My new Cardo Packtalk Edge: DIY Installation and setup process

Just buy the product which your friends are using and you won't have to waste your time as the integration would be easier with them

BHPian Sangwan recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

As the riding season is just around the corner, slowly and steadily I am purchasing things which I would need to make my commute safe and easy. So, I bought a communication device. After watching many videos and going through websites: Sena and Cardo are the most popular brand and another important thing to note is that: Just buy the product which your friends are using and you won't have to waste your time as the integration would be easier with them.

My priorities were simple:

1. Economical and Latest Tech.
2. Waterproof.

I ride alone and don't have riding buddies so did my homework and I zeroed in on Cardo. They are waterproof unlike some of the Sena's which are only water resistant. It rains where I live so waterproofing was important to me. Next, Cardo offers 3 years warranty on all their products where as Sena offered 2 or 3 years depending on the purchase. But, I must admit, Sena looks more premium.

I used Fortnine to order the unit as they were having sales event then and it was cheaper compared to directly ordering from Cardo. It costed me CA$ 402 or roughly INR 24,500 for the unit. It is having the following:

1. Supplies to make things stay in their place in the helmet.
2. JBL speakers.
3. 2 Microphones, depending on the type of helmet it will be used for.
4. A clamp and a plastic plate.
5. The plastic bit onto which the unit will go.
6. USB C cable to charge the unit.
7. The Cardo Unit.
8. A Cardo sticker
9. A 30 days free subscription to their RISER app.

I have a full-face MT helmet so some didn't use the bits for the half-face or modular helmet.

The following are the steps:

1. Inside the helmet, the padding on both sides would be removed, they are held by Velcro and Plastic Buttons, so take the paddings out.
2. After removing the padding, you'll see that it has circular empty space and there we will paste the Velcro circles which came in the box.
3. The speakers will be then placed on to that Velcro.
4. Remove the padding at the back of the helmet and put the extra wire of the speakers underneath that back padding and put the padding back in its place.
5. On the front side, inside the helmet we'll paste another Velcro and put the microphone on top of it.
6. See the rim of your helmet, if its less than 5 mm then the clamp would be used and if its greater than 5 mm then we'll use the plate shaped part, to put our unit on it.
7. There will be cleaning pads given in the box and we'll use those to clean the area properly.
8. We'll place the plate on to the helmet and then put the part where the unit will go. It has two wires, one for microphone and one for the speakers.
9. Now we will put the paddings which we removed in the first step back in its place and hide the remaining wires underneath them.
10. The Unit is held in its place magnetically.

Concern:

I am not sure when I will move to the next helmet if I can use the plate I fixed on the helmet will glue to the new helmet.

The App:

There is an app "Cardo" and the unit connects to it via Bluetooth. I can do voice recordings, listen to radio or music in my phone and make calls. I can pair to two devices using bluetooth and pair to a group of riders using Dynamic Mesh Tech.

The buttons are big and its really easy to pic the call. I have still not used it while riding as weather has been really awful lately.

I will have more thoughts on the usage in the future.

Below is the video I made if you need more detailed instructions:

https://youtu.be/3YDnq1gWTn8

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.