Ear plugs and radio com

[Wayne]

How many of you guys wear ear plugs? I'm interested in the custom molded type. Do those work well? Any idea what their db rating is? Do they stay in your ear pretty well?

I'd like a set I could use in the race car and at the range. I use noise canceling ear muffs when shooting pistol, but those muffs don't work very well for shotgun and rifle as they interfere with mounting the gun properly. Wondering if a custom set of plugs would work on the shotgun/rifle range.

Second question has to do with radio communications. I will be adding a simple radio system to the car this year. I assume you guys run the speaker and microphone inside the helmet? You don't use a speaker ear piece do you?

If you run the speaker inside the helmet and wear ear plugs... how does that work out???

Wayne

[Bryan Watts]

The speaker is located within the earplug.

[Mike Spencer]

Originally posted by Wayne:
How many of you guys wear ear plugs?...

I'm in kind of the same boat. I'd like to add a radio this year. Currently I wear the little yellow foam earplugs. (It says on the package how many decibels they "remove", but I don't have one in front of me) The car only runs 96 or 97db (per Sound Control) but they're not enough. I was going to look into the custom "ear buds" even before I get the radio.

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Mike Spencer
NC Region
ITA/7 RX-7 #60
1990 RX-7 Convertible (street car)

[Knestis]

Having monkeyed around with half-baked radio solutions for WAY too long, I (and all of the drivers for our Summit Pt. 12 Hours effort) have ordered real helmet sets. They use ear buds that are essentially a little earphone built into a foam ear plug.

There are also custom-formed ones but they were too expensive for my tastes and plenty of people have success with the foamy things.

K

[jc836]

I'll take a shot at this one http://ITForum.ImprovedTouring.com/smile.gif

Our Racing Electronics equipped CRX uses Motorola P1225 radios and I have custom molded earpieces as well as a set of the foam covered transducers. I do NOT use a speaker in the helmet. The microphone and earpiece wiring comes in a kit that has a plug on one end ofr the cable to the radio itself. This cable is part of a group that includes the PTT switch.
How well this setup works-very. I have driven with plain plugs and no radio and it is about as quiet that way as with the radio earplugs. Trying to use something else may be difficult with the molded plugs. As to installing in the ear-not really hard once you get used to doing it a few times-took me a number of tries to get them in correctly. They will not fall out if done right. You may find that there is a bit of unwelcomed pressure on the ear but it soon goes away. MY wife has more trouble with the pressure of the earphones on the headset than I do getting my helmet on - go figure <G>. BTW: The cost of the molds is quite reasonable if you do it when buying other radio items or the system like I did. The transducers are not cheap-but can be reused with replacement "buds.".

I have ridden on a friend's motorcycle where the helmet had speakers. The sound was fine, but what else can I say.


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Grandpa's toys-modded suspensions and a few other tweaks
'89 CRX Si-SCCA ITA #99
'99 Prelude=a sweet song-FOR SALE
'03 Dodge Dakota Club Cab V8-Patriot Blue gonna tow

[This message has been edited by jc836 (edited March 01, 2005).]

[This message has been edited by jc836 (edited March 01, 2005).]

[cbuzzetti]

Unless your car is real quiet you will not be happy with helmet mounted speakers.
Foamies work well, customs work best.
Call Shawn at Sampson Comm. 805-896-2207
He is a racer and has great prices and support.

Cbuzz

[gsbaker]

Originally posted by cbuzzetti:
...Foamies work well, customs work best...

That's what we're hearing (no pun intended) also.

Speedcom products are a good value.

Of course, if money is no object, you may wish to go with the earpieces that include the six-degree-of-freedom accelerometers developed at Wright Patterson Air Force Base by Dr. Ted Knox.

Then again, maybe not.

------------------
Gregg Baker, P.E.
Isaac, LLC
http://www.isaacdirect.com

[Dave Burchfield]

You are addressing 2 separate issues here.

- custom earplugs - I am a retired High School Band Director who has worn custom fitted ear plugs for some 15 years. I had to wear them because the nature of my job was an occupational hazard. I was slowly loosing my hearing from being in poorly designed rooms for so many years. I was able to secure some "musician" earplugs at the local hearing aid store for $100. They are unique in that you have the ability to change the "pad" on them to achieve whatever level of sound reduction you might require. I find that the 15db pad works well for me as a player in the symphony and the 20db pad works great in the race car.

- helmet sets - all above comments are wonderful, but allow me to add one other. If you are fortunate to locate an "ear microphone" manufactured by Comet Electronics for the Amateur Radio market, you might find something worthy of consideration. The earpiece is soft rubber, and its construction is such that the microphone is also included in the earpiece which means that there is only 1 wire that comes in to the helmet. I tuck mine under the velco neck closure and plug it into a harness that I built with outlets next to the seat. The switch easily clips on the steering wheel. The whole thing is high quality and works flawlessly for me now for the last 6 years.

Let the fun times begin.......and soon!

db

[Greg Amy]

I've used both molded plugs and foam plugs for earphones. I prefer the foam plugs as I found the molded ones too bulky. They reduce the ambient noise as well as any OSHA-approved foam ear plug and the sound quality of the audio is more than satisfactory.

Bill Miller, on the other hand, dislikes the foamies and thinks the molded ones are the tits.

I suppose you could try the cheaper foamies and see what you think. If you don't like the quality or fit then you can easily sell them (the foam portion is replaceable, thus no worries about hygiene) and get molded ones.

[MadFrog]

I don't know about radios, 'cause I haven't used them yet.
But I do use custom molded ear plugs.
I paid $175 for them, and they are 30dB rated.
They are failry easy to put in once you get used to it, and they are great, IMO. The car is a Civic with header and small muffler with a turn down. I have no issues driving the car whatsoever.
The comfort is also good. I like them a lot better than the foam thingies. I think it was a good investment, and I have no regrets. Now, if/when I have to use a radio, my opinion may change - but based on my current experiences, I would try and get a radio with custom molded ear pieces.

hth.

[JohnRW]

Did someone say 'half-baked' ? I'll match my 'sushi chef' against your 'Betty Crocker' anyday. Sometimes 'half-baked' and 'not even in the oven' work pretty well. I have several solutions, depending on the car I'm in. My hearing is just a little farked, due to a former life in the music recording industry, ~100,000 rounds of 12ga. going off about 9" in front of my nose, and all that noisy motorized crap in my garage.

The custom-molded earpieces are the best (or so I'm told...I'm too cheap to buy them).

In really noisy environments like the open cockpit car or the big noisy V8 thing, I use ear-buds. Pros: good sound attenuation Cons: they tend to work their way out of my ears, and sometimes thrashing around the cockpit (my driving 'style') or tugging on the belt adjusters will snag their wires and pull one or both sides out.

In not-so-noisy environments (IT & SM car), I use the 'in-helmet' speakers that were part of the 'helmet kit' I bought from Vince @ PED. I made an quickie-adapter, so all I have to do is plug the car harness cable into whichever system I want - ear-buds & mic or speakers & mic. Pros: You can actually have a conversation during a pit stop, without asking the other person to YELL (helmet + ear-buds seem to be about 20-25dB). I can add attentuation by using earplugs too, and don't have to worry about accidentally yanking them out while fishing for a water bottle hose or trying to catch some unintended yaw-axis rotation. Cons: you still get deafened by every 'freakin RX-7 on the track.

In relatively placid environments (like Lime Rock, or a Showroom Stock car) we still use the big-ass mobile radio speaker bolted to the cage right behind the driver's head, and just turn the volume up on the radio. Pros: Cheap cheap cheap. Total radio system investment (car & pit end) is about what you'd pay for just a 'helmet kit'. Cons: If you're sensitive, you won't like the sneers from the equipment elitists (aka 'Spankers'), and...of course...all those damn RX-7's...

[whenry]

Any hearing aid company can make you the molded ear plugs. I have a plug for my left ear and race with a soft plug in my right ear. There have been some times when I have taped the molded plug onto my ear(ouch) and it seems to keep the pressure lower(not trying to back out?).
The inconsistency of the speaker would bother me; too loud in some instances and not loud enough in others.

[Wayne]

Hmm, well, maybe my fantasy about using molded ear plugs for dual use - racing and the firing range is not going to work. I really can't have the molded plugs falling out of my ears while I'm moving and shooting. Also doesn't sound like the molded would have enough attenuation for the range.

Maybe I'll just wear my full face helmet with issac to the range... ;0

[manny]

hey guys, i work for racing electronics and their molded ear plugs work great. even the foamy ones are good. give us a call, we're located in concord NC near the speedway. ask for ron or pat and mention the scca and me,manny. there great guys to ask any questions.

[jc836]

Manny-where did you move to and what is the number. Bought our setup at the old store across from the track http://ITForum.ImprovedTouring.com/smile.gif

------------------
Grandpa's toys-modded suspensions and a few other tweaks
'89 CRX Si-SCCA ITA #99
'99 Prelude=a sweet song-FOR SALE
'03 Dodge Dakota Club Cab V8-Patriot Blue gonna tow

[manny]

the number is 704-721-5111 ask for ron or pat.

[Spinnetti]

Originally posted by Wayne:
How many of you guys wear ear plugs? I'm interested in the custom molded type. Do those work well? Any idea what their db rating is? Do they stay in your ear pretty well?

I'd like a set I could use in the race car and at the range. I use noise canceling ear muffs when shooting pistol, but those muffs don't work very well for shotgun and rifle as they interfere with mounting the gun properly. Wondering if a custom set of plugs would work on the shotgun/rifle range.

Second question has to do with radio communications. I will be adding a simple radio system to the car this year. I assume you guys run the speaker and microphone inside the helmet? You don't use a speaker ear piece do you?

If you run the speaker inside the helmet and wear ear plugs... how does that work out???

Wayne

One thing to consider is that shooting 'stoppers' and car ones work different. The type of noise is totally different, and they don't cross over well. You are better off having ones for each (My shooting plugs were worthless in the car)..

Good luck..

[manny]

we're on 535-c pitts school road, concord.

[wburstein]

For our radio system, I use molded earplugs, but have a set of the foam ones as spares. Both work fine, but the molded ones are more comfortable to me. They are very easy to keep clean as you can just wipe them off. After a while the foam ones are pretty grungy, but I guess you could just modify a couple of the hearing protector ones as a retrofit.

Our radios come from Zander Radio Systems and have worked great for about five years now. You can reach them at www.zanderradiosystems.com (http://www.zanderradiosystems.com) or by phone at 800-715-5244.

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Wayne Burstein
WDC Region, ITS #10, Datsun 240Z
www.mountainmotorsports.net

[tdw6974]

[ Cons: you still get deafened by every 'freakin RX-7 on the track.

and...of course...all those damn RX-7's...[/B][/QUOTE]

You're just jealous John. http://ITForum.ImprovedTouring.com/biggrin.gif

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Tom Weaver: Logistics & Technical Support Manager IE truck driver for 1980 RX-7 ITA #63
"Hemi Haulin' Rotary" Bill Weaver Driver- 2004 NYSRRC John Chave Award

[JohnRW]

HUH ? WHAT ???

[[email protected]]

OK here is the skinny!

The ear buds that we all sell in the racing communications world are from hearing aid tranducers which are very $$$. The transducer is the same, foam and the customs. In fact, we offer a foam tip to custom upgrade for 1/2 what the customs run.

Ear molds are done w/ a self Impression kit and its very easy.

Toll Free 1866 396 7231
www.sampsonracing.com (http://www.sampsonracing.com)