS units are probably the best least expensive option for bike to bike comms. Though everyone in the group would need one, or a portable FRS/GMRS radio.
 
Joined
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Collierville TN.
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2012 honda ST1300
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8864
I have a Chatterbox FRS/GMRS unit that worked good on my wing. But on the ST the ST puts out a static radio wave that sounds like the whine of the ST engine thru the chatterbox so bad that nothing else could be heard. The Chatterbox does have a much longer range.
 
Joined
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We just spent 6 days on the road (2800 miles) using four Sena 20s, riding time was 10 to 13 hours a day. We only turned them off during lunch. The audio was great we could hear with in helmet speakers through foam ear plugs. The few phone calls made or received the other party could not tell I was on a bike doing 70 mph. We did not listen to music during this ride to save battery power. Sometimes one of us fell out of the network but by tapping the the jog dial one or two times would reconnect the lost connection.... (awkward!) But you might want to look at the Sena 30s that is suppose to come out in a couple of months. (rumor is end of August). but I am very happy with the 20s for my needs. For my daily commute of one hour each way. I listen to music which I can hear also through foam ear plugs and over the road noise. but you have to turn the volume all the way up on the phone...
 
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