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Trouble connecting SurfLink accessories

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Hello everyone,

I have MICROTECH SUMMIT iQ I1000 13 hearing aids. I am trying to set them up to work with SurfLink wireless accessories, specifically SurfLink Remote and SurfLink Media 2, which I purchased separately on eBay since my local dealer does not offer them.

I’ve tried programming them in Inspire (please see the screenshots I will attach), but neither the remote control nor the media streamer seem to work.

Are these settings sufficient for enabling compatibility, or am I missing something?

Thank you very much in advance for any advice or guidance!

Screenshot 2025-09-15 122635

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Edited

Are the hearing aids and the accessories all produced/sold for for the US market?

Because the radio frequency differs between US and e.g. EU devices.

Have you entered the correct code from the remote control? In the Inspire Software the Remote needs to be synced by entering the code from the lable of the back on remote housing.

For SurfLink Media you need to setup a dedicated streaming program in the Inspire software. And you need to switch the hearing aids to the streaming program.

Did you connect the SurfLink Media to an output port of an audio device or an TV and make sure that audio is played?

Thank you very much for your reply! Let me clarify my situation:

  1. I believe my hearing aids were produced for the Eastern European market, while the accessories (Remote and Media 2) were purchased from the US. If the radio frequencies differ, is there any way to make them work together, or is compatibility impossible in this case?

  2. Yes, I entered the correct code from the label on the back of the remote and pressed the Sync button in the Inspire software. However, the hearing aids do not respond to any button presses on the remote.

  3. Regarding SurfLink Media - I am not completely sure what it means to switch the hearing aids to the streaming program. In Inspire, I see that I can set it to Automatic Start (I assume in this case streaming should begin automatically) or Manual Start (in this case I would need to press a button on the remote, but since the remote is not working, I cannot trigger it). In both cases, when I start playback from a connected TV, the audio is not transmitted to the hearing aids.

Edited

Starkey wireless hearing aids with 900sync technology operate either in the 902 to 928 MHz band (in North Amerika) or 863 to 865 MHz band (in Europe).
See below:

The frequency range from 902 to 928 MHz is the so-called 33-centimeter band, which is used in North America for LoRaWAN applications under FCC Part 15 regulations. Outside Europe, it is also approved for amateur radio and other radio services. In Europe, however, this range is allocated to other mobile radio services.

So the Starkey Hearing Aids and Accessories sold in Europe using different Mhz band (863 to 865 MHz) than in USA.

See also page 18 in the Starkey SurfLink Media user guide1

Wireless Technical Description
The North American version of SurfLink Media 2 operates in the 902-928 MHz frequency band with a maximum effective radiated power of 14.5 dBm with transmission modulation type of 723KF1D. The receiver section of the radio has a bandwidth of 300 kHz.
The European version of SurfLink Media 2 operates in the 863-865 MHz frequency band with a maximum effective radiated power of 9 dBm with transmission modulation type of 342KFXD. The receiver section of the radio has a bandwidth of 300 kHz.

grafik

Maybe it is possible to change/select the Mhz band in the Accessory by an dip switch.

In the past i had opened an defekt Starkey Remote to exchange the batteries.

IMG_20250917_115211

left is a newer black Remote , right is an older silver remote.

IMG_20250917_115240

The silver remote hat a empty batterie and therefore i opened the remote. But it was tricky because in the inside were a glued spot on the top end of the remote that prevented to slide the housing open.

I carefully hat to excarvate the glue with apropriate tools. Then the housing could be opened and i replaced the battery with an button coin.

As you can see: The Remote have a little switch inside , but i don’t know for shure if this switch is for changing the frequencies between USA and EU. see next picture

My hearing aids (from EU) only respond to the remote when it is set to position 1. see orange arrow.

IMG_20250917_115352

And you have to be very carefull with the little switches (see the red arrows)

IMG_20250917_115430

I can also provide pictures of my SurfLink Media (sold in EU).

IMG_20250917_115011

IMG_20250917_114958

IMG_20250917_114620

IMG_20250917_114631

could not find any switch on the boards. But i did not remove the bords from the housing to examine the back side of the boards. it is possible be that there is a switch on the back side of one of the circuit boards.

In reply to @firenzel

Hey firenzel!

Thank you so much for this incredibly detailed and helpful information! I really appreciate you sharing your experience and these photos. It’s truly helped me better understand the situation with these devices.

I did some digging in the help system for the SurfLink Remote Control and found something that might be related to the switch you found. It says:

the SurfLink Remote Control can be set to operate in two different modes: Multicast and Broadcast. Multicast mode can control up to four hearing aids that were synced with the remote control. Broadcast mode can control any hearing aids that were remote control enabled but have not been synced with a specific remote control. All SurfLink Remote Controls default to Multicast mode when shipped and if the hearing aids and remote control were ordered together, they’re automatically synced together. The mode can be changed at any time by removing the faceplate and moving the switch to the desired mode. Position 1 represents Multicast and position ∞ represents Broadcast.

As you noticed, your hearing aids only respond to the remote when it’s set to position 1 (Multicast).

Unfortunately, I tried both positions of the switch, but I still couldn’t get my hearing aids and remote control to work together. It looks like the different frequency bands are indeed an insurmountable barrier.

Your investigation was incredibly useful. Thanks again for all your help!

The CC1111Fx chip used in the remote control can be programmed to operate either in the European or the American frequency band.

I am considering adding a connector and trying to change the frequency.

image_2025-09-27_15-59-41

@osmov said:

I am considering adding a connector and trying to change the frequency.

I did that about 20 years ago with an old Wi-Fi router that had bricked. Was able to get it back up and wrote an alternative os to it. Made junk work again. Worth a shot, might learn something along the way.

WH

In reply to @osmov

I managed to connect to chip via a CC Debugger tool and dump the firmware.
I haven’t yet figured out how to write the frequency settings I need, but it looks like it’s possible, and I’m continuing to investigate.

image_2025-10-11_09-06-14

If anyone has the European version of the remote, it would be great if you could share a firmware dump and I could try flashing it to my unit.

I can confirm that flashing the firmware from the European remote solved the issue.

Huge thanks to @firenzel for doing the hard work and sharing the firmware dump. Without that, this wouldn’t have been possible. After flashing his firmware to my remote, it started working properly and controls my hearing aids.

This confirms that the difference between the US and EU versions is firmware-based and can be resolved by reflashing.

Next, I will try to investigate whether a similar approach could work for SurfLink Media as well. If I make any progress, I’ll post an update here.

Thanks again @firenzel much appreciated!

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