RE: FM System and Wireless Headphones

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 7/31/2006 7:45:40 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,

bswatson@... writes:

's Neckloop :-) Jill and Barbra can give you more info about

and his site.

The problem with using an FM in its wireless mode is matching the frequency

it is transmitting on. I don't know if you can get the dvd to transmit

directly to the FM boots without a lot of trouble.

However, to address this very issue, Ian's new FM microphone has a cord/jack

that can be inserted into any output plug on one end and into the microphone

with the other, then the mike can transmit the output right to the FM

receiver boots, like it does with a person's voice.

Does your fm mike have this ability? I've been told that many of the newer

ones have this ability. (Ian's mike was almost 6 years old when it was

replaced, so it was a very basic model.) If yours has it, then that's great!

Ian

uses it in school during movies and even during film/video class so he could

hear the student creations. If not, I'd call the FM system's manufacturer and

ask if this setup is available/possible. Perhaps you can pick up a jack at

someplace like Radio Shack that would allow the mike to be plugged into the dvd

and then be the transmitter for the dvd. It depends on what plugs are on the

mike itself.

As for a neckloop. The neckloops I know of are ones that transmit via the

t-coil (receiver) built into the aids. Often there is a switch (analog) or

program setting (digital/programmable) that turns the aids onto receive input

via

the t-coil. A neckloop needs to be plugged directly into the device's output

plug. We recently I bought Ian a neckloop (from DeVilbiss) that plugs

directly into the output plugs on Ian's CD and MP3 players. I'm not sure if

it will plug into the output on the laptop/computer or dvd players, we

haven't tried that yet.

The one problem I see with using the neckloop it in the car is that the cord

is not very long. It is long enough to reach the CD/MP3 when they are in

Ian's pockets or backpack, but not across the car to reach the stereo or dvd

player.

Perhaps you can get an extending cord from Radio Shack. If you intend to

order a neckloop from , ask about this extended length. He is a very

helpful person, an absolute sweet heart! Perhaps he can make one long enough. I

don't know what the limit is on the length and if a longer cord would need its

own power source or some sort of signal booster.

The neckloop itself needs to be close to the aids, you can't plug it into

the DVD and have it transmit across the car to the child sitting in the seat.

Its range is very limited which is why it's worn hanging around the neck --or

up over the ears right next to the aids, depending on the kid (grin).

I wish you luck! Ask more questions ... I'll try to answer.

Jill

PS: I'm sending a friend a question about the added length to the neckloop

cord. He said he is going to teach Ian to make one ... pretty cool.

[Guest guest]

's Neckloop :-) Jill and Barbra can give you more info about

and his site.

--Robin

Memphis Mommy

Constance 6, Breanna 3 and is 2

FM System and Wireless Headphones

Hi all.

Does anyone know if there is any way to have your child's fm system

connect somehow to a car dvd player? It has wireless headphones, so I

don't know if there is some way to get the FM system to work with it, or

not?

Thanks!

Tawnya

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 7/31/2006 2:10:04 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,

pcknott@... writes:

Jill, we have a 6 year old microlink microphone thingie and it has this plug

in place. I think I'll get Maggie to try using this with DVD and CDs in the

car - I've 'borrowed " her amplifying headphones for the gym!

,

Apparently Ian's new mike has more plugs and several cords that came with it

-- and an instruction booklet explaining it all. He knows how it all works

and thinks it fabulous. I know what it can do just from the stories he's

told. I don't think his old one had much of anything extra. He had it for 5+

years, and I'll bet it was not new when he received it.

Anyway, about the idea of extending the neckloop .... I've just " talked "

with our friend and his comments were that 1) the easiest and cheapest solution

to extending the neckloop would be to bring it and the MP3/CD player to the

store (Radio Shack) and simply try it out. If the signal degrades or is

altered, you'll know right away.

To quote him: " If the device is very sensitive then the added resistance of

the wire, although small, may change the characteristics of the device and it

may not work with the extension. "

So, I'd try it out with a CD player (stronger batteries than the MP3) and

see if it works. If so, I'd buy it and try it with the dvd player.

The one question he asked was about the cable, it was thicker and that

caused him to question whether it was a shielded cable up to the loop section.

And

as far as he knows, you can't buy a shielded extension. But he said give it

a go. When Ian gets home, we're going to see about it, then he could plug into

the TV as well.

I've been looking into Bluetooth stuff and am having mixed results. I've

found a Bluetooth neckloop -- basically doing what the current neckloop does

(feeding into the t-coil) and receiving from any bluetooth transmitter. The

problem I'm having is finding the audio output device. I can find all kinds of

things that will allow input (picture onto your TV, MP3 onto your stereo) but I

can't seen to find and output device sold alone.

There is a receiver that fits onto the ear like a cell phone headpiece, and

it is sold with the transmitter. But the company won't sell only the

transmitter. The whole setup is $600+ per earpiece and we don't want another

thing

for Ian's ears, we want to use his aids. So, for now, Bluetooth is looking

good, but isn't doable for us yet.

Best -- Jill

[Guest guest]

I believe it does have a cord that can attach to the stereo and tv. I will

check that out.

Thanks!

Re: FM System and Wireless Headphones

In a message dated 7/31/2006 7:45:40 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,

bswatson@... writes:

's Neckloop :-) Jill and Barbra can give you more info about

and his site.

The problem with using an FM in its wireless mode is matching the frequency

it is transmitting on. I don't know if you can get the dvd to transmit

directly to the FM boots without a lot of trouble.

However, to address this very issue, Ian's new FM microphone has a cord/jack

that can be inserted into any output plug on one end and into the microphone

with the other, then the mike can transmit the output right to the FM

receiver boots, like it does with a person's voice.

Does your fm mike have this ability? I've been told that many of the newer

ones have this ability. (Ian's mike was almost 6 years old when it was

replaced, so it was a very basic model.) If yours has it, then that's great!

Ian

uses it in school during movies and even during film/video class so he could

hear the student creations. If not, I'd call the FM system's manufacturer and

ask if this setup is available/possible. Perhaps you can pick up a jack at

someplace like Radio Shack that would allow the mike to be plugged into the

dvd

and then be the transmitter for the dvd. It depends on what plugs are on the

mike itself.

As for a neckloop. The neckloops I know of are ones that transmit via the

t-coil (receiver) built into the aids. Often there is a switch (analog) or

program setting (digital/programmable) that turns the aids onto receive input

via

the t-coil. A neckloop needs to be plugged directly into the device's output

plug. We recently I bought Ian a neckloop (from DeVilbiss) that plugs

directly into the output plugs on Ian's CD and MP3 players. I'm not sure if

it will plug into the output on the laptop/computer or dvd players, we

haven't tried that yet.

The one problem I see with using the neckloop it in the car is that the cord

is not very long. It is long enough to reach the CD/MP3 when they are in

Ian's pockets or backpack, but not across the car to reach the stereo or dvd

player.

Perhaps you can get an extending cord from Radio Shack. If you intend to

order a neckloop from , ask about this extended length. He is a very

helpful person, an absolute sweet heart! Perhaps he can make one long enough.

I

don't know what the limit is on the length and if a longer cord would need its

own power source or some sort of signal booster.

The neckloop itself needs to be close to the aids, you can't plug it into

the DVD and have it transmit across the car to the child sitting in the seat.

Its range is very limited which is why it's worn hanging around the neck --or

up over the ears right next to the aids, depending on the kid (grin).

I wish you luck! Ask more questions ... I'll try to answer.

Jill

PS: I'm sending a friend a question about the added length to the neckloop

cord. He said he is going to teach Ian to make one ... pretty cool.

[Guest guest]

Jill, we have a 6 year old microlink microphone thingie and it has this plug in

place. I think I'll get Maggie to try using this with DVD and CDs in the car -

I've 'borrowed " her amplifying headphones for the gym!

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 7/31/2006 4:41:44 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,

pcknott@... writes:

Have you looked at the Starkey Eli?? They have two types of blue tooth

devices for hearing aids, one on a neckloop and one that attaches to the

hearing

aid with a boot like the microlink. Our audi showed us the clip on one but

since Maggie is only interested in the open fit aids, it won't work, she'd need

the neckloop. They (Starkey) are supposed to be coming out with a transmitter

that will work 30 feet, not much but enough for most classrooms, that is

called " BluePal " . Look at this site:

The problem with the Bluetooth is that after buying the Bluetooth boot part

from Starkey AND the special boot from the hearing aid manufacturer (Phonak) I

might as well purchase the FM system from Phonak -- plus it would be

smaller! The Phonak system is one boot. The Starkey Bluetooth setup needs the

Bluetooth receiver and a boot for between the aid and the Bluetooth receiver.

The Bluetooth receiver has a prong, like one that would go into an MP3

player or stereo. It works only for aids with DIA ability -- ones that use a

plug-in style attachment. Ian's aids have little gold/brass plates that touch to

parts on the Phonak Microlink boots -- nothing inserts into the aid.

So, the set-up I was thinking of was the Bluetooth neckloop (just like the

one from in that it feeds into the t-coil). The problem is finding the

audio output devices. Or figuring out how to make one. (I've asked

about this).

Once they make the microphone style transmitter available, then the system

becomes worthwhile. That mike should, hopefully, be able to plug into the audio

output the same way his FM mike does. Until I can find a transmitter, there

is simply no point to buying anything Bluetooth. All Ian would be able to

access would be the phone, which he can already do with the t-coil. For now,

this is a non-starter for us.

Best -- Jill

[Guest guest]

Have you looked at the Starkey Eli?? They have two types of blue tooth devices

for hearing aids, one on a neckloop and one that attaches to the hearing aid

with a boot like the microlink. Our audi showed us the clip on one but since

Maggie is only interested in the open fit aids, it won't work, she'd need the

neckloop. They (Starkey) are supposed to be coming out with a transmitter that

will work 30 feet, not much but enough for most classrooms, that is called

" BluePal " . Look at this site:

http://p6.hostingprod.com/@hearingmojo.com/blog-mt/blog-mt/new_products/

Starkey stuff is at http://www.elihearing.com/UnitedStatesENG/index.htm

Hope this helps.

[Guest guest]

DVD players that are built in to cars often utilize a wireless headphone

system with infrared transmission, not FM. If you want to connect an FM,

you'll need to connect from a headphone jack on the player to an auxiliary

input jack on the FM transmitter, if it has one.

> Hi all.

>

> Does anyone know if there is any way to have your child's fm system

> connect somehow to a car dvd player? It has wireless headphones, so I

> don't know if there is some way to get the FM system to work with it, or

> not?

>

> Thanks!

> Tawnya

[Guest guest]

Jill, we have the MicroLink too, but since the aids are Widex, we have a little

unit with the same prongs as the Eli. The prong goes into separate boots that

fit the hearing aid just like the one piece ones. Phonak makes the microlink to

fit its own aids as a one piece deal which is what it sounds like you have. For

the non-Phonak aids, the boots are like 30 dollars a pair. Not too bad, we've

replaced them a few times. They connect to the gold DAI cut outs on the sides

of the hearing aids just like the Phonak one piece microlink does. The prongs

are a proprietary thing to hearing aids - all brands. The prongs don't plug

right into the aid, they go into the boot. Does that make sense?? The triple

prong won't hook into an MP3 or CD player because they don't have the triple

prong female part. Only hearing aids use this triple prong thingie. (My

favorite technical term - thingie) If you are using microlink, your aid is

DAI. If we bought any new regular BTE's of any brand now (with DAI capability)

, all we'd have to do is buy the boots (cheap) for the new brand of aid and we

could still use our same FM system. When Ian gets new aids, his current

Microlinks probably won't fit the new aids. (Once I bought a microlink system

on Ebay and turned out they were only good for Phonak PicoFortes.) I didn't

think to ask, I thought they all had receivers that plugged into removable

boots. (this was a second system for us). And you are right, the Eli is bigger

than the microlinks.

The Eli is $400 while the FM unit is about $800 from Phonak. At least we paid

$800 EACH for ours 6 years ago. For the two microlinks and the transmitter one

mic and the charger we paid about @2400. So the Eli could be a big savings.

There was a company called National Cellular - I think I posted on them but then

the page with hearing impaired products disappeared. They had the Eli for $200.

I was thinking that if you could use the Eli for both cell phone and FM it would

be a pretty economical way to go. A cell phone is like life blood to a teenaged

girl, the boys seem to have them but just use them utilitarianly. If they are

pricing the Eli at 400, the transmitter would probably be less. I've been

checking the Starkey site for the BluePal but haven't seen anything about it

except on the Hearing Mojo site. Maybe they are still working on it.

One thing you might want to think about if you want Blue tooth and already have

a microlink system is to get the Smart Link transmitter from Phonak. It is the

newest thing for the microlink system, you can plug things into it like CDs and

MP3s and it is also Bluetooth. It takes the Bluetooth signal (say from a cell

phone) and transmits it via FM to the hearing aid boots. And it has a strong

microphone so the teacher doesn't wear it, the child has it and points it at

whomever is talking. Its something we are considering since we already have the

microlink part. Maggie however, absolutely refuses to talk about using her FM.

Though we are going to let her take Spanish instead of Latin this year, but the

deal is that if she doesn't do well, she HAS to use the FM or go back to Latin.

She doesn't like the Latin teacher!

I guess why I am so hyped up about BlueTooth is because in the next 5 years it

will be used in a lot more things. The first aids we bought were not compatible

with an FM so I don't want to get in that kind of situation again. And with 11

years of hearing loss we are just buying the third set of aids so I'm thinking

she'll use these all through high school and maybe even longer. I hope this

makes sense.

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 7/31/2006 9:37:07 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,

pcknott@... writes:

One thing you might want to think about if you want Blue tooth and already

have a microlink system is to get the Smart Link transmitter from Phonak. It

is the newest thing for the microlink system, you can plug things into it like

CDs and MP3s and it is also Bluetooth.

,

Apparently our school bought this little package when they got the new

microphone because everything you describe are things he can do with the new

Mike

and it's collection of cords. Ian can plug into anything, including his MP3

player. He figured that out on the first day of using it and was secretly

plugging his FM into his MP3 while it was in his pocket. That way he could hear

both the music and the world around him. Sneaky devil. I warned him not to pull

that during class, or he'd find the school pulling the FM control from him

and causing a fight for me -- MP3s, IPods and CD players are banned during

class hours.

<

>

When I was reading up about this the articles seemed to use " DAI " in

conjunction with the prong type attachments, not the boots like we have. Stating

that we would need to get boots from our manufacturer (phonak) in order to

accommodate the little prongs. Didn't really make sense to limit that acronym to

prongs-only, since the FM boots are direct audio input even if all they do is

touch the contact plates. (shrug) So I assumed the acronym was somehow was

linked only to the prong style hookups. Sorry for the confusion.

I am not wedded to the idea of Bluetooth stuff. When I found the Eli

neckloop (as opposed to the boots that need boots -- grin) I thought that would

be

the easiest and cheapest solution. The big issue I've found is locating

someone to sell me the audio output portion only. Without that portion of the

set-up, all he would be able to hook into are the things he can already access

with the neckloop, so there is no real gain for us.

Like you I'm watching the Bluetooth stuff with interest, hoping it is going

to catch on more and more and not be another Beta-max tape or optical drive

-- lots of promise and went nowhere quickly because other similar technology

overtook it.

Best -- Jill