On the FJR I have always fed the Starcom from a GPS, initially from a Garmin Streetpilot 2820 and more recently a Zumo 550. When I bought the first Starcom1 from BikeEffects (a great seller, BTW) I sprung for all of the isolation cables because I had heard that you're likely to get ground noise issues without them.
Later I picked up a second Starcom1 used from a forum member here (for use on the other 2 bikes) and saved some $$. But it did not come with any isolation cables. The second unit have just been using battery powered GMRS B2B radios and battery powered MP3 player for inputs (no 2nd GPS yet) or I else had to transfer the cables if I decided I wanted to ride one of the other bikes with the GPS and/or radar detector.
Last week, I was thinking about the situation and the way that my systems are powered. I have a single power cord coming directly off the battery into the tank bags, where I have 3-way cigarette lighter splitters. So, all of the devices are being powered off that same power cable source. I decided to try using a non-isolated audio patch cable between the Zumo and Starcom audio input. Well, it works like a champ with no audio noise or feedback at all.
Rode around Thursday and Friday and noticed no problems at all.
The situation may be different if you have your Starcom1 or cables buried down in the bowels of your bike where they are more prone to noise, or maybe if you are powering the devices from different sources on the bike. But for > $50 difference per cable, it's worth a shot to see if you do get any noise before springing for the isolation cables.
Later I picked up a second Starcom1 used from a forum member here (for use on the other 2 bikes) and saved some $$. But it did not come with any isolation cables. The second unit have just been using battery powered GMRS B2B radios and battery powered MP3 player for inputs (no 2nd GPS yet) or I else had to transfer the cables if I decided I wanted to ride one of the other bikes with the GPS and/or radar detector.
Last week, I was thinking about the situation and the way that my systems are powered. I have a single power cord coming directly off the battery into the tank bags, where I have 3-way cigarette lighter splitters. So, all of the devices are being powered off that same power cable source. I decided to try using a non-isolated audio patch cable between the Zumo and Starcom audio input. Well, it works like a champ with no audio noise or feedback at all.
Rode around Thursday and Friday and noticed no problems at all.The situation may be different if you have your Starcom1 or cables buried down in the bowels of your bike where they are more prone to noise, or maybe if you are powering the devices from different sources on the bike. But for > $50 difference per cable, it's worth a shot to see if you do get any noise before springing for the isolation cables.
