Hi buddy,

Nice pictures and tutorial.
Is it OK if I publish this on a Portuguese forum?

 

No problem mate. Not sure whether Starcom distributes to Portugal mind you, but I am sure you have something along the same lines there, perhaps Autocom.

 

Thanks m8!

 

Good pictures Piglet, made it clear what was available before I removed the tank cover from my F800ST. I've installed the Starcom1 Advanced (the smaller one), with PTT, Volume control (on the Handlebars), & Bluetooth option. Works well with Navigator III Bluetooth link. Some background noise though. Not as bad as the F650, but not as clean as I thought it was going to be.

Question - What's the interference noise like on yours, I installed it
previously on my F650 and could never get rid of the igntion pickup. Have tried various filters, all to no avail.

 

Originally posted by tuco

Good pictures Piglet, made it clear what was available before I removed the tank cover from my F800ST. I've installed the Starcom1 Advanced (the smaller one), with PTT, Volume control (on the Handlebars), & Bluetooth option. Works well with Navigator III Bluetooth link. Some background noise though. Not as bad as the F650, but not as clean as I thought it was going to be.

Question - What's the interference noise like on yours, I installed it
previously on my F650 and could never get rid of the igntion pickup. Have tried various filters, all to no avail.

Hi,

not had any interference noise on my Starcom on either bikes before, so maybe an idea to chat to Starcom about that. I had the Starcom on my F650 before too, and it lived right under the seat where I was sitting. It was an extremely tight squeeze, which put a lot of stress on the connections, so in the end it started getting unreliable. Had the smaller unit been available when I bought mine, it would have been far better for the F650. The standard unit is faultless and crystal clear now though on the F800, as it has the room it needs, and I have also gaffa taped the connections to the box for extra security. I am considering getting a PDA with GPS, so then I will get the Bluetooth adaptor. The PTT is just hidden under the tank at the moment for later use, but I do use the button itself to silence the music on the go if I need to talk to anyone.

 

Hey Piglet:

Is the StarCom unit still holding up on the 800S?

 

Hey Piglet:

Is the StarCom unit still holding up on the 800S?

Ditto!, Am considering going this way and just want to know if there has been any issues with the unit wired direct to the battery with the canbus and all...

 

I have seen others wired to the battery as well, and am aware of no issues. This bump might get us an update?

 

That was my thoughts meol! anyone ?

 

I've wired the Starcom to the battery through a relay (standard 30A automotive relay), switched by the ignition (wire from back of accessory socket). Works well no problems. I also use this relay to power other bike accessories. Prefer to not wire accessories directly to the battery, best to have them switched, there's always the one time you forget to switch them off.

 

Cheers Tuco, my understanding is when the helmet cable is disconnected it turns the starcom off so direct to the battery I expect should be ok.

 

Here's a bump:
I put the starcom directly on the battery. My zumo is switched.
The starcom has an automatic on/off based on whether the helmet is plugged in, so it is failsafe.
It is a beautiful combination with the zumo, a bluetoothphone, and a rider up.

Issues (for me):
- the sound gets pretty poor at higher (not ridiculously high) volume. I use the vol-02 controller and at full max it is almost unbearable distorted. I don't know if this is in the unit or the helmet speaker kit.
- If you use a zumo, you plug it into the "phone" jack. Every time the zumo "speaks" to you - turns, beeps, etc. -- it mutes out music for a period of time that you preset (default is 5 seconds). If you didn't use the zumo like this, in the phone jack, you would put it in aux. You get no mic there, but when it "speaks" to you it does it "over" the music, without interruption -- you have to pick.
- the accessories - jacks, cables, etc. - are very pricey for what they are.

Does it work, though: yes, nicely, and despite the limited space under the f800st you can tuck it all in nicely.

Mike in NY

 

I use a Starcom Advance with Sirius sattelite radio on my other bike. Its connected to a fuse box that is switched with a relay (along with everything else that is hooked up to the Starcom).

The Sirius reciever has its own volume setting. I turn the Sirius reciever up to near max (not max, that's where distortion will happen) and its plenty loud enough for me. I also use the Starcom volume controller. Is there a way to turn up the volume coming out of the Zumo? If so, that may be your answer. I've also heard of people using an amplifier of some kind between the input and the Starcom.

I've also found that the location of the speakers in the helmet can make a huge difference in the sound quality. It took me several attempts to find the sweet spot.

 

I talked to starcom and they really emphasized (again) speaker placement, and I think that solved the sound issue. It really has to be spot on.

 

I have a Starcom Advance connecting my Garmin 2730, its XM radio and alternately a CB radio or a GMRS radio either with NOAA weather radio ad-ons. I used the MU-4 cable to attach the GPS to the Starcom and I used a noise filter on the power leads. Im using the Starcom mic and headset in both my Schuberth C2 and in my Shoei RF1000, I'm using he volume control on the Starcom unit (an external volume contro is my next addition). Sfar, everything is working exactly as advertised and I can listen to Mozart whilst I motor down the lane. Very nice.

I've had the weather radio kick in a couple of times, also plenty of volume. I can hear the English lady telling me to turn left in 800 feet, and I used the CB to talk with some friends, bike to bike a week or so ago.

If the thing exhibits any sort of longevity, I'll be very please with this Starcomm product. My installation looks mostly like Piglet's at the opening og this thread, and the wiring goes down the right sied of the airbox to avoind the electronics on the left side.

No complaints (BTW, all of the components except the 2730 came from Joe Sears at www.spoiled biker.com -- a first class guy, and no he did not solicit this statement, nor is he even aware of F800riders.org to the best of my knowledge -- although he does own an R1200RT).

 

OK, for all you Starcom owners, what is the difference between the Starcom Advance and the Starcom Digital?

 

The difference is that the digital allows more variations. With the digital the pillion can have acces to their own music and their own phone. The pillion doesn't have to listen to the rider's music or phone, and vice versa. Or they can if that's what you want. More adjustments for volume levels, Vox, etc, between rider and pillion also.

The biggest difference for me is that the Vox on the digital can be seperated between the bike-to-bike radio, and the intercom for the rider/pillion. On my Advance, the Vox is either on for both bike-to-bike and intercom or off for both. So I can't turn the Vox off for the bike-to-bike and still have Vox for the intercom. Basicaly it means if I want to talk with my passenger, I have to put up with broadcasting our conversation on the bike to bike every time we talk. Or else turn off the Vox (no intercom) and use the push-to-talk button for the bike-to-bike. The Digital has seperate Vox adjustments for bike-to-bike and intercom.

If you seldom take a pillion, the Advance may be good enough for you. I'll probably be updating my bike to the Digital since anytime we go two up will be on my bike. And I'll put the Advance in her 800 since we probably won't do much two up with her bike.

 

Thanks Neil San Diego! I'll likely buy an Advance as my pillion is covered by the hard cover in yellow, unless that's covered by my Axio tail bag. I have not taken anyone on my pillion yet, and don't intend to.

 

Yep I decided to save the extra and go for the Advance, bugger the pillion

So far very impressed!

 

Nice install.

Proper crimped ring teminals to the battery terminals would have made it though......

 

Piglet? Is this the same piglet whio used to have a set of leathers that incorporated dinner jacket lapels and a bow tie? (in leather)

 

Any issues with heat with the Starcomm installed in this fashion? It would seem to me that the unit would get a lot of engine heat coming up through that area.

I am looking for places to put the Autcom on my wife's F800ST, and there are fewer locations on this bike than others she has had. This might fill the bill if there are no heat issues.

Thanks.

 

I have the digital starcom wired under the seat. I don't have heat issues per se, but I have noticed these effects:

If you use vox to cut off the radio, miscellaneous wind noises will CONSTANTLY cut off your music (through the pillion's mic). Even if you turn off Vox, the wind noise can be pretty fatiguing through the speakers. I'm going to try to relocate the pillion's mic or see if I can lower the sensitivity a bit.

 

I mounted mine on top of the air filter in the cut out, Starcom advance fits perfectly. Was dubious about under the seat with all that petrol hidden under there..

I have the Vox off on mine and give the starcom top marks

 

As soon as I get the parts (hopefully by the end of the month) I will be putting the Starcom underneath the seat. So far, the pocket on the left side under the seat looks to be the best option to me. I believe this is where the aftermarket tool kit is supposed to go...? The fuse box will probably go in the top of the hump, under the panel.

The packaging job that Piglet did is a very fine job, but I want to have instant access to the Starcom, at least until I get it "dialed in". My experience in the past is that it will take several tries of adjusting the volume, vox, balance, etc, before we are happy with it. That will be alot easier for me if it doesn't take tools to access the Starcom unit. Plus I would like to have the option of getting to it without any tools so we can tweak it easily if we ever need a quick adjustment on the road. YMMV...

 

I would watch under the seat as it does get a fair bit of water under there (admittedly, more so when cleaning the bike than riding..). Both the pockets under the seat are prone to getting damp I have found, I have the toolkit on one side and puncture repair on the other side.

I purchased the remote volume, mounted to the handlebars, excellent addition and easy to use. Agree you want to get in and play with the controls but once yuou have it set right you shouldnt need to.

 

I would watch under the seat as it does get a fair bit of water under there (admittedly, more so when cleaning the bike than riding..). Both the pockets under the seat are prone to getting damp I have found.

Thanks for that information! I hadn't considered that possibility. Back to the drawing board so to speak...