Many of us have acquired the Sena SMH10 Communicator. These things rock.

However, they do have a learning curve and issues do arise. This thread is intended as a central place to discuss problems, solutions and share insights about these gadgets. 

The motivation for starting this thread was actually that my SMH10 failed yesterday. It refuses to take a charge. It's only a bit over a year old.

Yun Lung Yang mentioned that he had had the same thing happen with his and suggested connecting it to the computer and resetting it. 

Using the Sena BlueTooth Device Manager application under Windows 7, I noticed that there was a firmware upgrade for the thing so I went ahead and upgraded that. I'm going to see if this has any effect on it being able to take a charge and will report back later, once I've made a determination.

If you have issues I can try to reset it with a few other undocumented methods that I may have done and have forgottenen. But this happen to me when I left the charger on over 48 hr after it was charged. The blue light turn red again

Yun Lung Yang, if you find those links please post them here (or send them to me). Thanks!

*sigh* I'm pretty sure my Scala was much higher quality and it could pair to 10 others, and at greater range. The one time I go and do a "lemming" and change what I have in order to join with the crowd it's with a small electronic device of dubious nature. The techno Gods are laughing at me.

The things we do for our friends.  

LOL!

So after upgrading the firmware on my SHM10, the unit once again would take a charge. Whether this is correlation or causation I cannot say, but it seems that for the moment my issue is resolved.

what was so great on the Sena was

1.) price point for most people to adopt and use
2.) ease of use with the jog dial control

I do feel the lack of connectivity to more people is a real downer, I dont see why connectivity is so finicky at times, and why it cant just connect to more people. Seem like somethign they can fix with firmware

So far so good. I've had my unit for just over a year now, and have yet to run into any serious issues.  The biggest issues I've encountered have been addressed for the most part with firmware upgrades.  As for charging, I simply plug it in until the unit turns blue (indicating a full charge), and then disconnect it and let it sit until I need it. If it sits for more than a couple of weeks, I'll top it off overnight before I plan on using it. In a number of long days of usage, I have yet to encounter a "low battery" warning (10+ hour days of intercom/phone/music), and unlike the Scala (and other competitors), the Sena will accept a charge while being used if the battery runs down. There have been minor issues with pairing, but in all honesty, a lot of that had to do more with a number of us in our riding group (myself included) not really reading the manual in detail for the pairing process, and picking up on the rules of pairing (max number of paired units, pairing order and channels, FIFO queueing, changes with firmware updates, etc.).  The unit has paired flawlessly with my cell phone, my GPS and my IPOD classic (after I purchased a bluetooth dongle for it). 


The only limitations I see are the limit on the number of pairings at any one time (3), and occasional conflicts between non-intercom devices (GPS and Smartphone--they have to be paired properly to avoid conflicts) but Sena plans on addressing these issues in future firmware updates. In addition, I'm considering picking up one of their hubs which may allow much more pairing flexibility (multiple riders pairing with the central hub instead of with each other).

While Scala may make a fine device, it's still $100 more on per unit on average, and I've yet to see a truly compelling reason (at least for me) to choose it over the Sena.

For the price point/value proposition, I think the Sena SMH-10 is still at the front of the line. As with all such things YMMV--and obviously, I speak and opine here only for myself...

The SMH10 I have been using since May has died. The LED shows a continuous low-level red light and it will not turn on (either connected to power or disconnected to power). Reset procudure and hard reset procedure have note worked and with it unable to turn on (although the LED would indicate it has power) there is no way to reflash it.

I've switched over to my second unit but this is clearly an issue. I haven't been able to find out much and tech info (real tech info) is hard to come by on these things. Is under warranty so hopefully they'll replace it.

Man, that sucks. I had a similar issue with mine but was able to get it to reset. I don't know how many have been affected by this issue.

No biggie as this was the somewhat older SMH10, I'll be using the SMH10b tomorrow. I've just flashed it to the 4.2 firmware and am all set to go.

Has anyone used one of these?:

DucatiDreamer, This is the thread I was talking about. 

Here's a link to the previous generation dual headset pack we were talking about:


The new released version is the SMH 20 but it's much more expensive and I'm not sure the benefits outweigh the increase in price.

During yesterday's ride I noticed that sometimes the Sena doesn't seat properly in the bracket, which results in audio only coming from one side or the other. I did notice that if I push the Sena against my helmet the audio worked fine. After playing with it, it looked like the culprit that one of the spring-loaded pins sometimes gets stuck and only sticks out half-way. I'm going to try cleaning all the contacts (eraser and rubbing alcohol, just like a slot car) to see if that helps. I'll let you all know what I come up with. Otherwise, I think the Senas are great and I have no complaints.

Ben Mendis I had the same problem and fixed it by applying a small piece of thin foam-backed tape to the on-helmet portion of the mounting bracket where the Sena connects. That keeps a small amount of pressure on it and maintains the contacts better.

One thing to note... they are not really waterPROOF. We've had issues with them in long heavy rain.  

I'm looking at getting a set for me and my wife. Doing hand signals is not the best method of talking. It works but not as good as the headset.

Revzilla recently published a video review of the Sena 20S, who's going to be the first here to test it out?

I just ordered a pair of 20s for my husband and me. I hope to test them out this weekend. I will give a report. We haven't really had bike to bike communications since we had Golwings with CBs (about 3 years ago). We had the BMW communications with the K1600s but were not impressed. They only worked by calling the other person on the phone.  I'm hoping this set will be what I'm looking for. 

Lisa Epifano Hall I've hated every bike comm system I've tried until I tried the Sena. These things truly are fantastic and work just the way you would imagine.

They take a bit of fiddling to get used to at first. Sometimes when initially pairing them you have to wait longer than you would expect to get a connection, but once you do the sound is very clear even at highway speeds.

On rare occasions they drop connections but it's again rare. They have completed changed how we ride and for the better as long as you don't have someone in the group who just likes to talk non-stop.

For us having them has turned into a safety advantage. We've found that riders not in the lead position are much better at spotting wildlife, for instance, than the lead rider. With the Sena's we can combine our eyes on the road. 

I'd love to hear how the new Sena communicators work and hold up. We have the next to newest Scala Riders and they are frustrating enough to drive you to drink. The biggest issue is regardless of sensitivity settings, the units go to VOX when they feel like it. Mostly after the conversation has ended in frustration, on comes the "you have my permission to converse now" beep.

rick.rutel I'll have to check but I think I've been using the SMH10's for almost 2 years now. There are occasional glitches when the units aren't seated right and I had water get into one once when I didn't close the USB charging port but otherwise they have been fantastic. With the latest firmware upgrades, once paired, it's rare we even notice they are there.

For when you have multiple helmets: