Starcom1 Tech Info

CrashTestDanny

Just in case anyone else out there wants to read only the install part of the manual and then test their Starcom1 - this unit has a nifty feature: If the rider's headset is not plugged in, it will shut itself off.

Now that's way cool, but if you (*cough* like me *cough*) plug the unit in with the power on and the headset unplugged, it might be a little unnerving, given the cost, to see the little red LED turn on for about 1/2 second and then fade out... I was going batty for a few minutes last night frantically reading the rest of the manual to see if there was an internal fuse I could replace... :eek:
 
Dan:

Been there don that, fortunately I have plenty of hair, but it did cause some anxious moments. Actually I plugged the riders headset into the passenger jack. My GF at the time came by to see how things were going. When I plugged her headset in....... it magically came on. The lightbulb that lit up you could have seen from STL!

What radar detector are you using? Let me know if you have any other questions.

Later
Neil S.
 
ccryder said:
Dan:

Been there don that, fortunately I have plenty of hair, but it did cause some anxious moments. Actually I plugged the riders headset into the passenger jack. My GF at the time came by to see how things were going. When I plugged her headset in....... it magically came on. The lightbulb that lit up you could have seen from STL!

What radar detector are you using? Let me know if you have any other questions.

Later
Neil S.

I did exactly the same thing! Had everything working fine and dandy then unplugged everything to route some cables and mount the unit and accidently plugged my helmet into the passenger's cable. Dead unit. Oh oh. I opened the fuse holder and tested the voltage supply before I realized what I had done. Whew! That was a big relief!
 
Starcom1 installed

I finished installing my Starcom1 tonight, after about a week of planning, mounting plugs, setting up helmets and installing cables. Everything works great and I'm happy. Got the phone, iPod and GMRS radio mounted in the top box, XM radio, GPS and radar detector hooked up from the front. I found some very nice panel mini-DIN plugs from L-Com and mounted my helmet plug next to the power outlet by the left fairing pocket. The wife plugs in at the left side panel below the seat,
The only complaint I have is the audio quality is reduced slightly routed through the Starcom, but not enough to matter at 60 - 80 mph.
Thanks Tim for the help with the cable data, and I did finally find the problem in the Midland cable I made.

Dave
:biker:
 
I just installed the new system. When I started the engine I had a whine & faint popping / clicking noise in the head-sets. My power wire was from an ign source at the fuse box. I changed my power supply from the fuse box to an always hot lead at an aux fuse panel that I have installed & all the whine went away, but, I can still hear a faint clicking/static noise when the engine is running. All of the leads are Starcom, but the stereo lead was too short, so I did install an extension between the Starcom unit & the Isolated lead that comes from the XM radio. I don't think that has anything to do with the noise, because I can hear the noise in though the intercom even when the XM is not turned on. Phone & Radar inputs are awesome, if I can just figure out this static noise thing. My next move will be to isolate the ground from the frame & go straight to the battery.

Any other ideas?
 
Try unplugging the audio cable from the XM at the Starcom and see if it goes away. The XM doesn't have to be on for the audio cable to be picking up noise from somewhere. I assume the starcom is at the rear and the XM up front somewhere? In which case what route did you take with the audio lead? If it's outside the frame by the tank, then there's a high chance of noise from the coil and associated wiring.

Regards,
 
AzDesertRider said:
I just installed the new system. When I started the engine I had a whine & faint popping / clicking noise in the head-sets. My power wire was from an ign source at the fuse box. I changed my power supply from the fuse box to an always hot lead at an aux fuse panel that I have installed & all the whine went away, but, I can still hear a faint clicking/static noise when the engine is running. All of the leads are Starcom, but the stereo lead was too short, so I did install an extension between the Starcom unit & the Isolated lead that comes from the XM radio. I don't think that has anything to do with the noise, because I can hear the noise in though the intercom even when the XM is not turned on. Phone & Radar inputs are awesome, if I can just figure out this static noise thing. My next move will be to isolate the ground from the frame & go straight to the battery.

Any other ideas?

Do not ground straight to the battery, grounding to the frame is much better.

Here is a link to a similar discussion:
https://www.st-owners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9338
 
Last edited:
Burger said:
Try unplugging the audio cable from the XM at the Starcom and see if it goes away. The XM doesn't have to be on for the audio cable to be picking up noise from somewhere. I assume the starcom is at the rear and the XM up front somewhere? In which case what route did you take with the audio lead? If it's outside the frame by the tank, then there's a high chance of noise from the coil and associated wiring.

Regards,

Bingo! I ran 3 cables down the left side & past the coil. Most of the noise is coming from the Volume control, The second biggest contributor to noise is the GPS cable & a small amount is coming through the XM cable..... Is there a way to shield the cables or am I destined to re-route?

Thanks for the ideas guys
 
AzDesertRider said:
Bingo! I ran 3 cables down the left side & past the coil. Most of the noise is coming from the Volume control, The second biggest contributor to noise is the GPS cable & a small amount is coming through the XM cable..... Is there a way to shield the cables or am I destined to re-route?

Thanks for the ideas guys

I've got everything routed between the frame and the airbox. I used the the Q-harness to power my radar detector and the accessory fuse under the left side pannel to power both the Starcom and the XM, no noise here.
 
AzDesertRider said:
Bingo! I ran 3 cables down the left side & past the coil. Most of the noise is coming from the Volume control, The second biggest contributor to noise is the GPS cable & a small amount is coming through the XM cable..... Is there a way to shield the cables or am I destined to re-route?

Thanks for the ideas guys

Yep, you need to re-route the cables. If you lift the tank you'll see there's more than enough room between the inside of the frame and the air box. The frame then makes a natural shield from the coils etc. There is more than enough room at both the front and rear of the tank for cables to pass underneath without getting trapped by anything.

https://www.st-owners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10239

That thread has some pics from Curt illustrating this after I asked the same question a couple of weeks back.

Regards,
 
Burger said:
Yep, you need to re-route the cables. If you lift the tank you'll see there's more than enough room between the inside of the frame and the air box. The frame then makes a natural shield from the coils etc. There is more than enough room at both the front and rear of the tank for cables to pass underneath without getting trapped by anything.

https://www.st-owners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10239

That thread has some pics from Curt illustrating this after I asked the same question a couple of weeks back.

Regards,

Thanks for the advise. Guess there was a reason I did not top off the tank yesterday when the wife & I took a trial ride. I'm going back in to re-route.
 
Re-Route complete. no more noise. Cables were long enough to omit the extension cord.

You guys Rock!
 
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