autocom and headsets legal?

[Elv15]

Does anyone (hey, slomove!) know if it is legal to use a headset/ear defenders on the highway in the US? Does it vary by state?

Thanks,

Tom

[slomove]

Nope, it is illegal in California to cover both ears with headsets while driving. I read that people got fines for driving with an i-Pod. I don't know about other states. I would not mind to wear some anyway but the bulky red ear-defenders in an open car are just too obvious. I am also not sure if I would want to wear such earmuffs in our warm climate.

Until last fall it was even illegal to use earplugs on both ears except the custom shaped jobbies. That provision was however repealed and you may use off-the-shelf earplugs now legally "as long as required for hearing protection".

For the USA2005 tour I got myself a simple motorbike intercom and 2 Etymotic noise insulating cellphone headsets. They work quite well but I had to make some fat windsocks for the mic and steal the behind-ear clip from another headphone to make it work.

Gert

[Elv15]

Hi Gert,

Thanks for that. I have a pair of their headphones and they are great! I've called them (too late today as they are central time), but will hopefully talk with someone there tomorrow. I want to see if they can make a custom setup with one headset side and one earphone side. This would be quite "low key" to keep under the radar of the authorities and still allow you to both have hearing protection and communicate. I'll let you know what they are able to do...

Tom

[slomove]

I am going to take a picture of the modified Etymotics tonight. I did not bother with the second ear, I just put an earplug in. I am not planning to hear music but only use it for the intercom which works quite well on one ear. After all the biggest problem was the wind noise in the mic and the flapping mic boom in the wind turbulence.

Another warning: DO NOT CUT THE CABLE! I tried to replace the 2.5mm plugs with 3.5mm ones but it is almost impossible to solder the tiny hair-thin conductors back to anything. They consist of something like plated steel strands and I guess they need a special solder or different process.

Gert

[Elv15]

Thanks for the tip...I'm not going to modify mine. They called back today and are checking into making a custom headset for me...I'll keep you updated.

[slomove]

Tom, here is a pic of my contraption:


Gert

[magnusfeuer]

Jesus Christ!

You sodomized a totally innocent lemming just to get rid of some wind noise.

How German!

/Magnus F.

[Elv15]

ROTFL...

Gert, check out these folks, they sell a "small" sock to put over the mic:

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/avpages/micmuf.php

[slomove]

Magnus, there ain't no lemmings in Germany. That is a totally Scandinavian vermin.

But when I brought this beautiful piece of grey artificial fur home from the fabric store my wife' reaction was similar "Eek, that looks like a rat skin :shock: "

Actually, I tried a smaller foam windsock and, besides always falling off it just did not cut out the wind. So I invested 80 cents in some hairy fabric and got it working. If my wife keeps complaining I may try out the thing from Aircraft Spruce :roll:

Gert

[Matt S]

I was browsing the aircraft spruce website and came across this:

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/avpages/millenium.php

It is pricey ($525 :shock: ) but pretty cool! Forget the mic, the audio pickup is in the ear.

Unless I am mistaking how this thing works, there would be no wind noise to deal with at all.

Matt

[slomove]

Matt, that IS cool. But you are right: $:shock: $ :shock: $ :shock: $

Maybe for now I just keep the abused rat. If somebody need to make a windsock: I still have ample lemming fur left over :wink: Minimum buy was 4 square feet.

Gert

[Capt. Molecule]

other than mics

Units that pick up vibrations of the canals of our voice don't pick up ennunciation of words, such as the sounds produced by the lips/tongue as the wind goes past. I have a throat mic on a FRS radio which really works well except for this ennunciation thing. I would suspect the ear mic would be the same.

[Elv15]

starcom

After some more research, I'm thinking seriously about getting a StarCom setup. They have the ability to use earplug/earphoneshttp://www.starcom1.com/plugphones.htm and make a mic that looks slightly more sanyo than Gert's sodomized lemming! :D

StarCom also mutes the audio completely when there is radio traffic or when you are talking, Autocom only lowers the volume.

Here is a long URL to the mic: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...sPageName=WD1V

...of course I'll need to fabricate some kind of thing to attach the mic to, but that should not be too hard.

Tom