Headsets
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Headsets
In a recent newspaper story on the new control tower in Manchester there is a picture of a headset being worn. What is the brand name and type of that headset and is that particular headset generally liked by ATCOs? Anyone have any other headsets that they like?
Manchester Airport's new control room with a 360º view - Manchester Evening News
Manchester Airport's new control room with a 360º view - Manchester Evening News
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Plantronics....I knew one guy who refused to use anything other than a Sennheiser (despite it's lack of a bungee lead) because of the "sound quality"..... It's not Mozart!!
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Headset leads are critical. Chap I new nearly strangled himself playing armchair football when it wrapped round his neck!
CAA/NATS and predecessors have never got headsets "right" since the days of the Jetlite in the early 70s. They did trials and a survey to see which would be the best replacement. I had friends in Tels and they told me that the Ministry had already purchased a couple of thousand Astrolites so I noted this on the survey form, which resulted in an invite to the boss's bit of Axminster to be told I wasn't "playing the game" (God Bless you Mr MB). Guess what? We all ended up with Astrolites.
If it's any consolation, the headset I wore in IAL in the 60s weighed 2 ounces including the lead!
CAA/NATS and predecessors have never got headsets "right" since the days of the Jetlite in the early 70s. They did trials and a survey to see which would be the best replacement. I had friends in Tels and they told me that the Ministry had already purchased a couple of thousand Astrolites so I noted this on the survey form, which resulted in an invite to the boss's bit of Axminster to be told I wasn't "playing the game" (God Bless you Mr MB). Guess what? We all ended up with Astrolites.
If it's any consolation, the headset I wore in IAL in the 60s weighed 2 ounces including the lead!
Last edited by HEATHROW DIRECTOR; 13th Feb 2014 at 19:11.
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Astrolite Headset with one earpiece castellated, the other not and voice communication in one ear and RTF in the other ear plus the castellation let one hear the Crew Chief and other assorted Bods all at the same time. As close to perfection as possible. Multi tasking capability to the Nth degree. Also very robust. They get my vote.
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HD wrote "If it's any consolation, the headset I wore in IAL in the 60s weighed 2 ounces including the lead!"
One day at LL he got fed up with the heavy long lead on his headset and shortened it himself. Only problem was he went too far, it was great sat down but when he stood up/leant back the lead was so short it nearly took his ears off as it came off!
One day at LL he got fed up with the heavy long lead on his headset and shortened it himself. Only problem was he went too far, it was great sat down but when he stood up/leant back the lead was so short it nearly took his ears off as it came off!
Astrolite every time. By no means the cheapest headset but robust, comfortable and relatively easy to repair. It's a great shame Racal stopped manufacture as its successor, the flimsy rubbery Jetlite, wasn't a patch.
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Originally Posted by windowjob
when he stood up/leant back the lead was so short it nearly took his ears off as it came off!
I think the Jetlite's were the ones where the rubber mic holder changed state and the mic would fall out mid-transmision. My vote is for the Stratolite with the huge plug that one could play conkers with...
Incidentally I have a Sennheiser HME45, the predecessor to the 46. Very light in weight and high quality sound from the earphones. The microphone itself is also high quality. The Achilles heel is the mic boom itself which is rather flimsy with a somewhat loose joint to the earphone housing. The old Airlite 71 was pretty good. I still say the Astrolite is the best.