Bose Aviation Headset (First Model)

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Jeffythequick

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Charleston, SC and Everett, WA
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Jeffythequick
I picked up a couple of these, and it looks like the person tried to fix them. In the fixing, it looks like they took apart the box between the headset and the GA plugs.

So, if anyone has any of the following, I'd appreciate any help:
Bose HI-CG box. Two of them. If you only have one, I can reverse engineer the pinouts.
Pinout/schematic (odd preferred) of the HI-CG circuit board
Service Manual for AH-BG headset

This is "plan B", as I've already contacted Bose, and I'm waiting for a reply. Since the headsets are from the early 90's, I don't expect they have parts laying around the place. Even more funny is the owners manual is a scan of a photocopy.

The good news is if I have the service manual, I can make the connectors, and a battery pack, and then I'll be 3/5 the way to having the headsets I need for the family to fly.

Thank you!
 
I just got off the phone with Bose support, and they impressed me. Emailed me the schematics, and it looks like I get to use that Circuit Analysis class I took 30 years ago!

All in all, it looks pretty simple to accomplish what I need to do to test them out and get them working.

Again, impressive.
 
Cool post pics.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I had a pair of those. The noise cancelling was pretty good, but they weighed a lot. The gel earpiece wore out and Bose replaced them for free.
 
For the power supply, I'm not sure whether I should go with AA batteries (10 NIMH may be untenable), or one of those car jump starters and a custom case and cable. Those will provide 12 volts and be easily rechargeable, but I don't want something that's going to catch fire or something like that.

Anything I make will be custom, as the parts are not easy to come by on eBay or Bose.

So, it'll be battery box -> headset box -> headset
..............................................\_>Airplane

When I get/make a plane, I'll mount the headset box (actually, just the board) so it's part of the electrical system.
 
Jeffythequick said:
For the power supply, I'm not sure whether I should go with AA batteries (10 NIMH may be untenable), or one of those car jump starters and a custom case and cable. Those will provide 12 volts and be easily rechargeable, but I don't want something that's going to catch fire or something like that.

Anything I make will be custom, as the parts are not easy to come by on eBay or Bose.

So, it'll be battery box -> headset box -> headset
..............................................\_>Airplane

When I get/make a plane, I'll mount the headset box (actually, just the board) so it's part of the electrical system.
Click to expand...

Hey Jeff --

Curious if you figured anything out with this old Bose headset? I've got a set that seems to work and would love to have it for passengers, but a battery powered unit would be far superior than running lines to the cigarette lighter. Do you think you could post/send me the schematic if you've still got it?

Thanks! --David
 
bagelboss said:
Hey Jeff --

Curious if you figured anything out with this old Bose headset? I've got a set that seems to work and would love to have it for passengers, but a battery powered unit would be far superior than running lines to the cigarette lighter. Do you think you could post/send me the schematic if you've still got it?

Thanks! --David
Click to expand...
I will do that later today. What I did was make a battery box and use the power connectors that are on the 2nd generation connectors (I'm expecting the parts today) and a car jump starter battery that I'm going to put in a box, so 6 people can use them.

For the battery, it needs 12-24ish volts. Those car battery jump starters are at 14 volts, so they work.

Now that I think of it, a full schematic and parts list is in order... I'll put it together. I do have a dentist appointment this afternoon, so it may be late this afternoon.
 
That'd be fantastic, Jeff...whenever you can get around to it, certainly no rush! Thanks!
 
bagelboss said:
That'd be fantastic, Jeff...whenever you can get around to it, certainly no rush! Thanks!
Click to expand...
So, here is some information on the Series 1 and 2 headsets:
The power plug on the series 2 (the ones without the clear back where you can see the electronics. Those are Series 1) is a TT Bantam plug, and you can find them at Mouser:
The Series 2 plug into a UJ2B jack on the Series 2 battery pack, also found at Mouser. I have one Series 2 and two Series 1 headsets, and so I wanted to standardize the jack configuration with the rechargeable battery. The jack configuration is Tip +12-32VDC, the center has no connection, and the sleeve (ring) is GND. Something like this:
------------|---|---\
GND.......|...|....\ +12-32V
............|---|..../
------------|---|---/ (Sorry... If I use spaces, the post program will warp it all up.

Next, we need a battery that will be 12V, rechargeable, and last a long time.
Hmmm.... A bunch of Li-Ion batteries, chained together? Well, kinda-sorta...
Enter the car jump starter. It has to have at least 12 Volts to jump start a car, so that's where I went, and found them at Amazon. The nice thing about them is they always have the 12V on at all times. Well, check to see that they do. The one I got the 12V comes straight off the battery, and the USB and flashlight are switched. Plus, it came with a cigarette jack charger and a wall charger.

Those have an EC5 connector on them, and I am of two minds on this. The first is to simply have a converter to bring the battery power in via one of the TT Bantam jacks (they're wired in parallel), or an EC5 Plug pigtailed off of it. The other is to remove the battery from its current enclosure and put it in a project box and just make it a self contained unit. I think that's the way I'll go.

So, here are the links for the parts needed:
Project box for the boards for the Series 1 Headsets: something small... there are two (at least) different styles of the boards, and the pinouts are different, however, it's a bunch of discreet components, so I wouldn't worry about blowing any out.
Project box for the battery pack: Depending on whether you pigtail it or install the battery, size it accordingly.
UJ2B Jacks: http://www.mouser.com/Search/ProductDetail.aspx?R=UJ2Bvirtualkey50210000virtualkey502-UJ-2B
TT-BANTAM Plug: http://www.mouser.com/Search/ProductDetail.aspx?R=NP3TT-P-Rvirtualkey56810000virtualkey568-NP3TT-P-R (they are in black, or with screw types, but they're $14 each)
Jump Start Battery: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B014IBCPTU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (Amazingly, they let me on a flight with that thing... Check with 9to5toys.com for good deals on these things. They have, typically once a week where you can get one for under $40, and if you're going to get one for this project, you may have to disassemble it and reinstall the parts in a project box if you don't want to pigtail it. If you do, then just get some EC5 Connectors and wire and make it happen.
EC5 Connectors (you will need a heat gun for these... A soldering iron will leave cold joints): https://www.amazon.com/Banana-Femal..._1?ie=UTF8&qid=1489294266&sr=8-1&keywords=EC5
Wire for EC5 Connectors: (Get the wire that fits these. I had bad luck trying to make regular wire stick to these. This looks like it will work: https://www.amazon.com/Spade-EC5-Ca...UTF8&qid=1489295196&sr=8-35&keywords=EC5+wire
Wire for inside the battery box: Go with 18-20 AWG wire to suit.
Headphone Jack: Just get a stereo patch cord from Radio Shack. Cut it in half, and you have two.
Microphone Jack: Those are curiously expensive... A lot of them show three contacts, but all you need is tip and ring. I went with these, though: 502-480X

PM me for any additional information...

Hope this helps!

Jeff
 
Last edited:
Hello Jeff, Did you make substitute for Bose HI-CG box too. I also have a Bose AH-BG headset and want to make it work. I can easily pig tail a 12 volt battery for power source but don't know to build HI-CG interface to connect round headset connector to GA sockets. I will appreciate if you could send me information on this. Thanks.
 
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