Converting Military Flightcom E-13 ANR to General Aviation

rcheing

rcheing

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N2204RC
Hello All,

New member here. Very happy to see a pilot forum with useful information. Anyway, I have a couple of headsets that were handed down to me from my brother who was in the Air Force. One is a David Clark H10-76 and the other is Flightcom E-13 ANR.

I have been doing a lot of reading in regards to impedance mismatch and different plugs. The conversion seems straightforward for the DC headset. However, it's confusing because many sell either:
  • Impedance adapter cable which also converts plugs, but I have read it only affects the mic and not the earphone speakers.
  • High impedance electret mic and cable plug converter.
  • High impedance electret mic, cable plug converter and in addition 300 ohm earphone speakers.
I'm not sure why there are so many options, does not changing out the 19 ohm earphone speakers in military headset not affect anything after the plug and mic conversion? Does it depend on the aircraft whether you change out the speakers? What happens if you leave the 19 ohm speakers in? When changing speakers do you also need to change the volume knob control as those are also matched to the speakers?

For the record, I went out and purchased the Acousticom $125 conversion set which includes the electret mic, plug converter cable and 300 ohm earphone speakers. Still waiting on the kit, so I'll post an update once I convert my DC.

The question I have is in regards to the Flightcom E-13 ANR. It seems the conversion for this is not that straightforward. Although the headset is basically a DC H10-76 "clone" with ANR. The fact that it is ANR means the earphone speakers have a microphone and module built-in. So the Acousticom kit I purchased for my DC will not work.

Someone on eBay said I only need the impedance and plug conversion cable and I should be fine. However, not sure how the headset will sound using the dynamic mic it currently has and the earphone speakers would still be 19 ohm military.

I was thinking I should probably change out the mic to an electret high impedance and get a plug conversion cable. In addition, I found a company that sells the 300 ohm ANR speakers with modules only. That way, I don't have to pickup the full ANR conversion kit they sell.

http://www.headsetsinc.com/

Any advice, opinions, real world experience, etc...?

Thank you in advance.
 

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I bought the NEXUS U-92A/U adapter and plugged it into an Air Force headset and it worked fine. I didn't do any of the research you did so maybe I got lucky. I don't know the details other that it has a high impedance mic and the U-174/U plug. I've never had a problem with it.
 
Paging Archammer!
 
Buy the full anr kit from headsets Inc. They have good stuff and customer support is awesome. If you call them up they can answer any questions you have and most likely have already worked on what you have. Good people. I'm a happy customer of theirs for 7 years now
 
I have had very good service from Headsets Inc converting military to civilian impedance.
My ANR works great even on battery power when flying others aircraft.
 
Sorry guys, I'm here. Been sidetracked with this new Aero Club.

Ok, so you've already done most of the research, which is good. However, I don't want you guys getting reeled in with some of this stuff online.

When converting military to civilian, the only thing that really matters is the microphone. The audio speakers frequency in those headsets is not a factor nor would you notice unless you compared them to a higher response cone system like ours. We'll go over the ANR system in a second. So take the audio speakers out of the mix, they are fine as is. The military speakers just have less high end, and more low end. (This matters if you have music or phone aux. It will sound just meh, and not as crisp)

Now you have to "convert" the microphone in one of two ways. Replace it, or modify the mic out with an adapter (which converts the single plug to dual as well) That means you can leave the military microphone in place, and just add our adapter cable: http://www.thesquawkshoppe.com/prod...hi-standard-to-low-military?variant=320304533 and done for sub $100.00. That is the cheapest way to convert. Will it sound great? No, but it will work just fine. However you're adding adapters and things into your headset that makes it more bulky. So keep that in mind.

Ok, the ANR system. There is no such thing as "military" ANR. Sellers probably call it that to avoid confusion to the customer, which I understand. However it's a misnomer.
So think of the ANR system separately and realize that if it is already an ANR headset, the mic is still the only thing you need to change/modify technically. You just leave all the speakers, ANR and assemblies intact. The caveat is that you still need to connect the headset to a civilian plane. So with that Flightcom, just purchase the adapter cable and be done with it.

Argg, trying to type this on my phone is a nightmare. Let me get back to my office and I'll edit this.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ok, back. Now, if you're wanting to convert the PNR (Passive) to an (ANR) with that kit, you need to know what you're getting in to. I think it will be more than you want to deal with. Additionally, don't forget you'll still need the impedance conversion cable.
First, you have to drill a new hole for a second cable to run the ANR system. So now you have a main cable, with an adapter that has a battery box to convert the mic impedance. Then you've got a second cable coming out to a second battery box that runs the ANR. Additionally, you have to remember to turn everything on. You have to completely remove the overhead cable, and replace it. Which means and entire dis-assembly of the entire headset. Finally, wire everything together and when you're all done, you've got cables and batteries everywhere. Now try and organize all that in the airplane. It's ludicrous.

This is for everyone! If you want to spend your money on those ANR kits that you have to do all that modification and have all that tangled mess, be my guest. OR just send me your headsets you cheap bastards! It's $275 (GA only) Heli-Lemo-Gentex cost more. I upgrade everything to a proper ANR and current audio system. It's got an auto shutoff so everything turns itself on. I even put our twin layer true gel earseals on them. It's done correctly without a bunch of extra holes or cables and extra batteries. Good god.
Even better though, stop all that unnecessary modification to a "hand-me-down", sell your old headsets on eBay or craigslist and come buy a proper ANR headset made just for you!

Hopefully that extremely drawn out response answers your questions. :)
 
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Wow thanks so much for the information guys.

@Archammer your knowledge and advice in this area is greatly appreciated.

Yes, from all that research, I knew that the low impedance dynamic mic had to be switched out along with converting the plug. I wasn't so sure on the earphone speakers, since I received conflicting information everywhere I go - some said that the 19 ohm speakers in the military headset would draw too much from intercom and would sound "loud" (which I figured could be solved by turning the volume down). However, when flying with a passenger and presuming the passenger is wearing a general aviation headset with 300 ohm earphone speakers, this mixing of 19 and 300 ohm speakers in the intercom would affect volume levels in either the military or general aviation headset. This was a particular concern for me because I am currently primary training and obviously my CFI's headset could not be affected.

For the above reasons, I purchased the following conversion kit from Acousticom to convert my DC H10-76: David Clark H10-76 Conversion Kit Plus (Includes 300 ohm speakers)

However, based on Archammer's recommendation, it seems I may be replacing the speakers for no particular reason. Both headsets are brand new, so I would be replacing brand new speakers. :-(

Then I understand that for my Flightcom E-13 ANR headset all I really need is either of these, which is great because it saves me $90 for the 300 ohm ANR speaker modules from Headsets Inc.:
 
rcheing said:
Wow thanks so much for the information guys.

@Archammer your knowledge and advice in this area is greatly appreciated.

Yes, from all that research, I knew that the low impedance dynamic mic had to be switched out along with converting the plug. I wasn't so sure on the earphone speakers, since I received conflicting information everywhere I go - some said that the 19 ohm speakers in the military headset would draw too much from intercom and would sound "loud" (which I figured could be solved by turning the volume down). However, when flying with a passenger and presuming the passenger is wearing a general aviation headset with 300 ohm earphone speakers, this mixing of 19 and 300 ohm speakers in the intercom would affect volume levels in either the military or general aviation headset. This was a particular concern for me because I am currently primary training and obviously my CFI's headset could not be affected.

For the above reasons, I purchased the following conversion kit from Acousticom to convert my DC H10-76: David Clark H10-76 Conversion Kit Plus (Includes 300 ohm speakers)

However, based on Archammer's recommendation, it seems I may be replacing the speakers for no particular reason. Both headsets are brand new, so I would be replacing brand new speakers. :-(

Then I understand that for my Flightcom E-13 ANR headset all I really need is either of these, which is great because it saves me $90 for the 300 ohm ANR speaker modules from Headsets Inc.:
Click to expand...

That's a good concern to have. The impedance converter should mitigate that imbalance, but in very specific cases, you may get some feedback from the right seater. In that case, you'll just attempt correction with volume control.
I will also vouch for the Acousticom conversion. They make a proper microphone that is almost as good. :)
 
Thanks man! I went with Acousticom because they are OEM providers for David Clark and wanted to use as close to stock parts as possible. With your help, I decided I am going to purchase just the mic replacement and U174 plug adapter instead of just the impedance adapter (both are roughly the same price) for the E-13 ANR since I don't plan on using this headset in any military aircraft! Lol.

I'll see if I can turn this into a how-to thread and take pictures of the conversion process. I haven't seen anything like this online and this may be helpful to future pilots.
 
Archammer said:
So think of the ANR system separately and realize that if it is already an ANR headset, the mic is still the only thing you need to change/modify technically. You just leave all the speakers, ANR and assemblies intact.
Click to expand...
When you say "assemblies intact" does this also include leaving the low impedance dynamic mic on the headset when using an impedance adapter cable which also converts the plug? I didn't realize you sell these also, nice!

Archammer said:
So with that Flightcom, just purchase the adapter cable and be done with it.
Click to expand...
Or instead of the impedance adapter cable can I replace the mic to an high impedance electret type AND get a regular plug converter adapter cable which ONLY converts the plug type? Does the fact that it already is an ANR headset, I should leave the stock dynamic mic on? Is one better than the other? Both solutions seem to cost about the same.

Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Ricardo Cheing
 
rcheing said:
When you say "assemblies intact" does this also include leaving the low impedance dynamic mic on the headset when using an impedance adapter cable which also converts the plug? I didn't realize you sell these also, nice!
Click to expand...
That's correct, you can just replace the cable (with a proper amplified converter), you do not need to replace the mic. We always recommend a mic replacement as well, because ATC will be much happier. See solution below for that:

rcheing said:
Or instead of the impedance adapter cable can I replace the mic to an high impedance electret type AND get a regular plug converter adapter cable which ONLY converts the plug type? Does the fact that it already is an ANR headset, I should leave the stock dynamic mic on? Is one better than the other? Both solutions seem to cost about the same.
Click to expand...
Also a yes. IN that case you purchase:

Helicopter to GA Adapter Cable
PA-5XSteel Boom Microphone for DC
Flightcom E-13 ANR should accept a standard mic mount as well, so I would recommend:
PA-7X Microphone or
PA9-EHN Microphone (best microphone on the market)
 
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