Weird headset behavior in C172

laserranger

laserranger

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McStebb
Hi folks,

I have two headsets: My first headset I bought for training, an ASA HS-1. Cheap but dependable. And then, I upgraded to a David Clark H10-13.4 after passing my checkride.

I've noticed that the DC H10 is quite a bit quieter than my HS-1.
Today, I couldn't hear my wife at all. She was sitting in the right seat using the right seat jacks. However, she could hear me just fine.
We troubleshooted by unplugging/replugging, adjusting headset volume, and adjusting avionics volume. Still no earphone sound through my H10.

Finally, I switched audio ports with my wife. I unplugged my H10 from the left seat jacks, handed them over to my wife to plug into the right seat jacks... then plugged her HS-1 into my left seat jacks. Perfectly clear sound from both headsets!
So we swapped headsets. It's so bizarre that the H10 only worked in the right-seat jacks.

I'm wondering if this is something that you folks have seen before. Maybe it's something simple I'm missing.
I sent a note to the flight school about it, but I have to wonder if it's not an issue with the airplane, but my DC headset. May be worth emailing DC as well?

Any advice appreciated.
Thanks folks.
 
laserranger said:
I'm wondering if this is something that you folks have seen before
Click to expand...
I had the same issue and if you’ll look at the plugs on your two headsets side by side they may be different.For some reason the jacks in mine did fine with the cheapo headset but the didn’t like the dc.I “slightly modified” the jacks by bending the contact points and it worked ever since.My left side jack was slightly wore out though
 
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Clean the phone Jack connectors attached to the headset with Scotchbrite and try it then.
 
MBDiagMan said:
Clean the phone Jack connectors attached to the headset with Scotchbrite and try it then.
Click to expand...
Headset is basically brand new with just a few hours on it. I guess I could try wiping the plugs off with 99% isopropyl alcohol.
 
Jaminky said:
I “slightly modified” the jacks by bending the contact points and it worked ever since.My left side jack was slightly wore out though
Click to expand...
Do you mean you just bent the plug slightly? Not sure I'll go to this extreme yet since the DC is brand new, but it's a thought.
 
laserranger said:
Do you mean you just bent the plug slightly? Not sure I'll go to this extreme yet since the DC is brand new, but it's a thought.
Click to expand...
Not the plug, the jack. The jack has metal tabs that make contact with the plug. Those tabs can be encouraged to make a bit tighter contact.
 
Did both of you hear the radios? Did others hear you when you pressed the PTT button?

I’ve seen it where pulling one of the plugs a few millimeters out of the jack got things working.
 
laserranger said:
Hi folks,

I have two headsets: My first headset I bought for training, an ASA HS-1. Cheap but dependable. And then, I upgraded to a David Clark H10-13.4 after passing my checkride.

I've noticed that the DC H10 is quite a bit quieter than my HS-1.
Today, I couldn't hear my wife at all. She was sitting in the right seat using the right seat jacks. However, she could hear me just fine.
We troubleshooted by unplugging/replugging, adjusting headset volume, and adjusting avionics volume. Still no earphone sound through my H10.

Finally, I switched audio ports with my wife. I unplugged my H10 from the left seat jacks, handed them over to my wife to plug into the right seat jacks... then plugged her HS-1 into my left seat jacks. Perfectly clear sound from both headsets!
So we swapped headsets. It's so bizarre that the H10 only worked in the right-seat jacks.

I'm wondering if this is something that you folks have seen before. Maybe it's something simple I'm missing.
I sent a note to the flight school about it, but I have to wonder if it's not an issue with the airplane, but my DC headset. May be worth emailing DC as well?

Any advice appreciated.
Thanks folks.
Click to expand...

We had a plane in our club that came into possession wired with stereo jacks, but shunted across what should have been the Left and Right outputs in an attempt to make it compatible with mono plugs. It had the effect of shorting the system when used with headsets that had mono only plugs and killing the output.

Newer headsets, most current ANC, and many passives, have stereo pliugs that have a switch in the wire to make it mono or stereo. These didn't cause the problem.

You can plug your headset into a stereo with a 1/4" output and check for output that way - and even compare the two headsets to see if there is some demonstrable different between the output levels.
 
asicer said:
Did both of you hear the radios? Did others hear you when you pressed the PTT button?

I’ve seen it where pulling one of the plugs a few millimeters out of the jack got things working.
Click to expand...
Yes, after swapping headsets all comms were clear. I couldn't verify if people on frequency could hear me with the H10 because I couldn't hear anything, copilot or otherwise. After swapping to the HS-1, loud and clear across the board
 
laserranger said:
Yes, after swapping headsets all comms were clear. I couldn't verify if people on frequency could hear me with the H10 because I couldn't hear anything, copilot or otherwise. After swapping to the HS-1, loud and clear across the board
Click to expand...
What he was asking is if you swapped them back after the first switch.
 
Short between headphones? :D

Joking aside, what kind of audio panel do you have? Some of them have adjustable bias and gain for each microphone input.
Also, dirty microphone contacts could lead to high resistance in the microphone circuit. The microphones draw power from the line, and that powers internal circuitry that amplify the actual signal before sending it to the audio panel/radios. Most likely the microphones have different current draws. One of them might draw more than the other, and will generate a lower signal if plugged into the dirty jack that has high resistance. Swap them, and now you might have the one with a lower power consumption in the dirty jack, unaffected by it.

Or it could be something completely different.
 
See if one of those mike jacks has been replaced with a 1/4" jack. It's supposed to be a 7/32" diameter jack. A looser jack could make troubles for a headset that has a plug of slightly different ring and tip positionings.

You didn't have the intercom on "Pilot Isolate," did you?
 
I guess I'm confused as to what problem is actually being reported-

OP- did you have audio output issues from known sources, say ATIS, where the two headsets didn't have equal output?

Or did you have some issue with speaking into the microphones and not being able to hear it either via side tone or in the other headset on the intercom system?
 
bentmettle said:
I guess I'm confused as to what problem is actually being reported-

OP- did you have audio output issues from known sources, say ATIS, where the two headsets didn't have equal output?

Or did you have some issue with speaking into the microphones and not being able to hear it either via side tone or in the other headset on the intercom system?
Click to expand...
Both. I heard no sound on my H10s when they were plugged into the left-seat jacks. No sound from intercom NOR frequency sources. Just no sound coming out of the earphones at all.

After switching to the other jacks, I heard both intercom and frequency loud and clear.
 
Do both your headsets have the same plug? Or is one stereo (left) and the other mono (right)?
 

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Bell206 said:
Was your headset plugged all the way in before the swap?
Have you swapped them back yet?
Click to expand...

laserranger said:
Ah! No, I had not. Something to try next time.
Click to expand...

Do wwap the headsets back and replicate the original problem if you can. Since the headset works fine in the right hand seat, it's not the headset. Must be the plug and jack interface. Probably as mentioned above just a fitting issue. It might have even been that the jacks weren't pushed in all the way. Stranger things have happened.
 
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