Sonic Comms and Starcom1 Digital

[Sharkfighter]

I currently have a Starcom1 digital comms kit fitted to my RT. I have a Shoei helmet with Sonic comms kit fitted, it's an ex-police one, I've also got the Sonic socket to plug the helmet into. I've tried to convert a Starcom lead so that the helmet will work. The Sonic socket has four wires and the Starcom has 6, I've googled and found a wiring diagram for the Starcom socket. I've had the earpieces working when I had a FM radio on my old Deauville, I just connected them to the speaker wires.
I've found that the pins on the Starcom system are thin and prone to bending as I find that plugging the helmet in can be fiddly to say the least.
Has anyone done something similar or knows of a company that sells adapters to convert the plug?

[beemerboy9]

There are 2 places you could try:-


Earshot Communications
Headset Services


both near each other in Lancing and specializing in aircraft headsets.


Intaride might be able to help as well.


Hope this helps...


John

[Graham88]

Pretty sure the starcom needs a microphone connected in order to switch the unit on.

[David.]

Pretty sure the starcom needs a microphone connected in order to switch the unit on.

May well be true, found this posted on the K1600 Forum, https://www.k1600forum.com/forum/bmw-k1 ... vox-2.html

"I too have a Starcom1 Digital installed and is happy with it. The main reason I chose the Starcom1 Digital is that the unit is not turned on until you connect a headset."

[Sharkfighter]

I've connected the Starcom plug to the Sonic socket by joining both speaker wires from the Starcom to the sonic and I've connected the mic to the mic wires. This according to the wiring diagram that I found after a google search. Obviously I'm putting 6 wires into 4. When I plug the Starcom plug into the Starcom unit the unit doesn't switch on. Once I've plugged the sonic plug into the sonic socket the unit does switch on. I've tried playing music through my sat nav and it’s silence. I'm obviously doing something wrong and I've tried changing wires around but the same result. Any ideas?

[Graham88]

Do you have a starcom headset? The first thing I would do is get the thing working with the correct hardware to prove it out, then start looking at the alternative headset.

[David.]

This according to the wiring diagram that I found after a google search.

Is this the same wiring diagram for the Starcom socket.



Is a wiring diagram available for the Sonic socket.

[Sharkfighter]

I've got a Starcom headset and it works fine, it’s the pins that are the problem. They're so weak and bend easy, hence the reason for wanting to change. The sonic is a straight forward plug in, none of the fiddling lining up the pins as the Starcom system is. The wiring diagram is the one that I found.

[David.]

The wiring diagram is the one that I found.

How about the Sonic socket wiring diagram.

[Sharkfighter]

I haven't got one, there's four wires, two black and one blue one red. I've sorted out which wire does what, blue is for the ear pieces and red for the mic. As I've said I've had it connected to a radio on my old Deauville and it worked fine. I didn't have the Starcom system then. I'm assuming that the black wires are earth. I've looked for a wiring diagram for the sonic but been unsuccessful. I think it’s the u174 plug and there's so many of them around for different uses. The sonic website isn't much help either.

[Graham88]

I would have thought the headset is stereo, in which case there must be two wires for the speakers plus an earth.

[beemerboy9]

I haven't got one, there's four wires, two black and one blue one red. I've sorted out which wire does what, blue is for the ear pieces and red for the mic. As I've said I've had it connected to a radio on my old Deauville and it worked fine. I didn't have the Starcom system then. I'm assuming that the black wires are earth. I've looked for a wiring diagram for the sonic but been unsuccessful. I think it’s the u174 plug and there's so many of them around for different uses. The sonic website isn't much help either.

Why not ring Sonic on  0121 781 4400 and ask them for a wiring diagram for their Nexus 4-pole plug (the standard plug that they supply with their headsets.).


Hope this helps....

[Sharkfighter]

Contacted Sonic they informed me that there were different wiring diagrams. I have eventually managed to wire it correctly, I've had to connect only one speaker. The speakers seem to be mono and not stereo as I get sound in both of them when one connected, when I tried to connect both all I got was interference.

[7vwh]

The sound feed to a police helmet is mono. Generally all radios and connections are mono.