Phil's bluetooth mod...

[sinkhole]

I've been considering the bluetooth mods that "Phil" did on his RT. Today I opened the rear speaker area on my RT a/c and discovered that the speaker outputs are inoperative. Looking at the wiring diagram, the 4 speaker wires come directly from the radio, but evidently you need the passenger radio control pad installed in order for the radio to send the output to the speakers. Does anyone have any info on whether or not this is true, or if there is a work around?

 

[Gordy]

there is a fade control on the control panel to turn on your rear speakers

 

[BMF_RACING]

there is a fade control on the control panel to turn on your rear speakers

:agree: I just added the rear speakers to mine, worked fine.

 

[Y Rider]

Sinkhole, did you go with the Sony BT transmitter? I am going to BT the radio on my RT Ltd but am thinking of using the Miccus Blubridge mini-jack. This unit will work while being charged. I can always keep power on it via the USB port to keep it charged. Plan on using the 12V accessory plug for power. Going to use Scosche's LOC80 converter to connect to the rear speaker connections and adapt the line out RCA connectors to 3.5mm to plug into the Blubridge.

 

[sinkhole]

there is a fade control on the control panel to turn on your rear speakers

Thanks Gordy. I don't know how I missed the fader control. Time for a visit to the eye doc.:shocked:

 

[sinkhole]

Sinkhole, did you go with the Sony BT transmitter? I am going to BT the radio on my RT Ltd but am thinking of using the Miccus Blubridge mini-jack. This unit will work while being charged. I can always keep power on it via the USB port to keep it charged. Plan on using the 12V accessory plug for power. Going to use Scosche's LOC80 converter to connect to the rear speaker connections and adapt the line out RCA connectors to 3.5mm to plug into the Blubridge.

I haven't ordered any of the components yet. I wanted to make sure that the rear speaker wires were hot first. I had planed on using the Sony and mini mix that Phil used, but I'll have to take a look at the Miccus and Scosche units too.
Phil hard wired power to the Mini Mix, but the Sony transmitter is battery powered. I'd like to have both wired into the RT's system.
Thanks for the info.

 

[Phil]

Sinkhole, did you go with the Sony BT transmitter? I am going to BT the radio on my RT Ltd but am thinking of using the Miccus Blubridge mini-jack. This unit will work while being charged. I can always keep power on it via the USB port to keep it charged. Plan on using the 12V accessory plug for power. Going to use Scosche's LOC80 converter to connect to the rear speaker connections and adapt the line out RCA connectors to 3.5mm to plug into the Blubridge.

Not sure how I missed this one when I was searching! I like that it can be continuously powered by USB. Like I said in the writeup- technology will move along (even thought this looks like it was our when I settled on the Sony unit), but I built it in a way to allow for technology refresh. I may get one of the little transmitters and try it!!

 

[sinkhole]

BT transmitter...

It would be great to locate a 12 volt transmitter that could be wired in permanently, and would power up when the system is active, and then shut down when the key is turned off. This would eliminate the "charging" issue.
Oh well, in a perfect world...

 

[Phil]

It would be great to locate a 12 volt transmitter that could be wired in permanently, and would power up when the system is active, and then shut down when the key is turned off. This would eliminate the "charging" issue.
Oh well, in a perfect world...

You Can Dave. It appears that the Blubride WILL do well on USB power and that is super easy to do. Go to Best Buy and look in the cell phone accessories area. They have a power accessory (aka cigarette lighter) plug in that gives you 1 or2 USB power ports. Pop it into one of the 12 accessory outlets. Whala! I'm ordering one to try.
View attachment 11947

 

[Trickie Dick]

You Can Dave. It appears that the Blubride WILL do well on USB power and that is super easy to do. Go to Best Buy and look in the cell phone accessories area. They have a power accessory (aka cigarette lighter) plug in that gives you 1 or2 USB power ports. Pop it into one of the 12 accessory outlets. Whala! I'm ordering one to try.
View attachment 11947

That's how I power my cell phone on longer rides. Works just fine. I have a couple of dash mounted outlet on my GS.

 

[sinkhole]

USB power...

You Can Dave. It appears that the Blubride WILL do well on USB power and that is super easy to do. Go to Best Buy and look in the cell phone accessories area. They have a power accessory (aka cigarette lighter) plug in that gives you 1 or2 USB power ports. Pop it into one of the 12 accessory outlets. Whala! I'm ordering one to try.
View attachment 11947

Thanks Phil.

 

[jomamma1]

My wife and I are looking into bike-to-bike communications. She has the RT Limited, and I ride a 2005 Goldwing. We had thought about bluetooth sets, but the range is too limited. The CB option does not sound too inviting either. I have friends that have a CB on thier rides and complain that the most distance the can transmitt and be understood is about 1/2 mile. Also in our area at least, there is so much traffic on the CB bands that it is very hard to break in.

The FRS/GMRS radios seem like a better option. There is a guy on the GL1800riders.com forum that manufactures a unit for the goldwing that is plug-and-play and allows the use of either CB or FRS/GMRS with the built in handlebar controls on the wing. It also allows plugging in GPS, Radar detector, and MP3 players. I think it is called "GL2way".

As far as I have been able to find, there is nothing like that available for the Spyder's. We have been talking to a local BMW shop that installs the Autocomm unit on bikes. They claim to have very good luck with this system, but have never done one on a Spyder as of yet.

We haven't taken the Spyder in for an estimate yet, but I'll post here when we do. Until then, I'm very interested in what other's are doing.

Joe in Modesto

 

[NancysToy]

My wife and I are looking into bike-to-bike communications. She has the RT Limited, and I ride a 2005 Goldwing. We had thought about bluetooth sets, but the range is too limited. The CB option does not sound too inviting either. I have friends that have a CB on thier rides and complain that the most distance the can transmitt and be understood is about 1/2 mile. Also in our area at least, there is so much traffic on the CB bands that it is very hard to break in.

The FRS/GMRS radios seem like a better option. There is a guy on the GL1800riders.com forum that manufactures a unit for the goldwing that is plug-and-play and allows the use of either CB or FRS/GMRS with the built in handlebar controls on the wing. It also allows plugging in GPS, Radar detector, and MP3 players. I think it is called "GL2way".

As far as I have been able to find, there is nothing like that available for the Spyder's. We have been talking to a local BMW shop that installs the Autocomm unit on bikes. They claim to have very good luck with this system, but have never done one on a Spyder as of yet.

We haven't taken the Spyder in for an estimate yet, but I'll post here when we do. Until then, I'm very interested in what other's are doing.

Joe in Modesto

Autocom and Starcom1 are both good units. FRS/GMRS radio range is just as limited, and in lots of places the bands are just as crowded. In addition, the lack of longer, fixed antennas on the portable radios restricts the range. Don't believe the "35 mile range" you read about, these are line-of-sight radios, too. BTW, you can hook up a portable CB to autocom or starcom, if it has a suitable cable available, and a VOX feature or remote PTT.

 

[rogerb]

On my Rt the passenger does not have volumm control but has station control. Try riding with a kid in the back. They like to channel surf.:gaah:

 

[sinkhole]

You Can Dave. It appears that the Blubride WILL do well on USB power and that is super easy to do. Go to Best Buy and look in the cell phone accessories area. They have a power accessory (aka cigarette lighter) plug in that gives you 1 or2 USB power ports. Pop it into one of the 12 accessory outlets. Whala! I'm ordering one to try.
View attachment 11947

I'll probably go the USB "charge when running" route using the BluBridge transmitter. I ran across this Rolls unit today. How does it look as far as a mixer goes. It's an unpowered unit, so no addional wiring. I guess it's similar to the Loc-80. Using this combination would only require USB power to the units.

http://www.rolls.com/product.php?pid=PM57

 

[Y Rider]

I'll probably go the USB "charge when running" route using the BluBridge transmitter. I ran across this Rolls unit today. How does it look as far as a mixer goes. It's an unpowered unit, so no addional wiring. I guess it's similar to the Loc-80. Using this combination would only require USB power to the units.

http://www.rolls.com/product.php?pid=PM57

The Scosche LOC80 speaker level converter is also a passive device. No external power required. 12V power is only needed for the Miccus Blubridge mini-jack BT transmitter to keep it charged.

 

[Phil]

I'll probably go the USB "charge when running" route using the BluBridge transmitter. I ran across this Rolls unit today. How does it look as far as a mixer goes. It's an unpowered unit, so no addional wiring. I guess it's similar to the Loc-80. Using this combination would only require USB power to the units.

http://www.rolls.com/product.php?pid=PM57

One correction Dave- this unit is not a mixer. It's a level converter like the Scoshe box. High signal in - low signal level out.

 

[sinkhole]

One correction Dave- this unit is not a mixer. It's a level converter like the Scoshe box. High signal in - low signal level out.

Phil, correction accepted. :thumbup:
For what I'm trying to accomplish, I don't really need a mixer, and the converter should work fine with less wiring.
It's a shame that there is not easier access to all of the room behind the left rear speaker in the armrest. This would be a great place to locate these units. Does anyone know if the BluRidge transmitter will power up automatically when the USB charge is active? :dontknow: If so, they could be installed in there and forgotten.