Sena SMH10 Problem and question

[cognosticator]

This is driving me nuts  

I got the Sena dual set and they work great with the in helmet speakers.

I bought the A0304 base plate that will allow me to use my own ear buds.  When I do everything sounds great until I talk to another Sena user and I get a buzzing sound, but only after we get 25' apart.  If we get closer the buzzing stops.  I have tried 5 different earbud setups, I have tried putting a ferrite choke on the cable and I even went so far as to buy another A0304 baseplate just in case the original one was bad, but guess what, that bitch buzzes also.  I have tried it with my Sena unit and also with my wifes and they both buzz. so it isn't the bluetooth units themselves.  I talked to Sena today and the only suggestion they have is to send all the crap into them for them to analyze the problem.  That would take at least 3 weeks, and that is a very last resort.

Does anyone else use the A0304 baseplate and if so are you having a problem with the buzzing or other annoying noise?  If you are using the baseplate and no problem, what earbuds are you using.

As I said, this noise only happens when I am talking to another sena unit, the music and gps are fine.

[expatbrit]

Does anyone else use the A0304 baseplate and if so are you having a problem with the buzzing or other annoying noise?  If you are using the baseplate and no problem, what earbuds are you using.

As I said, this noise only happens when I am talking to another sena unit, the music and gps are fine.

I use it; I get buzzing on music, sometimes, and often on the intercom. It doesn't bug me too much on the Intercom, and a powercycle on the unit USUALLY fixes the music. But not always.

Called Sena, and they said 'power cycle it'.

ER6i earphones, if that helps at all. Girl has the same setup, Sony earbuds, no comments on buzzing.

[Cablebandit]

Same deal hear Jerry.  As a matter of fact I just sent an email to Sena this morning about it.  I'm almost to the point of swapping back in the helmet speakers.

[three west]

no issues here, skull candy buds, not at home so don't know the part number of the baseplate, but mine is the one that accepts the buds with the remote mic, not a boom mike.
wife has speakers in her helmet

[olsonm3915]

Same experience here- I bought three SMH-10s.  My son and I use ER6i earbuds and my wife uses the clamp unit with built in speakers.  The earbuds seem to have the buzz worse than the helmet speakers, but it always happens when you get more than about 25' apart.  I decided life's too short to worry, it bugs me a little but you can still hear the conversation just fine.  And it doesn't seem to have any buzzing problems when playing music or using the phone, just when talking to another unit in intercom mode.

I did try some various sized clamp-on ferrite chokes to knock down the buzzing, figuring that it was interference being picked up on the long earbud leads.  I even tried putting ferrites over the microphone lead, but nothing made any difference.  I read on another forum that someone thought the problem was the ER6i's were the wrong impedance (16 Ohm).  Not sure if that matters, I also tried another set of 32 Ohm earbuds and there was no change.

[Cablebandit]

OK.  I contacted Dan at Sena a while back and let him know what was going on regarding the earbud buzzing.  I was convinced it was the base because the pins don't seem to line up exactly to the printed board on the base.  Well I was told to send everything back to Sena including the units, all bases, etc.  

Today I got the return package in the mail.  It included the original earbud base that I sent them as well as a NEW dual set.  The units themselves appear to be the updated version.  The manual now shows that there is an audio booster inside and they do seem much louder.  Additionally the pins on the back of the have a stepped down shape so the contact point seems smaller (more pointy) and they are now spring loaded.

Bench testing the new units they work perfectly.  There is no longer any buzzing of bleed over from various sources.  I have a sneaking suspicion that they updated the internals but are quietly denying anything is wrong since the symptoms only manifest themselves with the optional base.  Why send out hundreds of thousands of new units when only a few are affected?

Anyway at this point I'm back to being 100% satisfied.  It should be noted that the original set worked as advertised when using the helmet speakers.

[cognosticator]

I sold my older SMH10 set and got the new version.  Buzzing solved  

I used them on a ride this past weekend, sound quality seems a lot better to me. I had a problem connecting my Sprint EVO, but with a tip from another site I got it paired and connected and it worked great on the trip.

[Cablebandit]

Should have just sent them back.  I got all new version 1.5    and my problems were solved as well.  Sometimes being an early adopter is more like being a beta tester.  I'm also hearing a lot of chatter about phone connectivity issues with several popular phones on version 2.0.

[expatbrit]

Since I don't have my units handy -- where's the 'what version' label on them?

[Cablebandit]

The B version charges via mini USB.  So if the unit itself has a USB connector to charge you have the B version.  It the charger end is just the little round plug then you have version 1 or 1.5.

[expatbrit]

The B version charges via mini USB.  So if the unit itself has a USB connector to charge you have the B version.  It the charger end is just the little round plug then you have version 1 or 1.5.

B == 2.0??

Definitely in that generation; thinking of moving to the 'B'. I end up power cycling the thing for the BT audio... a lot, when using it.

Shame, 'cos I love the thing otherwise.

[Cablebandit]

Do an RMA and see what they send you.  Maybe you'll get the B version.  They sent me an entirely new set, but it was just before they started shipping the B version.  The version they sent me I called version 1.5 due to the fact that there were differences compared to the one I sent in.  

[cognosticator]

Sena is doing an exchange for the main unit for $49.

They will send you a new B version and power cord and then you send in your older unit.

http://www.senabluetooth.com/contact/notice_20110620_1.php

I had trouble connecting my Sprint EVO.  They would pair together but not connect.  With a tip from someone on ADVrider I was able to get them to connect and on a ride this past weekend it worked great.

After pairing the Sena and Evo together I stayed on the page of my EVO that showed "Paired not connected"  I then push in the phone button on the Sena until it flickers like it is trying to pair again, while flickering I press the SMH10 button on my EVO and bingo, they connected.  I tested this by turning of the Sena and my phone said disconnected. I turned on the Sena and my phone said connected  

[cognosticator]

Should have just sent them back.  I got all new version 1.5    and my problems were solved as well.  Sometimes being an early adopter is more like being a beta tester.  I'm also hearing a lot of chatter about phone connectivity issues with several popular phones on version 2.0.

With the buzzing problem using earbuds, I wanted a complete new set.  I sold my old ones for $195 and bought the new ones for $272 shipped so  for $80 I got all new stuff instead of $105 for just the main unit.

[Cablebandit]

Well they sent me all new stuff in return.  So it only cost me 10 bucks to ship them out.