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Cardo PACKTALK Slim communicators

melensdad

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34th Wedding Anniversary was celebrated with a motorcycle gift.

A pair of Cardo PACKTALK Slim Bluetooth/Mesh communicators. Lots of bits and parts in the box!

These communicate with a couple of devices using Bluetooth technology, but you can pair them up with up to 15 other headsets and then you communicate via Mesh technology. The claimed advantage with the Mesh tech is that you don't have to constantly re-pair the headsets each day, or each time someone goes out of range. If you drift too far apart and then close the gap it reconnects automatically. Bluetooth is not reliable for automatci reconnection.

Range is, in optimum conditions about 1 mile. Range in typical conditions is claimed to be 1/2 mile. Reviews seem to indicate that these ranges are pretty accurate.

Bought these from Revzilla. My local dealer had a pair of the old style the last time i stopped in there but when I went in earlier this week they had sold them. I think my dealer was selling them at MSRP, which is higher. They had SENA brand stuff in stock, but none of the CARDO.

They have 2 versions. The new style with JBL branded speakers ( $510/pair) and the old style, which is identical in every way but uses Cardo speakers and is less expensive. The old style ($442/pair) is available while supplies last. I opted for the old style. I can live without name brand audio speakers inside my helmet. Neither is cheap. But I didn't want to pay the $70 premium for an upgrade that I probably can't hear anyway.

I will post photos and give my impressions of the units over the next week or so.
 
Congratulations! I love the headset in my helmet, both for connection to my phone or radio and for connection to the other three people I sometimes ride with.
 
Physically installing the units was pretty simple. I'm sort of an electronics idiot but I managed without much trouble. I can restore an antique tractor but can't figure out wires on a modern Honda.

That said, my wife has an HJC and I have a ARAI helmet. Both are full face. The battery unit install at the back of the helmet with a clip, it is wired to control unit, which is clipped to the left side of the helmet. On my ARAI the battery pack covers part of the rear air exhaust ports. The speakers fit nicely in cutouts in the ARAI helmet too. The HJC does not have cutouts for the speakers, but the speakers fit nicely without cutouts. I can't tell you what the sound is like in the HJC because my fat head doesn't fit into my wife's helmet; on my ARAI the speakers sound good. Not sure its high fidelity but it sounds plenty good to me. I was using it in my living room, riding the La-Z-Boy, so I'm not really sure how it will sound with wind and street noise.

Cardo's registration & community don't work with Apple's Safari web browser :mad:

So if you are an Apple person and want to register your product you need to download a second browser (Firefox or Chrome) and use that for Cardo. Not happy with that.

The operating instructions are pictograms with minimal descriptions. Not really a problem. But they are not really complete either. It would actually be nice if they told you some of the features that you would find on their website.

Additionally you need to download an APP to customize your controls, which is not really a downside. You can probably use the website to customize the controls too? Not really sure as I don't have one of the recommended browsers loaded on my computer, but it would certainly be logical to presume they allow you to set your radio channels via the website. I did not find a "SCAN" feature to search for radio channels. That would be helpful, especially on long distance rides.

The APP directs you to pair the headset to a device (my iPhone) while you are inside the APP but to do the pairing you have to exit the APP.

The VOICE COMMANDS work, you simply say "HEY CARDO ..." with the command and it responds. Changes the radio station, changes the function, raises or lowers the volume, etc, etc.

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Their site doesn't work with Safari on a Mac? That's just silly. :|

Perhaps some day they'll see the light. :)
 
Their site doesn't work with Safari on a Mac? That's just silly. :|

Perhaps some day they'll see the light. :)

Also if you try to sign in on an iPhone it gives you the same basic failure message. Directs you to use either Firefox or Chrome.
 
Sounds like you got it going. For many years I didn't want a helmet communicator but after beginning to use one a few years ago I wouldn't want not to have one.

Just for clarification, modern Bluetooth 4.1 like in Sena and Cardo units don't require re-pairing each day, each time they are use, or when someone goes out of range. That is my experience with my phone and my car, my home WiFi, and with the Sena guys I regularly ride with. Range is only a number of meters on the spec sheet and is dependent on topography. In hilly terrain with winding roads it's much less than optimum but when back in operating range they re-connect. MESH works best with a large number of riders and doesn't help at all with just two.

I'd be interested to hear how well the voice activated mike works in use. We have one guy whose helmet or bike has a lot more wind noise and he always open-mikes a group intercom.
 
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