Does anyone know of a cheap switch that can swap the left and right audio from a standard 3.5mm audio jack connection?
The Ic-9700 has a very useful function where it will output the main band on the left channel and the sub band on the right audio channel. Whilst some manipulation can be done in the menu, you cannot just swap them around.
My right ear is much better than my left so it would make sense to have the right audio be the main band, but todays (decent) headphones are also made to fit properly with the left and right on particular sides and they are not particularly comforatble when worn the other way around.
It needs to be switchable so I can listen to the sub band if I’m playing with datamodes which need to be on the main band.
Yes I could make one, but by the time I’ve ordered the parts (3.5mm jack plugs, 3.5mm sockets, a suitable switch (that is positive and feels right) and some kind of enclosure , the cost of making 1 becomes quite excessive for what it is. This is also not including the fire brigade having to be put on standby due to me deciding to switch the soldering iron on.
I originally thought it would be an easy solution with something for a few pounds from amazon or ali-express but nothing. Or maybe there is something used for something else that uses the same plugs and sockets and I just don’t know what its called to search for it.
The only other solution is 2 pairs of headphones with one having a modified plug , but that seems worse than wearing them back to front.
A couple of months ago I decided to go the doctor about my failing hearing. In less than two weeks I was referred, diagnosed and issued hearing aids. They have been transformative for me.
They’re free on our wonderful NHS. I can recommend this route first before trying something else to compensate for a hearing issue
I would have thought the easiest option would be something like an RCA-to-stereo adapter for both plug and socket, and connected with L/R channels swapped. No soldering iron required, AliExpress would almost certainly have them cheap.
Thats a very good idea. Its actually a congenital issue and I’ve had it for 56 years. I was offered hearing aids in the past, but back then they were those massive things or the even worse bakolite microphone that hung around your neck. It hadnt occurred to me that tech had moved on.
Probably the best of the no solder options and at very little cost so worth a punt.
Due to the small cost of this, I ordered a 3.5mm stereo jack to RCA adapter and a RCA to 3.5mm stereo socket adapter and it works a treat. Whilst not exactly switchable at the flick of a switch, it does mean I can wear my headphones the correct way around which is much more comfortable.
For the ridiculous solution, one can add to the above set sets of RCA splitters that then feed into a RCA switch to allow the switching over of left and right. Not that expensive but definately into the realms of worth firing up the soldering iron to make something dedicated to effectively switch the routing of 2 wires. The mostly costly item of this would be the actual housing box.
I have seen some small slide switches that might fit into the housing on an inline plug or jack.
One left-handed CW operator always brought a cross-over adaptor to Field Day for when he needed to use someone else’s paddles. It isn’t an instantaneous switch, but generally fast enough.
Apparently I have learned to use my paddles “backwards”, and was going to do the same thing, but instead I just wired a small switch to the bottom of the paddles to reverse them as needed.
Many radios offer the option of Normal or reverse sense for the keyer paddle. And the stainless steel paddle offered on aliexpress has that reversing switch built into the paddle. So a reverse sense switch is often not required.
One operator I know learned to use the paddle and was surprised to find my paddle was set up the reverse sense of his. He didn’t realise he had learned to use it opposite to most operators. I asked him whether he had ever used a bug (with mechanical dots). No, why? Well the bugs were nearly all set up for dots on the thumb and dits on the fingers. That’s a “right handed” bug, but there were a few left handed bugs. When I use his paddle I just turn it around and use it 180 degrees from normal.
But that’s a bit off topic, which was about L/R hearing differences.
As one who strives to pick up allsorts of information (mainly trivia for pub quizes) I live for off topic moments
Correct me if I’m wrong since I don’t use CW, isnt a keys wiring very similar to audio.
For a CW device (not a stright key) I would have assumed a dots line, a dash line and ground similar to a left, right and ground in the audio so there may well be a crossover in the solutions. With not doing CW myself it would not have occurred to me, nor that there is a handidness to how people prefer to send.
Is this related to the more general left/right handidness or just pure random preference based on how one learned to use the device?
Re the use of the paddle or bug I think it’s all a matter of which orientation you learned with. When necessary I have tried to learn the paddle with my left hand. But it required me to reduce the speed somewhat and wasn’t practical to use on the air. I don’t think the thumb is necessarily the best digit for dits, I would guess the index finger gets the most usage and hence training for fine motor control tasks but I can’t offer any evidence of that.
If trivia is/are your thing I did see, at an exhibition of historical events around telegraphy, a photo of about six telegraphers at work on their bugs and they all appeared to be left handed. I found it quite unusual but then realised it was just the printing of the photo that had swapped left for right. Gave me a bit of amusement but nobody else noticed it.
