Tips and Tricks, SENA SMH10 Pairing

[A-Red Bill]

From time to time there have been posts regarding Bluetooth pairing frustrations. I have the RT Wethead with the factory sound system, Sena SMH10, NAV 5 and a windows phone. Pairing the Sena to the bike is easy, but, throw in simultaneous pairing of the NAV 5 and phone and it becomes difficult. From time to time, there is an upgrade to one of the devices and you need to pair again. Usually enough time has elapsed to forget a fine point or two. After this latest round, initiated by a nice map upgrade to the NAV V, I vowed to document the process. I believe that Albert 2 did a nice write-up some time ago but I could not find it this time around. I have also read recent posts in another forum about pairing the S20. That unit is more forgiving than the SMH 10. The following is a result of making every mistake possible.

 

Some background:

 

The Sena has three modes of device pairing, all initiated by the Phone button. These are:

 

1. “Phone Pairing”. Press the phone button for 10 seconds until you hear “Phone Pairing”, release the button, you then hear a pattern of beeps that repeat as long as you are in paring mode. For the SMH 10 “Phone Pairing” comes first;

 

2. “Media Selective Pairing”. Press the phone button as above, release it, and within 2 seconds briefly press the jog dial till you hear “Media Selective Paring”, followed by repeating beeps;

 

3. “Phone Selective Pairing”. Press the phone button as in “Phone Pairing”, release it, and within 2 seconds press it again briefly. You should then hear “Phone Selective Pairing” followed by repeating beeps.

 

I pair the Sena to the bike for tunes. I also pair the Sena to the NAV 5 for directions and phone. Pairing basics:

 

1. The order of pairing is essential.

 

2. You need to start with a clean deck. Delete all pairings on the Sena, the bike and the NAV 5. Delete relevant pairings on the phone. My windows phone also needs rebooting after deleting the pairings.

 

3. After you delete the pairings turn the device off or disable the Bluetooth function. This is essential to prevent spontaneous pairings while you working on another device.

 

Now start pairing.

 

1. First pair the Sena to the bike using the “Phone Pairing” mode. This seems counterintuitive. The Sena can only be paired to helmet 1 of the bike. Once paired Sena will say “Media Connected”. Turn the bike off.

 

2. Second pair the Sena to the NAV 5 via “Phone Selective Pairing”. Once paired Sena will say “Phone Connected,” now turn the Sena off.

 

3. Third, pair the NAV 5 to the Phone. You will usually need to allow the pairing request on the phone. Reboot the phone.

 

4. Now, turn everything off, turn the Sena on enable Bluetooth on the phone and NAV V.

 

Test your work. Note that this method does not use “Media Selective Pairing”. One last important setting. Test the volume of the NAV V. The default setting will clip the headset speakers right through your ears.

 

It is also possible to pair as follows:

 

1. Sena to NAV V; “Phone Pairing”

 

2. Sena to Bike; “Media Selective Pairing”

 

3. Phone to NAV V.

 

The problem with this approach is that Sena is fussy about making the connections each time you start out. You can eventually get it sorted out but it’s more trouble than it needs to be.

 

Happy Pairing.