[Big_Bird]

Mine aren't. The move to the all-Bluetooth zumo 396 is great in some respects but kicking my butt in others.

I found this article on pairing order. It made my situation suck a lot less. But it still has its moments.
https://blog.ja-gps.com.au/2018/11/how-to-pair-sena-headsets-with-garmin-gps-devices/

My main problem now is that my any time the zumo 396 speaks (and it is a chatty little thing, every time the speed limit drops, etc.), it interrupts my Bluetooth intercom for the length of whatever it is saying plus 5-10 sec. Annoying.

Secondary problem is that the Sena 30k is dropping here and there. But not nearly as much as it was before I deleted everything and restarted per the link above.

I've got it paired as a "GPS" per the Sena instructions now.

My plan is to post on a zumo forum somewhere, ping Garmin tech support, experiment a bit with different settings, Sena modes, etc. I'd MUCH rather hear from someone here how to skip through all that nonsense.

 

[Big_Bird]

I seem to be talking to myself here (again) but just in case anyone else cares, Sena confirmed that GPS notifications will interrupt BT intercom and overlay on mesh.

So that basically sucks.

Options are:

1) minimize notification to reduce the problem via individual settings, but still get interrupted, for example in turns. And not be able to hear the rest of the group when in the middle of a couple of turns they start squawking about going another way.

2) turn off the connection to the sena in the Garmin BT settings, and lose all notifications, including of all turns, so you have to keep watching the screen.

3) Buy everyone 30ks.

Scratch #3.

This is my sad face.

Oh well. #FirstWorldProblems

 

[hojo in SC]

I don't have the same Zumo that you have but I've noticed if using a phone as well, I need to make sure that I turn the Zumo on LAST;


Phone is already on,
Turn on Sena and hear it say Phone connected,
Turn on Zumo.


I have a 2018 Wing but not using Carplay or Apple Play thing.

 

[Big_Bird]

I don't have the same Zumo that you have but I've noticed if using a phone as well, I need to make sure that I turn the Zumo on LAST;


Phone is already on,
Turn on Sena and hear it say Phone connected,
Turn on Zumo.


I have a 2018 Wing but not using Carplay or Apple Play thing.

No 2018 wing here so perhaps this is N/A, but you are talking about connection order.

Apparently there is some sort of deep seated memory in the pairing order. i.e. the first time you introduce the devices. Not the order you turn them on after they have introduced.

The link in the OP specifies the first pairing order. I was having all kinds of hiccups connecting because I paired them (by chance) at first the other way. To take the Mulligan, you have to delete the pairings on both sides of things and restart devices to start from scratch, because there is that nugget of memory. Once I did that, the connection order no longer seemed to matter and the hiccups went away.

Left only with the annoying stepping on BT comms, which is apparently a "feature."

So my m.o. going forward is to turn off, on the Zumo, in BT settings, the Sena's media connection whenever I care about BT intercom more than I do about what the GPS is saying. Which isn't often, but is significant when it does happen. Tested it today, and that works.

 

[Breezly]

It's funny how peoples experiences and preferences differ. I've come to rely almost entirely on audio directions from my gps, rarely looking at it to follow a route.
My setup is Zumo 590/5 connected to the bike's audio and connected to my SENA 20s through a Freewire. With this setup the Zumo's audio does not override the intercom. It's really frustrating for me when with a "chatty" group to continuously miss turn directions. I would much prefer to have the Zumo's audio override the intercom. BTW I have all audio notifications turned off - I only get the navigation audio.

 

[Big_Bird]

It's funny how peoples experiences and preferences differ. I've come to rely almost entirely on audio directions from my gps, rarely looking at it to follow a route.
My setup is Zumo 590/5 connected to the bike's audio and connected to my SENA 20s through a Freewire. With this setup the Zumo's audio does not override the intercom. It's really frustrating for me when with a "chatty" group to continuously miss turn directions. I would much prefer to have the Zumo's audio override the intercom. BTW I have all audio notifications turned off - I only get the navigation audio.

Chatty group, I tend to turn the intercom off.

Chatty GPS is what I'm dealing with. Partly for extra silly alerts. But partly for the turn guidance. Like you, I'm a big fan of the audio cue.

I may eventually hook back up my nuvi 2797 on this new bike, and run it into the bike audio. I got real fond of getting the cues through aux and speakers without worrying about any sena nonsense. No audio out on the zumo 396. None on the 2797 either, out of the box, but I don't think I'll hack the zumo.

 

[justbiken]

I have a Zumo 396 and a Cardo pack talk, I know what your saying about cutting out intercom, its annoying so I usually end up shutting off the connection. I had it paired to a sena 20S first and I am experiencing the same problem with both, it frequently announces gps disconnected then within a couple minutes it re connects. I had the Zumo replaced new one still does the same so I usually just leave the blue tooth shut off. Had a Zumo 600 before, no problems at all.

 

[Big_Bird]

^ the gps disconnecting problem is one I had. Solved it by clearing out all and redoing first pairings (not connections) in the order per the article I linked to. No continued problems, just the occasional gremlin.

The BT intercom cutting out whenever the GPS has something to say is expected behavior. Per helpful Sena rep, at least for current 30k firmware. See post #2. Mesh intercom will overlay.

 

[networkguy3]

Pairings

^ the gps disconnecting problem is one I had. Solved it by clearing out all and redoing first pairings (not connections) in the order per the article I linked to. No continued problems, just the occasional gremlin.

The BT intercom cutting out whenever the GPS has something to say is expected behavior. Per helpful Sena rep, at least for current 30k firmware. See post #2. Mesh intercom will overlay.

My setup is a little more complicated. I pair the phone to the Zumo for phone calls and pair the phone to a GROM interface for A2DP. My headset is paired to my Zumo and Freewire.

I uggraded to the 30K and have found that it pairs to things much more consistently than my 20S headset did. I also found that the 30K is a little noisy when trying to pair with other devices. I have on my earbuds and I hear this whine when it is connecting. I'm sure if you were just using the speakers, it would not be audible at all. Most of the whine goes away as soon as it connects to either the Freewire or Zumo.

Probably about 25% of the time I have to manually connect my 30K to the Zumo and once in a great while I have to manually disconnect the A2DP connection between the headset and the Zumo. Probably about 10% of the time I have to hit the button on the Freewire to get it to connect to the headset.

The thing that does not work for me at all is getting Waze and FoBo notifications in my headset when I'm listening to XM radio. Hmmm. I may need to write a Tasker script to give me visual notifications when FoBo alerts me.

 

[pidjones]

I had a lot of problems with my 396 BT to my old SMH5. When also paired with my phone, it killed everything including intercom and headset to phone - plus only randomly worked with the GPS. I solved it by removing all pairings, then pairing the phone with SMH5 and of course intercom. Then I bought a BT receiver module on Amazon (scroll down a few to see my post and links). It was a super-easy install. The unit pairs with the GPS on power-up of the bike and works pretty much like my old hard-wired StreetPilot 2730. Now, I listen to GPS on Aux along with music from the 396 if desired through the speakers and the wife or phone through the SMH5.