[Elecraft] [K3] Hearing aids, meet K3

[Edward R Cole]

I have worn hearing aids since 1996 (on my second pair).  Because 
hearing was very important for my work, I bought the top quality 
offered.  I wear Phonac Savia OTE (over the ear) model.  In 2006 they 
cost $2600/ea.  Previously, I had an in-the-ear model which worked 
pretty well using a telephone; OTE has the mic on the back side of 
the ear so when you hold a telephone receiver to your ear the sound 
never gets to the aid.  My hearing aids have four programs and my 
audiologist did program a T-coil function for me to try but I found 
it too distorted for use with a telephone (solution: I always use 
speaker-phone).  One feature that made the choice for OTE is my model 
has two mics on each aid providing noise cancellation.  That is nice 
in a crowded room.

Like Don and others my hearing aids have several programs for 
different hearing situations.  I find running the "music" mode (flat 
frequency response) provides the best intelligibility if background 
sounds/noise it not a problem.  I select that for operating ham radio 
and adjust the K3 equalizer for what works best for me.  I find 
copying CW is best with a tone freq of 500-700 Hz.

However, if I do not wear the hearing aids I am nearly deaf so that 
is not an option for ham radio (for me).  My hearing rolls off at 
about 900-Hz, but I have a problem with understanding speech which is 
not just amplitude related.  I really need those higher freq to 
understand speech.  My Sony stereo head phones have big soft cuffs 
that surround my ear so I am able to use them wearing my aids; 
necessary for super-weak signals.

I need to start saving for my next pair; average life span of hearing 
aids is ten years or less.  Probably going to be close to $10K (half 
my current annual income on soc sec).

73, Ed - KL7UW

--------------------
From: Jim Brown <jim at audiosystemsgroup.com>
To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] [K3] Hearing aids, meet K3
Message-ID: <52021217.6030501 at audiosystemsgroup.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

On 8/6/2013 8:45 PM, Don Wilhelm wrote:
 > I may b unique because my lower range hearing without the aids is
 > normal, so I have built-in low pass filters in my ears.

That's entirely normal, Don. In general, hearing loss starts at the high
end and moves down.  Many folks with a lot of hearing loss still hear a
lot of low end. The exception is when for one reason or another we are
exposed to strong noise at a specific frequencies, or a specific range
of frequencies, in which case we develop a notch in that range.

The problem is that speech intelligibility depends on sounds in the
range of 500 Hz - 4 kHz, with the 2 kHz octave being most important, the
1 kHz octave close behind.  That's why telephones and ham radio, with
bandwidth limited to about 500 Hz to 3kHz,  work just fine. Energy above
4 kHz helps, but energy below about 350 Hz makes no contribution, and
often makes things worse.  The scientists at Bell Labs figured this
stuff out early in the 20th century.

73, Jim K9YC


73, Ed - KL7UW
http://www.kl7uw.com
dubususa at gmail.com
"Kits made by KL7UW"