[Elecraft] K3 and hearing aids

[Fred Jensen]

On 11/17/2014 1:01 PM, Phil Wheeler wrote:

> I added a hearing aid to my
> only functional ear a week ago and found not only improved volume but
> improved freq response (in retrospect, not a surprise!). Now folks with
> high, "squeaky" voices are much more intelligible than they were before.

Very important topic for those of us with compromised hearing.  Both my 
ears still work, but the bulk of my hearing disappeared in one event one 
night many years ago.  I hear almost nothing above about 1200 Hz where 
both ears are about 85 dB down, without the $6,000 worth of 
microelectronics stuffed into my ears [fortunately, the government pays 
for mine :-)].  My new ones can identify music, conversation, noise, 
fire truck sirens, and CW, and adjust accordingly.  They even talk to 
each other so they change programs together.
>
> The downside is using headphones: I've preferred an Apple ear bud and
> have quite a collection. So I'm experimenting with new headphones vs.
> removing the hearing aid. I tried one over the ear type, well reviewed,
> that resulted in a sequence of chimes in the hearing aid -- not a good
> sign.

Mine do not work under my headphones [Heil Pro-Set I got from Elecraft], 
they just shut down.  I run the AF Gain at about 1 o'clock on CW [don't 
operate much SSB, too hard to understand] which is right at the 
beginning of distortion in the cans.  I don't know if it's coming from 
the K3 audio amp, or the headphones are being overdriven.  My CW 
sidetone is at 570 Hz, and I use a mark of 915 Hz on RTTY, both of which 
I can hear if they're loud enough.

Since the hearing aids communicate with each other [if I manually turn 
one up or down, the other does it too ... some bluetooth-ish thing I 
suppose], I've wondered if there's a way to feed audio directly into 
them from the K3.  I haven't found one yet, and I don't know if it would 
be better than the headphones.

If the audio distortion is coming from the AF amp in the K3, an outboard 
amp might allow me to get higher sound levels in the headphones.  If 
it's coming from overdriving the headphones, maybe I need a better 
headset/mic?  If anyone has any experience driving digital hearing aids 
directly, I'd like to discuss it with you.  My aids are Phonak Savia's.

SS SSB and NAQP SSB are the only phone contests I play in, and only then 
to create some points for my club.  Last weekend's SS SSB was a real 
slog for me.

73,

Fred K6DGW
- Northern California Contest Club
- CU in the 50th Running of the Cal QSO Party 3-4 Oct 2015
- www.cqp.org