Lightspeed Battery Box Warning

In rec.aviation.owning Sydney Hoeltzli wrote:
: wrote:
: I'm not really excited about buying any of the 15/20/25/30 K,XL,G
: series because they seems pretty flimsy, have extraordinarily lousy
: passive attenuation (read: LOUD out of active cancellation above 300 Hz),
: and artificually boost the radio's voice frequencies to an uncomfortable
: level. I'm sure the boosting is for "clarify" of old ears that are
: already fried from 40 years of naked flying, but I'm trying to keep mine
: good.

: Cory,

: I'm afraid I don't follow your critique of the K/XL/G series.
: The radio's voice frequencies can be adjusted to any level you
: like with the volume control. I have very good ears and the
: level is not uncomfortable, in fact it is too low on the
: minimum volume setting in our plane. If something was uncomfortable,
: and turning down the volume on the headsets didn't fix it, then
: perhaps the radio volume was turned up too high? We are able
: to combine most headsets in our plane and find suitable settings
: of intercom/radio/headset volume, but it does take a little
: tweaking when a new headset comes into the mix. I'm a little
: puzzled because surely you must have tried this.

What I meant was that it has an active filter in the mix that
boosts the voice frequencies from the radio/intercom. That range
(1kHz-3kHz or so) is what makes speech inteligible, and so they boosted it
to make the radios sound "clearer" and "easier to hear." For me, this
yields a harsher sound in those voice than a plain headset. I don't find
it necessary to artificially boost those frequencies for the radio to be
heard over the intercom. The level on the batt box simply adjusts the
gain, but doesn't adjust these boosted frequencies. While a bit
confusing, that's what I meant. It's not just a level thing.


: You're correct about the poorer Lightspeed passive attenuation.
: It's a direct function of the attraction for Lightspeed owners,
: the comfort. As you probably know, good passive attenuation in
: muff-style headsets is a function of ear seal, and ear seal is
: a function to some degree of clamping force.

Sure. That's why they're touted as very comforable (which they
are). Most GA planes are fairly well sound insulated at the frequencies
that are easy to insulate (1kHz). My plane with minimal internal sound
damping has lots of rattle inside, which makes it unusually noisy in the
1kHz-5kHz range... again the same frequencies that the LS-15/20/25/30
boosts. In fact, I saw a review that showed appreciable spill-over from
the LS headsets in that range. It's a side-effect of attenuating the
100Hz-300Hz range that it actually *boosts* the noise in the 1kHz range or
so. Not pleasant at full-power climbout.

: I don't find the K/XL/G series flimsy except at the poorly-
: designed plug/battery box configuration.

The telescoping action of each side has broken on two separate
friends' headsets. One 25XL, the other 15K.

However, if you do,
: I believe you would find the same to be true of the QFR series.
: My previous headset was a Flightcom Eclipse, regarded by many
: as flimsy, and it served me well so I think there's an issue
: of how gentle one is on equipment.

The battery box doesn't bother me all that much. In fact, I like
the XC-2 and 30G ability to plumb music right in to the headset. If it
truely is 28 dB passive without a vice-grip, then the 10 dB of active it
provides will help cut down the engine even a bit more.

: If you want good passive attenuation and sturdiness, perhaps
: you would prefer a set of Dave Clamps?

Kinda like buying a Sony VCR. It's still built by the lowest
Korean/Japanese/Philpines/Chinese bidder, but stick a name on it and
charge 2x the price. It's rather ridiculous that aviation headsets cost
so much. Even if DC or Bose is slightly better, it certainly isn't worth
the shameless gouging in price.

FWIW
-Cory


--
************************************************** ***********************
* The prime directive of Linux: *
* - learn what you don't know, *
* - teach what you do. *
* (Just my 20 USm$) *
************************************************** ***********************

In a previous article, "Steve House" said:
Right - the accusation that I'm an idiot is "demonstrating expertise" Just

Jim never called you an idiot. I don't think anybody did until now. But
*now* I'm going to to call you an idiot, because you obviously are one.

human interaction are somehow suspended. I'm an old hand at the Net and
Usenet, having used it daily since about 1980. I'm also a very new student

Bull****. Nobody who was using Usenet in 1980 does TOFU posting. Up
until the never ending September of 1993, anybody who didn't learn to trim
their quoted text would have been hounded off of any reasonable newsgroup.

correction where it was in error. I suppose we egg's should just sit
silently in rapturous awe at the feet of the Masters. Thanks for making me

No, people who make wrong statements should take correction without
accusing the person making the corrections of being arrogant.

feel so very welcome to the group.

You're not welcome to the group. People who can accept correction are.
So are people who don't lie about their qualifications.


--
Paul Tomblin , not speaking for anybody
There is no substitute for good manners, except, perhaps, fast reflexes.

"Jim Weir" wrote in message ...
Because everything I do is kit. To do a decent job with ANR requires you to
work with surface mount devices roughly the size of an FAA inspector's heart.

But this is still several times larger than his brain ;-)

"Jay Honeck" wrote:
I am buying our fourth ANR headset at OSH 2003 later this month.

Thus, soon a Garmin 196 will be resting comfortably on my yoke, God
willin'
and the crick don't rise...

By golly, that's my kind of guy. If I come home from OSH without holes worn
in my credit card, I feel like I haven't enjoyed the full experience.

Someone told me they have aerobatics displays and stuff at the show - is
that true?

See you at the vendors booths...
--
Dan
C172RG at BFM

FYI - top posting is the current norm in many Usenet groups, especially the
MS tech support groups where I spend most of my time. With newsreaders like
Outlook Express, some people find embedded responses can be more difficult
to read than the top posts.

"If it is legit.." was not impuning any individual report but rather the
blanket assertion that flaws and failures in use are endemic to Lightspeed,
which has been alleged, not in your post nor about this particular problem,
but rather in other threads where people have criticised Lightspeed's
quality control.

A battery pack that is hot enough to melt its casing and emit smoke is on
the verge of combustion and even if it did not ignite itself it seems to me
to present a risk that it could cause more flammable objects in contact with
it to ignite. Heck, Dell Computer recalled a batch of Nicads battery packs
for some of their laptop models a year or so ago because of nearly identical
overheating problems that had, in fact, resulted in full blown fire in
several cases.
..
"Sydney Hoeltzli" wrote in message
...

Now, now, Ron, let's not split hairs. PMA is almost always issued
simultaneously with the TSO, but it is the PMA documentation that sets the
inspection standard(s).

Jim


"Ron Natalie"
shared these priceless pearls of wisdom:

-
-If you've got a TSOA, you've also got manufacturing authority.
-

Jim Weir (A&P/IA, CFI, & other good alphabet soup)
VP Eng RST Pres. Cyberchapter EAA Tech. Counselor
http://www.rst-engr.com

"SteveH" wrote in message
...
FYI - top posting is the current norm in many Usenet groups, especially
the
MS tech support groups where I spend most of my time.

lol...

Just because it's the norm, that doesn't make it right. It just means a
bunch of newbies are posting in that newsgroup.

With newsreaders like
Outlook Express, some people find embedded responses can be more difficult
to read than the top posts.

How in the WORLD does the newsreader being used affect how easy it is to
READ a traditionally quoted post versus a top-posted post?

As far as your example of Dell battery packs goes...there's a big difference
between the available current in a laptop battery and a battery pack driving
a headset.

Pete

"Paul Tomblin" wrote in message
...
Actually, Microsoft actively encouraged HTML posting in the microsoft.*
newsgroups

I don't know what you mean by "actively encouraged". However, even if true,
I fail to see what HTML posting has to do with the current topic, which is
top posting.

On Tue, 08 Jul 2003 15:04:24 GMT, "Jay Honeck"
wrote:

I believe Denny is perceiving this:

The only reason many Lightspeed owners have NOT had repeated problems with
broken wires at the plug is because they specifically lay the battery box on
the floor, or tuck it in a side pocket. This removes the weight of the
battery box from the inadequately designed wire and plug assembly, and keeps
the wires from breaking.

That can't be true in my case, at least. My battery box is plugged
into the middle of the panel (left of the turn coordinator) and the
battery box hangs down from there. The box's weight causes the cord
to bend 90 degrees right after it comes out of the plug. That has got
to be about as high stress as you can get on the cord. Why I have had
no problems is a mystery to me. The only thing I can thing of is that
I leave the headset in the plane most of the time rather than plugging
it in and removing it again. That probably reduces the strain on the
cord.

--Ron

"Jim Weir" wrote:

Because everything I do is kit. To do a decent job with ANR requires you to
work with surface mount devices roughly the size of an FAA inspector's heart.

Ron Natalie interjected:


But this is still several times larger than his brain ;-)

Brave words indeed for someone who's steed is currently undergoing *major* surgery which may involve
one or more FAA inspector sign-offs...

Russell Kent