J&M CB Audio Question

[Richouse]

I'm interested in moving to a J&M CB system. I have looked at the instal PDF provided by the J&M web site and see there is an audio input for a MP3 player or other device that accepts a 3.5mm jack. I'm wondering if I hook my phone into this (which is a 3.5mm hole) can I take phone calls? Is there a mic. channel in that circuit? I also see that there are other harnesses provided by J&M where you can hook up a phone (sold separately of course) so I'm assuming there is a mic. circuit there.

I use my iphone for music, GPS, and obviously phone calls. I only want to hook up this one device and I can utilizing that 3.5mm jack which is provided. I'm sure I will be able to hear music and GPS directions but will I be able to take phone calls through the provided cord?

Also, will the starcom headsets work with the J&M system? The plugs for BOTH systems are 6 pin din so they should hook together. Has anyone used Starcom headsets with the J&M if so how did it work?

Thanks...

 

[Bruce McCrary]

Yep, sure can. I haven't done it at all, but my son did with his Android phone and it worked fine. He hasn't tried it with his latest phone, but it too should work fine.

 

[Bruce McCrary]

Now that I think about it...

He downloaded an auto answer app on the Android,, but complained about ground noise while charging. A ground loop isolator would have probably fixed that.

How funny - He just called about something else and I was asking him about it. He confirmed what I was thinking and said he's also used his current iPhone as well, but says he hasn't bothered with the auto answer or a ground loop isolator because he doesn't use it enough to justify doing it.

Hope that helps.

 

[Richouse]

He didn't buy any extra harness, he just used the included 3.5mm audio plug and he was able to make phone call through that?

 

[Cibrd0wn]

Just the base JMCB-2003 aux port will not work to for phone calls, you will be able to hear but the aux pin does not have the mic input included. You will need to add part # jcb03-cfrg-d and cfrd-d-ca03. I really enjoy my system but it is a wiring nightmare as i also have gps and radar wired in. If i did not start out with a free base system i would have gone the with the autocom. I now use my iphone through bluetooth with my gps as it cuts out the ground loop issue. Also with the iphone there is no auto answer feature and with my winter gloves i could not answer the phone.

 

[txvoyager]

Just the base JMCB-2003 aux port will not work to for phone calls...

What he said... The system's Aux In jack only carries audio from the device to the J&M CB. There is no stock circuit built in for the mic...

 

[Patriot]

J&M harnesses etc are freakin expensive...my zumo is Bluetooth (and many gps's are also)

my Adaptive TPX Radar Detector has an audio out for the alarm

and I listen to a MP3

so, plugged into that one (stock with the unit) 3.5mm input to the CB unit is an "amplirider" which is 3 inputs to 1 output, all 3.5mm

my zumo sound output, my radar detector, and my mp3 are all plugged into that amplirider (has built in audio filter) and then it's output jack receives the J&M input plug. I choose to add an inline ground loop isolator between the amplirider and the mp3, but I'm sure it's unnecessary.

the amplirider powers off the bike 12v and it has a remote volume control for all the devices. I wrap the unit in a zip lock bag and store it in a little ballistic nylon camera case zip tied on the triple clamps

it's worked well for me for many years

https://www.electric-avenues.com/amplirider.html

knob with white line is amplirider volume control...know with blue line is Clearwater Lights dimmer

 

[Bruce McCrary]

I hate to be argumenitive being the noob an all, but after reading the above replies I went into the spacious well lit McCrary Man Cave & Motorcycle Workshop, unplugged my iPod from the J&M unit, plugged in my iPhone 4 and called my wife. We had a crystal clear conversation. Because I wanted to be able to charge my iPod while riding and listen to it I have install a ground loop isolator, so I plugged up the phone to the charger outlet in the fairing storage compartment (where the iPod lives) and fired up the FJR. Still a crystal clear conversation with no noise. Without a doubt it works and works well.

Now, I do know that J&M has made running changes to the unit over the years and last year we sent in all three of our units (one for each bike and a spare) for various repairs. Only J&M no longer does repairs to units, they sell you a refurbished unit and take yours as a trade. That said, my son was using his phone on one of our previous units and that unit was three years old from the last time we sent them in.

I'll be glad to forward serial numbers if someone is interested enough to want to compare thiers to mine, but honestly, I didn't do a thing put plug mine up and it worked fine. Too good in fact. My honey-do list just got longer...

 

[Richouse]

Just the base JMCB-2003 aux port will not work to for phone calls, you will be able to hear but the aux pin does not have the mic input included. You will need to add part # jcb03-cfrg-d and cfrd-d-ca03. I really enjoy my system but it is a wiring nightmare as i also have gps and radar wired in. If i did not start out with a free base system i would have gone the with the autocom. I now use my iphone through bluetooth with my gps as it cuts out the ground loop issue. Also with the iphone there is no auto answer feature and with my winter gloves i could not answer the phone.

Those harnesses are $480 for the two of those alone. That's more than the system costs, which is crazy. Surely there is a better way to just hook up a phone. I can see spending that kind of $$ to hook up multiple devices but not just one. We also have conflicting information. Bruce McCrary says a phone will work just by plugging into the aux. port. Others say it won't. I believe both can be right as long as we figure out the details. Bruce, How old is your unit? The unit i'm looking at is a JMCB-2003. Is that the same unit you have. Maybe the new ones will work with a phone and the old ones won't? I'm willing to spend the money for a base unit if I'm sure it will work with my phone. That is why I want to get all the facts straight. I don't want to drop the cash for the unit just to find out I have to spend another $480 just to hook my phone into it.

 

[Bruce McCrary]

All of the handlebar mounted systems are technically JMCB-2003. However, there have been running upgrades over the years that were made and if you sent the radio in for a repair (prior to the new policy) they would automatically do any and all upgrades to the radio.

As I mentioned, the units that we currently have on hand were refurbished by J&M last year, however, prior to that, the one my son originally tried it on had been refurb'd/updated by J&M three years ago.

I'm all about figuring stuff like this out, so count me in on whatever anyone wants to do to get to the bottom of this. The first thing I can think to mention that may or may not have anything to do with it, but is worth eliminating if nothing else is that all three of our units have the passenger intercom option. Beyond that? As I said, if a serial numbers are of interest to anyone I will be glad to post all three and we can start there. But the problem with that logic is that I don't know if the serial number changes on a unit once it has been refurbished. If it has, then we'll be more accurate, if not, I could in theory have the first one built with the latest and greatest board installed. See what I'm saying?

 

[Richouse]

I sent an email to J&M Customer support regarding this question to see if they can shed some light on this. I'm hoping they say the newer updated ones will handle a phone in the aux. port. If they say it won't support a phone we are back to square one.

 

[Richouse]

Bruce, I understand that your unit will work with a phone now, after it has been refurbished. Did it work with a phone before it was refurbished? I believe you said your son's did? How old is that unit? I'm assuming here that no extra cords or harnesses were bought to plug in a phone or other accessories. Just the cord provided with the system is being used.

I agree, I don't think comparing serial numbers will provided any useful info.

Just the base JMCB-2003 aux port will not work to for phone calls...

What he said... The system's Aux In jack only carries audio from the device to the J&M CB. There is no stock circuit built in for the mic...

If you look at this .pdf provided by J&M on page 4 it shows only one aux. port. If you do buy those expensive harnesses this is the only place to plug in the harness, it is labeled "M". So there has to be a mic. circuit at least to that 3 pin plug. (Not sure how just 3 pins can be stereo and carry a mic. circuit but I'm not an engineer.) Seems to me that all they need to do is provide an updated cord labeled "N" (the included audio cord) with the mic. circuit?

Any ideas?

 

[Bruce McCrary]

No extra cords or anything. I (and my son prior to me yesterday) simply plugged in the J&M plug and it worked fine. I have no idea if mine worked that way before I got it because it's not the same unit I sent to them. When you send one in for repairs now they don't actually repair your original unit and send it back, they sell you a refurb unit and take your old unit as a trade to refurb for the next guy.

As I said, my son was doing this with his previous unit which was "updated" (this was before the refurb deal) 3 years ago. What he is telling me is that he used his android and has used his iPhone as a music storage device and was able to use the phone as well. The problem was/is that you can't hear the phone ring in the headset, you either have to have the device where you can see you have an incoming call or get an auto answer app for it.

He quit doing this and went to an iPod for the same reason I'm not and will not go this route. Our jobs ( I'm the operations manager for a small trucking company and he is a manufacturing/mechanical engineer for a worldwide company) require us to be available so much that we have both told our employers that the bikes are our "off duty" time. We'll check our phones while out riding every few hours, but will not be available while actually riding the bikes. I think that both companies know the technology is available to do what we're discussing here, but my boss especially supports me in not pursuing it.

My interest in this was/is to help you out and now to find out why some will easily work and others won't. To be honest, with the, ummm, change of heart for lack of better words that I've wittnessed at J&M in the last couple of years I have to wonder if it's not the older units that are capable of doing this and the newer ones won't because they now have something else to sell in order to make what we're talking about work...

 

[Cibrd0wn]

Bruce I would love to see a picture of the aux jack or just to know if it has two or three black rings around it. I had my unit swapped out early last year and mine does not work the way yours is saying, if there has been an update I may want it.

 

[Patriot]

gee, guess you don't use a gps or it isn't blue tooth. plug the J&M into the audio out jack of a gps and you are good to go when pairing the phone to the gps. eezy peezy

 

[Bruce McCrary]

Bruce I would love to see a picture of the aux jack or just to know if it has two or three black rings around it. I had my unit swapped out early last year and mine does not work the way yours is saying, if there has been an update I may want it.

Not a problem. I have no clue off the top of my head, but I'll check when I get home from work and post back here with the answer.

 

[Bruce McCrary]

gee, guess you don't use a gps or it isn't blue tooth. plug the J&M into the audio out jack of a gps and you are good to go when pairing the phone to the gps. eezy peezy

Interesting story there...

Two years ago my son and I did a BBG to Jacksonville for the IBA party. Of course while we're there we go down to Daytona and check out all the stuff at bike week. We came up on the/a J&M truck at one of the vendor areas and figure we'd pick their brains. We had both just installed dual 2720's and radar detectors prior to the trip and were wanting to be able to listen to MP3's, but have the CB's and GPS's override them. We were looking for something like a splitter that would have priority settings or whatever. J&M offered something like that, that I don't think they even offer anymore, but they claimed it wouldn't work with a GPS that wasn't "motorcycle specific". Ummm, excuse me? A. The 2720 IS motorcycle specific. B. How the hell is a piece of electronics going to know what it's riding on? And C, is there any difference in audio technology between something on a motorcycle vs anything else? They stammered, himmed and hawed for a bit, then said that the street pilot series wasn't has "high tech" as the Zumo's and that it was possible that while we might hear "something" it would be garbled and inconsistant I believe is the word they used.

Huh. Really.

Well, just like with this situation I carried my happy ass right out to the FJR and plugged the J&M into one of the 2720's sitting on my dash and guess what? Ol' Jill was clear as a bell.

We still haven't done anything in that regard, honestly at this point I kinda like the GPS being silent, but it was aggrivating none the less to be almost talked down to because we didn't have what they considered to be the latest and greatest, especially when their own head unit is getting a little long in the tooth too, you know?

 

[Bruce McCrary]

https://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii107/Bruce_McCrary/Grdlpiso_zps42afd309.jpg

https://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii107/Bruce_McCrary/JampM_zpsebe6957f.jpg

This was more difficult than I thought it would be. I tried to upload an image and only got a blueish colored screen, nothing else. So I tried the photobucket route and apparently you're going to have to click the link, can't seem to get it to simply post the photos.

Anyway, the top link is a photo of a straight plug, that's the ground loop isolator plug that I plug into my iPod and plugged into the phone.

The bottom link is a photo of an angled plug, that's the J&M accessory plug.

Hope this helps.

 

[Patriot]

the amplirider with 3 inputs, there is no priority...all three sound "at the same time"...I adjust each's volume for best sound for me and which I want louder or softer.