[Elecraft] OT: Hearing Aid Advice

[Jim Rhodes]

Check out the VA, they have the good stuff and you are eligible if you are
veteran.

Jim K0XU Sent from my Xoom tablet
On May 1, 2012 3:27 AM, "Chuck Smallhouse" <w7cs at theriver.com> wrote:

> Hi Guys & Gals,
>
> I'm finally overcoming my procrastination (and ego) and am going to
> be getting some hearing aids.  Finally the many explosions that my
> ears were exposed to, during my military career, from large AA guns
> (90 & 120 MM), experimental large ground to ground and ground to air
> guided missiles, to grenades, mortars and small arms fire, has caught
> up with me.  My ears have deteriorated to where I have difficulty
> with hearing high frequencies, and therefore understanding many
> conversations, especially those at a distance.
>
> Over the years, I've been very frustrated with all the problems and
> difficulties that my wife has had, with her high end devices.  I
> realize that improvements are being made almost yearly, and new
> models are addressing customers' complaints, and also one must be
> willing to compromise.
>
>  From my limited research and discussions with audiologists, there
> are basically two general types,  In the ear and behind the
> ear.  From a technical (and personal) standpoint I tend to favor the
> behind the ear versions, as I allude to the other type like putting a
> cork in the ear to plug up any outside sounds, and then inject
> totally artificially amplified sounds.  I realize that this is a
> requirement for some types of hearing loss, however, at this time,
> mine is not very severe and gives me a choice of types.
>
> A very high percent of ham radio operating is listening to and trying
> to pull out, deep into the noise level, weak signals in the VHF/UHF
> and microwave bands.  This I try to accomplish, somewhat successfully
> (WAS, VUCC & 95+ DXCC on 2M CW), using narrow IF and audio
> filters.  I've always used headphones with large comfortable and
> effective earmuffs on them.  The muffs aid greatly to my
> concentration in trying to decipher CW signals, that are many dB
> below the noise.
>
> Therein is my need for some advice and suggestions based on
> experience.  I would expect that in this case that in "the ear"
> devices might be appropriate as the muffed earphones could not be
> satisfactorily used, with "behind the ear" types.
> Maybe the best approach, in this case, would be to remove the hearing
> aids and attempt to duplicate the hearing aids' response with the RX
> EQ adjustments in the K3, and maybe also with an additional response
> adjustment with an external MFJ  616 Speech Enhancer ?
>
> One disadvantage with the "behind the ear" types, is that they tend
> to interfere with the wearing of sun and reading glasses, also they
> are more likely to fall off when engaged in certain recreational
> activities, that I'm still quite involved in, such as downhill skiing
> and dirt bike and ATV riding when wearing a helmet.  Since wearing of
> a helmet has built in audio attenuation, the safest approach is
> probably not to wear the "aids" during those activities.
>
> There some neat options that now exist, especially for behind the ear
> units.  These are such things as wireless remote controls that are
> Bluetooth and TV adaptable, and an option for rechargeable
> batteries.  You drop the aids into a magnetic coupled charging
> fixture/box every night.  You now have a permanent place to store and
> dry them, where you know where to find them the next day !
>
> At this time I don't think I can afford ones with all the bells and
> whistles and would like to stay in the 2k to 3k dollar range/pr,
> including the remote unit.
>
> So please sound off with your recommendations and thoughts.
>
> Thanks es 73,
>
> Chuck,  W7CS
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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