Message-ID: <004101c01912$3e747860$0464a8c0@station4>
From: "John Barrett" <2thman@olympus.net>
To: "Lancair Mail List" <lancair.list@olsusa.com>
Subject: Re: Headsets - ANR Modules
Date: Thu, 7 Sep 2000 14:03:40 -0700
Reply-To: lancair.list@olsusa.com
Mime-Version: 1.0

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I'll have to confess, I put in the ANR conversions on a Dave Clark about
five years ago and although I was reasonably happy with it originally, I had
some problems with it.  The battery (9volt) never lasted long and there was
no auto shutoff.  I could never remember to turn it off so the battery
constantly wore down prematurely.

Within about 2 years, the conversion quit working.  It would  deliver a loud
squeal when you turned it on.  I find that the Dave Clark headsets are heavy
and uncomfortable on cross country trips, so was only too happy to switch to
another product.

I tried the Lightspeed 25XL's and although they are pricy, thought they were
pretty good.  I didn't have the luxury of comparing them with other models,
but am very happy with them now - I have four.  After the fact, I was able
to compare about three or four other products with the Lightspeed at
Arlington and I thought the Lightspeed withstood that test.  I think they
are comparable to the Bose and cost about $400 less per copy.  They are
lightweight and extremely comfortable.

Two drawbacks with them:
1. They have a fat pad on the bar over the head and tend to bump the
overhead in the IVP.
2.  There is a hum that occurs (could this be part of the autoshutoff
circuitry?) whenever the ear cuffs are not sealed over the ears.  It's
uncomfortable to experience and sometimes can cut in and out if the headset
is not seated right.  I find that over time, I've learned how to adjust the
headset so that it's rarely and issue for me now.


I bought the portable battery operated models - as i might want to move them
to other airplanes besides the IVP I bought them for.  I'm already using
them two at a time in the Beech Sierra I fly.

I recall having strong bouts of anxiety about the engine sounds when i first
started using these things.  I had a friend try them a couple weeks ago in
his two seater Grumman.  He had a terrible time the first fifteen minutes of
the flight because he thought the engine was going to fail at any moment.
He finally put his own headset back on because he was too nervous to enjoy
the flight.  But once you acclamate to the sounds that are present, you
realize that you'll be just as aware if something starts going wrong as you
would be without the ANR.

Regards,
John Barrett - LIVP

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