Active Hearing Protection Compatible with Radio?

[DopeYourScope]

12 minutes ago, Lollingsgrad said:

 

I'm actually looking for an in ear solution now; this looks good but I don't know if I can use them. Can they be plugged into Baofengs? Also I don't understand how you're wearing these and EP4s at the same time? 

*excuse the state of my ear plugs*

The racal frontier goes into the back of the EP4 which makes it like a headphone ear tip.

 

The headset goes down to the amplifier box. From the amp would normally go to a PRR radio via a lemo connector however I’ve had mine wired to a standard NATO plug which I use with a Ztactical u94 PTT with a k1 connector for kenwood/baofengs (I use baofeng UV82).

[Musica]

58 minutes ago, DopeYourScope said:

*excuse the state of my ear plugs*

The racal frontier goes into the back of the EP4 which makes it like a headphone ear tip.

 

The headset goes down to the amplifier box. From the amp would normally go to a PRR radio via a lemo connector however I’ve had mine wired to a standard NATO plug which I use with a Ztactical u94 PTT with a k1 connector for kenwood/baofengs (I use baofeng UV82).

 

Thanks for the pic so do you use the mic in the racals then? 

[DopeYourScope]

6 minutes ago, Musica said:

 

Thanks for the pic so do you use the mic in the racals then? 

 

Yes, so the Racals don’t have a physical boom

or throat mic they use a microphone within each ear piece that picks up your voice really well even at a whisper as well as the background noise for amplification and hearing protection. 

 

They’re by far the cheapest real steel headset you can buy but that’s down to the connectivity issue regarding the fact no one currently sells a lemo PTT or a EZPRR rep with a lemo connector (someone is working on one not sure if it has a lemo connection). 

 

Only thing i find is sometimes when the wind catches the microphones just right it causes them to cut out as it deems it too loud however this is a rare occasion only on the windiest day’s.

[Lollingsgrad]

Looks like a really good solution; I might just try getting a lemo socket and modding a cheap Kenwood PTT. Do you happen to know how many pins the lemo is?

[ImTriggerHappy]

45 minutes ago, Musica said:

 

Thanks for the pic so do you use the mic in the racals then? 

No the ear mic on the racals is a pain in the arse. Mine is diconnected and they use the ppt fist mic.

[DopeYourScope]

15 minutes ago, ImTriggerHappy said:

No the ear mic on the racals is a pain in the arse. Mine is diconnected and they use the ppt fist mic.

 

Really? What issues did you have? Mine have been used a lot and are absolutely fine no ones complained that they can’t hear what’s being said etc.

24 minutes ago, Lollingsgrad said:

Looks like a really good solution; I might just try getting a lemo socket and modding a cheap Kenwood PTT. Do you happen to know how many pins the lemo is?

 

5 I believe. If I remember correct the lemo socket was quite expensive, if you already have a PTT for an over ear then you can get JCI to modify the Racals to use that PTT. 

[ImTriggerHappy]

Just now, DopeYourScope said:

 

Really? What issues did you have? Mine have been used a lot and are absolutely fine no ones complained that they can’t hear what’s being said etc.

Used to get too much background noise pick up. Probably wouldn't be such a big issue outdoors but indoors it was a pain.

 

Had it all modified so radio transmission was all through the fist mic. Me and another marshal had it done along with dual channel coms through JC before he really put the business out.

[DopeYourScope]

2 minutes ago, ImTriggerHappy said:

Used to get too much background noise pick up. Probably wouldn't be such a big issue outdoors but indoors it was a pain.

 

Had it all modified so radio transmission was all through the fist mic. Me and another marshal had it done along with dual channel coms through JC before he really put the business out.

 

Oh I see, I’ll ask the lads if they’ve heard any through mine I can see their design would lead to that with a lot of back ground noise.

[ImTriggerHappy]

1 minute ago, DopeYourScope said:

 

Oh I see, I’ll ask the lads if they’ve heard any through mine I can see their design would lead to that with a lot of back ground noise.

 

For most people it probably isn't a big issue but when we are PMing our coms need to be perfect. My fist mic has lemo and 3.5 connections plus 2 transmit buttons and a mute so it is a busy little thing. 

[Musica]

I suspect inside my dye mask it would be worse as it has ear protectors sitting right on it.  

[Lollingsgrad]

The prices for these Racal Frontiers on eBay is insane, they're essentially active hearing protection right? The weird connector just makes it hard to hook up to a radio, ignoring that you can't get in ear active hearing protection for anywhere near £10. Is there something I'm missing here?

 

Also whilst I'm posting here, anyone know if those 5 pin lemo connectors are 1B? I guess that's a sizing code?

[DopeYourScope]

12 minutes ago, Lollingsgrad said:

The prices for these Racal Frontiers on eBay is insane, they're essentially active hearing protection right? The weird connector just makes it hard to hook up to a radio, ignoring that you can't get in ear active hearing protection for anywhere near £10. Is there something I'm missing here?

 

Also whilst I'm posting here, anyone know if those 5 pin lemo connectors are 1B? I guess that's a sizing code?

 

Its amazing however be careful as apparently there are a few duds floating about the place. 

[Musica]

4 minutes ago, Lollingsgrad said:

The prices for these Racal Frontiers on eBay is insane, they're essentially active hearing protection right? The weird connector just makes it hard to hook up to a radio, ignoring that you can't get in ear active hearing protection for anywhere near £10. Is there something I'm missing here?

 

Also whilst I'm posting here, anyone know if those 5 pin lemo connectors are 1B? I guess that's a sizing code?

 

So you need buds as well as the racals and the surefire ones run more expensive than the racals themselves (they also offer protection on their own so if you just wanted to play with protection the surefire on their own would work but no fancy electronics)  Now if you have buds and the racals and a AAA battery you already have the hearing protection and can just run that. After that you need to look at getting custom wiring for them or a PTT or both to get a radio hooked up. The cost starts mounting up. 

 

To be honest if I wasn't wearing a paintball mask I would just run a fist mic with a 3.5 output and run these https://www.amazon.co.uk/Honeywell-Howard-Leight-Foldable-Defender/dp/B001T7QJ9O/ref=sr_1_43?crid=35K1ZNXYEA1L9&keywords=ear+defenders&qid=1565349236&s=gateway&sprefix=ear+defen%2Caps%2C305&sr=8-43 they do the ambient enhancement the hearing protection for loud bangs and have a aux in you can feed a 3.5mm jack to. 

 

 

[Lollingsgrad]

21 minutes ago, Musica said:

 

So you need buds as well as the racals and the surefire ones run more expensive than the racals themselves (they also offer protection on their own so if you just wanted to play with protection the surefire on their own would work but no fancy electronics)  Now if you have buds and the racals and a AAA battery you already have the hearing protection and can just run that. After that you need to look at getting custom wiring for them or a PTT or both to get a radio hooked up. The cost starts mounting up. 

 

To be honest if I wasn't wearing a paintball mask I would just run a fist mic with a 3.5 output and run these https://www.amazon.co.uk/Honeywell-Howard-Leight-Foldable-Defender/dp/B001T7QJ9O/ref=sr_1_43?crid=35K1ZNXYEA1L9&keywords=ear+defenders&qid=1565349236&s=gateway&sprefix=ear+defen%2Caps%2C305&sr=8-43 they do the ambient enhancement the hearing protection for loud bangs and have a aux in you can feed a 3.5mm jack to. 

 

 

 

Funnily enough, that's exactly what I'm running. They don't play nice with Dye i4s though because they just slightly intersect with the edge of the mask which over the course of a day gives me headaches, causes the headset to move, displaces my mask, etc. I'm done with supra-aurals, going to see if in ear is less of a pain in the arse.

[DopeYourScope]

23 minutes ago, Musica said:

 

So you need buds as well as the racals and the surefire ones run more expensive than the racals themselves (they also offer protection on their own so if you just wanted to play with protection the surefire on their own would work but no fancy electronics)  Now if you have buds and the racals and a AAA battery you already have the hearing protection and can just run that. After that you need to look at getting custom wiring for them or a PTT or both to get a radio hooked up. The cost starts mounting up. 

 

To be honest if I wasn't wearing a paintball mask I would just run a fist mic with a 3.5 output and run these https://www.amazon.co.uk/Honeywell-Howard-Leight-Foldable-Defender/dp/B001T7QJ9O/ref=sr_1_43?crid=35K1ZNXYEA1L9&keywords=ear+defenders&qid=1565349236&s=gateway&sprefix=ear+defen%2Caps%2C305&sr=8-43 they do the ambient enhancement the hearing protection for loud bangs and have a aux in you can feed a 3.5mm jack to. 

 

 

 

In total I’ve spent under £60, that includes paying for JCI to modify my Racals so if you DIY’d it you’re looking a lot cheaper. 

[Musica]

Yea I'm not trying to say they are really expensive just cautioning it isn't as simple as £10~ on just the racals. 

 

Also if money is no object then maybe people might like https://www.silynxcom.com/store/headset-systems/clarus-pro/

 

 

[DopeYourScope]

17 minutes ago, Musica said:

Yea I'm not trying to say they are really expensive just cautioning it isn't as simple as £10~ on just the racals. 

 

Also if money is no object then maybe people might like https://www.silynxcom.com/store/headset-systems/clarus-pro/

 

 

 

All silynx kit is really good wish I had the spare £ for it 😂

[ImTriggerHappy]

51 minutes ago, DopeYourScope said:

 

In total I’ve spent under £60, that includes paying for JCI to modify my Racals so if you DIY’d it you’re looking a lot cheaper. 

 

49 minutes ago, Musica said:

Yea I'm not trying to say they are really expensive just cautioning it isn't as simple as £10~ on just the racals. 

 

Also if money is no object then maybe people might like https://www.silynxcom.com/store/headset-systems/clarus-pro/

 

 

 

£60 that is very cheap.

 

Yeah Frontiers are cheap and so are baofeng radios but the ptt between the two costs a fair amount.

[DopeYourScope]

28 minutes ago, ImTriggerHappy said:

 

 

£60 that is very cheap.

 

Yeah Frontiers are cheap and so are baofeng radios but the ptt between the two costs a fair amount.

 

If I remember correctly my Racals (modified) were £50 from JCI and I got the surefires through my local gun shop for £10 as they had a sale on.

 

The other bits I already had from using fake comtacs.

[Lollingsgrad]

For anyone else interested in trying this, I'm pretty sure the Lemo is a 5 pin 1B from description of the radio this headset is designed for,

 

http://www.prc68.com/I/Bowman.shtml#AudCon

 

"I think the 5 pin headset plug is the FGG.1B.305.KLAD62."

 

I also found a pin out from a guy called Azrel Sutcliffe along with a photo example of wiring both of which I've attached.

 

Will report back on how I get on.

[Lollingsgrad]

Success!

 

 

This was actually incredibly easy once I found a pin diagram for the EZ PRR,

 

 

The PTT was a little more annoying but fine once I found a diagram showing which bits of the Kenwood connector were supposed to be the speaker, PTT, mic, and ground. Got out a multimeter and figured red was mic, yellow was speaker, white was PTT and black was ground,

 

 

 

Getting a 1B 5-pin Lemo off eBay was easier but finding a thingamajig to stop the socket rattling around inside the PTT was a pain. Eventually I found an appropriately sized o-ring, it's not the most secure thing ever but I gave it a good wrench and whilst it's flexible it's not coming out. Probably more watertight than it used to be too,

 

 

Results are mixed; I found the radio sound is great but the built in mic seems to suck up every sound nearby. Good enough though not having to wear supra-aurals anymore will be lovely.

[DopeYourScope]

Great write up mate might help some people out in the future doing a similar job.

[Lollingsgrad]

On 09/08/2019 at 10:08, ImTriggerHappy said:

No the ear mic on the racals is a pain in the arse. Mine is diconnected and they use the ppt fist mic.

 

When glancing at my post later I realised... I'd forgotten to reflect the pins for the headset socket (the diagram is looking into the socket but you're soldering the rear) so that I had pins 2 and 3 as ground with 4 PTT and 5 speaker! Learnt something interesting though aside from that I'm an idiot; it STILL works in reverse... BUT the mic is noisy as hell. When I corrected the connections almost all noise disappeared from the mic. I wonder if this is why you seemed to have such a bad time with noise and @DopeYourScope has been fine?

[ImTriggerHappy]

2 minutes ago, Lollingsgrad said:

 

When glancing at my post later I realised... I'd forgotten to reflect the pins for the headset socket (the diagram is looking into the socket but you're soldering the rear) so that I had pins 2 and 3 as ground with 4 speaker and 5 PTT! Learnt something interesting though aside from I'm an idiot, it STILL works in reverse... BUT the mic is noisy as hell. When I corrected the connections almost all noise disappeared from the mic. I wonder if this is why you seemed to have such a bad time with noise and @DopeYourScope has been fine?

 

Doubt it my set up is built by JCI comms

[Liban]

Hi, Damien here, I bought in Poland Racal frontier 1020. I got from seller lemo 5 pin plug diagram but when I solder my Nexus TP 120 Plug, microphone work only when I talk directly to right headphone

when both headphone was in ears microphone doesn't work. I use baofeng UV 82 with Z tac PTT zU94 . Can u help my soldering this correct ? Can I send my  correct diagram ?