On Oct 27, 2:51 pm, Gary Emerson wrote:
Just curious if anyone is making a viable bluetooth microphone or
perhaps a bluetooth headset that is compatible with our typical aviation
radios.

Obviously glider pilots really only need the microphone, but since it's
a small market one might have to live with the headset.

A bit of googling didn't have anything jumping right out at me.

I'll jump in here and If I make too many mistakes I'm sure someone
else will jump in.

The Bluetooth technology needs a processor on each end of the
connection. Those processors can be very simple (relatively)
microcontrollers. There must be power to the computer portions as
well as whatever power is needed by the microphone and speaker
elements. Short story is that the radio end of the connection does
not currently (no pun intended) provide the power needed to run the
microprocessor. The currents for the speaker is AC and very small and
the microphone is similar. There is no power source for the radio end
of the bluetooth to be powered.

Of course we power the headset with a battery and could also power the
radio end with a battery. That would solve the power issue.

The next technical hurtle is to match the microphone and speaker input/
outputs to the needs of the aviation radio. As I'm sure many have
discovered in the past, the "normal" headset you buy at the local
Radio Shack does not necessarily work with the aviation radio. The
microphone and speaker impedences of the low cost headset do not match
the requirements of the aviation radio. The plugs on the cord ends
are also different (primarily the microphone cord). That's how the
aviation headset guys can charge more money; they understand the radio
I/O requirements and their products match those requirements.

A bluetooth system would have to mimic those impedence requirements
and connector systems.

Of course with all the existing headset designs on the market, the
real product is the radio end of the equation. Design for power,
microprocessor, impedence matching in a small package that puls into
existing radio systems.

In my opinion that is a lot of "extra" just to get rid on a headset
cord. I think the market would be verk small for the effort expended
to produce a working system.

Mike