If the Garmin Zumo XT is a wonderful GPS, and Sena Intercoms – with their Mesh technology – deliver excellent quality rider-to-rider communication, why are people moaning?
Both devices support Bluetooth. Both will sync with each other and your phone, after which people say the sound quality turns to custard, and there are long interruptions to the Mesh intercom conversations. Hence the complaints.
And it isn’t a Sena thing, either. Cardo units, according to the forums, have similar issues.
Therefore it must be the Garmin Zumo XT that is to blame. Errr …. No, and here’s why.
By the way, if all you want is the fix, scroll down to Making It All Work, where you will find the configuration details. Simples.
Bluetooth: It’s Easy
The most common interaction with Bluetooth is when we stream music to headphones, earbuds or our cars. It is all so simple. Everything connects, the music flows, and even when we take a phone call, it all just works.
So why are there problems when we connect a Sena Intercom to a GPS and our phone?
The answer is twofold. First, we are connecting to two devices simultaneously, whereas in the other cases mentioned, there is only one connected device. The headphones connect to the phone or the phone to the car.
The other difference is that with a Sena, a GPS, and a phone, we have at least two, if not three, intelligent, interconnected devices, all fighting to control what is happening.
My Car is Dumb
When my phone connects to my car, the car is effectively speakers and microphone on wheels. All of the intelligence is in the phone. If I’m listening to music and receive a phone call, it is the phone that switches the audio stream it sends, not the car.
The only time the car gets involved is when the built-in GPS wants to give me directions; when that happens, the car interrupts the Bluetooth audio, so it can tell me where to go.
When the directions are finished, the music comes back on again, but the song will have continued to play while nagging Nadia (the car’s GPS) barked her orders at me.
Two Channels
Most Bluetooth devices have two channels. You can make two connections at the same time. For example, the headphones I use in the office connect to my work and personal phones. My Sena 50S will connect to my GPS and phone simultaneously, each using one of the two Bluetooth channels.
The intelligence in the Sena 50S handles the mixing and matching of the two audio streams. The same is true if I disconnect one of the devices and use it to drive a Bluetooth intercom instead.
But, if I own a Sena 50S, 50R or a Sena Impulse helmet, I will want to use Sena’s Mesh technology. It is infinitely better than Bluetooth, and this is where the problems typically start.
Bluetooth is at the end of its technology life. Everything that could be done with the technology has been done, and the limits have been reached. Hence Mesh from Sena and PackTalk from Cardo. To move motorcycle communications forward, an enhanced way of communicating needed to be developed.
Talking Over Each Other
Sena Mesh and Cardo PackTalk are not Bluetooth technologies. They are totally different. They just happen to be in a device that also supports Bluetooth communications.
Because the Mesh technology and Bluetooth are contained in the same intercom device, there is an assumption that they are aware of each other and will cooperate.
But Bluetooth was never developed to do this. There is nothing in the Bluetooth specification about Mesh or PackTalk communications. It is Bluetooth, and it does its own thing.
When I connect my phone and GPS to the Bluetooth channels of my Sena and then enable the Mesh Intercom on top of that, in essence, I’m starting two competing communication technologies, connecting them to intelligent devices, all of which assume they are in charge.
This is where the gripes about poor quality, echoes in the audio, gaps in the intercom conversations, and other complaints typically come from.
But worry not. The clever people at Sena designed their devices to avoid these problems but buried the correct configuration deep in the manual, somewhere we are not overly keen to dig, hoping to find an answer.
Enjoying a Three Way
In the Bluetooth pairing section of the Sena Manual are instructions for connecting your phone to your headset. The manual continues with instructions for connecting a second device to the headset.
As this is Bluetooth, that all makes sense – two-channel Bluetooth. But read the next page, and there is a specific Bluetooth connection available for your GPS (or phone if that is what you use for navigation) along with the note:
"If you pair your GPS device via GPS Pairing, its instructions will not interrupt your Mesh Intercom conversations but overlay them. Bluetooth conversations will be interrupted by GPS instructions."
The blending of Bluetooth and Mesh audio is only available to the device connected via GPS Pairing. It isn’t an extra Bluetooth channel but a Bluetooth connection designed by Sena to work seamlessly with their Mesh technology.
In my defence, I’m a geek and have been known to read the occasional manual. Did I miss this the first time through and jump directly to the section marked “Phone Pairing”, or was this a recent addition delivered through a Sena Firmware update?
The GPS connection feature is in the Sena 50S firmware version 1.2.2 and is standard in the Sena Impulse Helmet. I’d guess the feature is also available in the SC2 module for the Schuberth C5 and E2 helmets, but I can’t be sure as we haven’t tested them yet.
Making It All Work
Armed with a Sena 50S, a Garmin Zumo XT GPS and a mobile phone, here is how I connected them all.
♦ Delete All Parings:
Start by clearing any references to the other devices from each device to prevent anything from connecting incorrectly.
On the Zumo XT, this is in the settings menu under Bluetooth and in a similar place on most mobile phones. You are looking for a screen prompt along the lines of delete this pairing or forget this device.
For the Sena 50S, press and hold the Jog Dial for about ten seconds until you hear “Configuration Menu”. Release the Jog Dial and turn it left or right to cycle through the menu options until you hear “Delete All Pairings”. When you hear that, press the P button (the one on the rear of the unit).
♦ GPS Connection:
To connect the Garmin Zumo XT, press and hold the Jog Dial on the Sena for about five seconds until you hear “Intercom Pairing”. Now press the P button to hear “Second Mobile Phone Pairing”. Next, press the P button again, and you will hear “GPS Pairing”.
Now put the Zumo XT in pairing mode. Select the Sena 50S when it appears in the list of available devices and wait. Yes, wait. The Zumo XT will show “Connected”, but the Sena takes a little longer, but it will eventually announce, “Your headset is paired”.
♦ Phone Connection:
Put the Sena device to one side, as this is ready to go. Now connect your mobile phone to the Zumo XT.
The options are in Settings on the Zumo XT, under Wireless Networks, and then select Search for Devices. While that is running on the XT, on your phone – if it is Android – go into Settings, Connections, Bluetooth and then scroll down to Available Devices, where you should see the Garmin Zumo XT.
Road Test
With the phone connected to the Garmin Zumo XT, any music, notifications, and even alerts from the outstanding CamSam speed camera database will play from your phone through the Zumo to the Sena.
When they do, the audio streams will be blended with the Sena Mesh Intercom conversation rather than interrupting it.
So, if you are raging with AC/DC streaming from your phone, and one of your riding buddies interrupts your Zen-like trance, you will hear them.
It is all good in theory, but a road test is always needed, and following our 30-mile test, yes, it all works as advertised. We tested using a pair of Sena 50S intercoms and a Sena 50S with a Sena Impulse helmet. The results were the same for both configurations.
The Mesh Intercom was clear and would go silent when no one was talking, activating the microphones again as soon as we spoke. As a result, we didn’t spend hours listening to road noise piped through the intercom.
There was no bleed over, echo or poor-quality audio. None of the symptoms described on the various forums were experienced.
The other riders could not hear the instructions from my GPS, and speed camera alerts from my phone were audible only to me and mixed with the Mesh Intercom audio.
If I was talking when GPS instructions or an alert played, there was no interruption to the intercom for the other riders, and I could hear the instructions/alert clearly.
An Extra Trick
If you are unaware of CamSam, it is an excellent App for speed camera warnings. What differentiates it from the hundreds available is that it comes from the same people who run and maintain the speed camera database used by most GPS companies.
Rather than waiting for updates, you get them first. In addition, there is the ability to report mobile cameras, which then updates other CamSam users.
Naturally, you should only use that feature where it is legal to do so because we wouldn’t want to bend or break the rules. Would we?
Alerts from CamSam on my phone, if I leave it in automatic connection mode, will use Bluetooth A2DP. It works fine. There is a slight delay, but the alert will play through the GPS and blend into the audio stream with the Mesh Intercom.
Alternatively, if you select Bluetooth HFP (Hands-Free Profile) mode for the CamSam audio connection, the audio is louder, and the Zumo XT interprets the audio alert as a phone call and puts a call alert on the GPS display. As soon as the alert has played, the call notification on the Zumo XT clears.
Being a (fake) phone call, the HPF alert will interrupt the Mesh conversation. This configuration works for me, as the CamSam alerts are short and are more important than the inane drivel we tend to discuss on longer rides.
On a more practical note, if you are in an unfamiliar area with a high workload, hearing is one of the first senses our brains ignore to process other inputs (Source: Aviation Cockpit Workload Management). In these situations, a visual reminder to check your speed might save you from a Speed Awareness course.
Oh, yes, I forgot to say, CamSam – called BlitzerPro in some countries – costs 5 Euros. Yes, FIVE. Not five per year. Just FIVE. Stop messing about a buy a copy through your App Store.
The One Downside
And after all of that, we could only find one wrinkle in our configuration. Along with everything else these days, Sena Communication devices have an App, and that App uses Bluetooth. You can control all the settings through the Jog Dial and the other buttons on the Sena unit, but the App is much easier to use.
The good news is that once set, there is little need to change any of the Sena settings. Set them once, and then delete the pairing before configuring the connection to the GPS.
Otherwise, you run the risk of the phone using both of its Bluetooth channels to connect to the Sena and the GPS and starting the audio conflict all over again.
If you find a flaw in our configuration, please let us know. Otherwise, may the unparalleled joy of a mellifluous auditory experience be with you.
(Sorry about the last sentence. We think Dave learnt a new word this week ~ Ed.).
6 responses
Difficult to be exact when dianosing from a distance. What is the sequence of the devices? With Boom! it looks as if Harley are not expecting a Zumo to be used – Same with Honda … “Why are you installing a GPS when we have given you Apple Carplay/Android Auto”.
When you power the Sena on do you hear the “Hello” message? If you do I’d step through the menus on the Sena and delete all pairings / factory reset first. Then delete all instances of the Sena from the XT and your phhone. (Clean start)
Then try pairing your phone with the Sena and see if that works. If it does – Delete all pairing and try the XT with the Sena. If that works, connect your phone to the XT (as per the article).
I’m guessing, but if you then connect the Sena to Boom! I’m wondering if ACP/AA isn’t arguing XT over who gets to communicate with the Sena.
Let us know how you get on – Happy to help if we can.
I have a Harley Ultra with the Boom! GTS Infotainment unit, along with the Sena 50s and Zumo XT. I’m not getting any sound in my Sena from the XT.
Any suggestions?
(My XT is paired as a GPS.)
Thanks!
We have not has much experience with the +Mesh. We have used one, but that was so we could bring a 3rd rider into a Mesh for a short trip. For that it worked very well.
What you might find with bluetooth only headsets is that the two bluetooth channels are in competition with each other. So the experience may not be as good as with a Mesh intercom.
Assuming your bluetooth only headset has two channels – most do – I’d expect you can connect one tothe +Mesh and the other to a SatNav or Music. However expect the audio to clash.
At last, a well researched, best practice guide to networking devices. My configuration introduces yet another variable!
I want to use Mesh using my Sena Bluetooth only unit to I have bought a Sena add on +Mesh adaptor.
Before I use your recommended configuration have you had an opportunity to consider this apparent compromise if using a +Mesh adaptor?
According to Sena +Mesh bluetooth to Mesh intercom adaptor documentation (this is a bike mounted unit that allows bluetooth only Sena comms units to connect to Mesh networks) if Audio Multi-tasking is enabled, the headset or helmet communicates in Normal Intercom mode. It also states “if the headset or helmet has Audio Multitasking enabled or HD Intercom disabled, the intercom quality of Mesh Intercom will be reduced”
Well I should like HD quality audio. Of course I shall test this apparent compromise myself but I wonder if your tests using a 50S revealed any reduction in sound quality over Mesh?
Difficult. If the iPhone connects to the Zumo and the Zumo to the 50S then you have used the blended Bluetooth channel for the Zumo.
Unless the Zumo can connect to the iPod and the iPhone at the same time and mix the audio for you, I think you have one Bluetooth connection to many.
Have you considered putting the music on an SD card and installing that in the Zumo. Or perhaps using the iPhone and online music. Both of those will sadly remove the wonder wheel from the equation.
Cheers
I have a SENA SM-10 bluetooth transmitter connected to a an iPod on my BMW K1600 ( I like the ability to control the music with the ‘wonder-wheel’ on the BMW). I also have a Zumo XT, Sena 50S and iPhone. Can you suggest a pairing for the SM10 that works with the pairings you provided in order to get MESH, GPS instructions, phone calls and music (from the SM-10) to work properly on the 50S?