Pilot BluLink Questions & PIREP Request

[HighFlyingA380]

I've been getting frustrated with having that extra wire hanging around for music and phone, and have been thinking about picking up the Pilot BluLink to add Bluetooth connectivity. I know there are some threads already on here about it, but I had a couple questions which I didn't see specifically addressed:

1- How's the battery life? Is it increased by using rechargeables? I saw it mentioned by the manufacturer that they last anywhere from 20-60 hours, but Sporty's says it's only 15-20...

2- How's the connection? In general, it seems people like it, but I've also seen some reviews mentioning very poor audio and signal quality...

3- I see that you can turn off the auto-mute for radio and intercom activity, but does one paired device take precedence over another? If I stream music and/or other audio from the iPad, can I be on the phone too, or will one audio source be cut-off?

4- There are some very worrisome reviews and YouTube videos showing some terrible noises, attenuation, and sporadic compatablity with headsets, particularly with the Clarity Aloft (which I have)...

If I decide to go down this road, I'm looking at buying from The Squawk Shoppe, but I've heard the guy running that place is a bit of a flake...

 

[Let'sgoflying!]

For that matter, why does the bluetooth not transmit music to the (BoseA20, mine) headset?
It transmits the phone just fine! And, it transmits music to the bluetooth (earpiece for telephone) they sell just fine too!

 

[mkosmo]

I have one and have ~40 hours on it since new... still on the first set of batteries I put in it. The audio quality I have experienced is great. I've only ever paired it to one device, and I seem to recall the instructions saying it could only be connected to one at a time.

 

[Archammer]

1- How's the battery life? Is it increased by using rechargeables? I saw it mentioned by the manufacturer that they last anywhere from 20-60 hours, but Sporty's says it's only 15-20...

Average battery life that we're seeing is 25-35 hours depending on the battery. We're finding the best results with non-alkaline batteries.

2- How's the connection? In general, it seems people like it, but I've also seen some reviews mentioning very poor audio and signal quality...

We haven't had any calls here, but maybe some aircraft or devices interfere (i.e. stratus/xgps/gyro/2.4ghz/5ghz/etc.). The audio quality is superb as long as your headset has speakers that can handle the frequency range (most mid & low dollar headsets don't have the ability to generate the mid and bass frequencies) and you are porting high sample rate music (Free Pandora/Spotify is below that bit rate, Soundcloud/XM/iTunes is within range).

3- I see that you can turn off the auto-mute for radio and intercom activity, but does one paired device take precedence over another? If I stream music and/or other audio from the iPad, can I be on the phone too, or will one audio source be cut-off?

It comes down to the use of the microphone. So if both devices were able to use your mic, then the parent (1st pairing) will supersede the child (second pairing) and things get messy once connections interrupt etc., so yes only 1 device paired. So just use the hardline connection in conjunction, then you use the Bluetooth for connection A and the hardline to the aux for connection B.
(I'll be utilizing this feature on my flight tomorrow and I'll report back for you.)

4- There are some very worrisome reviews and YouTube videos showing some terrible noises, attenuation, and sporadic compatablity with headsets, particularly with the Clarity Aloft (which I have)...

Some are user issues, some are grounding issues because of people plugging mono headsets into a stereo system, and leaving the dip switches on stereo. Some are who the hell knows. If it don't worky, you send it back to me, and I give your money back wiki wiki.

If I decide to go down this road, I'm looking at buying from The Squawk Shoppe, but I've heard the guy running that place is a bit of a flake...

And now I should just delete everything... smart ass. NO SALE FOR YOU!

 

[Archammer]

So did you order one? Is it working well?

I was able to stream music and iPhone through the bluetooth, and then I hard linked the iPad to get the audible alerts and everything worked great!

 

[HighFlyingA380]

So did you order one? Is it working well?

I was able to stream music and iPhone through the bluetooth, and then I hard linked the iPad to get the audible alerts and everything worked great!

Not yet, I've been really busy with a recent death in the family. I'll probably put in the order soon.