Sena 10C Evo Anyone?

So my trusty Drift Ghost X has decided audio recoding from the external mic is no longer an option. No fault of Drift, the camera has been through hell the last few years. Sort of surprised it works at all.

I have GoPros, from 9-12, and they are all a nightmare. I also don't care for hanging the cam off the chin bar.

I've watched some vid from the Sena 10C Evo and it looks decent. Also seems that it will natively record comms audio without hacking something in.

Anyone use one? I'll admit, I haven't been happy with the Sena quality since the 30k. We have multiple Sena units in our house and anything 20K and newer has given me fits. So I'm a bit apprehensive. I was going to move us all over to Cardo, but to do so would be a few thousand dollars in comms (5 units plus several extra cradle kits for various helmets).

I do like the idea of 1 single unit on my helmet to streamline things.

HippoDrone said:

Are you sure it is the camera and not the mic with the Drift?
I am a GoPro fan-boi, but know lots of folk have had issues, once I get a firmware on a GoPro that works how I want it to, I turn off firmware updates so they can't nerf it.... I also only use the new white tipped endurance batteries in my 10 and only use trusted high quality memory cards, seems to keep everything working reliably for me at least. I don't record in 4k though, just at 2.7k/60fps.
What memory has the Sena 10C got and can it be externally powered while recording? I am unsure of the camera specs, what resolution, fps, fov does it have, does it have stabilisation?

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Its definitely the cam. Tested my spare mics and multiple adapters I have as spares. They're all known good and work on other cams.

10C can be powered by an external during use if needed, and battery life is decent from what I've read. It's 4k/30, 2k or 1080 @ 60. Field of view matches the new Drift Pro, so not quite as good as GoPro. It has image stabilization, but I doubt it's as good as GoPro. Thats the one thing they manage to do right, if you can use the cam without the stupid thing overheating 5 minutes in or corrupting footage (all of mine from 9-12 have the issue). Uses MicroSD cards for storage. Says up to 128gb, but some have reported using larger cards. I have so many high speed MSD cards in my pack at this point I have essentially unlimited storage. Lol! Seriously, I have 30 or so just in 128gb, plus about 100 64gb, and 20 or so 256gb. All Sandisk Extreme or Samsung Ultra. I was doing drone mapping for a while on top of everything else I have that uses them, so I amassed quite a collection.

I also have multiple power points on the bike, so I can charge on the fly while at stops. I do it now with my Sena communicator. Go in for lunch, and either plug it in where I'm at or on the bike in the trunk.

So, my wife and I got about 20 minutes of test time in on the 10C Evo. Realized I used the wrong mem card, left the low speed one in it I used during the firmware update. It would record for a few minutes, stop, resume, stop, resume.... Issue rectified by tossing in the RIGHT speed card.

That said, the image quality is leaps and bounds better than my Drift X was, and the audio quality was too. Picked up her side perfectly as well. Also has better range than my Sena 30k comms did. We tested that out.

Not quite to higher end dedicated cam quality, but close enough for Youtube, and a lot less headache than the hacky setups.

HippoDrone said:

At least you have counted out the mic. Thought it worth asking anyway.
I didn't get on with the 9, until I used the new white tipped batteries, and the 10 has been flawless, but I have only ever used the white tipped endurance batteries... It is generally the battery that overheats and the built in protection shuts down the GoPro, worth thinking about if you use the blue tipped batteries or aftermarket, or power the GoPro externally with a battery still in the camera. I am in the UK though, so the temps here are possibly a little lower.
Am guessing if you were doing drone stuff professionally then you absolutely trust your memory cards.

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Now I need to check all my GoPro batteries and see which ones I have. I always just bought them at Best Buy in the packs, and never realized there was a difference. Thanks for the tip!

So, a little update since I had the rest of the season to play around. Well, kinda. I got very little useful footage because my health TANKED. Finally think we figured out the issue, just in time for winter storage.

But, here's what I learned about the Sena. 1) It's typical Sena. it's fickle! When it works, it works well. When it throws a fit, it's a giant pain.

It could use a bit of extra options in the menus. 1 issue I had was the coms audio was quiet on the incoming end. Turns out, the volume you have it set to is directly translated to the recording. Now, most of the time I have ear plugs in so the incoming volume is cranked. That's where it needs to be to capture appropriately. But, on a short jaunt, if I don't toss the ear plugs in, incoming coms audio is almost not useable at all.

We also have an audio issue related to my wife' helmet coms. This isn't anything to do with the Evo, it comes through on our conversations as well. I'm pretty sure her Sena is dying.

I have gotten some decent footage with my main riding buddy. Overall, it at least makes recording multi person audio much easier. Not sure this is the setup I'll stick with but its working for now.

Thanks guys! Yeah, the health stuff is annoying. Just when I started to feel decent, it would tank. But, changed providers and I think we figured out the issue, and it was a fairly simple one to fix.