Volume modulator for headset/helmet

[Flyingfanatic]

I fly a helicopter for work and we monitor 3 different radios at times. Our company radio system does not modulate volume at all. Some people are loud on it and others you can barely hear.

Does anyone know of an in-line plug in device that will modulate the volume?

I’ve heard PS-engineering has that built into their audio panels, but we won’t be upgrading to that anytime soon.

 

[Bell206]

I fly a helicopter for work and we monitor 3 different radios at times. Our company radio system does not modulate volume at all. Some people are loud on it and others you can barely hear.

Sounds more like an impedance mismatch between your helmet and the avionics than a volume issue. But without more info can't offer any suggestions. Is your helmet set up for military or civilian radios? What equipment allows you to listen to all 3 radios and is there a single volume control for all 3 radios or do you adjust each radio individually?

 

[Flyingfanatic]

Sounds more like an impedance mismatch between your helmet and the avionics than a volume issue. But without more info can't offer any suggestions. Is your helmet set up for military or civilian radios? What equipment allows you to listen to all 3 radios and is there a single volume control for all 3 radios or do you adjust each radio individually?

We have an audio panel that allows us to listen to Comm 1, Comm 2 and FM (company) as well as others. I have a single volume control on the audio panel, as well as on the aviation radios and company radio.

The issue is with the company radio not being modulated. On our other company radios (handhelds, etc, it’s also an issue).

Volume modulation is only a problem on the company radios. Some folks are super loud and others are barely audible.

 

[Bell206]

I have a single volume control on the audio panel, as well as on the aviation radios and company radio.

Volume modulation is only a problem on the company radios. Some folks are super loud and others are barely audible.

So you are asking about controlling the signal at the carrier level vs simply controlling the volume level at the speaker level? If so you're outside my skill level. But since its only on the FM company side and you mention different types of radios being used its been my experience that the signal differences are due to the different type mics used and/or the different levels of mic gain being used. I believe in order to balance these signals out it needs to be done at the input side of the radio/audio panel or match all the mic gains across the spectrum of radios.

 

[Dan Thomas]

My old SoftComm headset has a volume potentiometer built into it. But those low-resistance pots are harder to find now, and you need a small one to boot, to fit into the earcup.

 

[Doug Reid]

Your company needs to install a compressor/limiter on their equipment.

 

[Flyingfanatic]

Thanks for all the replies. I knew our company radios were not modulating properly, but I was hoping there was a solution on the receiver end to stop it.

I have heard that PS engineering has some sort of decibel modulation in one of their audio panels which made me think there may be an inline option for me.