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IMC Camos BHS-600 Bluetooth Intercom
IMC Camos Bluetooth 2.0 Stereo
Motorcycle Intercom
by Rick and "Burn" for webBikeWorld.com
More:
Owner Comments
(Below) | wBW
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More wBW
Bluetooth Intercom Reviews:
Interphone Bluetooth Intercom Review |
Scala Rider TeamSet Bluetooth Intercom Review
NOTE: This article has been revised since the
original posting; see the shaded sections below.
Where's the marketing department when you need it? And
with a name like "IMC Camos BHS-600", they need it.
The IMC Camos BHS-600 Bluetooth Intercom is the most recent beneficiary of evolution in motorcycle Bluetooth
intercom systems, using the latest Bluetooth 2.0 standards, and in stereo,
no less.
Both of us are about as far from Double-E level knowledge as can be, but some
quick research told us that Bluetooth 2.0 provides up to 2.1 Megabits per
second transmission speeds, (about 3 to 10 times faster than version 1.0),
along with reduced power consumption and the ability to connect with more
than one Bluetooth device simultaneously.
That last point is important
-- remember in our review of the Interphone Bluetooth intercom that the
system can connect with one or the other but not both at the same time.
"We don't know nothin' 'bout two-oh Bluetooth", to paraphrase Butterfly McQueen,
but what this all means with regards to the IMC Camos Bluetooth intercom is
that it has two speakers and it works in stereo to provide more volume and
clearer sound, in -- you guessed it -- stereo!
We had no idea there
was such a thing...
More is better when it comes to motorcycle Bluetooth intercom sound quality
and volume, no doubt about it. It's easy to sit in the living room "Oooohing" and "Ahhhhing"
over the new system, but get out on the highway with wind in the helmet
and the big L-twin booming underneath and it's a completely different story.
The IMC Camos system seems to have loudness to spare, and that's a good thing.
In addition to the two speakers (vs. the single speaker in the Interphone
system), which are about 6 mm (1/4") thin and can be easily located in just
about any motorcycle helmet, the IMC Camos system comes with two different
microphones, a boom mike and a wired mike.
And you get plenty of wire (see photo below);
probably enough to rig up like a size 10XL helmet, if there was such a
thing. But more is better when it comes to wire also; extra can always
be stuffed between the liner and the shell.
Apparently, the reduced power requirements of Bluetooth 2.0 means more life
for the IMC Camos battery; the company claims 10 hours talk time and 150 hours
standby time.
Battery life has been one of the biggest complaints of
Interphone Bluetooth users, but let's face it -- the number of riders who
really need more than a couple hours of talk time surely is limited.
If you need to flap your jaws for 8 hours straight, start chugging Mountain
Dew and get yourself a wired system.
In any event, we're not even sure how long the IMC Camos batteries will last,
because we charged them once when they were new, taking almost exactly the 2
hours claimed in the owner's manual, and they've been running ever since.
We haven't put a clock on them but we've covered about a zillion miles over
many rides during our evaluations, in addition to all the bench work and the
things are still going strong. Since Bluetooth intercom battery life
seems to vary greatly by owner, we'll leave it up to IMC Camos owners to report
back on their experiences, which we'll post in the Owner Comments section below.
The IMC Camos Bluetooth intercom is available in a two different flavors; a
BHS-500 single-channel system that, apparently, pairs only with a
Bluetooth-capable cell phone selling for about $150.00 and the BHS-600 shown
here, which is a true duplex intercom system, selling for about $200.00 each.
And don't forget, you'll need two to tango, which means a total of four C's.
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What you get for your two Bennies: 1. The IMC Camos Bluetooth module, with
built-in 3.7 Volt, Ni-Polymer rechargeable battery (why don't they make
replaceable batteries so a charged spare can be kept in a tank bag?); 2. The boom mike and
7. the wired mike (the boom can be used with open-face helmets); 3.
Speakers; 4. Helmet clips; 5. The plug-in external charger; 6. Two spare earphone covers. Also included are the double-sided tape
thingies to stick the speakers and wired mike to the inside of a helmet and
the instructions. |
OK, so what does it do? Don't count on the owner's
manual -- one of the worst features of this kit, in our opinion. Why
can't these Bluetooth dudes write some instructions that make sense?
If we hadn't cut our teeth setting up the
Scala TeamSet and the Interphone
Bluetooth intercom systems, we'd probably still be fussing with this thing.
Those who are not at least somewhat comfortable with computer messing-aroundishness may
want to break out the yoga mat for a session before trying to figure
this out.
The book doesn't explain, for example, why there are two
channels and how they work together or why. It took us some time to discover how
to make the system do what it's supposed to; i.e., 1) works as an intercom;
2) connects with a Bluetooth-capable cell phone; 3) connects with a
Bluetooth-capable GPS system; 4) connects with a Bluetooth-capable FRS-type
radio and 5) apparently connects with a Bluetooth-capable cell phone on
channel 2 (and we have no idea what this means or why you'd want to do it).
UPDATE: We received a detailed note on pairing
and using the IMC Camos intercoms from Benchmark Helmets, a U.S.A.
distributor (see summary table below).
They wrote:
"It is important to understand how
the two channels work on the Camos 600. Channel 1 is represented by
the "–" (red led) key and channel 2 is represented
by the "+" (green led) key.
The "–" and "+" keys power the
channels they represent on and off. Channel 1 is the channel you can
pair up to two stereo devices on. Channel 2 is the channel reserved for the
helmet to helmet intercom and can be used for a third device if you do not
wish use the intercom.
The channel that you leave the
"dip-switch" on is the channel that will go into "pairing-mode" if the
channel is on. For example, if you are trying to pair a cell phone on
channel 1 and the switch is on channel 1, merely flip the switch to 2, then
back to 1. You will then see the red (representing channel 1) light
blink quickly.
First off, clear out your unit's memory by using a pin to press reset button
which can be found below the "channel 1, channel 2" switch".
Additionally, clear the Camos from your cell phone's memory by going into
your Bluetooth device menu from your cell phone.
For pairing your cell phone:
-
Next, power on channel 1 by
pressing the "–" key, you will then see the red light flash on.
-
Flip the "dip switch" so that it
is on channel 1. If it started on channel 1, flip from 2 to 1. If
it started on 2, merely flip from 2 to 1.
-
The red led should now be
blinking quickly, this indicates that channel 1 is in pairing mode.
-
Next, add the device through
your cell phone menu. The passcode is "0000". You will see
the device listed as "CAMOS BHS-600C1". (the C1 represents you are
pairing with channel 1 of the Camos)
-
If you have a phone that is
capable of transmitting stereo sound, it will give you the option to use
the Camos as a stereo device.
When paring additional devices, you
must have other Bluetooth devices (turned off if they are currently) paired
to the Camos.
While having an audio device hooked
up, it will fade in and out as you talk on the intercom. The intercom
functions in full-duplex, you do not have to push buttons to activate it.
If you want to save battery and not talk, you can turn off channel 2 by
holding it down and turning back on when you want to talk on intercom.
We are testing several devices that
will transmit stereo sound from an audio source with a 3.5mm port.
Once we find a product that we are satisfied with, we will start selling it
through our dealers and let you know."
Getting the two BHS-600 units to "pair" as a Bluetooth
intercom is the most important function for motorcycle riders,
and this is, at least, relatively easy. But why the manufacturers of these
devices don't just put a simple button that says "Connect" or something is
beyond me.
Not to mention...wasn't the promise of Bluetooth that it
simply connects to another Bluetooth device without user intervention?
If I'm holding two IMC Camos BHS-600 Bluetooth intercoms in my hand, and I
turn them on, tell me again why they shouldn't simply just connect ("pair")
with each other?
Nope -- like the other Bluetooth intercom systems
we've tried, you have to press and hold a series of buttons to make 'em
connect. It's silly, and between the owner's manual and the button fussing,
obviously invented by some electronics nerd who never thought about real
users.
At least the Camos system pairs together
consistently once it's done for the first time. They mostly connect again
the next time
they're turned on. Sometimes they do and sometimes not; at least on ours, which
means the German/English owner's manual has to be rounded up again to figure it
all out.
Channel 1 and 2 Dip Switch used for pairing
Master/Slave Dip Switch
Besides trying to figure out the instructions, here's what
makes it difficult to get the units paired: they
first have to be put in a sort of "waiting for pairing" mode by pressing the
"–" (minus) key for 3 seconds, then a tiny dip switch must be
uncovered (photo top)
and flipped from channel 2 to channel 1 and back again. Somehow, this
triggers the pairing between the two units.
How
much sense does that make? If the darn things won't just pair
together, why not just put a "Pair" or "Connect" button somewhere
on each unit? Maybe hold the buttons down until a light or sound goes
off.
Uncovering the little dip switch is a pain, and flipping it is worse --
you'll need a pen point or something with a point, or a fingernail like the kids
in the "Children of the Damned", because it's very tiny and buried in a hole.
Sorry if we sound sour, but we're just fed up with the
inscrutable instructions and nerdy methods used on these electronic things.
It's like they came out of the mad scientist's electronics lab and never
went through a user interface test, probably because they haven't and the
guys who made them are electronics nerds.
Anyway, after the intercoms are paired with each other, they
hopefully won't have to be paired again, but plan on doing the 2-1 channel
switch to pair the units with a cell phone or any of the other Bluetooth (Blueteeth?) devices
that are supposed to work with the units.
Oh, and by the way, I forgot to mention -- to get them
paired, one of the intercoms has to be
in "Master" mode while the other is in "Slave" mode, which means uncovering
and flipping another dip switch (bottom photo above).
UPDATE: We originally thought that only one unit will pair with a
Bluetooth-capable cell phone and that unit has to be in "Slave" mode.
There is no description of this in the owner's manual that we could find.
However, we have since discovered that the units can be paired in either
mode.
Benchmark Helmets also wrote:
"That is incorrect, you can actually have two riders
on intercom with one another with each rider having their own cell phone and
MP3 player hooked up, listening to different music that will fade in and out
as they talk.
The main feature of the stereo headsets is the rich quality
of sound. I feel that you weren't able to take advantage of that
leaving a lot of your readers who may be interested in the product for that
reason with
no feedback in regards to that. I believe that once you understand the
way the unit functions, you can then fully take advantage of the great
features the Camos has to offer."
Since we're not in favor of talking on a cell phone while riding
a motorcycle anyway, this wasn't a problem for us anyway. We don't
have a Bluetooth GPS or a Bluetooth music player handy, so we weren't able
to try to pair the units with those products.
During various bench evaluations, we were able to get our
"Slave" unit to accept cell phone calls and we found that the volume and clarity are
excellent. The IMC Camos BHS-600
Bluetooth Intercom system is designed to dial out via the voice function on
a cell phone, if so equipped; however, we
could not get ours to work (an original Motorola Razr).
To recap: we paired the units with each other as intercoms
and they work fine, with good, loud stereo sound. We paired each unit in "Slave" mode with a
Bluetooth (Motorola Razr) cell phone and each worked with no problems
receiving calls, but we could not get the system to link with the Razr's
nice voice calling activation mode to dial out, a minor inconvenience that
we don't miss at all.
We did not pair the units with a Bluetooth GPS unit or
Bluetooth music player because we don't have access to these types of
devices, so we'll have to assume they will pair and that the voice quality
would be as good as the intercom and phone pairings.
As we understand it -- although we don't think this is fully
explained in the owner's manual -- the idea of the Bluetooth 2.0 and the
dual channels is that the user can pair with another IMC Camos unit as an
intercom and a Bluetooth-capable music device or a Bluetooth-capable GPS
simultaneously. This type of multiple simultaneous use is apparently
new to Bluetooth devices and wireless motorcycle intercoms, and some riders
require these capabilities.
The Camos intercom units have 3 buttons (photo above), which are very hard
to find when wearing motorcycle gloves. Once the units are turned on
by pressing and holding the "–" (minus) key, the "+" and
"–" keys are used
to raise or lower the volume, although we always keep the volume on high.
The unit signals that the volume is as high as it will go with a slight
tone.
The third button is a "T" shape, used for cell phone calling
and receiving and to activate or hang up a call.
All told, despite our griping about the user interface, once the
IMC Camos BHS-600 Bluetooth Intercom is up and running, works very
nicely indeed. It's loud and the dual speakers help greatly in
distinguishing voice and understanding the conversation.
We tried both
mikes but settled on the boom mikes because they can be positioned closer to
the wearer's mouth. The mikes seem directional; that is, one side
works better than the other, so play with it first to determine which side
works best before installing it.
The wired mike can be attached via its Velcro patch to the
back of the chin bar of a full-face helmet, and it will work, but we found
that if it's more than an inch or so from the mouth, it doesn't pick up
sound as well and degrades the performance of the system.
Two things have surprised us: one is that, in our system at
least, there is always some background static and hum that can be heard when ambient noise is low. The Interphone system is completely
silent in the background, so we're not sure what causes the Camos system to
have static. It's not that noticeable, but it's there. It could
be something to do with the very sensitive microphones, which, by the way,
are supposed to incorporate some type of noise cancellation.
The other surprise is that the two paired intercoms have
only about a 20 foot (claimed 10 meter) range. This is much less than
the 150 meter or so Interphone range -- I can clearly hear my riding partner
on the Interphone when I'm down in the driveway and she's up in the house,
but get about 20 feet apart with the Camos system and you'll get a rash of
static and then nothing. The systems re-connect fairly quickly when
brought back within range, but realize that the Camos units are meant only for use as
rider-to-pillion intercoms and not for bike-to-bike.
Also, the range seems to be dependent on the placement of
the intercom units. If they're not pointing directly at each other, or
if one is mounted on the back of a helmet and one towards the front, the
range decreases.
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The mounting clip is a simple spring.
This photo illustrates the length of wire available for use on the IMC Camos
system.
Which brings us to the last issue: the mounting clips.
The Interphone has a nice, hefty clip with screws that can be attached to
the side of the helmet. The Interphone unit also mounts horizontally,
which we think is the preferred method.
The IMC Camos unit is mounted vertically, which is more difficult to do on a
helmet. Also, the clip for the IMC Camos is a cheap-feeling pressed metal spring
clip without screws, and we can't get it to securely fasten to any of the
helmets we've tried. It just doesn't grab the helmet and it flops
around quite a bit and doesn't give a feeling of security.
The intercom does come with a second clip that has double-sided
stickum on the back. The book shows the preferred mounting location
for this clip on the rear of
the helmet, which is probably the best place to put a vertically-mounted
unit, but which then means that it's very hard to use the
intercom buttons
while riding. The bottom line is that the IMC Camos BHS-600 mounting system
leaves a lot to be desired, in our opinion.
What else? For the technically minded, the IMC Camos
BHS-600 Bluetooth Intercom supports the A2DP (Hi-Fi-Stereo) and HSE
(Hands-Free) protocols. The and connector of the Bluetooth module are
waterproof.
And in case you're wondering, we did try to pair the IMC
Camos units with the Interphone and Scala units but could not. Again,
the promise of Bluetooth was that it would recognize and pair with any other
Bluetooth device. You'd think two supposedly simple Bluetooth
intercoms would pair with each other? Nope. We're not sure if
these systems are using proprietary implementations of the Bluetooth
standard, which, it would seem, goes against the purpose of the
communications protocol.
Conclusion
The IMC Camos BHS-600 Bluetooth intercom, after all is said and done, is
about as easy to set up as the Interphone intercom -- but that isn't
saying much. These devices could and should be so much easier to use,
and the instructions on all of the Bluetooth intercoms we've reviewed could
be better.
Also, the helmet mounting system is very poor, in our opinion, and not up to the
standards of the unit itself or the Interphone or Scala Bluetooth intercom
systems.
Once the IMC Camos system set up and installed, however, the sound quality
and volume make up for a lot. Not that it couldn't be better; even more
volume would be appreciated; a mike that could be located on the back of the
chin bar with no loss in sensitivity; less background crackling and static
and a better range would be nice.
We like the Interphone system for its ease of use, it's
compact size and it's long range intercom ability. But it is missing a
second speaker, and the sound volume could be higher. We think
the IMC Camos system, in the end, is a step forward in motorcycle Bluetooth
intercom systems. It's not perfect by any
means, but at least motorcycle Bluetooth intercom systems are evolving in
the right direction.
UPDATE: October 10, 2007 - After using the IMC
Camos intercom for a few weeks, we started to have a problem with one of the
units. It no longer receives the transmission from the second unit;
the static has increased dramatically; it has a great deal of feedback and,
believe it or not, it also receives occasional commercial radio
interference! Garbled sounds from local radio stations can be heard,
blocking out other communications.
At this point, we've tried to reset the
devices with no luck, so the system is inoperable.
We've received no response from the manufacturer
regarding this problem. We may have an early
production model or there may be other problems, but if
we learn more, we'll let you know.
UPDATE 2: October 23, 2007
- see comments from IMC below.
|
wBW
Product Review: IMC Camos BHS-600 Bluetooth Intercom |
| Available
From: IMC
GmbH |
Suggested Retail Price: BHS-500
- $150.00. BHS-600 - $200.00
|
| Colors: Black |
Made
in: Korea |
| Review Date:
September 2007 Revised: September 24, 2007 |
| Distributors:
Benchmark
Helmets (U.S.A.);
IMC
Communication Stéphane Lambert (Canada);
Kimpex (Canada).
Importer:
IMC
Electronics N.A. (Canada). Retailer:
Sierra Electronics
(U.S.A.) |
| Product Comments:
There is no company information or website information or place of
manufacture noted on either of the two boxes we received. |
NOTE: The webBikeWorld intercom evaluators always wear properly
fitted ear plugs while riding during the intercom evaluations and this is reflected
in thee opinions on sound quality and speaker volume. Your experience may
and probably will differ. Always wear high-quality, correctly fitted ear plugs
when riding a motorcycle ( more).
|
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►Your Comments and
Feedback
Please send comments to
Comments are ordered from most recent to oldest.
Not all comments will be published ( details). Comments may be edited for
clarity prior to publication.
From "J.H.": "After reading the reviews on
headsets I decided to go with the Camos since hearing
isn’t one of my better traits. Ask my wife she
will concur. It was fairly easy to pair with
my HCT Tilt phone that uses the Bluetooth 2.O
technology.
The problem came when I tried to pair it with my TomTom
Rider (wBW
review). The Rider found the Camos but could
not connect. I keep getting an error message
stating “the required functions could not be found”.
At this point I will have to do some soul searching as I
really wanted to hear directions plus use the MP3 on the
TomTom Rider. The sound on the unit is great for
the phone even up to 70. It seems to answer
automatically instead of waiting for a voice command.
The phone rang while driving down the road and next
thing I know the wife is talking. However, she
heard me clearly even running 7k RPMs on the bike.
Bottom line if you have a TomTom Rider that you want to
use with a headset, this is not the unit to use."
From "K.D.": "I am a computer person who
rides. First things first: To get the passenger to
also hear the music being played by the Zumo, C.H.
(comments below) would need to get another Bluetooth
adapter (like a wiRevo D1000V ) and connect it to the
(standard) audio out headphone jack on the Zumo and then
pair that to the passenger's Camos.
As you have learned in your
adventures in Bluetooth land things have to be done in
the right order or it will not work as expected.
If you have the Zumo 550 the rider should pair his cell
phone to it and NEVER the Camos or he will run into some
of the problems B.A. had. The next step would be
to pair the Zumo's built-in Bluetooth to the Rider's
Camos. The passenger would then pair her cell
phone to (the passenger's) Camos, then pair the external
Bluetooth adapter (Revo) on the headphone jack of the
Zumo to (the passenger's) Camos. Then do the
intercom pairing as per the manufacturer's lack of
instructions.
On a related note: Thanks to
a very small patch of gravel I need a new helmet.
While the bike and myself have been healing up I have
done a lot of research (thanks BTW I found your site to
be most informative) concerning motorcycle audio
distribution and quiet helmets.
Once a week I have a 3 hour
commute to work (6 hr round trip), in order to make my
bike a practical choice I need to be able to hold
reasonably clear cell phone conversations with my
co-workers and customers. Also I seem to have
become addicted to GPS so I figured I wanted to come up
with a complete solution.
From reading reviews and
understanding the base technology, with the exception of
connecting the cell phone to the Zumo, I'm going to pass
on Bluetooth for the bike. First off, I have never
heard a decent sounding pair of stereo Bluetooth
headphones (for home, let alone a motorcycle), they seem
to always have a background hiss.
Besides, what is the benefit
in going wireless when you are sitting in the same place
and I don't want another device to forget to put on a
charger? I am several clicks away from getting a
Garmin Zumo 550, a Baehr BLACKLINE Active System and a
Schuberth J1 helmet, hopefully it works out..."
From "B.A." on the wiRevo: "I have recently
purchased the Camos and another Bluetooth accessory
called a
wiRevo. The wiRevo is supposed to make the
Zumo or other non-stereo Bluetooth items stereo. I
felt that I may be able to help or at least air some
(issues) I had and my encounter in the future with the
Camos.
I purchased the system this
week and after not getting much help from
benchmarkhelmets with my problem I called the place of
purchase, The Scooter Shop in California. They
said that they would get back to me but they haven’t.
Maybe I’m too impatient.
Here is what has transpired
this week. I receive the items and wanted to pair
them with a Zumo. I followed the instructions that
were being talked about in K-bikes and BMW Luxury
Touring Forums. I have been talking with the
fellows pretty often for the past few weeks and thought
I would pull the trigger on these items.
On Tuesday I was trying to
get the items to pair all day. I thought I had it
all paired properly but some systems really don’t let
you know very well if they are. Flashing lights
and what have you. I like the phones and Zumos
that tell you when they are paired.
That evening I tried it all
out and went for a ride. Possibly and I don’t know
this but maybe the Zumo has to be in the cradle to work
properly, and maybe that is why I couldn’t get the
systems to work together. Well, after getting it
all working together I thought I did take a ride.
The first thing was to have the Zumo talk to the Camos
and let it give me directions. That went pretty
well, then I thought I should try the MP3 player in the
Zumo to see if I can hear music. That also went
well. As I was riding I was listening to music and
the Zumo cut in to tell me that I needed to make a turn.
That went alright also. I’m pretty psyched at this
point.
All of a sudden the phone
rings. (Moto Razr Max, top of the line Moto right?) I
answer the call and I can hear the other person but they
can not hear me. Bummer; I go home and work on
this for 4 more hours and can’t get it to work properly.
Wednesday, I call and call
benchmarkhelmets and no one answers all day or night.
I call The Scooter Shop and I speak to a fellow and he
tells me that he’s no expert and he’ll have someone call
me later. Wednesday mind you, Thursday I call
benchmarkhelmets and no one answers again but I did get
a short email saying that I should have the Zumo on
(phone only in the Bluetooth directory). I did
have it there and I responded to them telling him that.
No reply. Still no one from the Scooter Store has
called or answered my emails.
Sorry guys, I would like to
know how to use my $300.00 worth of items I purchased
from you. So I start all over again and try to
pair these but without the Zumo on the cradle just doing
this on my lunch hour and trying to get things to work
properly. I got the phone to make calls but no
music.
Friday, I didn’t have a
chance on Thursday evening to fool around with the
system so I thought I would send off some more emails to
the both of them and no response as of 4 pm Friday.
I went home from work and
tried it all again. Here is what transpired on
Friday afternoon:
I got the Camos to talk to
the phone so I thought that would be good. I got
the Zumo to talk to the Camos, that was good. I
then called my wife at work and told her that I would be
calling her back to test this all out again and if she
gets a call and can’t hear someone on the other end that
it was me and don’t hang up immediately, give me a
chance to talk.
I called with the Zumo off
and the Camos did fine.
I hung up and turned on the
Zumo and it said that it made the connection. Now
the Zumo and the Camos are talking to one another.
It is giving me directions and playing music and cutting
in and out at the appropriate times. This is good.
Now I tried to have the Zumo on and make a call, this
didn’t work. I couldn’t figure out what was wrong.
So I went into the directory
and changed the settings that benchmarkhelmets told me
to set (Phone Only). I change it to Navigation,
MP3, Phone, it started to work. I could hear the
Zumo, I could hear the phone now. So I called her
again and she could hear me and I could hear her.
This was all fine and good until I realized that I
couldn’t change the volume. And the volume was too
low, not quiet but not loud enough if I were riding with
ear plugs that’s for sure.
Now here’s the good part --
I then thought ok, let’s try to hook up the wiRevo and
see if the whole thing goes to S_ _ t. And it did.
When I plugged in the wiRevo to the Zumo which were
paired earlier the sound and everything went quiet.
Then all of sudden the music
came on and it was loud and in stereo. I guess it
need to connect to the Zumo. So I tried to make
the Zumo give me directions and it did. I then
picked up the phone and called my wife and it worked
fine she said.
So now everything is working
as of the time I left my house a few hours ago. I
just hope this continues. Oh by way, I did say it
was loud but I now have control over the volume.
The wiRevo made a big difference with control and
fidelity. I did have the bike up to about 80 mph
with ear plugs in and it still was fine to hear.
That was the other night the first time I was putting it
together.
I do want to tell you this;
I’m not convinced that it will keep working properly
because from the messages on two forums the fellows from
benchmarkhelmets say that the Zumo has to be on (phone
only) I have it on NAV, MP3, phone. But it’s
working. Another thing that tells me that it’s not
going to continue is that in the manual the chart tell
you that if the red light is flashing 3 times in a
second or two that the connection failed and mine is
flashing in series of 3s.
Would the fellows from IMC
please respond and give us some detail to the trouble
shooting? Also; what does it mean when the green
and red light flash at the same time?
I was going to take notes
because I wanted to explain everything in detail so
others could benefit but I was too happy to get it
working.
In review, I think the Camos
is very good as far as sound quality. I don’t mind
the small switches. The Camos also goes into
pairing mode real easy when you want it to and that’s
good.
The wiRevo on the other hand
is tough as hell to get in the pairing mode and is a
bear to coordinate when trying to pair because it only
gives you I think one minute and then goes back to
normal. wiRevo company needs better instructions.
WiRevo when it gets paired
is unbelievable; it makes the Zumo come alive when used
with the Camos. Personally a tad more volume and a
way to adjust the bass a bit would be ok but believe me
this works with decently good fidelity.
Benchmarkhelmets and The
Scooter Shop I will apologize to you if I’m being
impatient and not giving you a chance to respond.
But I think a week is a long time when you are trying
like hell to get this system up and running with out any
assistance.
I am the first to say that
I’m not the tech minded person that some are but a good
manual and a trouble shooting segment in the manual
would really help.
IMC, I think your going in
the right direction and I like the products. Just
give us consumers some help. Attention to the companies
mentioned here, people like myself are your best sales
staff. I visit 3 motorcycle forums each day and
participate in them pretty good. I know this stuff
is new but we can help but we also want your help.
Thanks for letting me ramble
on I hope I have been of some help."
Benchmark Helmets
Response: "We just wanted to make a
statement about us being out of action, we were in
Milano, for EICMA, and basically only had a skeleton
staff here shipping orders to our dealers. We
tried to direct people toward sending emails, however it
is hard to do so without having access to talking people
on the phone.
As far as technical
knowledge not everyone at Scooter Shop knows all about
GPS systems and such, other dealers such as Wireless
Riders have a stronger technical knowledge of getting
working in harmony (since they sell the Zumo).
The beauty of Bluetooth 2.0
is that once everything is dialed in, you shouldn’t
experience any problems with having to repair your
devices very often. I agree that the setup of the
Camos system is more technically challenging than the
other Bluetooth helmet headsets, however the superior
sound quality is worth the extra effort. If
(customers have) any more questions (they) can call us
at 1-866-622-0221."
Response from IMC regarding our problems:
"Thank you very much for your testing report, which - as
you may assume - does not please us. Nevertheless
we would like to let you know our impression and give
you some more background information and facts.
1. Static noise - We hold
the official FCC documents that declare strict
compliance to the regulations. We have now 8
months field experience in Germany, Europe and the
United States. Since your couple of BHS-600s seems
to be the only one that can receive commercial radio, we
suggest to contact our US partner Benchmark Helmets to
receive another set. In consequence we think that
your headsets have not been fully charged. Please
re-check after charging over night.
2. Bluetooth
Bluetooth is able to establish connections without user
action, once the pairing is done. Pairing is
needed to avoid any coupling by random. Pairing
cannot be done automatically, because to pair BT-devices
they must be set into special listen/search mode.
Otherwise you will get a wild mix of connections.
It works like the key and lock principle, in IT slang:
master and slave. So both devices must match to
get a secure connection.
We sell BHS-600 separately.
So all units are set to single mode by default. If
you buy two, you must change the settings. This is
not complicated - we guess even less complicated than
setting up a mobile phone. We understand that we
cannot assume bikers to be computing specialists, but
they learned driving and have a huge knowledge about
bikes, they should be able to handle a small electronic
unit. If not, they should buy the units from a
specialized dealer who can install and instruct the
units.
Ah, one word about
compatibility: Bluetooth and Bluetooth aren’t
same. You know that there are various Bluetooth
standards from 1.0 to 2.0, 3.0 is under development.
And, to use IT-slang again, the manufacturers optimize
the so-called Bluetooth stack, which provides the
relative functions like A2DP (stereo music), HFP (hands
free), etc.
To get better results, it is recommended to skip all
un-used protocols from the stack. That might be
one reason for “incompatibility”.
3. Manual
We are very sorry having not found a real native
US-biker to translate a technical manual for us.
Next time we will take care of it. We have not
added general Bluetooth information, because we did not
see any requirements. If our dealers confirm your
statement, we will add in future. In the meantime,
please check Wikipedia.
4. Reset
Maybe the devices went down due to low battery status or
due to production failure. We cannot evaluate from
here. Please let’s exchange the set so we can
check them in our labs."
From "C.H.": "I recently purchased a
Garmin Zumo 550 and 2 Camos BHS-600 intercom units for
my wife and I to use when riding. I am very happy
with the Zumo, and the sound quality of the BHS-600s for
music, phone and intercom communication is very good.
But I was hoping to be able to pair both units to the
Zumo so that wifey and I could listen to the same music
on long trips. So far I haven’t found a way to do
that.
Garmin tech support states
that the Zumo can only pair with one unit at a time, and
a very helpful Camos guy in Canada stated that he did
not know of any trick to accomplish this on the BHS-600
side.
Do you or any of your
readers know how this might be done? Perhaps an
additional unit that pairs with all three? This is
going to be a disappointment if it can’t be done – it
just seems like such functionality would be desired by
anyone buying either device."
Editor's Note:
Please send any tips on this issue to the email address
above.
From "B.": "One thing you didn't mention is the size of
the Firewire connector (Editor's Note: See photo below) that connects the speakers and mic to the Camos unit.
Why did they use this? The connector is HUGE and I found that there is
no place to hide it on my helmet. It is too big. Also, they give
you too much wire for all the parts, I have to stuff the wire all over the
inside of my helmet. Right now I have the Firewire connector hanging
outside my helmet, this is a problem."
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