Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020
I’m currently listening to a group of hams on 3958 kHz while my wife watches TV. I’m using headphones — or more correctly, an AvComm aviation headset — that I picked up cheap on eBay.
Because Studio B is located in our family room, I have to contend with lots of in-room QRM — the TV for sure, as well as my son’s computer gaming and conversations between he and my wife.
The beauty of aviation headsets is their ability to isolate you (and your ears) from the ambient noise around you.
The Gold Standard of aviation headsets is David Clark. I have two or three David Clark headsets in the shack, but two of them aren’t stereo, which means they don’t work well with modern rigs, all of which are equipped with stereo output jacks.
One of the David Clark headsets was apparently modified and rewired; the mic boom was removed and the PTT button on one ear dome removed. The headset was rewired for stereo, and it works great.
As someone who was looking for another stereo aviation headset, I found that the “off-brand” headsets are relatively inexpensive on eBay. That’s why I bought the AvComm headset.
One piece of advice I can give is to research the model number of the headset you’re looking at. Many aviation headsets — even today — are not stereo. Don’t make the mistake of buying a cheap used headset without doublechecking if it is stereo capable.
The A report on aviation-style headphones for Amateur Radio use. can be switched for mono or stereo. Its also equipped with a condenser mic element, and I’m confident that I could wire that up to my FT-950 and make ‘er work.
The second non-David Clark headset I picked up cheap on eBay was dirt cheap because the seller said the audio plug was intermittent. Turns out when it arrived it wasn’t the plug; the problem was a dirty volume pot located on one of the ear domes.
I haven’t yet pursued hooking up the mics on these headsets for use with my FT-950. I have a Heil Classic mic mounted on a boom if I need a mic. It shouldn’t be hard to adapt the aviation headsets for ham radio use.
YAESU FT-950 REVIEW. I absolutely love my FT-950 here in Studio B. It is so much like the FT-2000 that there was no real learning curve. I know the FTDX-3000 is a great rig, but the FT-950 — to me — is still easier to operate. The FTDX-3000’s great TFT display is beautiful; however, I find I cannot take advantage of the spectrum scope because I need to keep the display showing the options like keyer, etc.
With the FTDX-3000 here in Studio B, I had to spend too much time fiddling with the menus — menus that used up the lower half of the TFT display. I seldom had a chance to see the spectrum display because I needed to keep the menu options visible. I don’t have that issue with the FT-950 because it has more front-panel buttons and controls.
I’ve given thought to looking for a second FT-2000 to replace the FT-950 in the future. Or as an alternative, I would consider an Icom IC-7300. I still have my Icom HF rigs … FT-746PRO, FT-756PRO, PROII and the only modern new HF rig of substance I’ve ever purchased, my IC-756PROIII. I need to sell some of these and I can finance the purchase an IC-7600 or IC-7610.
ANTENNA REPAIRS. I still have never had an opportunity to repair my main HF doublet that serves Studio A. There’s supposed to be some warmer temps coming up this weekend and early next week, if I’m lucky I can fix the antenna and the repair my twin-lead feeder.
I’ve been checking in regularly to my Georgia CW net. 75 and 80 meters haven’t had the greatest propagation, but they have been fairly quiet.
73 es GN, de KY4Z SK SK …. (dit dit) ….