Sena 20S EVO Bluetooth Question

[Uncle Phil]

I am playing around with replacing my Valk CB system with Sena 20S EVOS. Here's my situation -
With 4 ST1100s, I'd like to have a Bluetooth transmitter for my music/radar detector/GPS that all go through my Ampliriders.
This allows me to not have to rewire a bunch of stuff and should require only 1 Bluetooth connection.
It works fine on the first ST1100 but when I try to pair with the BT transmitter (a different one) on the second ST1100 it refuses.
I know there is a 'second mobile phone' option, but then I'm still out of luck for the other 2 ST1100s.
Does the SENA 20S EVO retain the BT 'address' of the first adapter and refuse to swap, or does it 'retain' multiple BT addresses and connects with the one it 'sees'?
I do not have a SmartPhone so this makes it a little tougher.
Is this going to require that I have a SENA2 20S for each ST1100?

 

[TipSTer]

I got two SENA 20S I'm not happy with it. Hard to pairing up. Mic is not working on other helmet, I installed new Mic it's still not working. I only can talks to her but she can't talk back. of witch it works great for me (JK) I contacted SENA they aren't helping me in anyway. Poor service! But, blue tooth works great thru phone and music.

 

[Mellow]

I would reset and then try the 2nd bike again to see of it's an issue with that transmitter first. I'm thinking the headset should connect with whichever BT device it finds first. Even a simple phone headset can pair to multiple phones.

 

[Uncle Phil]

What should be the order of 'turn on' - the BT transmitter, then the SENA or vice versa?
All 4 BT Transmitters are the same brand and model.
In the 'perfect' world, each one would be paired to the headset once.
Then when I power up on the particular ST1100, the SENA auto connects and life is good.
Otherwise, I guess I would need 4 SENA 20S EVOS - one for each bike and swap them on the helmet or moved the BT transmitter from bike to bike.

 

[Uncle Phil]

Here's what I get -
SENA says 'Phone Pairing' and the LED flashes quick red/blue.
The BT Transmitter blinks blue that says it is trying to pair.
After a while, the SENA LED goes to slow blue flash and I never hear 'device paired' like I did on the first one.

 

[RaYzerman]

Sena has 2 bluetooth channels to pair with, AFAIK they can only pair with one device each. Any new pairing will push off the old one and you will be connected to the newest one. So, basically, you cannot pair with 4 bluetooth transmitters, only one at a time. Can you make one bluetooth transmitter portable to each bike?
Intercom is different, you can pair with more than one headset for intercom.

 

[Uncle Phil]

Sena has 2 bluetooth channels to pair with, AFAIK they can only pair with one device each. Any new pairing will push off the old one and you will be connected to the newest one. So, basically, you cannot pair with 4 bluetooth transmitters, only one at a time. Can you make one bluetooth transmitter portable to each bike?
Intercom is different, you can pair with more than one headset for intercom.

I had a hunch that is the way that it works - but I only need to connect to one at a time.
I just didn't want to go through the 'pairing dance' every time I swapped ST1100s.
I can move the transmitter but it's just a pain in the anatomy to remember to do that every time.
I was hoping that this would be a simpler solution not a more complicated one.
The other option is to have a SENA and transmitter for each bike and just swap the SENAs.
This is sort of pushing me away from giving up my old wired setup that works by just turning the key in the ignition.
I couldn't care less about being 'wired' or 'not wired' to the bike, but using the SENAs would remove some wiring, cables, control and brain from each bike if it were more flexible.

 

[Mellow]

What bluetooth dongle are you using?

 

[Uncle Phil]

What bluetooth dongle are you using?

A widget I bought on Amazon -

Amazon.com: TaoTronics Bluetooth 5.0 Transmitter and Receiver, 2-in-1 Wireless 3.5mm Adapter (Low Latency, 2 Devices Simultaneously, For TV/Home Sound System/Car/Nintendo Switch): Electronics

Worked great on the first setup, not so much with the second one.
I plan on trying a 'different' second one when I get home to see if it makes any difference.

 

[Uncle Phil]

This is what I see in the manual -

If you have previously paired a mobile phone to the 20S EVO, you
must clear the previous paring list on both devices; the mobile phone
and 20S EVO. To clear the pairing list on 20S EVO, please do a factory
reset or follow the pairing list clearing procedure described in this
manual. To clear the pairing list on the mobile phone, please refer to
the mobile phone manual. For most smartphones, delete the 20S EVO
from the list of Bluetooth devices in the settings menu.

So it looks like the SENA does not 'keep' a list of devices but only allows two BT addresses.
That kind of sucks in my situation since I swap bikes every day.

 

[spiderman302]

For the short term, set up a plug on each bike so that you could move the one bluetooth dongle from bike to bike.

 

[Uncle Phil]

The SENA 20S will definitely not pair with multiple BT transmitters without doing a 'factory reset' to clear the list.

 

[Uncle Phil]

For the short term, set up a plug on each bike so that you could move the one bluetooth dongle from bike to bike.

I've already got that, it's just the hassle of remembering to move the 'specific' BT dongle when I swap bikes.
If I do that I will get some 3.5mm female/male adapters so I am not wearing out the output jack on the Amplirider but the jack on the cheap adapters.
Now I can just pick one, turn on the key and I am good to go as I have everything duplicated on all 4 ST1100s down to the tool bag and rain suits.
Just a little disappointed that SENA didn't add a few bits to it's firmware to handle more than 2 BT devices.
4 would have been about right ...

Or I could run an audio cord from the Amplirider to the headset but then I might as well use what I already have.

 

[spiderman302]

Clone your dongles.
Every dongle has a different bluetooth address
You might be able to change all your bluetooth dongles to have the same MAC address.
There are cloning tools that might allow you to do that.
example here:

Bluetooth MAC Address Changer for Windows

Bluetooth MAC Address Changer for Windows is a freeware tool which allows you to change the bluetooth MAC address of your adapter. Bluetooth MAC address is also known as "Bluetooth Address", "BD_ADDR", "Bluetooth hardware id"

macaddresschanger.com

 

[mlheck]

Holy cow, the world must be coming to a end.

You Sir have run into one of the many limitations of Bluetooth communication on a bike. Sena or Cardo will only remember 1 BT dongle & 1 BT phone. Yes, you will have to move the dongle from bike to bike to make this work. Moving the dongle is way cheaper than having multiple Sena units. Also you would have to have a BT dongle on each bike. While you would think the same brand of dongle would work, they each have a separate identity even though they use the same pairing code. If you want simple plug and play then stay wired.

 

[drrod]

Too late for you now since you already have the 20S, but the 30K has "mesh" technology that would have worked in your situation I think.

 

[RaYzerman]

Mesh is for intercom, not bluetooth devices.

 

[drrod]

Ah, OK. I just thought when it says it can connect with 4 bluetooth devices it might have served the purpose.

 

[Uncle Phil]

Clone your dongles.
Every dongle has a different bluetooth address
You might be able to change all your bluetooth dongles to have the same MAC address.
There are cloning tools that might allow you to do that.
example here:

Bluetooth MAC Address Changer for Windows

Bluetooth MAC Address Changer for Windows is a freeware tool which allows you to change the bluetooth MAC address of your adapter. Bluetooth MAC address is also known as "Bluetooth Address", "BD_ADDR", "Bluetooth hardware id"

macaddresschanger.com

Hmm, that has potential- I really appreciate that.
Another option is to run a 3.5mm cord from the Amplirider to the Sena and call it a day.
Still wired, but no BT to fuss with and can remove a bunch of bits and pieces from the bikes.

 

[mlheck]

I didn't think the 20S had a audio in jack, just a audio out.

You could also use a Sena SM-10 Bluetooth dongle. They are waterproof and can be mounted externally on the bikes. Run a audio cable from the Amps to the SM-10. Then just move the SM-10 when you switch bikes. This is what I did when I had the ST and K1600.

Shoot, I even have a used SM-10 that I'll send you for the price of shipping.

Before anyone asks, the free SM-10 is a Uncle Phil only offer.