Sena 20S EVO Bluetooth Question

[rwthomas1]

But $30 a month is $360 a year vs my $100 a year and I could not care less about the 'utility'. For me $360 a year seems like 'absurd money' just for me to make an occasional phone call. And the weather and traffic is what it is and I just deal with it. I just use a phone for making calls - that's it. I am a technology guy by trade (almost 50 years at it) and when I am on the road I do not want to be 'connected'. That can wait until I am in the motel room where I break out my old laptop (fully paid for) and use the free motel wi-fi. My wife and I have this understanding - we don't call unless there is a problem. When she goes RVing, I don't expect her to call me unless she's in a fix she can't get out of. When I go on a ride, she does not expect me to call her unless I'm in a fix I can't get out of. Been working fine that way for over 45 years. And I have learned with technology that purpose built equipment usually does a much better job at what it is designed to do that multi-function pieces of gear trying to do the same function. However, YEMV.

Well I hope you find a reasonable solution!

RT

 

[Uncle Phil]

Well I hope you find a reasonable solution!
RT

My 'reasonable' may be a little different than some ...
I'm still looking into the Bluetooth 'cloning' idea and the cord idea and the SM10 dongle.
The problem with the cloning is I can't get a desktop system to 'recognize' the Bluetooth dongle if it is plugged into a USB port.
If it would, it should be fairly simple to change the MAC address.
Tinker, tinker, tinker ....

 

[kiltman]

You NEED to get 8 more ST1100s. ‘cause it’s “cheaper by the dozen”.

 

[rwthomas1]

My 'reasonable' may be a little different than some ...
I'm still looking into the Bluetooth 'cloning' idea and the cord idea and the SM10 dongle.
The problem with the cloning is I can't get a desktop system to 'recognize' the Bluetooth dongle if it is plugged into a USB port.
If it would, it should be fairly simple to change the MAC address.
Tinker, tinker, tinker ....

I understand about 10% of what you just typed. Cloning to me involves sheep, DNA and questionable ethics, not sure what a "dongle" is, but it sounds borderline risque, and a MAC address is wherever the Golden Arches are, where I can order a "big" MAC. But I'm just a Neanderthal with a decent set of mechanics tools, so what do I know...

RT

 

[JackinFL]

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.

I also use an SM-10 for things like this. I had 3 bikes at one time and each had it's own audio sources on it (GPS, music or both). I paired my SM-10 with my Sena 10s and then plugged my stuff into the SM-10 on whichever bike I was using. I could then also pair with another intercom (another rider or my passenger) and even share the music coming from my SM-10 through my 10s. If you keep the charging cord plugged in all the time on the SM-10 it will turn on and off with the bike so you won't have to worry about charging it or turning it off.

 

[Uncle Phil]

I also use an SM-10 for things like this. I had 3 bikes at one time and each had it's own audio sources on it (GPS, music or both). I paired my SM-10 with my Sena 10s and then plugged my stuff into the SM-10 on whichever bike I was using. I could then also pair with another intercom (another rider or my passenger) and even share the music coming from my SM-10 through my 10s. If you keep the charging cord plugged in all the time on the SM-10 it will turn on and off with the bike so you won't have to worry about charging it or turning it off.

Thanks for that insight. I'm still noodling through what will be easier - moving the dongle/SM-10 or just plugging in the Sena via a audio cord.

 

[Uncle Phil]

I understand about 10% of what you just typed. Cloning to me involves sheep, DNA and questionable ethics, not sure what a "dongle" is, but it sounds borderline risque, and a MAC address is wherever the Golden Arches are, where I can order a "big" MAC. But I'm just a Neanderthal with a decent set of mechanics tools, so what do I know...

RT

Ah My Noble Grasshopper -
Bluetooth dongle is a device for connecting non-Bluetooth devices to Bluetooth devices.
MAC - Media Access Control Address - all BT devices are supposed to have a 'unique' one so they can be identified.
Cloning - Setting the MAC address of multiple BT devices to the same address.
If I could set the addresses of all the dongles to the same address, then as I moved from bike to bike the SENA would not know the difference.
It would 'think' that it was still talking to the same device.

 

[rwthomas1]

Ah, so I have two Bluetooth "adaptors" that allow my smartphone to play audio/phone through the factory "aux" jacks on the radio's in my two vehicles. So if I'm understanding this, these adaptors are "dongles"? You have something similar, a "dongle" to allow the Sena to connect to an older legacy wired system, similar to the radios in my vehicles. And the Sena won't connect to more than two "dongles" as it only has two slots of paired devices, and you need four slots? Kinda like if I had to have four smartphones automatically connect with the adaptor/dongles in my vehicles? Technically challenged, in retrospect I don't see how a smartphone would solve this problem either! I'm surprised, that there isn't some sort of universal hub that connects all this stuff in applications like this. You can't be the only one with this issue.

RT

 

[Uncle Phil]

Well, what most folks do is connect the Sena to their Smartphone and they only have 1 Smartphone. I guess I'm a bit unusual to have 4 motorcycles that I want to connect to same Sena.

 

[Mellow]

Well, what most folks do is connect the Sena to their Smartphone and they only have 1 Smartphone. I guess I'm a bit unusual to have 4 motorcycles that I want to connect to same Sena.

I connect my phone to gps and the gps has mp3s loaded... so as long as the gps mount is on another motorcycle, i can switch. Of course, I also use a radar detector so unless I had one for each motorcycle, I'd have to move those over as well.

If you paired the headset to your phone then that actually makes a few things easier moving from one bike to another but then you need a phone mount as well.

Tons of different configurations and it does tend to boggle the mind a bit.

 

[Andrew Shadow]

Full disclosure- most of this discussion is over my head as I have never got that deep in to Bluetooth. However, I have seen advertisements for Bluetooth universal hubs that can be connected to as many as 22 different Bluetooth devices and remember all of them and repair to all of them automatically. I have no idea if this would help but, if the Sena would only be paired to the universal hub. Everything else would pair to this hub as well. You would only need to move the hub from bike to bike and each Bluetooth device, including the Sena, would always reconnect automatically. Everything from all four bikes might connect when you first start up in the garage, but they will drop off as you drive away leaving just the devices from the bike that you are on.

Just a thought for you, without any research on my end.

 

[Uncle Phil]

Andrew - Interesting thought, but what I would like to do is avoid having to move anything - hub, dongle, etc. - just plug and play like I do now.
Moving a dongle versus moving hub is about the same difference.
I'm almost there except for the BT dongle.
Now if somebody could tell be how to 'access' the BT dongles from my Win 10 desktop I might could change the MAC address and have what I want.

 

[rwthomas1]

Another thought is IF a smartphone fixes the problem, why not use one JUST for this purpose? A smartphone need not be connected to a provider, they can and are used for navigation, entertainment, wifi internet, etc. without the phone function. Could be a backup nav system with an offline app as well?

RT

 

[Andrew Shadow]

Phil:
I went back and re-read your original question and realized that I had misunderstood it, my suggestion is of no value to you.

I know for a fact that the Sena 20S EVO (I have one) will remember at least 5 different Bluetooth pairings. On the pairings list in the phone app there is eight Bluetooth pairing slots listed, so I suspect that 8 is the limit.
I have a Bluetooth phone, one Bluetooth communicator and two Bluetooth GPS units paired to mine. It remembers and reconnects automatically to all of them.

I don't know if the type of Bluetooth unit makes a difference or not.

 

[Uncle Phil]

Andrew - I think the issue here is that the ability to pair multiple devices is a function of using a smart phone and the Sena app. Most standard devices do allow multiple pairings that I have seen but it appears that the Sena 20S only allows 2 with no memory. I've tried pairing a second dongle to the Sena 20S EVO without clearing the first pairing and it just sits there blinking blue/red (pairing mode) without pairing. I factory reset the Sena (which clears all pairings) then the 'new' dongle would pair easy enough.

 

[amorley]

Phil:
I went back and re-read your original question and realized that I had misunderstood it, my suggestion is of no value to you.

I know for a fact that the Sena 20S EVO (I have one) will remember at least 5 different Bluetooth pairings. On the pairings list in the phone app there is eight Bluetooth pairing slots listed, so I suspect that 8 is the limit.
I have a Bluetooth phone, one Bluetooth communicator and two Bluetooth GPS units paired to mine. It remembers and reconnects automatically to all of them.

I don't know if the type of Bluetooth unit makes a difference or not.

I think you are confusing the Sena 20S support for 8 Bluetooth intercom connections with the dual Bluetooth device connections that are supported. This is outlined on page 1 of the manual:

"Thank you for choosing the 20S EVO, Motorcycle Bluetooth Communication
System. With the 20S EVO, you can call handsfree on your Bluetooth mobile
phone, listen to stereo music or voice instructions of GPS navigations by
Bluetooth wirelessly, and have intercom conversations in full duplex with a
passenger or other motorcycle riders.

The 20S EVO is compliant with Bluetooth 4.1 supporting the following
profiles: Headset Profile, Hands-Free Profile (HFP), Advanced Audio
Distribution Profile (A2DP) and Audio Video Remote Control Profile
(AVRCP). Please check with the manufacturers of other devices to
determine their compatibility with this headset.

Please read this user’s guide carefully before using the headset. Also
check www.sena.com for the latest version of the User’s Guide and
additional information related to Sena Bluetooth products.

The 20S EVO features:
• Bluetooth 4.1
• Dual Bluetooth module communication system
• Audio Multitasking™
• Multi-way intercom up to 8 connections
..."

@Uncle Phil , l, I think the best solution is to buy an iPod Touch where you can store all your music, podcast and audible books via wifi. Connect to the Sena via the A2DP bluetooth profile.

$199 new from Apple: https://www.apple.com/ipod-touch/

 

[Uncle Phil]

I think the best solution is to buy an iPod Touch where you can store all your music, podcast and audible books via wifi. Connect to the Sena via the A2DP bluetooth profile.
$199 new from Apple: https://www.apple.com/ipod-touch/

But I already have a 'box full' of paid-for Creative Labs Nomad Jukebox IIIs that have wonderful music quality and all day battery life and can hold up to 40GB worth of audio (depending on what disk drive you have installed). And they also have a remote control that lives in my left fairing pocket while the jukebox resides safely in a cushioned holder in the trunk. My Ampliriders (already paid for and installed) do a fine job of merging radar detector, GPS, and music and enhance the quality as well as amplify it. I'm just trying to see if I can come up with a 'creative' solution so I don't have to move the dongle. The dongle works fine with the Sena but I just would like the 'perfect' world - not moving the dongle bike to bike. It will either be moving the dongle, plugging an audio cord directly into the Sena or cloning the dongles - unless there is a Bluetooth dongle transmitter somewhere that lets you set the MAC address.

 

[tonythecarguy]

If you want to connect to a BT media only device, you have to make an A2DP connection. See page 24 of the manual. I believe the A2DP connection is not device specific so if you have the same model BT media device on multiple bikes, it should connect.

UP,

Have you tried pairing the dongles as "A2DP only" devices as suggested? I would try this before heading to more complicated solutions.

 

[Andrew Shadow]

Andrew - I think the issue here is that the ability to pair multiple devices is a function of using a smart phone and the Sena app.

No, it has nothing to do with the smart-phone in my case. I have never used the smart-phone to add a pairing. I had the Sena 20S Evo paired to four different devices before I got the smart-phone. It was previously paired to a flip-phone, two other communicators and one GPS. When I got the smart phone, I removed the flip-phone pairing and replaced it with the smart phone. I also removed one communicator pairing and added a second GPS pairing for a total of four devices. In both instances, pre and post smart-phone, I always had four different Bluetooth devices paired and in memory. In both instances the pairing was done directly with the Sena and the other Bluetooth device, there was never any involvement from the smart-phone. I didn't even have the Sena app on the smart-phone at the time because I didn't know that it existed. The only functionality that the smart-phone app added that I have used is to give me the ability to see all of the items that are paired with the Sena. Even though my smart-phone is paired to the Sena, it is never turned on when I am riding so it has no influence on the Sena and what it pairs to.

I think you are confusing the Sena 20S support for 8 Bluetooth intercom connections with the dual Bluetooth device connections that are supported. This is outlined on page 1 of the manual:

I have never been paired to more than one other intercom device at a time so I don't know much about that. All that I can offer is that of the four Bluetooth devices that I currently have paired, only one of them is for intercom- another Sena 20S. The other three are a smart-phone and two different GPS's. All four devices are remembered by the Sena and all of them re-pair automatically with the Sena.

Just to avoid any confusion, I am not saying that I have four active Bluetooth connections at the same time. I am saying that I have four different Bluetooth devices paired and remembered by the Sena.

Phil:
I did not use the Sena phone app to add multiple pairings to the Sena, but does not mean that it doesn't have that functionality as you mentioned. As an experiment, find someone with a smart-phone, load the Sena app to it and see if you can use it to pair all of your four dongles. If it works, once they are paired you no longer need the smart-phone anyway.

I am at the limit of my ignorance on this issue and unfortunately, as much as I wish it were otherwise, I have nothing of use to offer that would help you.

 

[RaYzerman]

It may be possible to pair two GPS's as well as a phone..... look at the Sena user manual illustrations... but only use one GPS at a time. However, intercom pairings to another Sena are a separate deal, and you can't pair dongles to those "radio" channels.