Originally Posted by
3top
Hi all,
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Personally I saw the Alphas in action with my colleagues while I was happy with my SPH-5. I did see the Alphas deteriorate rather quickly (hot and humid environment), but couldn't try one out, as I seem to have the bigger (harder??) head.....
So - from my experience with the SPH-5 and one or the other comment I do tend towards a HGU-56 (possibly with mods mentioned above), at least one colleague wants to replace the Alpha with another Alpha...
Personally I want 2 lenses - dark (sun), yellow/high contrast (fog, low vis)
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Cheers all,
3top
Happy Alpha wearer here. Started with CEP, but unfortunately the interaction of the cables of the CEP with the ear cups caused pressure points. I was super happy with the way you can adjust the volume with CEP though - especially in a tactical environment. Nevertheless, a majority of my colleagues did not experience any pressure points and were rather happy with CEP. Due to the pressure points I ended up wearing the Alpha passively with yellow ear plugs and adjusting the volume accordingly. Not optimum, but at least it protected my hearing.
Now I fly the Alpha with ANR, really comfortable, but I would recommend CEP as long as it does not create irritating pressure points.
With regard to visors you can select dark, clear or yellow as well with Alpha. Had them all and I prefer to have a dark and yellow visor combination. I noticed that when flying with a dark and clear visor combination I often flew without visor protection when the dark visor was inappropriate for the weather conditions. With the dark and yellow combination I always have one or the other.
Tip: choose one helmet type for both cockpit and cabin. We have experienced that operating different types of helmets can cause degraded ICS performance.
Ps. What I also like with the Alpha is the opportunity to release or tighten the ear cups and the rotating knob on the back to tighten the helmet at the nape of my head. Especially helpful - a must - with NVGs.