I'm getting ready to buy a new headset, Lightspeed Zulu 3, and I am being asked (by a robot, not a person, thru Amazon, as I buy all my crane diesel fuel using my Amazon card and quickly build up Amazon points which then seems like free money to me.....) if I want GA plugs. I guess I do, if that means TWO plugs, like every other headset I've ever owned, and if they of course fit my current panel plugs. I assume the GA stands for general aviation, stupid question? I just don't want to dick around and have to return the wrong thing.

I recently noticed my plane seemed to be getting louder, and after trouble shooting my TWO mufflers (homebuilt Swiss muffler and the stock Rotax 912S one, which now has over 2000 hours on it, which had me thinking it may be shot) and finding nothing wrong, I did a fly over near another S-7S pilot familiar with my noise signature. He reported it was the same, super quiet. This lead me, finally, to realize my headset was the culprit. 12 year old, at least, Telex ANR, but the earcups are shot, and I've already replaced them several times, each time the price goes up and the quality goes down, so I'm going to move on up to the Zulu's.

You want GA plugs. The other type is helicopter, which uses a single, fat plug IIRC.

Thanks Zane, good to learn something every day! I have to wonder how that difference came about though, maybe something to do with rotor wing military origin? The new Zulu is on the way.

Correct and as Zane said, you want the GA plugs. The single "fat" plug used in most helicopters and all military fixed-wing aircraft is the NEXUS U-174/U plug

GA is paralyzed by the past. Clinging to the days of hand mikes and cabin speakers. My aircraft plugs have been updated to the single plug, U-174. I carry a couple of adapters if someone wants to use their own GA headset. Only takes a few minutes with a soldering iron to switch them, but at least a few on here will feel obliged to wait for written approval from an FSDO office.

Good idea, Karmutzen, IMHO onky one plug means less fumbling around & less cabin clutter. Also less panel space required for jacks.

hotrod180 wrote:Good idea, Karmutzen, IMHO onky one plug means less fumbling around & less cabin clutter. Also less panel space required for jacks.

Less, but not much less. Not worth the effort, IMHO, especially since I have 6 headsets with GA plugs.

Cary

Karmutzen wrote:GA is paralyzed by the past. Clinging to the days of hand mikes and cabin speakers. My aircraft plugs have been updated to the single plug, U-174. I carry a couple of adapters if someone wants to use their own GA headset. Only takes a few minutes with a soldering iron to switch them, but at least a few on here will feel obliged to wait for written approval from an FSDO office.

Why stop there? Go with a LEMO plug and power your headsets too. I'm trying to decide whether to do this in my plane. Some aircraft support both LEMO and standard GA. It's just more wire.

Switching to the U-174 is one thing, but IIRC the headsets that come that way from the manufacturer are a different impedance to match the intercom in helis/military. I had a Flightcom (I think) military ANR headset a long time ago and I couldn't adapt it to my intercom. Correct me if I'm wrong.

U-174 (single plug) headsets can be either high (common GA) or low (common military) impedance. If flying both you can usually get by with a different microphone to change to the other impedance. Most modern helicopters are now high impedance. The French helicopters have a single plug as well, but the original is dimensionally slightly different than the U-174. Bell 505 factory demonstrator I was in a couple weeks ago had the LEMO and Bose A20, which is the way to go if you're doing your own install and have committed to ANR. What you do with your airplane probably depends on whether the headset lives with the plane or if you want the flexibility to easily move it to other aircraft.

hotrod180 wrote:Good idea, Karmutzen, IMHO onky one plug means less fumbling around & less cabin clutter. Also less panel space required for jacks.

Someone tell Greg, it's probably lighter too!

I have fought the problem of connections and impedance for many years flying Commercial Derivative Aircraft (CDA) (Civilian aircraft adapted for military or paramilitary use). Headsets were not generally a problem but helmets often were. Available military helmets were always U-174/U plugs with low impedance / Dynamic microphones and the lead time to procure modified helmets for overseas customers is long.

I started a small company and designed a box that will accept GA plugs, Military plug, and our proprietary "Single Plug Connect" (SPC). The unit contains internal impedance and DC power converters. The SPC connection powers all helmet mounted accessories (ANR, NVGs, helmet mounted lights) and allows all batteries to be removed from the helmet. While the Integrated Communications and Power Supply (ICAPS) is not aimed at the civilian market I thought it appropriate to the discussion. ICAPS has been installed as factory equipment in some ISR aircraft.

Wow, nice device. For every problem there is always a solution. Prfobably because all my previous headset purchases were directly through aviation, GA aviation, sources, this entire difference in plug thing escaped my notice. I can just imagine my chagrin if I had failed to get up to speed before ordering and my new headset arrived with one single larger plug

I just hope the Zulu 3 offers the same or better audio quality I currently get with the Telex, (I'm sure it will) as in how it interfaces with my Sirius sat radio. Right now I plug directly into the Sat receiver and directly into my audio in on the Telex, and adjust the volume using the volume knobs on the headset, I've always liked those dual volume knobs. I have no audio panel or intercom with audio in, just a portable intercom I only use when (rarely) taking a passenger. I'm getting a bit nervous, changing out headsets is a big deal! It's right up there with a different joystick handle, or seat cushion, a big part of how we relate, interact, to the airplane, I guess that's why I coughed up the $850.00

The bose a-20 you can get with a lemo(panel power) and the batteries don’t die. The nice thing with the bose is you can get a lemo to ga adapter and put batteries in and use it like a normal headset.

I'm doing LEMO on my new panel, and have a couple corresponding headsets for the front seats to match. Until I get this done (and for other planes), I took a LEMO-to-GA non-powered adapter and wired in my own power from 2x 9V batteries. It was a bit cheaper than the off the shelf battery adapters, and I was able to make it a bit more compact without a pack hanging down. Since it just uses 2 wires and the headsets will accept 18V directly, it works pretty well. 2 9v's also have lasted me a good while. One interesting bit though, when they die you don't get the red "low battery" warning on the headset control box, it just turns off. Only the ones with internal batteries seem to tell you they're running low.

This is the commercial version of a battery pack adapter if you want to use a LEMO headset on a non-LEMO aircraft:
https://www.pilot-usa.com/adapters/bose ... a-89b.html

I am looking forward to simple connections, and ANR that doesn't run dead at the most annoying times (which is basically any time).

colopilot wrote:I'm doing LEMO on my new panel, and have a couple corresponding headsets for the front seats to match. Until I get this done (and for other planes), I took a LEMO-to-GA non-powered adapter and wired in my own power from 2x 9V batteries. It was a bit cheaper than the off the shelf battery adapters, and I was able to make it a bit more compact without a pack hanging down. Since it just uses 2 wires and the headsets will accept 18V directly, it works pretty well. 2 9v's also have lasted me a good while. One interesting bit though, when they die you don't get the red "low battery" warning on the headset control box, it just turns off. Only the ones with internal batteries seem to tell you they're running low.

This is the commercial version of a battery pack adapter if you want to use a LEMO headset on a non-LEMO aircraft:
https://www.pilot-usa.com/adapters/bose ... a-89b.html

I am looking forward to simple connections, and ANR that doesn't run dead at the most annoying times (which is basically any time).

Can't speak to other ANRs, but on both my Headsets Inc. converted DC 10-13.4 and on my DC One-X, if the ANR shuts off because the battery has ostensibly died, shutting them off manually and turning them back on gives approximately an additional half hour of ANR operation. Of course, both continue to operate as passive headsets if the batteries die, but it's useful that both can be reactivated by simply being shut off and back on. For instance, were that to happen in the middle of an approach, the solution is so easy that it isn't distracting (I've actually had that happen once), giving enough additional time to complete the approach. Whether other ANR headsets can be reactivated that way, I don't know.

Cary

[quote="Cary']...Can't speak to other ANRs, but on both my Headsets Inc. converted DC 10-13.4 and on my DC One-X, if the ANR shuts off because the battery has ostensibly died, shutting them off manually and turning them back on gives approximately an additional half hour of ANR operation. ...[/quote]

I also have a DC 10-13.4 headset, ANR- converted by Headsets Inc.
FWIW when mine quits working, turning the switch off, then back on, only gives me a couple more minutes of ANR.

I know you already ordered but just a thought on the Lemo plugs.

My airplanes have both options, so anyone can plug their headset in - with the Two plug “GA” version being the most common.

For my Lemo Bose headset, I really like not replacing batteries. I tend to be buying batteries for headsets a lot with my job and personal flying. If you install the Lemo plugs, I recommend dedicating that headset to the airplane. The plugs are plastic and not as durable or meant for abuse as the traditional plugs (and these light speed or Bose headsets are no DCs - they are fragile pieces of equipment). I don’t like taking this headset out of the airplane all the time, but it’s also my nicest headset. I end up swapping it between two airplanes if I need to but just one more thing to consider with the Lemo. It’s hard going back to the old DCs after the ANR headsets.

The Zulu 3 headset arrived to day, the first test was standing outside in the 28 mph wind, WOW, pretty impressive, can't wait to fly with them. Then I went in the shop and cranked up the stereo system in there, again, wow, great sound reduction. I'm going from 14 or 15 year old ANR tech to this thing, pretty cool. All I need is a Bluetooth docking station for my Sirius receiver, as with no earcup volume controls like the old Telex (other then the slider controls meant for controlling volume on Bluetooth connect devices that is) it's on full blast.