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DIY in-ear ANR headset

I working on one

I am trying to find a way to use this mic:

Shure Mic

This head mic, along with the Shure E2C earphones, Shure in line volume control and a junction box to clean up the wires makes up a nice looking unit. Testing began last night with some mic volume issues.

I'd appreciate help from any electronic gurus with the phantom power for the mic.

It is not really ANR, but the earphones block MUCH of the outside noise.

If it works - look for a write up and photos. If not, I'll delete this post and deny all knowlege of ever trying this....... ;)
 
Not sure what you mean by 'phantom power', it is very real power. It is small, probably in the few microwatt range, but absolutely necessary for the microphone to function. The Users Guide recommends +5 VDC on pin 2 with pin 1 grounded. It says you can connect up to 10 VDC to pin 2. This forms a bias that the mic (the crystal and FET swtch parts) can regulate to indicate sound (output on pins 3 & 4). Controlling this bias voltage changes how high the output signal can go (drive). The same level of sound will drive the output higher if the input voltage is higher.
 
Phantom Power

I'm just learning the ropes on this stuff but the voltage is known as phantom power in pro audio circles.

Luv the Wiki

Using the trusty digital voltmeter, my plane has phantom power at 7.07V. Right down the pipe for this mic. I have recieved messages that tell me that our aviation mics put out about 1000-2000mv, where a pro audio mic like this only spits out 100mv, hence by my low mic volume issues. We are working on a small pre amp to boost the signal.

I did make a head mic using music wire (ala Cozy Midnight)and the mic from a donor headset - the test results were very good tonight. The attraction of the Shure unit was the plug and play aspect at low cost.

I'll keep pluggin'...
 
Sure.... eh Shure

This is really a neat project. Afterall we are home-builders. I am all ears Pete, and I probably will build my self one. I am using the Quiet-Tech headset and I am quite pleased with it. The only beef I have is that it takes some time to insert the foamies.I think I will get some foamies from "Comply". They need some mods I guess.

Building a " connection box" instead of cutting off the original plug from the headset seems a good idea, because then one can compare products.

I'll start tomorrow.
 
One of the locals at our EAA chapter has constructed himself a pair of in-air ANR headphones. Pretty neat idea and he says it works remarkably well and is pretty easy to do. It isn't pretty but it works. Says he will upgrade to a new ANR Sony soon - said they really upped the db's of noise canceling (currently has 16 and it's going to 20? not sure... have to ask him when I see him again). He's a Long-Ez builder so maybe he got the idea from that Cozy site?
 
RV9798 said:
The only beef I have is that it takes some time to insert the foamies.
That's one of the biggest reasons I switched to the rubber x-mas tree inserts.
 
petehowell said:
I am trying to find a way to use this mic:

Shure Mic

This head mic, along with the Shure E2C earphones, Shure in line volume control and a junction box to clean up the wires makes up a nice looking unit. Testing began last night with some mic volume issues.

I'd appreciate help from any electronic gurus with the phantom power for the mic.

It is not really ANR, but the earphones block MUCH of the outside noise.

If it works - look for a write up and photos. If not, I'll delete this post and deny all knowlege of ever trying this....... ;)

Here's a follow on tip. Sony, Panasonic, and a few other companies are selling headphones for MP3 players with *active noise cancellation*. Its for those people who fly commercially all the time and don't want the drone of the engines, but want high quality audio from their IPOD, DVD player, etc.

If you construct your DIY headset with a standard 1/8" stereo plugin for the headphones, then all you need to do is find one of the noise cancelling type and plug it in there. What I haven't found is just a "black" box that would do the cancelling and allow a high end headphone like the Shures to be plugged into it, but I'm sure it's available. These headphone only ANR's are pretty cheap at around $40 and locally here in ATL, Frys carries a number of them. They range from 10-20db of ANR.

Good luck, and keep us all posted
 
Alan - I did try this

I tried a set of these ANR inthe ear units with mine - It did have some additional noise reduction, but I did not find it to be worth the extra clutter of another box, and it did require a battery. For me, the in the ear is quiet enough, this is a personal thing.

The prototype is complete, with the home-made boom mic(not the Shure unit). Will give it a shake down on the way to the South Dakota RV fly-in this weekend. I'll get some pics.
 
Pirep and Pictures

I had a chance to get out tonight to fly with the new "Spatial Clairvoyance Mark I" (SC MkI) headset I built at the kitchen table this week.

I am still working out the bugs with the Shure PG30 head mic, so I made my own headmic very much like the gentleman at the cozy1200 website. In fact everything I did is pretty much as he did. I'll still work on the other mic, but to be honest, this one works great, and is simple and cheap.

I took an old headset that I was given as a student pilot and stripped it for parts. You need the mic and mic cable from the head unit, and both cables that plug into the plane - Cost: $0 if you have an old headset.

I made a head piece out of some left over hinge pin material. This will ride over your ears and hold the mic in place. Just bend it to shape and use heat shrink to hold the wires in place Cost: $0

I bought a small project box and a 1/8" stereo jack at Rat Shack. This is the juction box for all the wires as they transition from headset to plane. The wiring is pretty straight forward if you wired the plane. Cost $6.89 - ouch

I found a Shure E2C in-the-ear headset and Shure in-line volume control on e-bay - the E2c came with no ear inserts, so it was cheap - I am using the rubber X-mas trees, so it was no big deal. Cost: $50 + $12 shipping

Spare wire, shrink wrap, and solder to make hook ups - Cost $0, Ok maybe 2 bucks.

Anyway, the whole thing is well under a hundred bucks. Here are some pics:

Overall Unit
spatialclairvoyance001lz8.jpg


Junction Box
spatialclairvoyance002zy3.jpg


Headset
spatialclairvoyance017tl3.jpg


After work, I went to to the hangar and plugged in the SC MkI. I gave it a quick checkout on the ground and and all seemed to be well. I was able to dial in in the earphone volume and the mic sounded good on the intercom. I got cleared to taxi and the tower said it sounded just fine.

I did my runup and noticed the sound was different than my clairity aloft (CA)unit, but not necessarily louder. I took off and headed for downtown St.Paul to do some touch and gos. There was a temp inversion and it was quite a bit warmer (ok, it was flippin' hot) at 2000ft. I got the KSTP ATIS, called the tower, and was cleared straight in for RWY 14. Everything sounded good. The sidetone when transmitting was not as loud as the CA, but that can be cleared with an adjustment on the SL40. There was a 25kt wind out of the south per the Dynon, but it was very smooth - causing the approach and landing to have a slow motion feeling. Very nice.

I did 2 T&G and asked the STP tower how the radio sounded and got a positive response.

It was getting dark, so I bugged out back to KANE, I was flying right traffic for 14 which put me right over downtown St. Paul. It really is beautiful with the river and tall buildings - and you are right on top of them! Not many big cities where you can do that. I'll bring the camera next time.

Picked up KANE ATIS, called the tower, and was cleared to land. The 25kt push was nice on the way north. Landed, and taxied to the pump to fill up. Met a nice gentleman with a lovely C-180, and a RV-3 kit ready to start.

Some observations:

- It works
- It can be made for not many $$
- It sounds different than the CA - They must block different freq
- The Shure earphones have beefier cords than other units I looked at - I feel that will be an advantage in the cockpit - they don't tangle as easily
- The E2c units can't use the CA foam tips, but I prefer the rubber trees anyway

This unit is primarily for my daughter b/c our regular adult headset is too big and not very comfortable on her. I think the rubber trees might be too large for her ears, so I found some plugs at Target called "earplanes" they fit on the E2c's and are smaller in diameter, like smaller rubber trees.

Check out www.cozy1200.com for more details. My unit ended up much like his. I'll keep you posted on the other head mic.
 
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Pete,

Thanks for the kind words and letting me know about this page. Your headset looks great!

A quick comments on your headset.

The E2 from Sure uses a different foam tip than the rest of them. The remaining headset, including my E3c, uses the same tip at the Clarity Aloft. It would be nice to buy the same replacement tip for all your headsets. Then again if you satisfied with the trees, replacement tips are not a problem and you seem to have bought the E2 at a good price.

Comply, the company that makes the foam tips for Clarity Aloft also has their own headsets. I may consider trying them when I make a set for my wife.


FYI, the link directly to my headset build is as follows:
http://www.cozy1200.com/geeklog/article.php?story=20070427102533266
Also Nick's page is valueable.


Oh, by the way. The Van Airplane are certainly nice machine, but I'll be building the Cozy MkIV! :) ha ha http://www.canardzone.com/members/nickugolini/CuplessHeadet/cupless_headset.htm
 
Hey Pete, great job...I'll be going this route when I'm up and running next year (fingers crossed).

Just a note to anyone who's going to build a set, you can also use the Sony MDR EX51 (or 71 or 81) headphones. They have the "noise blocking" in-ear soft rubber inserts that come in 3 sizes...and the headsets are cheap.

I always use the EX51's I bought on eBay for ~$25 when I travel for work. They do indeed block all kinds of noise (I wear them even without the mp3 player on because of crying babies, etc). Replacement ear pieces are ~$4 on eBay. Not sure if the christmas tree type will fit, though.
 
Downtown St. Paul

I took my neighbor up to view the storm damage in St. Paul's Como Park tonight. We circled the park for 20 min and then got cleared for T&G's at the downtown airport I mentioned the other night. Here is a shot looking west to the sunset framing downtown Minneapolis, with downtown St. Paul in the foreground.

stpaul007fh2.jpg


Nice night to fly....
 
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