Sena wireless comms.

KINGFISHER 9

KINGFISHER 9

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My motorboat (40ft) is pretty noisy at the helm, has no side doors and only little windows for yelling at people through ... I bought a pair of these, Sena SPH 10 ... voice activated so you don't have to press anything to talk - Bluetooth. They perch on your ears quite nicely and the joining bit goes round the back of your head rather than over the top so you hardly know you're wearing them. I can offer friendly advice to the memsahib as she scampers up and down the pontoon with the warps or when she's teetering on the foredeck fooling around with the anchor control gizmo ... I let her do the heavy work!
Gone are the days of yelling at her when she ties up to the wrong cleat or forgets how to do her clove hitch properly on the fender lines ... life is blissful and she doesn't have to bother the neighbours when replying to my friendly advice either!
Also 'water resistant' but haven't tested this yet!

I can thoroughly recommend them. (no connection etc)
 
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On ours I added a short lanyard to the band with a clip to attach them (normally to the LJ) just in case of sudden application of sod's law whilst bending over the side for some reason.
 
One of the best sort of boaty things we have ever purchased. Just a couple of things to watch. If you inadvertently shout the other person will be temporarily deafened! Also we both have loud sneezes which can have a similar effect. Occasionally one of us may need to take the head set off to talk to someone shore side which means we are temporarily out of communication, especially when we aren't visual with each other. All in all, though, a real boon as they have practically eliminated shouted instruction for all to hear and keep "domestics" more or less private!
 
These were originally recommended by Hurricane, and on the back of that we also bought some, haven't had too much use so far but when we do remember to use them, they are excellent.
 
IDAMAY said:
One of the best sort of boaty things we have ever purchased. Just a couple of things to watch. If you inadvertently shout the other person will be temporarily deafened! Also we both have loud sneezes which can have a similar effect. Occasionally one of us may need to take the head set off to talk to someone shore side which means we are temporarily out of communication, especially when we aren't visual with each other. All in all, though, a real boon as they have practically eliminated shouted instruction for all to hear and keep "domestics" more or less private!
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Yep, had that when my wife decided to shout (screech?) a greeting to a friend across the way as we came in one day.
 
Apart from the jokey stuff about shouting etc ..... they really are extremely useful for leaving and arriving and anchoring ... all things which eventually become second nature with enough practice but it's still a very handy thing to be able to communicate easily when out of earshot. I haven't tested them for range yet other than the 40 odd feet of boat length ... anyone know what the range is?
 
My thanks also go to Hurricane for introducing these. They are now an indispensable item on our boat. And the supplier is really helpful.
I don't know what the maximum range is but we have never had the slightest problem keeping in touch when one of us is on the boat and the other on shore.
I'm just hoping that the batteries are replaceable when they eventually expire - I'm fed up with buying things that have batteries I can't replace. Batteries always seem to die before appliances.
 
We love them - shows this forums use-- people who know suggesting useful kit.
As others have said when the real captain shouts to folk on dock pretty loud but you get used to covering mic with hand or something.
Useful for refuelling/ testing systems around the boat etc etc.
 
The full story is on this thread that I started a few years ago when I was looking for a solution.
http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?364076-In-boat-communications
Post #38 was added a long time later after I had developed a DIY version to test out the usefulness of the idea.

After realising the potential, I made a set for a friend locally here in Devon.
He liked the idea so much, we researched and found the Sena SPH10s and as a result, he decided to become a dealer in the UK for them.
This is the website that he is selling them from.
http://sabreleisure.co.uk/contact.cfm
Great value - he sells them as a pair but the electronics supports extra headsets.

I still have the old DIY ones but we now have a pair of SPH10s on the boat.
We don't use them all the time but they are particularly useful when entering a marina that we haven't been into before or one where it might be difficult to maneuver.
There are times when they would be useful anchoring - trying to find that nice sandy spot for the anchor to drop into etc.
 
I made some up along the lines of Hurricane's original plans, absolutely brilliant and we love them so thanks H.

Interesting to read that using a twin ear piece might mean a loss of hearing from normal conversation/awareness, the ones I've made only have 1 ear covered to hear what the other headset wearer is saying, the other ear is uncovered so no loss of hearing on that side. Not saying dual earpieces have any issues attached, just another option.

Andy
 
Andrew M said:
I made some up along the lines of Hurricane's original plans, absolutely brilliant and we love them so thanks H.

Interesting to read that using a twin ear piece might mean a loss of hearing from normal conversation/awareness, the ones I've made only have 1 ear covered to hear what the other headset wearer is saying, the other ear is uncovered so no loss of hearing on that side. Not saying dual earpieces have any issues attached, just another option.

Andy
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Yep, If I had the choice a single earpiece like the DIY prototype would be best.
But the quality of the build of the Sena headsets makes it worth switching to them.
Actually, it isn't a big problem with both ears covered when you want to talk to (say) a dock master - you can still hear.

A bigger problem is if we have friends on board.
I will be chattering away to SWMBO on the headset and our friends think we are talking to them.
You get quite strange conversations!!
 
Rogershaw said:
I used a pair of these fitted into a pair of industrial ear noise defenders.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/201...32372657797.html?spm=2114.13010608.0.0.dFVATn
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Great solution if your crew/partner/SWMBO/significant other/friend/whatever will wear such things.
Mine wont. But she will wear the lightweight unobtrusive Senas. She absolutely hated the home-made set-up we started with, using PMR radios. The Senas are quite costly, I wish they were less, but I regard the cost as being a small price to pay for harmony on the boat: no need to shout at each other or risk misunderstandings ("You told me there was someone rowing past". "No I didn't, I said you are going too fast". That sort of thing.:))
 
As far as I know, Sena communicates with other headsets with universal bluetooh. I am planning to buy1 Sena headset for the person who is motion (the one arranging the mooring lines) and buy 2 more cheap versions for the helmsman and anchorman. Sena is around Eur 170, whereas the cheap ones can be found for EUR 30-50. Doyou think that this will work?
 
Eren said:
As far as I know, Sena communicates with other headsets with universal bluetooh. I am planning to buy1 Sena headset for the person who is motion (the one arranging the mooring lines) and buy 2 more cheap versions for the helmsman and anchorman. Sena is around Eur 170, whereas the cheap ones can be found for EUR 30-50. Doyou think that this will work?
Click to expand...

No
There is an off chance but I wouldn't risk it or waste my time.
If you are trying to save costs, build a DIY setup like the ones that I built in my link or something like Rogershaw's solution.
 
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