Motorcycle Radio Comms - Wireless Ham Radio Thru Helmet

[@LudwigDrummer0013]

Can confirm, there was virtually no road/wind noise on the receiving end while chatting with you on the road 🤙

[@hillbilly3366]

Oh my... That bike is beautiful! Great setup. Still working on GMRS myself. Don't let the vibrations ruin your radio.

[@TomtheDilettante]

Thanks much! And good point on the vibrations. The bike is pretty smooth overall, but you're right in that it might behoove me to put on some kind of dampener. Will have to research that and maybe update my setup :)

[@donmontalvo1]

I have the same Yaesu FT5DR. Great handheld. I don't have my Harley anymore. Great overview, nice to see HAM on motorcycles.

[@jolebole-yt]

I would totally try this with a D-Star Hotspot in my top case. I wonder how my Icom ID-52 will work with my Cardo unit.

[@aliensoldier21]

Would like to know if this works for you. I have a Kenwood TH-D74A and it will pair and work. However I lose all other functionality of my cardo. So to say it anyway it simply act as just a wireless headset for my radio. I would really like to find a way to keep all the functionality of the cargo and for it to act as a wireless headset from my Kenwood. If you try it, please let me know what your experiences is. 73

[@donwhitehead4587]

Dang..we hams are an ingenious bunch aren’t we?…….de AC4OK😜

[@TomtheDilettante]

LOL. I'd like to think so. If not, we're intellectually curious at the very least :)

[@brandenhellman4381]

A Marine. Thank you for the sacrifices.

[@jimholmes2555]

I like that you like Yaesu radios. I have a Yaesu FT-2900R in my truck and a Yaesu FT-4X duel band HT. I love 'em both. K0DXJ 73s !

[@wb416]

Was looking for ideas of how others were using HAM on motorcycles. Some of your ideas would work on my r1250GS for APRS. Thanks for the info!

[@KM4ACK]

Cool setup and good looking bike 😀👍

[@temporarilyoffline]

Great solution!

[@pe4844]

FOR GMRS : Btech GMRS PRO connects to Bluetooth Headset/Mic, and their Bluetooth PTT Button, and your phone all at same time. PTT Button uses a coin battery.

[@larsonl6376]

great video Marine. at the time i purchased my HT's i didn't see the need for bluetooth. i need to verify if my radios can have bluetooth installed, add on board kinda thing. maybe you or one of your subscribers know of a way to add bluetooth via the headset & mic plugs on the radio, i have a feeling most of my radios will need this method. BTW: nice bike, i have the 2023 bmw 1250 gsa

[@dmworken]

I have the Sena 50S as well. Did you use "Pairing Second Device" to the FT5D?

[@stevenreid7165]

Love the video

[@storskegg]

I'm (a) pleased I came across your channel, and this video, (b) going to tell the xyl all about this video all weekend, (c) going to threaten to install a 5/8 wave on the bike (she's going to love that) followed by showing her pictures of mobile hf antennas like the Texas Bug Trap etc etc, and finally (d) buy her gin to earn my way back off the couch tonight.

[@TomtheDilettante]

LOL! That'd be quite the whip on a bike :). Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching and chiming in. Jury is still out for me whether or not I want to install a better antenna on the bike. I keep imagining it getting caught on things while off-road only to have it whip my a$$ or something while riding. Since I'm using a Yaesu, I might try a hotspot next :)

[@storskegg]

@@TomtheDilettante I've been thinking about one of those nitinol 1/4 wave whips for the Indian. On one hand, it'll spend most of its time bent, but ht's are pretty durable swr-wise. And the bike would be a pretty decent ground plane/counterpoise. I'd be using my yaesu on the bike, too...if only for aprs. I like the aprs idea for family members who worry (when I'm into Chicago on 90/355), or need to plan (visiting the folks in Missouri).

[@nohrtillman8734]

Could you have any more things going on on that handlebar? 😅 Clean setup as you always do! Nice work!

[@sritter]

Hi Tom - thanks for sharing .... does the BT connection to your Sena from the radio 'block' other Sena functions (music, phone, GPS instructions, rider DMC intercom) ? or only take priority for when radio is transmitting or receiving. I am looking for a UHF radio solution (Australia) which has built in BT and a external BT PTT button (ideally both weatherproof). Have found one (GME XRS-660) but is renders the other headset functions as not usable all the time (even when no radio TX/RX)

[@mmic2206]

@@sritter I have the Same question. Would sena work with my phone and the radio simultaneously?

[@davidchoi7509]

Hey Tom. Saw your other video about SDRs. Question on antennas: If I want to have an antenna that can stand on its own via magnetic base indoors and pick up something like a P25 system on a 700-900 mhz frequency, do you have any recommendation on what to buy? I'll be using an airspy and a ryzen CPU. Thanks.

[@solarguy6043]

I and my two riding buddies have found the "mesh" system to be very problematic. Two of us can connect reliably, but not the third. Range is also very limited. We have tried both brands. Super frustrating. The cheapo BauFeng GMRS radio solution with some bluetooth dongles is what we are going to try next. So far we know that range is (comparatively) fantastic. It literally can't be worse than the Cardo and Sena "solutions". Unbelievable to spend that much money and get such a craptastic solution.

[@gerneticut]

Well i guess i need to upgrade from my baofeng uv9r so i can try a setup similar to this. My harley has an am/fm radio antenna that is currently not hooked up since i removed the head unit and installed an amplifier that connects to my phone. I use a cardio headset when im using a full face helmet. Kc3ysz 73

[@aliensoldier21]

Tom do you lose the other functionality of your Sena (intercom, music, & phone calls) when using your Yaesu?

[@TomtheDilettante]

When I did this test, I did lose other functionality. However, I believe my Sena unit has the ability to pair with TWO bluetooth devices. Which should technically mean I could pair with my phone AND the Yaesu. Haven't tried it yet, but will need to give it a shot before my next trip where I need comms and some entertainment :). If I get it to work, I'll post the experience to share with others.

[@garrenacker]

I run a Sena 30k. One would think the 5w would give longer range when talking with a fellow rider running the same setup vs Sena.

[@spldrong]

I want to know if this will work with a sena spider..... anyone try it?

[@elsuperpollo2273]

That's my thing, I want to run radio while running a dual sport but chances are I run amateur radio wouldn't happen on a motorcycle since I like being portable like pota/sota. I do thing if I run a radio I rather run frs when my wife cruises with me. 73, kq4hcu

[@brianishmael7845]

Now I’m more curious wonder if my 20s evo will sync to my ft5

[@TomtheDilettante]

don't know TBH, but I hope so. Might give you something new to play with :)

[@brianishmael7845]

What ptt did you use you didn’t link it. Tested my ft5 and it worked great. Need a ptt

[@TomtheDilettante]

@@brianishmael7845 You're right. My bad. Here's a link to the PTT button I hacked up and used for this project. I've also added it to the video description. Thanks for calling that out! amzn.to/3xZLCS1

[@brianishmael7845]

@@TomtheDilettante appreciate it

[@qb101]

The bluetooth in-helmet coms suck. They aren't loud enough, your pals all need to be on the same brand and same generation unless everybody bought the stupidly expensive ones, they cost way too much, it takes like 30 minutes to set up for a group ride, and if one person doesn't have the right mesh, it blows the whole thing up and you have guy going without.

[@markharrison1160]

FT-5D has terrible battery life.