Emergency and non-emergency communications for motorcycles.
I’ve spent a lot of time and effort improving comms on motorcycles and wanted to share what has worked well for me.
How I solved the Motorcycle Helmet Bluetooth Intercom distance issue!
As mentioned, these Sena/Packtalk distance SUCKS! especially in the wilderness with trees/rocks/mountains etc. Now, if you are in a cave/hole even this solution is going to be limited, but once you or your riding buddy is out of the cave, you should be back on track for 10-15 miles.
SHOPPING LIST:
- You are going to need a radio (2 radios for long distances, say 1 radio for the rider in the front and 1 radio for the rider in the back (sweeper). Uv5r is a good starting point, especially for motorcycles you would take into the wilderness(you are not going to mount a 50 watt radio). $23 on amazon > https://amzn.to/3boO1G5
- You NEED to upgrade that suckie antenna! Uv5r needs the SMA female https://signalstuff.com/product/super-elastic-signal-stick/ This will increase your radio performance 10x!
- Bluetooth “hub”. This is one of the pricy parts(if you are trying to save a buck, sometimes amazon has used ones that have been return -if it doesn’t work send it back)! Sena SR10-10 Bluetooth Adapter for Two-Way Radios or Mobile Phones https://amzn.to/2Svmhae
- This comes with a Push to talk (PTT) that goes on your handle bars(two different sizes that seem to be “universal” to me).
- You also need to order the cable that fits the UV5r/kenwood. https://amzn.to/2urneZn
- Next you need your choice of helmet intercoms to connect to the bluetooth hub. I’ve tested sena 10, sena 30k & packtalks. https://amzn.to/2tLoqWW
- EMI filter, these go on the PTT cable to reduce EMI.
- tank bag or something to hold the radio & BT hub. Why go to all this trouble and have your radio on your person or pack? You would need some kind of PTT on your person too. Best to keep it all on the bike, except your BT intercom inserted into your helmet.
How it works. Your bluetooth helmet intercom pairs with your phone (podcasts/phone calls/waze cop-alerts etc) and your helmet intercom also pairs with the bluetooth hub on a 2nd BT pair/channel. I’ll be listening to a podcast and someone transmits over the radio and the podcast is paused while they are transmitting and it auto goes back to the podcast when they are done. If I transmit, same drill (Podcast paused).
The way I run this with my son who rides with me. We pair our bluetooth intercoms together and they have a mesh BT intercom, if we get disconnected. It auto-reconnects when we are close enough. When we are in BT intercom mode, it is VOX/voice activated so we don’t push any buttons, we just talk. But, if we are beyond the 200 yards, we go to the radio > ptt > bt hub > helmet intercom insert and can talk 10-15 miles using the UV5R ham radio. Maybe I should make a video to demo this!
We also have our UV5R pre-programmed for the repeaters (most of the repeaters in our state), just in case.
The great thing about the BT hub and BT intercom inserted into your helmet is I can talk to other vehicles on their radio too, or just about anyone in the area that is on freq.
I’ve tried several things that have not worked well.
- $20 wired connection from helmet to PTT on the handle bars integrating a UV5r ham radio. I always broke the wires, just connecting and reconnecting every time you got on/off the bike wore them out. I’m sure wrecking my dirt bike a few times didn’t help ether.
- The over priced sena/packtalks that barely go 100 yards and are stupid complicated for something you paid over $200 per unit.
- lanyard with radio around someones neck and the cheapo mic and ear piece. I still have this setup if I ride with someone that doesn’t have the right equipment. I’ve wasted hours trying to ride with someone that doesn’t have comms. Navigation sucks, safety sucks. Its just a problem when you get separated or have to ride so close that you are eating dust non-stop.
Best solution for Motorcycle Communications (currently).
When I ride alone, I take my ham radio anyways, because if I get hurt, lost or broken down (or all three at the same time) and I can’t use my cell phone(I often ride where cell phone coverage is not possible). I want a way to communicate; just in case.
Many of these practices have saved my life…time and time again! Getting dark, soaked wet from sweat and it will be about freezing. Not enough water to make it out w/o proper comms/navigation! etc etc
Please refer also to the following articles:
SUMMARY
Using the BT hub & BT Intercom combined with a HAM Radio allows you to have wireless & long distant comms on a motorcycle.
Without comms, multi-motorcycle adventures can cause delays because you stop to talk/navigate. You spend hours looking for separated riders. Eat each others dust.
Besides, being able to communicate makes the riding experience 10x funner!
Love your Blog!!
This is a great guide for what I’m trying to do. Do you have any opinions about the suitability of the Sena SM10 and/or the Sena Freewire?
Well, I’m stuck. I have a Packtalk Bold headset and just bought a new old stock SR10. I’ve done firmware upgrades on boht devices, reset both to factory defaults, but they simply will not pair. Sena tech support says “I’m sorry, sir but it’s never gonna work.”
Could you please share the recipie for whatever special sauce you used to enable them to connect?
Please?
And thank you!
the sena to packtalk is so so frustrating. do firmware updates and maybe even reset to factory and try again. I’ll have it fail 4 times and then same process, it works. its super buggy. almost worth buying both and whatever your buddies use, use that.
I hear they are improving it and doing an open source BT intercom.
Thanks so much for this article! I’ve been digging around for info and this hits home for exactly what I want to do and I’ll be referencing this when it comes time for me to get my setup built too. One question: has any of this changed since you posted this article, or have you improved this setup even further? Thanks!
these days we just use the packtalks in close range for open mic, but often go to long range with the radio with the shoulder mic/speaker.
we use this for dirt bikes, snow bikes and Adventure motorcycles. sometimes the machines are to loud we can’t hear the shoulder mic, but we can hear it enough to stop and listen and talk back.