Hearing protection

[solder_guy]

Last night I drove my Rotus Seven to work .. and returned home this morning. I always wear the foam ear canal plugs to protect my hearing .. but for part of Saturday I experienced a persisting ringing .. I've been told by an audiologist that the foam ear plugs are the best .. Maybe my car's carburetors and muffler are too loud!

 

Maybe I need to use both the plugs and a noise cancelling headset?

 

Rob

 

[slngsht]

WHAT DID YOU SAY?

[slngsht]

I wear noise cancelling head sets for long highway trips.

 

 

How was your trip to work otherwise?

[slomove]

If the ear plugs did a somewhat reasonable job (and supposed you don't have a top fuel dragster engine in your Seven) the ringing may not be from this drive at all. Tinnitus is quite common (and can be very annoying, ask me....) and can have all reasons from stress or illness to noise to whatever.

 

Gert

[lowflyer]

Here's an idea that I incorporated into my Stalker.

 

It's a portable intercom system, as used in small private aircraft. It's tied to a pair of aviation style headsets, which provides a simple way to talk between driver and "co-pilot" with minimum fuss. The headsets reduce ambient noise by about 20 db, which keeps both the engine noise and wind buffet to an acceptable level.

 

To top it off, I added a patch cable which allows me to hook in a Walkman-type radio/cassette player. The whole thing plugs into a cigarette power outlet or can be run off of an internal 9v battery.

 

In addition to protecting your hearing, it has an added benefit of keeping your hat on at speed!

 

I flew single engined aircraft for several years, and during the first year or so didn't wear a headset. I probably have suffered some hearing loss from that and didn't see the need to add to it with the car.

 

One caution, not all states are as understanding as Arizona about such set-ups, although it can't be any worse than being in your "grown up" car, with the radio going, A/C blowing and talking on your cell phone.

 

Here's a pic of the set up.http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/485117821_stalker222.jpg

[slngsht]

lowflyer, where did you buy this? and what is the product name?

[slomove]

That is a good one

 

Gert

 

But they have cheaper ones, too

[Hudson]

"Bulk buy" has been negotiated for in-ear head sets from the following site. It's arranged under the Lotus 7 club (British), but anyone can access it

using the following link: http://tinyurl.com/2atjbj or as follows

 

http://www.sensorcom.com/product.asp?PT_ID=312&P_ID=1288

 

set up to work with Autocom boxes:

 

http://www.autocomamerica.com/

 

Ed

 

 

[MHKflyer52]

Lowflyer is correct in some states do not allow for head phones to be worn in passenger cars so check with your local PD to find out first about the legality.

I know California frowns on it and so dose Oregon for passenger cars.

If you look at most of the fire trucks you see the crews all ware two way intercoms so that they can all communicate for safety while going to a fire as they brief the structure / response and they are all looking for the driver / pedestrian that is not paying attention.

 

[lowflyer]

You're correct. Both about the fire dept. using headsets and the fact that not all states are as "enlightened" as Arizona.

 

For those who have an interest... the intercom is a Flightcom II. There are several manufacturers, I chose this one because it was priced right. I picked it up on Ebay (where much of my car came from). The headsets are a Korean product (also found on Ebay). They are fairly light weight, offer something around 20-25 db noise reduction, and have comfortable ear seals and individual volume controls.

 

I got them as a pair from a dealer, which made the "kit" easier to put together.

 

The mikes are covered in a foam "wind" cover, but they do have some wind noise passing through them. The resultant noise is still much less than without them, and being voice activated, the mikes pick up voices within a split second. The whole package ended up costing me about $180.00.

 

My wife will not drive in the car without them, unless the drive is a very short one.

 

The addition of the patch cable allows us to listen to the radio or cassette and still be able to talk to each other. Very civilized for a LALLAL7. (Looks A Little Like A Lotus 7)

 

 

[solder_guy]

The addition of the patch cable allows us to listen to the radio or cassette and still be able to talk to each other. Very civilized for a LALLAL7. (Looks A Little Like A Lotus 7)

 

Thanks!

 

Rob

 

[Al N.]

Anyone have experience with Chatterbox intercoms from i/o? Seems a bit simpler than those Autocoms...

 

BTW, Ed, your car was a hit with many at the Dragon meet. Thanks for coming!

[pierats]

Al, I have used chatterboxes and they are good for a track day, where you can stuff the headset under your helmet. However, they are of cheap quality and don't offer the noise protection of a "real" intercom, like the aircraft one posted above.

 

In my seven I have a Starcom intercom. I know a lot of the UK folks use the Autocom brand, but choose the Starcom because it had more features. For headsets, I have used both the aircraft "clamp over the head" type and "in ear" version ( example ). I find that the in-ear version is much more comfortable to use for a long drive, although it takes longer to put on. The "clamp on" headsets tend to squeeze your head - which can give you a headache - but they do keep your ears warm!

 

I am thinking seriously about getting in on the bulk buy mentioned earlier. It sounds like the best of both worlds, but unfortunately is not cheap!

[Kitcat]

I have had persistent ringing in my ears ever since my first drive in my seven, 5 weeks ago. I have put about 3.5K miles on it in that time. I wore foam plugs on that trip. Now I use foam plugs and industrial ear muffs. I am looking into the Bose noise cancellation muffs. Being 60 makes my ears more sensitive, I am sure.