Intercom Headsets

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Vic Holland's picture
Vic Holland
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Joined: 6/21/10
Posts: 17
Intercom Headsets

Bud....can you give me a little info on the headsets....that sounds like a BRILLIANT idea!!!

Vic Holland
Lepidro #1980
2001 C-36 MK II TR/FK M35B

BudStreet
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Posts: 1127

Vic, the come from Cruising Solutions. They are bi-directional, that's not the right term but I can't think of the word, what I mean is you can talk and listen at the same time. They use 9 volt battery which we find lasts about a season.

Here's the link:
[url]http://www.cruisingsolutions.com/headsets[/url]

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plaineolde
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Posts: 753

I have something similar that I picked up about 10 years ago; has a 'body pack' with wired headset. I picked them up after watching a couple in their 70's exiting the slip next to us in the Annapolis City dock. A fairly large center cockpit; the guy was at handling the docklines and calmly directing his wife who was at the helm; " forward. neutral. forward; little bit of throttle...". I was so impressed by their calm exit from that tight slip that I got a pair right away. We don't use them much for anchoring anymore, since we developed hand signals, which work quite well, but for docking at a strange marina, they are the best.

On pulling up the rode with the windlass; I singlehand quite a bit. When the wind is up, I often have no choice but to retrieve the rode with the windlass. I abused my little VC500 many times in 12 years, pulling the boat up to the anchor in 20 knots of wind and it never complained, though often slowing down quite a bit. With the VW1500, it pulls the boat up effortlessly and so fast that I over-ran the anchor the first time , before I could switch over to the chain. I only have 20 ft. of chain for the Chesapeake, but may increase that just for the ease of retrieval.

Gary and Cathy Price
1997 C36 Mk II Tall Rig/Wing Keel Imagine...
Hull # 1617
Worton Creek, Md.
Northern Chesapeake Bay

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gforaker
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Posts: 133

I had a pair of those from Radio Shack 15 years ago. They finally broke. The mode you are trying to say is duplex. More likely, though, it was an automatic talk to transmit. PTY? Or something like that. There are optional headsets which can be added to some VHF handhelds.

Gene Foraker
Sandusky Yacht Club
Sandusky, OH
1999  C36  #1786
Gypsy Wagon

BudStreet
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Posts: 1127

Yes, duplex. These are live all the time, nothing to push, just talk. So when you curse and swear at the damn anchor gear for getting your nice clean anchor locker all dirty your wife gets to hear it all. But no one else, so it's all good.

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gforaker
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Posts: 133

Duplex is on all of the time like a telephone. It requires two channels. VOX is speak to transmit. It shares a single channel. ICOM and I believe Standard makes VOX headsets for their handheld VHF's attached to your belt.

You could also get two bluetooth headsets for your cell phones.

Gene Foraker
Sandusky Yacht Club
Sandusky, OH
1999  C36  #1786
Gypsy Wagon

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Bill Colmer
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The Cruising Solutions headsets are very light. I wish they had a variable volume control rather than a simple Hi-Lo switch, though. My only complaint would be that they only work on one ear and the way the microphone is set up you have to use your left ear....which is my deaf ear.

1988 Catalina 36 Hull #862
"Heart of Gold"

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mutualfun
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Posts: 454

Here is one other set to look at. It is called Eartec and I picked them up at the Annapolis boat show last year. Defender was selling them and I picked up the set which comes in a hard plastic case and has adjustable volume. Unlike the sailors solution set this has a unit that either goes in your pocket or on your belt. Then a cord to the head set. My wife will a test to it that they do work well even in windy conditions. That was one thing that I sold me. Defender told me they guaranteed that they would be quite in the windy conditions. I will tell you that they do work VERY well and is one of the thing we would recommend to our friends. The only trouble we have had is forgetting to turn them on. We use them daily when anchoring.
Randy

Randy Sherwood
Mutualfun 1990 # 1057
T/R W/K M35a
Home. Charlotte, Mi.
Boat. St Augustine,Fl.

BudStreet
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Posts: 1127

[quote=Bill Colmer;6394]The Cruising Solutions headsets are very light. I wish they had a variable volume control rather than a simple Hi-Lo switch, though. My only complaint would be that they only work on one ear and the way the microphone is set up you have to use your left ear....which is my deaf ear.[/quote]

Ours work in both ears. Wind noise is not an issue either. But, I find it can be difficult at times to keep the headset on if you have to start clearing weeds from the chain with a boathook or similar physical activity. Haven't lost it in the drink though, yet.

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