Adding Mute To A Bluetooth Headset

[Jared] often needs to be on conference calls for work during his motorcycle commute. He’s got a bluetooth headset that cancels noise but it didn’t have a mute feature. He cracked open the speaker and microphone portion of the apparatus but there wasn’t enough room for a switch. The base unit which houses the noise cancelling hardware had plenty of room. He added a single pole double throw (SPDT) switch to the positive wire from the microphone, allowing him to disconnect it as a mute function would. He mentions the need to seal the unit with silicone after the hack in order to keep out the elements. We might have opted for a weather-proof switch as well.

This simple hack makes a nice addition to any Bluetooth projects you’re working on.

25 thoughts on “Adding Mute To A Bluetooth Headset

  1. I’m pretty sure that switch can be made waterproof, too. There’s a switch company that sells little silicone boots that fit over the top of the switch and thread onto the body of it.

    Lemme see… here it is: NKK Switches. For example, Digikey # 360-1750-ND

  2. Why is it that every comments thread is always peppered with people whinging about safety? It’s not like this guy has invented the concept of radio communication whilst biking. Your comment adds nothing to the article. Life can be dangerous – just shut up and get on with yours.

  3. Jared should really find a better way to arrange his morning, before he gets himself or someone else killed.

    dan, your sociopathy adds even less to this post.

    Matt and I are actually worried about people’s safety. I don’t know if you or Matt have lost anyone to an impaired driver, but I have, and I’d like to spare other families that pain.

    http://www.unews.utah.edu/p/?r=062206-1
    This study and others confirm that talking on a cell phone is as inhibiting to the driver as being intoxicated, and reports of serious and even fatal accidents occurring because of a distracted driver abound.

    Life being dangerous doesn’t justify doing nothing to stop preventable death. I’m sorry that you don’t find that worth reading, but please stow it.

  4. All i seem to read on theese comments is WAA WAAAA WAAA someone please think of the children, what if he hurts himself, what if he hurts someone else, OMG CALL THE CYBERPOLICE.

    Life is full of danger, if your scared of motorcyclists with headsets just dont go outside, theres plenty of things to do inside, like post whingey comments on HaD.

  5. am i the only one who thinks “DUH!” on this one?
    do you really need a write up on this one?

    “add a switch to the microphone” is all you need to say as a general mute button to every single microphone in existence XD

  6. Maybe Joe could leave the house earlier and stop in for breakfast somewhere and accept his conference call there. Many of these food eateries also dispense napkins, which are great calculators :) Glad he figured out how to fix a problem and I’ll leave it at that.

  7. First all the idiots that cant understand how to listen and ride at once, That’s why you suck at riding a bike, you cant walk and chew gum.

    Second, if you have a job where you have conference calls, you CAN do that while riding.. I have the step up of this bluetooth helmet adapter and it has a mute in it already, but this is a great idea.

    What is stupid is the morons that ride the motorcycle in shorts and a t-shirt (you are just a complete idiot) or wear earbuds while riding. Plug your ears? what dork thinks that is a good idea? These have a speaker that sits near your ears. you can hear perfectly unless someone is screaming in your ears.

    That’s almost as stupid as the retards that think loud pipes save lives.

    This guy did a good job, and I have ridden at highway speeds with a composite helmet and the person on the other end cant tell I am on the bike. It works great, I can answer and even dial without taking my attention off the road (because I have an IQ over 80 and can do two things at once like press a button on the side of my helmet and say “call office”) Add in a bonus of that my IQ is high enough to not be a moron and speed and tailgate I end up a safer driver and rider than 90% of the others on the road.

    The brain dead retards that tailgate cars or speed are the cause of the problems.

  8. So wait…

    There’s a wired-in base unit on a Bluetooth headset?

    That seems to sort of defeat the purpose of having a Bluetooth headset at all, no? Wouldn’t it be just as easy to plug your cell into the base unit where you don’t have to hold it as it would be to BT pair it?

  9. @fartface
    failing to walk and chew gum simultaneously does not result in fiery car crashes often involving multiple vehicles and/or pedestrians

    low-effort troll, i give it a 5/10

  10. I am willing to bet that every idiot on here who is crying about this guy talking on the phone while on his bike has never ridden a bike.

    Also note that motorcyclists, on the whole, are much safer drivers than most people who don’t ride. The reason being that most of us have taken a class on it, and we have to dodge idiots in cars who can’t pay attention with or without the phone.

    My insurance agent told me that close to 90% of all motorcycle accidents are caused by the person in the 4+ wheeled vehicle, NOT the guy on the bike.

    And for that matter, who told you clowns that riding a motorcycle is somehow more dangerous or more difficult to do than driving a car?

    TLDR: Shut up about him using the phone on his motorcycle, I bet this weeks paycheck he is a safer driver than you.

  11. I highly doubt that he gets alot of breathing though this mic unless the noise cancellation is broken, or he’s just a really heavy breather.

    I use a scala and haven’t had a problem with that during calls, but I do have that problem with the radio. In some cases with the visor up or vents open it will catch wind enough to cut out the radio.

    Thanks for the great shots of the insides, I didn’t want to break the weather proofing just to have a look. I want to extend/replace the fm ant with something that works better, maybe a loop around the helmet?

    The scala is the best bike to bike headset I’ve tried, and bluetooth and radio are just bonus features. Using the scala in multi rider situations helps to make riding safer, and more enjoyable.

    Most of the people complaining just either don’t get it, or failed their mc course. :)

  12. @M4CGYV3R

    Its a two piece system,
    You have a egg like shaped module that contains most of the electronics and controls. You can pull that off the helmet to charge and keep safe.

    That part clicks into part 2 which is attached to the helmet, it has the mic and external audio input jack.

    It’s still paired via bt to a phone if needed.
    Just the mic and module are two parts.

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