For most activations I use headphones, usually a set of wired earbuds. However I have to admit on a few occations, when altering antennas I have managed to drag my radio off its stand. With this in mind I decided to try a wireless alternative. I bought a small Bluetooth transmitter for the princely sum of £6.50 and a cheap set of wireless earbuds for £14. I didnt have the highest hopes that I wouldnt get RF interference, but am pleased to report it all works! On Sunday I used it for three hours, with no problems. Battery life on the earbuds is 5 hours, so it should work for all but the longest activation. I use some velcro to attach it to the radio. I just thought I would share.
Sounds like a great idea. I normally use headphones and sometimes earbuds, but I’ve often got up to attend to my antenna and done just what you have done- pulling the transceiver over and sometimes getting other wires caught up in the mess.
Do you run CW? I’ve tried this but the combinations I tried all have just enough delay in the sidetone to cause mis-keying. Wondering how the delay is in your setup.
No I don’t sorry. I have noticed there is a slight delay (latency issue) with the BT transmitter plugged into the sound jack on my phone (when playing YouTube videos). This doesnt happen, just using the BT headphones directly from my phone.
It didn’t impact on HF SSB calls with my Xiegu G90, but could possibly be an issue with CW. The Bluetooth transmitter is very cheap, latency may be shorter on better models.
The delay or better the latency keeps me from this solution. In the end, Bluetooth headphones and earbuds experience at least 32ms of audio latency. But that’s only in ideal circumstances. You’re more likely to run into a 100-300ms delay, especially while using true wireless earbuds.
Far too much for the sidetone and even in the S2S chasing business.
73 Chris
Hi Martin,
There are also full over the ear headsets with a boom microphone that use BT. I have a set of these along with a self-constructed BT adapter for my G90 for both CAT control and audio.
Despite that, on a summit, I still revert to simple lightweight cabled headphones.
I found the BT earbuds always needed charging when I was away from anywhere, that I could charge them. The headset was a little better, but not a lot.
Are these headphones that sit on your head? I much prefer these but they are not compatible with a warm hat so I use earphones. I use the ones that stick in the ear but even these keep falling out. So I am still looking for the perfect solution for SOTA listening.
Collins English Dictionary:
‘a clever tip or technique for doing or improving something’.
From the Urban Dictionary:
‘A temporary, jury-rigged solution, especially in computer programming and engineering: the technical equivalent of chewing gum and duct tape’.
“Hacking is the activity of identifying weaknesses in a computer system or a network to exploit the security to gain access to personal data or business data etc.”
A hack on my cable modem would give me greater speeds without paying extra for those speeds.
A hack on my Netflix subscription would give 4k Video when I only pay for HD.
A hack on my car’s ECUs would remove the 155 MPH speed limit without paying for the upgrade.
Using a Bluetooth audio link to carry audio data over the wireless is using it as it was intended and is not a hack in any shape or form.
