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Wireless Headsets for C130 ALM's


kiwic130alm
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Does the old system work? We all know the DoD's budget is over extended maybe we should suck it up and do it the old way.

Then nothing would happen... Why buy the J model? The legacy planes still work dont they? Why invent anything new? Why improve products?

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This is totally me just thinking out loud here (Risky, I know :o ), and keep in mind I haven't even gone to basic yet, so all of my ideas could be wrong all over, which is ok.

1. If the long wires keep getting chewed up, snapped, cut, etc, and they need to be replaced rather often, wouldn't a more permanent solution cost less eventually? I mean, one long wire might be cheaper than one wireless module, but if you have to keep buying long wires, that adds up.

2. The safety factor. What if a long wire finally gives out right at the worst moment? Potentially an exaggeration, potentially not: lives could be at risk, and mission efficiency and capability is reduced.

Obviously, I understand the long wires have been around for a long time, and obviously they were fairly consistently, but wouldn't it be nice to get a solution that works all the time without risking a big failure at the wrong time?

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1. If the long wires keep getting chewed up, snapped, cut, etc, and they need to be replaced rather often, wouldn't a more permanent solution cost less eventually? I mean, one long wire might be cheaper than one wireless module, but if you have to keep buying long wires, that adds up.

When changing a system that is already installed in the airplane that has worked for decades, there are a lot of factors to consider, the wires are relatively cheap and pretty easy to repair depending on where it is broken. Usually there's an extra cord somewhere you can use until you get home.

2. The safety factor. What if a long wire finally gives out right at the worst moment? Potentially an exaggeration, potentially not: lives could be at risk, and mission efficiency and capability is reduced.

Obviously, I understand the long wires have been around for a long time, and obviously they were fairly consistently, but wouldn't it be nice to get a solution that works all the time without risking a big failure at the wrong time?

We can 'what if' this subject to death, but wireless must use some type of battery. The battery could give out at the "worst moment" too without any way to get back on the intercom system so you'll need a backup of some type. I guess you'd want wire if the battery was dead. Then you have to figure in the security of the RF produced which probably would reduce battery life. If the RF wasn't secure, how far could it travel and who could hear it? Could the wireless be jammed by someone transmitting on the same frequency?

I'm just not sure how reliable a wireless system would be since the C-130 isn't known for being a nice RF neutral area to be. The headsets would have to be able to withstand a lot of interference too. If you take a ground off the intercom system somewhere the noises can be almost unbearable sometimes. I'm sure we can get a comment or two about the noise in the headsets from a crew member or two.

I'm not trying to squelch any ideas, just throwing my .02 cents in....and we problably haven't even hit on some of the other cons of using wireless.

325X1

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  • 11 months later...

Perfection has always been the enemy of good enough. There have been many versions evaluated, but as good as some have been, they seem to fall short of perfect. In addition to the low-power, secure/scrambled transmissions, noise suppression, range/distance, etc, and on, and on, and on---the world of DOD acquisition cannot understand that if they could decide on what is good enough, cordless headsets would have been in use over 25 years ago.

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There security considerations as well. Not to mention a bulkiness issue.

I'm still waiting on a decent noise cancelling headset for us in the back. We got a bunch of Dave Clarks and Flightcoms. I wasn't happy with them at all. They don't do the job and have bulky battery packs. I tried a Bose headset that another unit and it seemed better, although I didn't get a good chance to really test it out.

I thought I read in one of the AMC C-130 Loadmaster Newsletters that they are working on cordless headsets, but that's all it really said.

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Hmmm no more cords to deal with...wow that would be awesome especially on the EC birds... We were talking about it last year, and AFSOC actually is pretty close to closing the deal...rumors as of last year... and in rumors there is truth. this would help greatly with different programs... keeping it secure actually might not be that hard with all the different encryption tech out there, we just need to not go to the cheapest bidder for once...and all the loadmasters, FEs, and flying MX people will have no more comm cords to worry about.

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  • 2 months later...

Well, I'm just an FNG but since you asked for input ( :rolleyes: )...I would want two buttons-one for plane interphone and another to activate just the PA system so we could talk amongst ourselves in the back. Buttons would need to be very different or in different positions so you could talk to who you want without having to check which button you got ahold of every time. A small box with the PTT switches to clip onto flight suits would be nice and the smaller/slimmer (or lack thereof if possible) of the extra Tx/Rx box would be nice.

But like I said, take my input with a grain of salt. Glad to see somebody is asking though. :)

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I'm reposting this since there was a little confusion with my account and it got deleted..... Thanks for the input so far, I'm serious as a heart attack about defining the feature-set; this product is going to be ready for initial field trials in 45 days and I need it to be as close to correct as possible when I carry the first unit out to the ramp.

"Sooooo, can anyone provide a little input on what this wireless headset system would look like in order for you to love it and use it? How many headsets per system? Would a system that was full-duplex, hands-free between users and push-to-talk on the aircraft comm system be a good option or for loads would you want to talk on the ship's interphone at all times? We're in the final stages of a fully portable wireless system that will work in a lot of different applications but still need a lot of questions answered about what the actual requirements are in the military environment. Obviously ComSec is going to be an issue that we have to address but no idea what level of encryption/encoding is actually required.

WIAGO was targeted at C-5 and KC-10 as originally written (or so the AMC Battle Lab briefing said). I've been contacting AMXS units for input on how they could use a wireless system (and what the configuration looks like for them) but I'd sure like to get some feedback from anywhere in the field so I'm not trying to sell something that nobody really wants."

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Well, I'm just an FNG but since you asked for input ( :rolleyes: )...I would want two buttons-one for plane interphone and another to activate just the PA system so we could talk amongst ourselves in the back. Buttons would need to be very different or in different positions so you could talk to who you want without having to check which button you got ahold of every time. A small box with the PTT switches to clip onto flight suits would be nice and the smaller/slimmer (or lack thereof if possible) of the extra Tx/Rx box would be nice.

But like I said, take my input with a grain of salt. Glad to see somebody is asking though. :)

I'm lower on the food chain than FNG 'cuz I was just a 306XX back when vaccuum tubes were still kind of common....:) Plus, I'm in sales now.....

As it stands right now there is no belt-pack; this is a fully self-contained wireless headset. Because really, 'wireless' kind of means 'no wires', right? The standard configuration as the system works right now would give all headset users hands-free full-duplex communications between themselves. The PTT button is on the earcup and activates a connection to something outside of the wireless system. In some applications that's a two-way radio, in others it's the flight deck of a commercial aircraft.

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My 2 cents. I think you need 2 switches like greatdesires said. On AFSOC aircraft we have 2 switches. One is strictly for intercom and the other is for whatever you have the wafer switch in, weather this is a radio or private. Also it needs to have a range of about 350 feet back to the base unit for doing FARP operations. I, being a lowly flight engineer cannot guarantee that AFSOC would buy it but those are the things I can see from the get go that AFSOC would require.

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My 2 cents. I think you need 2 switches like greatdesires said. On AFSOC aircraft we have 2 switches. One is strictly for intercom and the other is for whatever you have the wafer switch in, weather this is a radio or private. Also it needs to have a range of about 350 feet back to the base unit for doing FARP operations. I, being a lowly flight engineer cannot guarantee that AFSOC would buy it but those are the things I can see from the get go that AFSOC would require.

How about if it was a toggle with On (intercom) in the center position, Off at the bottom and then the aircraft system would be press up and hold to talk? A two switch system isn't out of the question but every switch or connector introduced is a potential point of failure so I'm trying to simplify as much as possible. Most applications we are in right now don't require an OFF position so you're talking betwen headsets by default and if you want to talk outside your group then you have a (momentary) PTT switch.

At this point in the game I'm far less concerned about guessing who may or may not buy because if we can't define and meet the user requirements then no one will buy it. At the end of the day, if no MajCom is willing to fund it I want them to have to say 'Yeah, we could use this but we don't want to' rather than 'Well, we would buy it except for "X" function isn't there.'

350 feet shouldn't be an issue at all, but.... until I can get inside and around a couple of birds to test it...:confused:.... Maybe at Rodeo someone will invite me out to play.

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