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Headset Jack Locations

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Tue Sep 02, 2008 8:56 pm

Headset Jack Locations

I'll be installing headset jacks soon and the location is still open so I want to ask where peoples preferred location is. It is a four-place and my 1st choice is above and behind each seat in the headliner. Any pro's, con's. or better options?
blackrock offline
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Tue Sep 02, 2008 10:07 pm

By "behind", you mean that the people can't see them?

My experience, mostly my wife and my mother, is that they can't figure them out easily even when they can see them.

So, there are two possibilities:

1 - the possibly vain hope that, by putting them where they can be seen, that the passengers can figure them out

2 - that it really doesn't matter where you put them because you will be doing all the plugging in anyway -- and that you should make them easy for the pilot

My solution for the front is under the panel with permanently plugged in headsets. That way the front never has anything to do but put them on -- sometimes hard enough.

I am certain that this did not help much. Very sorry for that. :-)
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Wed Sep 03, 2008 5:07 am

On my Pacer the two front ones were in the instrument panel, the two for the rear seat were behind the seat back. I left the rear seat headsets clamped (hung) over the seat backs. I like the front ones in view in case the plugs get slightly pulled out, I can troubleshoot the problem in the air.
Dave
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Wed Sep 03, 2008 5:43 am

ashtrays

If you have an older Cessna with the ashtrays, I've taken the ashtrays out and made up aluminum covers and installed the jacks there. Makes use of something that isn't used anymore. I can provide pics if anyone is interested.

WW
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Wed Sep 03, 2008 6:41 pm

Re: ashtrays

wagonwrench wrote:If you have an older Cessna with the ashtrays, I've taken the ashtrays out and made up aluminum covers and installed the jacks there. Makes use of something that isn't used anymore. I can provide pics if anyone is interested.

WW

I also like the ashtray,very clean install.
Looks cool when they are closed also.
Juan80 offline
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Thu Sep 04, 2008 8:20 am

Re: Headset Jack Locations

blackrock wrote:I'll be installing headset jacks soon and the location is still open so I want to ask where peoples preferred location is. It is a four-place and my 1st choice is above and behind each seat in the headliner. Any pro's, con's. or better options?


When wiring, avoid the dreaded "ground loop". Here is something I just posted on another forum:

____________________________________________________________


#1.) I noticed the headset (receive) jacks only have one wire soldered to each of the jacks. That seems wrong to me. (It's like there is no ground wire). I would think there would be two wires, one as a ground and the other to carry the signal. The wires are "jumped" from the passenger 1 jack to the passenger 2 jack - I think "jumping" for the headset (receive) jacks should be Ok, if not necessarily recommended. So, if the headset (receive) jacks should have two wires soldered to them --- what is the connection arrangement? For example, does the signal wire go to the tip? Ground wire to the barrel?

#2.) The mic (transmit) jacks are also "jumped" from passenger 1 to passenger 2. I'm told this is wrong, makes sense to me. The PM-501 has pins for passenger 1 and passenger 2 mics and the ground for each mic to a common pin. I had basically the same questions (as above) for these mic jacks --- what is the connection arrangement for the wires to the mic jacks? Signal wire and ground wire to tip, barrel or ring?

#3.) And finally, what do I do with the shield? I think that it should not be connected to anything at the jacks in the rear seat. So does the shield get connected to the common ground pin on the intercomm?

Thanks much!



Most intercoms/audio panels have two to three sets of headphone outputs. Pilot is kept separate from Copilot and Passengers, and sometimes the rear seat is kept separate from both Pilot and Copilot, depending on how sophisticated the audio switching is...

It is ok to run a single feed from the intercom/audio panel to BOTH rear seat headphone jacks if the device has an headphone output labeled COPILOT/PASS1/PASS2 or PASS1/PASS2.

Wiring to ALL four headphone jacks in the aircraft should follow the figure below. If doing ANY rewiring of headphone jacks I would wire them for STEREO, even if your current audio panel/intercom is MONO!!!

If you still have a MONO intercom, hook up only the wire labeled RIGHT, leave the LEFT unconnected. Later, if you switch to a STEREO intercom/panel, then hook up both RIGHT and LEFT.


Note: wiring diagram is in my Photo Gallery on this site. See: MikeMl/Jacks.jpg
MikeMl offline
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Thu Sep 04, 2008 1:04 pm

Has anyone else had a problem with a "mono" head set being plugged into a stereo jack, and causing the intercom to go dead unless ya pulls the mon headset plug out one notch ?!?
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Thu Sep 04, 2008 2:40 pm

wannabe wrote:Has anyone else had a problem with a "mono" head set being plugged into a stereo jack, and causing the intercom to go dead unless ya pulls the mon headset plug out one notch ?!?


The guy who did my 4-place install put in a mini toggle switch for mono/stereo at each jack location. Works great as long as the correct position is selected.

My forward locations are at the bottom outside edges of the panel and the aft locations are in the rear side of the door posts. Seldom carry back seat passengers, but works fine when I do

-DP
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Thu Sep 04, 2008 2:58 pm

Hmmmm... better check - my lost off in the corner - intercom.
Do not remember any mono stereo switch option.
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Thu Sep 04, 2008 7:54 pm

wannabe wrote:Has anyone else had a problem with a "mono" head set being plugged into a stereo jack, and causing the intercom to go dead unless ya pulls the mon headset plug out one notch ?!?


Plugging a Mono headset into an aircraft wired for Stereo shorts the Left Audio channel of the intercom/audio panel to ground. If you compare the Mono 1/4" plug on the Mono headset to the one on a Stereo headset, you will see that the Barrel of the Mono headset extends into the region which has the Ring on the Stereo Plug, the Tip being in the same relative location.

When the Mono plug is inserted all the way into a Stereo Jack, the plug's Barrel shorts the Ring contact (Left channel) to ground . If the Mono plug is inserted only part way to the first detent, then the plug's Tip connects to to the Jack's Ring contact, with no connection to the Ring.

Shorting the Left channel to ground usually causes a squeal or severe distortion even to the Right channel, depending on make and model of intercom or audio panel.

When using Mono phones in my Stereo wired airplane, I either dont shove the plug all the way in, or I use an adapter that I made, which consists of a Stereo Plug wired to a mono Jack in an old 35mm plastic film can. Plug Tip is wired to Jack Tip, sleeve to sleeve, and the plug Ring is unconnected. I have seen a moulded Stereo to Mono adapter at Rat Shack.
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