After reading through the headset post on the site thought I might start a new thread aout my own headset experience. I have flown with a set of David Clarks H10-13.4's for years and they have been a fantastic piece of equipment all told. Comfortable, clear and no worries for flying hours on end.
The issues I have had is
1: my wife gets air sick which believe it or not is actually due to the weight and clamping pressure of headsets on her head
2: aircraft headsets are two bulky to fit in the Auster without me hitting my head!
To fix both issues you would need a nice set of Bose, Light speed etc... for a bit over $1000, I thought there has to be a better way around this! Now I will be the first to admit that I have not the most agile mind when it comes to electronics but armed with google, a soldering iron, multimeter and some bits and pieces I have nutted a process out that anyone can do at home, if there like me and have more time than money!
It's a long article I have written, but I tested the headsets today (without the amplifier system installed, will be testing that tomorrow) and the noise cancelling worked A1, they were really quiet, super light weight and very clear PLUS it cost a total of $140.00 (although it did take a LONG time to figure out and has a few down sides! i.e take 2 batteries to run both ANR and Amp)
This is a set of standard noise cancelling headsets for music that I have adapted a aviation microphone and set of headset leads onto. There are a few issues to get past but the results so far have been really worthwhile, they work really well and for a fraction of the cost of brand ANR's! (Reduction in noise is not as smooth as a more expensive brand, gives things a little bit of a fizzle sound, but otherwise loud and clear)
I bought a set of TDK noise cancelling headphones on special for $19 from dick smiths (normally there about $50 or so from JB Hi-Fi or Dick Smiths). Then I bought
1: Aviation Microphone (P/N PA-7B $25.00)
2: Aviation Microphone Half Boom/Half Wire Headset adapter (P/N MB-MF $19.50)
3: Headset attachment point (P/N MBP $11.90)
4: Mono/Stereo Headset Leads Twin GA Plugs (P/N HSL-SC $25.00)
I got this stuff from http://www.pilotcommunications.com.au/ it is fairly specialised and they had an easy order system and where also the cheapest!
5: Miniature Audio Output Transformer (P/N 273-1380 $4.00)
This is a radio shack item that I got off Ebay (Searched the P/N) It is THE MOST IMPORTANT PART as it is what changes the impedance, or something or other, of the headset!
6: Electrical Project Junction Box (121x56x42 $7.00)
Also off Ebay
7: DIY Cmoy Hi-Hi Headphone Amplifier Kit ($19.00)
Ebay again, not a necessary item but I wanted to be able to amplifie the headsets volume because I am told by my wife I am deaf!
8: About a meter of 2 core shielded wire from Dick Smiths (About $4.00)
PROCEDURE
I pulled the TDK headset apart, drilled a hole in the side and fitted the microphone, boom and attachment to them, secured it and put the headphones back together. I should point out a down side is you can not swivel the microphone on the side of the headset without loosening the attach screw due to the shape of the ear cup (I would seggest glueing the inside nut to prevent loosening). So spend some time lining it up right now and make sure you get the semi boom type mic boom to do later adjustments with that! (I also took out the in line volume control on the headset line as I was planning on fitting the amp at a later stage, not necessary but just neatened up the cords line!) Make sure you fit this in an area clear of the circuit board.
I then soldered to the microphone lead (at the boom) the 2 core shielded wire to extend it down to the junction box at the end of the head phone cord (wire colours are all the same so this should be easy! i.e Red to Red - White to White - Shield to Shield). FIT ALL HEAT SHRINKS PRIOR TO SOLDERING!!!!!!
Now for the hard bit, I snipped the little TRS plug that goes into your Ipod, PC, Mp3 Player off the cord of the headset line. I drilled 2 holes in the top of junction box to thread the cord wires through (one for the headphone line and one for the microphone line), I tied them off on the inside of the box with cables ties to stop them being pulled on. I drilled a hole on the bottom of the box to thread the twin GA plug wire through, and tied it off with a cable tie. FIT ALL HEAT SHRINKS PRIOR TO SOLDERING!!!!!!
Then I soldered them together as follows (this will only work if you buy the same gear as me, you will need to do your own multi metering to figure it out if you get different gear! Mostly for the headphones and finding what colour wire is what earphone and which one is earth)
WITHOUT AMP INSTALLED
Headphone Wires to Audio Transformer
*Red and Green Headphone Wires go to Red wire on Audio Transformer
*Gold Headphone Wire goes to White Wire on Audio Transformer
Audio Transformer To Twin GA Plug Wires
*Blue Wire on Audio Transformer to Green and Yellow wires on GA lead
*Black wire on Audio Transformer to Black wire on GA Lead
Microphone Leads
*Red wire on mic To Red wire on GA lead
*White wire on Mic To White wire on GA Lead
*Shield on mic To Shield on GA Lead.
MAKE SURE THE SWITCH ON THE Y SECTION OF THE GA PLUG IS SET TO M FOR MONO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
PROCEDURE WITH AMP
After following the instructions for the Cmos amp kit I measured up and drilled off my junction box to fit it in place. I built the Amp kit but left the input and output sockets (where you would plug your Ipod in and Your headsets, you could leave the input on if you wanted as it would give you the option of changing the headphone over at a later stage with relative ease, as I have mounted a microphone to the side of mine, I did not bother!) off the circuit board. I wired my Headphone wires in and the Audio transformer directly into the board. The wires from the audio transformer to the GA leads and Microphone to the GA leads remain the same. It is hard to explain the wiring on the circuit board of the amp but if anyone is interested let me know and I will draw it out as that will be far simpler.
Enjoy your $140 set of ANR ($200 if you do not bag a bargain like me with the dick smiths sales, or a lot cheaper if your not looking for ANR and just by some crappy generic pair!) headsets that work just like an ordinary pair of headphone ........ at least so far! Will post back when I have tested the Amp System out Tomorrow!!!!
If any one wants more info on how this is done, some badly hand drawn wiring diagrams etc... let me know. So far I can say it is worth the time investment for nutting this all out! From scratch with this info I would think you could put one together