Post by ssncob on Apr 7, 2015 21:54:11 GMT
Recently did some testing of BikeMP3’s Evolution CB on a 2012 Goldwing. Friend came in with a problem with his system. Bike is about a year old with current owner and he recently installed the Evolution CB system. Seems like sometimes he would miss the first few words of an incoming transmission and would have to ask the other guy to repeat himself, or just try to figure out what was said. Very irritating to keep having to go “huh – what’d you just say”. The irritating issue is this problem is intermittent, and doesn’t seem to occur on all bikes, just some. Rather like the cold-start stumble that some riders experience, others don’t.
Here’s the results – short story it appears the newer bikes seem to have a latency issue with switching over to or releasing the CB from the bike’s normal radio operation that I haven’t seen in the earlier models. The latency also showed up when he was using an older GL2Way in his bike. The Evolution CB (and the older GL2Way) worked identical in either bike.
Longer story – Units used in testing: A 2012 Wing, a 2008 Wing, and a CB base unit. The BikeMP3 units were an Evolution and a GL2Way (version 1.9). Radios were swapped between the bikes during testing to isolate the bike’s radio vs. the CB. A stock 2012 (Honda CB) was also present for monitoring results, however time constraints prevented any swapping of radios on this bike. SWR of all bike radios were tested, no issues.
We tried testing with a one second pause between transmitting and receiving, and a slight pause before talking when transmitting, found no issues.
When the reception signal was received immediately after a transmit (the other CB immediately transmitting upon completion of the first CB’s transmission ending) then we found two issues would occur. Either the receiving CB (the 2012 bike) would show RX but no audio was heard, or the first couple of words (doing a one-two-three-etc. count) would not be heard. This occurred with either CB radio installed. In the cases where the bike would show RX but no audio, having the transmitting CB end transmission and retransmitting would result in normal audio operation. Note the receiving issue was intermittent, sometimes would occur, sometimes not.
There was also an occasional delay between pressing the Push to Talk (PTT) button and actual voice transmission – a latency pause while the bike’s main radio system switched over to the CB system. This delay would occur on both bikes, and with the stock (Honda CB) 2012 bike that was also present. I’ve noticed this delay before even in handheld radio systems, including a set of FRS radios at work and one of my own radio sets. This is not a problem if you press the PTT – wait but a moment then talk. But if you press the PTT and immediately start talking – then you might not have the first bit transmitted.
End result – unlike a standalone CB system that you might be used to, the CB system in the bike has to pass through the stock radio system on both transmit and receive function which will cause a slight delay – or latency – issue during use. It appears this delay is longer on some bikes than others. Taking this into account during operation will greatly decrease the frustration levels of all concerned. Or to put it another way – like I have to say to the kids – please slow down when you talk to me – I can’t keep up with what you’re saying.
Hopefully this information assists other riders out there who may be experiencing similar issues.
Here’s the results – short story it appears the newer bikes seem to have a latency issue with switching over to or releasing the CB from the bike’s normal radio operation that I haven’t seen in the earlier models. The latency also showed up when he was using an older GL2Way in his bike. The Evolution CB (and the older GL2Way) worked identical in either bike.
Longer story – Units used in testing: A 2012 Wing, a 2008 Wing, and a CB base unit. The BikeMP3 units were an Evolution and a GL2Way (version 1.9). Radios were swapped between the bikes during testing to isolate the bike’s radio vs. the CB. A stock 2012 (Honda CB) was also present for monitoring results, however time constraints prevented any swapping of radios on this bike. SWR of all bike radios were tested, no issues.
We tried testing with a one second pause between transmitting and receiving, and a slight pause before talking when transmitting, found no issues.
When the reception signal was received immediately after a transmit (the other CB immediately transmitting upon completion of the first CB’s transmission ending) then we found two issues would occur. Either the receiving CB (the 2012 bike) would show RX but no audio was heard, or the first couple of words (doing a one-two-three-etc. count) would not be heard. This occurred with either CB radio installed. In the cases where the bike would show RX but no audio, having the transmitting CB end transmission and retransmitting would result in normal audio operation. Note the receiving issue was intermittent, sometimes would occur, sometimes not.
There was also an occasional delay between pressing the Push to Talk (PTT) button and actual voice transmission – a latency pause while the bike’s main radio system switched over to the CB system. This delay would occur on both bikes, and with the stock (Honda CB) 2012 bike that was also present. I’ve noticed this delay before even in handheld radio systems, including a set of FRS radios at work and one of my own radio sets. This is not a problem if you press the PTT – wait but a moment then talk. But if you press the PTT and immediately start talking – then you might not have the first bit transmitted.
End result – unlike a standalone CB system that you might be used to, the CB system in the bike has to pass through the stock radio system on both transmit and receive function which will cause a slight delay – or latency – issue during use. It appears this delay is longer on some bikes than others. Taking this into account during operation will greatly decrease the frustration levels of all concerned. Or to put it another way – like I have to say to the kids – please slow down when you talk to me – I can’t keep up with what you’re saying.
Hopefully this information assists other riders out there who may be experiencing similar issues.
