Autocom Part Question ?

[NAB]

Hi All
I am a bit new to all this bike comms thing so please bear with me, it may be a little long winded
I have aquired a Autocom Active and am in the process of fitting it to my 1200GSA.
Now what I am trying to do, for now !

1. Hear the audio from my Garmin 2610 which is powered from the canbus plug under the headstock, I was using a helmet speaket system I bought from TT, which has worked first class.

2. Have comms with the occasional passenger.

What I have done.

I first wired the Autocom to the bike (temporarily), plugged in 2610 and plugged in riders headset, nothing.
I then spoke to gent who I bought the Autocom from and followed some of his excellent advise and I connected the Autocom to a remote battery, BINGO, all working sweet, audio from GPS, my own voice in the head set, my voice in passenger headset, VOX working.
I set about hard wiring the Autocom into the Aux socket under the seat, turned on the ignition, plugged in the GPS and, nothing, well a crackling.
After some searching on here I read about using an isolator between a GPS and the Autocom, without the bike running, is this my problem ?

Also I have one of these, what is it, is it an isolator ? 3.5mm, 3 pole plugs on each end, it will not plug into 2610 audio as that is 2.5mm, I know I could probably get a 3.5mm to 2.5mm convertor or get another lead, Autocom 3.5mm to 2610 2.5mm or is the isolator, or lack of, the problem .
I dont want to go down a particulaly expensive route as in the near future I am thinking of uprading the Garmin 2610 to a Garmin 660
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers, Nigel

 

[Bumpkin]

That's possibly a home made isolator. I would tend to buy the proper Autocom isolator though, they do appear on eBay fairly frequently and usually sell in the £10 to £15 range, not a great deal. Here's an example, unfortunately sold though. There are a few 'flavours' of this lead that should all do the job with your Garmin.

However, if it's ground loop interference that you're experiencing, which is what these isolators are designed to mitigate, then I think you'd still be able to hear something. What I suggest that you do is connect both devices to the same source on the bike keeping the feeder cables the same length. This can go quite some way to reducing ground loop without an isolator.

 

[NAB]

That's possibly a home made isolator. I would tend to buy the proper Autocom isolator though, they do appear on eBay fairly frequently and usually sell in the £10 to £15 range, not a great deal. Here's an example, unfortunately sold though. There are a few 'flavours' of this lead that should all do the job with your Garmin.

However, if it's ground loop interference that you're experiencing, which is what these isolators are designed to mitigate, then I think you'd still be able to hear something. What I suggest that you do is connect both devices to the same source on the bike keeping the feeder cables the same length. This can go quite some way to reducing ground loop without an isolator.

Thanks for the reply Bumpkin
Learning curve is steep but ill get there

I did have an early bid on that item, 1282, a discontiued item, went for £9.50 I think, not that that matters, but stopped after talking to Autocom and "another", Autocom suggested part 4035, 3.5mm to 2.5mm with the isolator, then after "anothers" advice on trying it without, I connected it up with just the cable and got nothing but the cracking.
Part 4035 is £25 plus post, just to see if thats my problem

 

[Bumpkin]

The later isolators do apparently give a little more volume. Though I've never had any problems with the older versions I used with the StreetPilot 2720 and with my current Nuvi 765T.

Try and power both the 2610 and Autocom directly from the battery, both live and earth. If that improves matters making it more audible then find a switched live that you can use to power both devices from. With a common source for power GLI should be reduced.

Once you've resolved the GLI and when setting up your Autocom; one of the most important aspects is getting the speaker positions just right; central with your ear canal and close to your ear. Makes the world of difference, especially at motorway speeds and above.

 

[beemerboy9]

Stop what you are doing.

Disconnect all the leads to start with.

Using just the Autocom unit and your headset, can you hear the sound of your own voice when you talk into the microphone?
If you can't then either the speakers are not correctly positioned over your lug-holes or there is a problem with the unit.

It would be good idea to test the passenger comms at this stage by plugging in the second helmet. If that works then the core unit is OK.

Next plug unit something with a headphone output socket, say a portable CD player or iPod into the music socket of the Unit (you don't say whether it is an Active-7-Smart or the later Active plus). You can use a simple lead with a 3.5mm stereo lead plug at each end for this test or even that isolated lead in the picture. Can you hear the music?

Assuming all that is OK then plug the 2.5mm output of the Garmin 2610 (from the special power plus audio lead) into the music socket. Can you hear sound from the SatNav?
If not, then there may be a loose connection in the power lead or there is a problem in the lead from the 2610 to the Autocom. As Bumpkin says, when you connect a bike powered SatNav to a bike-powered Autocom, you really should have an isolation transformer in the cable run otherwise you will get a horrible speed-dependent crackle.

Just take the whole process slowly, adding in one additional factor at a time, until you find out where the problem starts.

That 3.5 mm isolation lead (if it is working) will be fine for the 660 provided that you do NOT want to use the mobile phone hook-up functionality of the Zumo.

Hope this helps,

John

 

[NAB]

Thanks for the help guys, but I've already tried most of the things you have both suggested, basically this is what I get.

2610 and Autocom Active Plus powered by the bike through canbus, ignition on only, bike not running, nothing from Autocom not even distant volume or speech

2610 powered by the bike through canbus, ignition on only, bike not running, Autocom powered by remote 12v battery, good audio from 2610, hear my own voice in headsets 1 and 2 with good audio, VOX working good, iPhone connected to Autocom (not for using phone function for obvious reasons) and good audio on playing music.

I know it's a problem created by my lack of understanding of Autocom but its a case of trying not to throw good money after bad trying to correct that in which I lack

Would the lack of an isolator possibly create the scenario I am getting

 

[Bumpkin]

Would the lack of an isolator possibly create the scenario I am getting

Without an isolator I would expect you to get something, plain noise or audio combined with noise, not no audio at all. The only audio that should be effected is that from the 2610 though if there's noise that will always be in the background. You should still be able to hear the side tone (your own voice fed back to the speakers) and your MP3 playing phone.

I don't know a great deal about Canbus on BMWs, I would be tempted to run the 2610 off a regular live feed, same as the Autocom (or the Autocom from the same Canbus source), and see if that helps.

I was warned that my bike powered PMR radio would result in GLI but was advised by someone in the know to try connecting the battery eliminator to the same source (both + and -) as my Autocom. Result is no, or insignificant, GLI without the need for an isolator.

My GPS being powered from a different source has an Autocom isolator which I picked up off eBay.

Ground Loop Interference is when the earth paths are significantly different. There's an explanation here that relates more to concert audio but the principals are the same.

 

[chas820]

Im just wondering if the canbus could be turning off the power.

 

[Fanum]

That's possibly a home made isolator.

It's not.

The early (5 pin system) isolators looked identical to that one.....I've got three sitting on my kitchen table right now

As for what that particular one is meant for, I don't know......Last time I re-rigged my autocom up, I just kept trying different combinations of all the bits until everything worked with no interference

 

[NAB]

Right, I think i,m getting somwhere, with you guys help .

Here is what I have done and how it stands now:

I did as beemerboy9 suggested and disconnected all the leads, I mean ALL, power and earth included.
Basically i started again, and this is what I have now.

Ignition on and bike not running, 2610 powered through canbus plug under headstock, Autocom powered through splice into the Aux socket under the seat (earth direct to battery)
2610 audio lead to Aux 2 on Autocom, Iphone to Aux 3.

And now through the riders headset I get a zzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzz zzz
when I press "speak" on the 2610, my own voice through the headset when I speak and music from my iphone.

Now I am thinking as I thought and has been suggested in replies to my post that the item in the photo is some sort of isolator.

I think my best option is to get an adaptor 2.5mm male to 3.5mm female and plug them into 2610 end of Aux2 wire,

Otherwise its part 4035

Does this make sense ?

 

[Kritou]

..........Using just the Autocom unit and your headset, can you hear the sound of your own voice when you talk into the microphone?
If you can't then either the speakers are not correctly positioned over your lug-holes or there is a problem with the unit........

Just in case, have you turned the volume controls at some stage? Some Active-Plus kits have "reversed" sense knobs ie turning clockwise turns the volume down and vv

 

[NAB]

Just in case, have you turned the volume controls at some stage? Some Active-Plus kits have "reversed" sense knobs ie turning clockwise turns the volume down and vv

Quite right, just as the one I have does, confusing a little at first, but the volume in the headset does not go to zero