Capturing Audio from my comms...
 

Hi Guys,

Anyone know a quick and easy way to capture the audio traffic from my chopper. I've got BOSE powered/panel-mount headsets and a Garmin GMA 340 audio panel interfaced with an SL30 and SL40.

I don't actually want to do this of course, because this might be illegal, if it were to include comms traffic from ATC .

It's simply a hypothetical question. Obviously. Hypothetical answers only, therefore, please. ;)

Joel :ok:

Get a lapel mike, as used for tv interviews, place in spare headset and tape up to keep out ambient noise, plug in to recording device. Used to do it all the time for press articles.

A quick online search showed this hypothetical product:

The hypothetical link is here :-)

Aviation Headset Adapters

Why would it be illegal? It's just a cockpit voice recorder as mandated on airliners isn't it?

Fkelly and birddog - thanks I may try both

krypton_john, in the U.K. it's illegal (I believe) to record ATC communication. not that I ever would of course !;)

Joel

I use a bullet camera on the peak of my cap and place the mike (size about 3mm disc!) inside my right headphone. Bose noise cancelling set so all speech and radio traffic captured very clearly.

JohnR81,

Cheers :ok:

What we used to do with 1970 technology was to place the ear piece of a cassette recorder in the ear muff and use it as a microphone. Worked extremely well (hypothetically of course). :E

I used to use an extension curly cord, with a 1/8" jack added to the receive, on a very short cable. I could plug in a portable FM radio (mp3 players hadn't been invented back then), or connect a cassette recorder. I haven't bothered in decades, but it's not hard to do.

JT

I've used the same set up at John R81 and it works very well. If you need it for a one-off project, I'd be more happy to lend you mine, as a decent camera and mic will cost c. £150.

On a similar theme (and obviously hypothetically again :rolleyes:), has anyone come across a method for integrating mobile phones into headphones?!! I can imagine it would be very difficult (not to mention foolish/dangerous/illegal) to try and hold a mobile conversation in a noisy cabin, even for the pax...

TTB

ttb, there are many adapters, cable and bluetooth, for adding all sorts to your headset, from mp3 players to mobile phones.

I have even seen headsets that have bluetooth built into them.

If I recall correctly, some of the "active" units had the ability to interrupt the phone when there were radio transmissions.

For quick, cheap and pretty good quality I have used a Olympus digital recorder (VN6000, $40USD) with a plug in ear-bud mike (TP7 - telephone recording device, $15). The recorder weighs next to nothing and the ear bud goes in your ear (duh) under your headset and records everything you hear and say. Records several hours and is downloadable straight to your PC or laptop.

Well under $75 USD from Amazon and you are away!!

birrddog - are you aware of any after-market units that do this? I've got Bose X headsets but can't find anything on the interweb.

cheers
TTB

toptobottom,

This probably doesn't help you much (since you already have a headset), but I have a Lightspeed Zulu headset, which comes with integrated bluetooth. It hooks up to my phone without a problem, allowing making and receiving calls in flight. I've never really used this (except once to test, while someone else was flying - "I'M CALLING FROM THE HELICOPTER! NO, THE HELICOPTER!"), but I seem to remember it automatically mutes the call when the radio starts talking.

It also has a discrete line-in socket which I can plug my phone (or mp3 player, etc.) into.

Thanks Pandalet - I wish I'd known about these before I bought the Bose - they look really good! This is what it says on the Lightspeed web****e: "Cell/Music Connection Wired interface for patching in cell phone, or music devices with supplied cables."

They come with a LEMO plug option too, so as a last resort I could change just my headset, but if there's an aftermarket something for the Bose X, obviously that would save me £600 ish...

cheers
TTB

It's worth buying from the USA, as that can save much cash over buying locally, assuming you can sort out the import duty. Generally, buying through a company seems to work reasonably, or if you know someone travelling from the States, that works too. I saved £100 on mine this way.

I may be able to help out with a custom solution, if you don't mind being a guinea pig - drop me a PM if you're interested.

Thanks Pandalet - pls check your PMs

TTB

ttpb, it wasn't cheap, but the link I posted on the top of this thread had a generic bluetooth connector for aviation headsets running for ~$250.

When I looked into it I wondered if I would bother with bluetooth, as you already have wires running from your headset and bluetooth means extra battery problems... (vs. a wired adapter for your phone)

Just a thought...

TJ

So have you some funny comments to share from your "hypothetical" recordings?

birrddog - couldn't get that link to work, but managed to find marvgolden.com - very interesting!

Pandalet seems to be a bit of a hypothetical whizz kid with this stuff and is working on building a non-intrusive solution for use with Bose X right now :ok:

I'm sure there will be several on this forum who would be interested in that...