46

FM Radio does not work

Johnv

July 10, 2014 07:19

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I have a Nolan N104 and a Scalarider G9 and where I live they both pick up FM radio perfectly fine The Noland is a little better than the G9 but they both work on at least 4 stations. The 20S however gives me nothing. Even getting much closer to the transmitter I get very little and have to turn my head just to get a very slight signal. The speaker cable goes up over the top of my helmet and I even tried with the little side aerial up but no dice.

The FM radio on the 20S is not only extremely poor but is in fact useless to me and is one of the reasons I purchased it. Not the main reason but an important one.

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217 comments

• 0
  
  Pfiedler July 21, 2014 01:39

  FM reception here in Massachusetts (just north of Boston) is very weak. Normally the stations I loaded into the 20S come in without any issues on other radios. Signal strength in this area is always very good.

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  Soeren Holm July 21, 2014 04:24

  My FM also don't get anything at all,,, and max distance to my iPhone from the 20S is around 50cm,,, then that losses signal also

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  Lee Wilkinson July 22, 2014 16:06

  Okay well I may as well add to the list rather than create a new thread with the several things I want to moan about! Only used a few times since it arrived a week or so ago, but it may be going back...Top though is as already mentioned the appalling FM radio reception. I live in East Anglia in the UK and travel around 50 miles to work down past the local 100KW transmitter (within 2 miles of it) and beyond. I can get about another 6-8 miles away from it and the stations start crackling and deteriorating to the point where they're unlistenable. Yesterday I tried the cupping hand over the unit and yes it got better - but as already stated who can do that? My issues are:

  • Very poor reception
  • RDS not working
  • Unit scans to lots 'silent' stations I know are present as have tuned in on them in car. S20 just announces the frequency it's stopped at but I get silence.
  • After a few mins of searching to get a non silent station the S20 refuses to scan up or down using the jog dial. Get a two tone beep then silence and won't scan or do anything further (radio wise) unless I turn FM off and then on again.
  • Agree that next firmware should remove frequency announcement when returning audio after using another audio function - we know what station we're on, we've not changed it, just give us the sound back asap.

  I'll add my other woes to the appropriate threads.

• 0
  
  Lee Wilkinson July 22, 2014 16:08

  Okay well I may as well add to the list rather than create a new thread with the several things I want to moan about! Only used a few times since it arrived a week or so ago, but it may be going back...Top though is as already mentioned the appalling FM radio reception. I live in East Anglia in the UK and travel around 50 miles to work down past the local 100KW transmitter (within 2 miles of it) and beyond. I can get about another 6-8 miles away from it and the stations start crackling and deteriorating to the point where they're unlistenable. Yesterday I tried the cupping hand over the unit and yes it got better - but as already stated who can do that? My issues are:

  • Very poor reception
  • RDS not working
  • Unit scans to lots 'silent' stations I know are present as have tuned in on them in car. S20 just announces the frequency it's stopped at but I get silence.
  • After a few mins of searching to get a non silent station the S20 refuses to scan up or down using the jog dial. Get a two tone beep then silence and won't scan or do anything further (radio wise) unless I turn FM off and then on again.
  • Agree that next firmware should remove frequency announcement when returning audio after using another audio function - we know what station we're on, we've not changed it, just give us the sound back asap.

  I'll add my other woes to the appropriate threads.

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  Keith Duffy July 23, 2014 19:57

  Yes I think the problem seems to be the RDS , I switched mine off and got minor very minor improvement
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  Ken July 23, 2014 20:05

  Bill Hemming, in a much earlier comment, you said that the FM was working well; even better than the FM radio on your BMW motorcycle.  Did something change to elicit your more-recent comment?   I see that you removed your helmet speakers but then reinstalled them, but reception still poor.  

  I'd like to hear from more Scala users (about their FM radio reception).  If they can do it in the small package, then Sena can, too. 

   

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  Bill Henning July 23, 2014 23:33

  It was good at first but then when I rode further away (remarkably, I went closer to the FM stations transmitters) it started to just lose stations.  These weren't small stations either, I picked the top 10 stations in Denver.  It seemed to get worse over time.  I don't know why or how that's possible.  Seems like it has a bad antenna.

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  Robert Munslow July 24, 2014 07:05

  Was told FM Arial is in ear spkr wire to RH side try run over top helmet for better  reception

  if this is correct using your own ear buds may lose FM arial so may still need other for Arial

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  Lee Wilkinson July 24, 2014 07:29

  Robert is that correct for the S20 or other Sena products? I will give that a go but assumed that because the S20 has the antenna on the side to flip up that that was the FM aerial. (Maybe it's just for intercom) Sena can you confirm?
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  Steven Aaen July 24, 2014 14:53

  Currently having the exact same issues as Lee Wilkinson with my Sena 20s.  Hoping this apparent firmware release in Mid-August I have heard about will fix this issue.  Whether or not this is actually when the release will happen is another question.  

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  dgreen July 24, 2014 16:08

  No change with Firware 1.1.1 by the way.  I live in an area that's very well covered by the local FM station via a 100.000 W transmitter.  I can receive this station anywhere in town with even a cheap receiver but the 20S barely locks onto the signal even in strong reception areas and as soon as I get into buildings or trees the signal is fuzzy and cutting out.

  This issue needs addressing.

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  Bill Henning July 24, 2014 23:57

  If the speaker wire also doubles as the FM antenna and the earbud wire does not, then that would be a design flaw.  I suspect this may be true as the manual says the antenna is for extending the distance of the intercom in section 3.5 of the manual.  It does not mention anything about FM using the antenna.

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  Ken July 25, 2014 01:49

  Has anyone read from Sena where the helmet speaker wires double as the FM antenna?  I just can't find that anywhere.  And I'm not sure that plugging in earbuds actually disconnects the speakers from the circuit.  Anyone know?

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  Lee Wilkinson July 25, 2014 09:30

  I've not seen that anywhere but have added the question to my support ticket. Posted that to Sena two days ago and it's not been assigned to anyone for action yet which seems very slow compared to other support systems.

  Ken - plugging in earbuds does disconnect the speakers aurally but until Sena answer the question about where the FM antenna is, we don't know if that takes the aerial out too.

  Just wasted an hour taking helmet apart again to try and route the right speaker cable over the top to give it a go anyway, but have found that the cable is too short to do that. I can only get it to run as far as about 2.30 on the clock face as if viewing helmet from side on and 3 o'clock is the rear. I have a size L (58/59) BMW Sport Helmet - so Schuberth manufactured - not exactly odd sized or shaped. 

  More and more am leaning towards sending this back and getting Schuberth C3 Pro and new SRC system with FM antenna built into helmet - radio is the biggy for me. Only downside with that route is the SRC has no 3.5mm earplug input but have seen mods posted and a fairly easy one to do (yes warranty I know). 

   

   

• 0
  
  Adam Puk July 27, 2014 08:12

  I asked Sena about a blanking plate/FM Antenna as I don't need speakers, still awaiting a response.
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  Rjf172 July 28, 2014 20:15

  I live in New York City home to many of the more powerfull radio stations in the world. But sadly the Sena 20S FM radio SUCKS!

  It was a major priority for me since I unmounted my Autocom from my Yamaha FJR1300, which was connected to a waterproof Jensen AM/FM/WB radio with aux input for MP3. I commute everyday & love listening to the radio (well used to anyway).

  Everything else about the 20S is great.

  Come on Sena, get your act together! That dual pack wasn't cheap.

  How you stand behind your products & respond to your customers will determine the future of your company.

• 0
  
  Harnold July 30, 2014 14:15

  I've used the Cardo units for years mainly because they offered an FM radio.  I was excited to try the Sena, but am *very* disappointed by the poor performance of the FM radio.  I, like others, only switched to Sena as they now offered FM.  I'll send these back if Sena can't make it work.

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  dgreen July 30, 2014 15:56

  I winder if anyone can confirm this observation.  I was riding listening to my local FM station via their iOS app (since FM reception is poor) and I decided to switch over the the Sena FM radio.  There was a marked drop in audio quality (from full range via BT to "speaker in a tin can" quality using the 20S's FM radio) and almost no audio from the left speaker.

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  Randal Benteman July 31, 2014 03:23

  Place my new 20 S on my helmet today and took a ride. FM radio terrible reception. I even have a local station not 20 miles away and the 20 won't pick it up. I did the upgrade as soon as I opened the box. Even drove to the top of a large hill and still no FM from the 20S. I did hook up my SHM10 and have the cable from my bikes audio system and the FM and audio does stream to my helmet through the SHM10 ok from my Goldwing.

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  Rmrheikens July 31, 2014 12:58

  For people asking i was told by Sena the FM antenna is the side antenna.  I have had no luck with FM radio with the unit.  I have an Ipod mini that i was using that does a lot better job of picking up radio stations. Hopefully this is a software fix or they come out with a dongle to fix this issue. 

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  Harnold August 01, 2014 02:47

  It's interesting that someone stated that the FM antenna is the side antenna.  I can put the antenna up or down with zero change in signal, but if I extend the left speaker wire and speaker the signal changes dramatically which is how every other unit with FM works (speaker wire is the antenna)

  Either the Sena rep doesn't know what he's talking about or Sena doesn't understand their unit.

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  Eric P August 01, 2014 18:31

  20s and have the same problem with FM radio reception. Only have had the unit 3 days, lucky for Sena that FM radio was not the selling point for me or I would've shipped this back yesterday. My location is near Salem Oregon and running the latest firmware and can only pick up one radio station. I'll just use my phone for FM radio I guess.

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  Rjf172 August 02, 2014 21:37

  I have had my 20S since June 6th,and the FM radio was terrible from day one. I have routed the right speaker wire over the top of the inside liner & saw no improvement in the signal strength. I live in NY City, home to some of the most powerful radio stations in the world & even in the least populated  of the 5 boros (Staten Island) the reception is terrible. I have submitted a request about this & have been told they are working on a solution to this problem. I hope so because everything else about the 20S I am satisfied with, but the FM radio in it's current unusable state is a deal breaker for me.

  
  
  
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  Gone2Mountains August 04, 2014 02:29

  At the risk of repeating what everyone else is saying....I too just bought the 20s, installed update...and fired them up for first time today. The FM doesn't work....not an issue of signal...radio FM is strong and clear. A little disappointed to see that Sena hasn't commented on this..even to acknowledge they are working on a fix....hoping they are.
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  Dave Silva August 05, 2014 19:21

  I don't use the FM, but my wife does and she says it is just about useless.
  Bay Area, CA

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  Ken August 05, 2014 19:28

  I don't use the FM radio either.  But having said that, I'm surprised that FM Radio was one of Sena's main selling points with the 20S for 6 months.  They advertised it so heavily, but it performs so poorly.

  I wonder how the Scala's FM radio performs.  If it performs well, why not Sena's?

  FM radio reception is not a cutting edge technology; it's been around for decades.  Broadcast FM radio reception really began to catch on in the 1950's  That's like 60 years ago.  So why is the20S  feature having so many dissatisfied users. 

   

• 0
  
  Harnold August 05, 2014 19:32

  The Cardo Scala units have always had an excellent FM radio.  No idea why Sena can't get this to work.

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  Mike.T August 05, 2014 22:38

  Since the firmware update 1.1.1 there has been an improvement, but it's still not perfect.

   

  Hopefully when the firmware 2.0 comes out, it will be sorted. :)

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  John August 08, 2014 17:40

  +1 i cant get the damn thing to work Verdict: CRAP

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  Hannes August 08, 2014 20:07

  I am from South Africa and the FM receiver doesn't work at all.  I hope Sena will come with a solution but I do not see any response from them on the forum?????