Headset control boxes

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Rich
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Headset control boxes

Post by Rich »

Struggled with these things for years, particularly the front seat passenger/copilot side. Folks were constantly fiddling with and dropping them. Finally a vision:
IMG_0685.jpeg
.025" AL sheet + self-adhesive door seal + Gorilla mounting tape. Holds this Zulu3 box securely with full vision and access for those that wish to adjust volume.
2002 DA40-180: MT, PowerFlow, 530W/430W, KAP140, ext. baggage, 1090 ES out, 2646 MTOW, 40gal., Surefly, Flightstream 210, Orion 600 LED, XeVision, Aspen E5
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Re: Headset control boxes

Post by Boatguy »

They are definitely a nuisance; clutter in the cockpit. Somebody needs to shrink them dramatically. At least for the LEMO versions, why not stuff the electronics into the headset, use an app via BT to configure the "didn't your grandfather invent these" DIP switches, and trigger on/off by the presence of a signal? Do they need a volume control when we can individually control volume for pilot, co-pilot and passengers?

The new Lightspeed DZ and Bose A30 did nothing to address this. These things feel like they were designed just after the moon landing. Can't somebody do better?
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Re: Headset control boxes

Post by Rich »

The Z3 LEMO and an ancient Bose X LEMO I have are the slimmest units, as there is no provision for a battery in either. The Bose X lacks BT and is really tiny. But they each have their own volume controls. In my plane I can not control individual volumes beyond limited tweaking for intercom volume only. The volume control passengers can see with their eyes and manipulate on their own with only minimal pointers from me is something one really has to have. So I see no alternative to having these boxes in some form. The rear seats aren't much of a problem, as there is all kinds of room. For my headset I have it snugged down along the left side of the seat, held in place by other means. It's not in the way of anything. I'm also refining that a bit to slightly improve a cable length issue.
2002 DA40-180: MT, PowerFlow, 530W/430W, KAP140, ext. baggage, 1090 ES out, 2646 MTOW, 40gal., Surefly, Flightstream 210, Orion 600 LED, XeVision, Aspen E5
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Re: Headset control boxes

Post by Boatguy »

I appreciate that you've found a solution for your plane. It is an elegant solution to a problem we all have. My comment was with regard to the general state of aviation headsets and aviation technology in general.

A pair of AirPods have noise cancellation, a BT connection, several features which are configured remotely and more than enough battery life for a typical GA flight. They recharge in the time it takes for a fuel stop . Hearing aids have frequency equalization like the Lightspeed DZ and are a slightly larger than a pair of AirPods.

The Bose A30 was introduced 13yrs after the A20, and offers a better cable, smaller carrying case, and three levels of noise cancellation; not exactly a great leap forward. What's more likely is that there are no longer any foundries capable of producing the chipset in the A20, similar to Garmin's GIA63W issue, so they had to design a new chipset.

Aviation headsets are remarkably crude.

Ships at sea moving at 15-20kts across open ocean, far less congested than the traffic within the 30nm ring around a Bravo, were required by law to have the equivalent of ADSB-out (it's called AIS) 15yrs before airplanes moving at 150-200kts.

The G1000NXi, the state of the art Garmin panel for piston GA, is running MS-DOS who's address space won't allow it to hold the VFR charts for both the U.S. and Canada at the same time because 8GB of charts exceeds the limits of the system (I got that from Garmin support). At the same time, your phone can be purchased with 1TB of storage and fits in your pocket. And it's not because of certification. A telephone goes through rigorous certification by national and international bodies so that it can transmit and receive NFC, BT, a range of cellular frequencies at 900-1100MHz, Wifi in the 2.5 and 5GHz bands, a GPS receiver in the 1.2-1.5GHz range, and a transmitter to reach satellites in the 5GHz band without interfering with nearby devices or other devices using those same frequencies (other than as provided for by their respective protocols).

Piston GA is plagued by the lowest common denominator problem. Products are designed to work in a 1954 C150. Piston GA, which was once the leading edge of technology and consumer experience, is now a cesspool of anachronisms. This is why so many cockpits are now augmenting, if not de facto replacing, much of their panel with iPads. I accept that we must pay a big price premium because the volumes are lower than other consumer products. But we should expect better than we're getting for our money.
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Re: Headset control boxes

Post by Colin »

(AIS has no enforcement. So "required" is an odd term. M/Y Nord has been cruising around with the AIS turned off for five months or so. We have better 'enforcement' of the ADSB requirement: if you don't have it, you can't fly in particular airspace. I would expect that airspace to grow.)
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Re: Headset control boxes

Post by Boatguy »

Colin wrote: Fri Jun 02, 2023 2:30 pm (AIS has no enforcement. So "required" is an odd term. M/Y Nord has been cruising around with the AIS turned off for five months or so. We have better 'enforcement' of the ADSB requirement: if you don't have it, you can't fly in particular airspace. I would expect that airspace to grow.)
It's in the Federal Code, just like aviation regulations.

https://www.navcen.uscg.gov/ais-requirements

And while ADSB is required only around Bravo airspace, AIS is required for any ship "destined for, or departing from" every port covered by U.S. jurisdiction, (i.e, our territories as well as our states), with a carve out for the military and U.S. government vessels.

I'm not willing to discount the Coast Guard's enforcement efforts as compared to the FAA.

But you are correct, it doesn't apply to Russian oligarchs trying to avoid sanctions who will most definitely not be putting into any port under U.S. jurisdiction.
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Re: Headset control boxes

Post by Rich »

I would want my headset, at least, to remain wired to the plane. I have too many occasions where wireless device connections drop. This is usually due to battery running out with little or no warning. And they can also get flaky for unknown reasons. Experience with these problems includes mice and keyboards, motorcycle headsets, and the one A/C wireless headset I have used - the Lightspeed Tango.

The one good thing about the "lowest common denominator" factor for this use case is that there aren't a wide variety of connection variations to deal with. That theoretical bluetooth app referred to would not be just one. It'd have to be individually supplied for each seat in the plane, installed on the respective person's gizmo. And likely from different manufacturers, as we often use different make/models for the different seats. I ponder the hassle of doing Young Eagles flights, for examples, as 8-year old kids swap in and out.
2002 DA40-180: MT, PowerFlow, 530W/430W, KAP140, ext. baggage, 1090 ES out, 2646 MTOW, 40gal., Surefly, Flightstream 210, Orion 600 LED, XeVision, Aspen E5
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Re: Headset control boxes

Post by dant »

The G1000NXi, the state of the art Garmin panel for piston GA, is running MS-DOS who's address space won't allow it to hold the VFR charts for both the U.S. and Canada at the same time because 8GB of charts exceeds the limits of the system (I got that from Garmin support).
This has been discussed on the forum before, but I believe they licensed the NT code base circa NT 3.5 or Win2k. Probably still 32 bit, however, thus limited to at best 3GB with whatever /LARGEADDRESSAWARE became in their codebase.

MS-DOS wouldn't even come close, IIRC. Even with HIMEM I think it was limited to 64MB, which would require some herculean streaming efforts to fit the relevant data in to memory.
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Re: Headset control boxes

Post by CFIDave »

Wireless aviation headsets have been tried before (e.g., the LightSpeed Tango proved not to be very popular and is no longer in production.) Pilots preferred the robustness of a wired headphone connection, since portability or being "untethered" isn't that important in a typical small GA cockpit, and wireless battery-powered devices at both ends of a wireless connection are harder to manage.

Even with a wired headset you still have the issue of needed controls: managing Bluetooth vs. wired music or phone inputs, comm input prioritization, volume controls, etc. It's arguably better to put these controls in a cable box (rather than on the headset itself), so pilots can see the controls. But I agree that it's really frustrating that stereo/mono control settings are hidden away in tiny DIP switches: A lot of CFIs alternate between flying ancient trainers with 50 y/o mono audio panels vs. more modern planes with stereo headset jacks.
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Rich
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Re: Headset control boxes

Post by Rich »

Delta Zulu solution. This works fine because normally there is no interaction between myself and the control box. I thought about just stuffing it in the back-of-the-seat pocket but there is the slim possibility I might want to turn it on manually before or after shutdown.
IMG_0716.jpeg
2002 DA40-180: MT, PowerFlow, 530W/430W, KAP140, ext. baggage, 1090 ES out, 2646 MTOW, 40gal., Surefly, Flightstream 210, Orion 600 LED, XeVision, Aspen E5
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