Cardo Packtalk Bold - Testing in progress!

[RBEmerson]

ADDED: I like Belkin cables. They're well built. Noname cables are usually not worth what you paid for them.

 

[bigjohnsd]

Just had the "Old Girl" in for a tuneup. All that Windows stuff was supposedly taken care of, it, the old puter starts and runs a lot better and faster than it did three weeks ago.

I tried the cable that Cardo sent and a couple of other "Known Good" cables, none of which seemed to make a difference.

I don't recall all of the things we did over the two hours we spent on the phone.

Bottom line, they stepped up quickly and have sent the new unit.

I probably need to step up and upgrade my Box at home.

Thanks for all the insight, most of which is over my head and beyond my "Care Index" in that one can only know so much about so many things, this is an area I choose to pay folks to fix for me.

 

[RBEmerson]

No worries - if the house cleaning made a noticeable difference, mission accomplished.

If I was trying to cope with the problem, I'd still think more about the driver as the villain. If it won't hold up, anything else is a waste of time. Since the new unit will have (I assume) the new firmware rev., the issue is moot for this round.

Good luck and ride safe.

 

[Uncle Hud]

garyahouse posted, in part: ... After reading most of it, it appears that the majority of posts favor the Cardo.

Sorry that you're getting no love, Gary. This thread is about the Cardo Packtalk, so there shouldn't be much discussion of other types here.

My advice? tell them to get the least expensive kit that allows them to speak with each other. Kelly and I rarely -- perhaps never -- speak with others when we ride, but we will have the loveliest of conversations between the two of us!.

 

[bigjohnsd]

FYI- got the shipping notice from Cardo for the new unit followed up with a call from the National Brand Manager to apologize for my trouble and disappointment. Customer service gets an A+

 

[RBEmerson]

Yea!

 

[garyahouse]

garyahouse posted, in part: ... After reading most of it, it appears that the majority of posts favor the Cardo.

Sorry that you're getting no love, Gary. This thread is about the Cardo Packtalk, so there shouldn't be much discussion of other types here.

My advice? tell them to get the least expensive kit that allows them to speak with each other. Kelly and I rarely -- perhaps never -- speak with others when we ride, but we will have the loveliest of conversations between the two of us!.

No biggie. Told my daughter I'd jump on the forum and get her some advice. She bought a pair of Cardo bolds for her and her hubbie. Seems to be enjoying them thus far. She took her Triumph out on it's first long ride today. 45 minutes is a long ride for her. I guess the smoke has finally subsided in the Seattle area so she was able to get out for a ride. Said she really enjoyed the bike and is feeling more confident with it.

 

[RBEmerson]

[/ two thumbs up ]

 

[FJRMaineiac]

+1 on the Cardo. I was a long time use of the Sena SMH-10 (the first generation - with the barrel type charging port that you could do firmware updates to). In fact, the SMH-10's I have still work, but the batteries don't hold up like they used to and with a growing group that I am riding with, it seemed like the right time to upgrade. I first purchased the Sena 30K and was happy with them at first until my son got caught in a thunderstorm and his 30K died. Only then did I see the fine print that they are "water resistant" not "water proof" (or at least typical motorcycle weather-proof). In all the years that I had the SMH-10, I never had any water related issues. I was stunned that their new flagship devices would be designed deficient in this area! It seems they forgot that some of us actually ride in the rain occasionally.

To their credit, I called Sena tech support, went through the usual troubleshooting exercises before the tech finally agreed that the device was toast. She instructed me to seek a replacement through the seller. The seller was out of stock and offered a full refund for the 2 month old units. For that, I was truly thankful.

I reinvested the returned funds into the Cardo Packtalk Bold - advertised to be weatherproof - and I am very pleased so far. Sound quality is very good. Set up was easy and it seems to be working as advertised. I haven't had a chance to try pairing with older devices such as my SMH-10 (one of my friends also still uses the SMH-10 so pairing with it will be important).

I really liked the ergonomics of the "wheel" on the Sena and thought I wouldn't like the "roller" on the Cardo, but it actually took very little effort to adjust to and works just fine. I will chime back in when I have had a chance to try more of the voice networking with other units.

 

[erixun]

I recently rode with Festar and his Cardo - I have the older SMH10 - we had to use the bluetooth connection and drop one of his bluetooth channel to his phone. In the end, yes it worked, however on my end he was REALLY quiet. I suspect it was a SMH10 problem not a Cardo problem. At times I could not even hear or understand him - I have not experienced this connecting to my phone via bluetooth or using the standard pairing with other Sena units. Just some info in case you have some cheap bastards in your group like me that still have the 10's.

Probably time to upgrade...

 

[Heen]

So I'm not sure I understand. You have to use the phone blue tooth to connect a Cardo to a Sena. I have an 20S and would like to be able to connect to a friend's Cardo but tired and could not figure it out.

 

[festar]

I recently rode with Festar and his Cardo - I have the older SMH10 - we had to use the bluetooth connection and drop one of his bluetooth channel to his phone. In the end, yes it worked, however on my end he was REALLY quiet. I suspect it was a SMH10 problem not a Cardo problem. At times I could not even hear or understand him - I have not experienced this connecting to my phone via bluetooth or using the standard pairing with other Sena units. Just some info in case you have some cheap bastards in your group like me that still have the 10's. Probably time to upgrade...

And here was me thinking I was having a wonderful conversation to now find out you couldn’t understand me. Lol

So I'm not sure I understand. You have to use the phone blue tooth to connect a Cardo to a Sena. I have an 20S and would like to be able to connect to a friend's Cardo but tired and could not figure it out.

Yes, had to use one of the phone channels on the CARDO.

 

[RBEmerson]

Follow 4.2.1 in the Cardo manual to get the Bold looking for a BT connection.

For the 20S, hold the Jog (big) dial down for 2 seconds and then rotate it to hear :"Universal Intercom Pairing". Tap the phone button (small button at the back of the 20S) and the two units should try to be pair. Wait 30 seconds to a minute and the connection should be established (riders can talk). Nothing else needs to be done.

I recently rode with Festar and his Cardo - I have the older SMH10 - we had to use the bluetooth connection and drop one of his bluetooth channel to his phone. In the end, yes it worked, however on my end he was REALLY quiet. I suspect it was a SMH10 problem not a Cardo problem. At times I could not even hear or understand him - I have not experienced this connecting to my phone via bluetooth or using the standard pairing with other Sena units. Just some info in case you have some cheap bastards in your group like me that still have the 10's. Probably time to upgrade...And here was me thinking I was having a wonderful conversation to now find out you couldn’t understand me. Lol

I dunno, Oz accents can confuse anyone.

 

[bigjohnsd]

Well Brian, you can pair with T for the trip north from Bridgeport

 

[Uncle Hud]

FJRMaineiac posted, in part: I first purchased the Sena 30K and was happy with them at first until my son got caught in a thunderstorm and his 30K died. Only then did I see the fine print that they are "water resistant" not "water proof" (or at least typical motorcycle weather-proof).

I see you drowned a 30K, and I'm surprised.

Mine's a 20S, but I've ridden through all-day steady rains and heavy downpours with no problem. The little rubber tab that plugs up the charging connection? Mine detached and was thrown away over a year ago. Plenty more rainstorms, including a very wet 10-hour day last month riding to Atlanta, DE. Still no issues.

Strange ...

 

[gregory]

I have ridden with the little rubber plug missing on my SMH10 through quite a few storms and no issues.

This looks like my replacement though (probably in 5 years)

 

[bigjohnsd]

My first 20S succumbed to a Pennsylvania thunderstorm. Sena sent me an updated more water resistant version which I never had water problems with over the next 50,000 miles. Cardo claims "Waterproof" yet to be tested.

 

[draco_1967]

This guys comparisons are very solid. Although no one plans to dunk their headset, the Card functions just fine.

Now we did not have any issues with riding in the rain with our 20s, including two frog-strangling days in the PNW. One unit had issues with water getting in the headphone port. The unit worked, but he couldn't hear us.

 

[RBEmerson]

To get a sense of 20S gaskets and guts, try this video. Skip around to get to what the gaskets look like. The video does tell how to swap the battery, and the information is correct. But short and to the point it's not. No it's not.

 

[bigjohnsd]

Update - Festar and I had great Mesh comms yesterday riding some 200 miles. After a day of frequent conversation my battery still reported as full. This morning we played "Can You Hear me Now" while attempting to Bridge a Schuberth C3 Cardo SRC into our Mesh. We were ultimately succesful but it took a Tech Support Call because the manual was not clear enough for three "Boomers" to understand. Excellent help received over the phone. Will report more tonight after Chama Pass, Durango to Silverton then over the Million Dollar Highway etc. A true test of Man and Machine!