My eTRAC is unleashed - wireless headphones

[ironsight]

Headphone cords; always in the way, too short, sweaty hot hears and not being able to hear people sneaking up or sometimes hearing my PPer.
Looked at bluetooth, too much lag for metal detecting. Kleer technology, transmitters either too bulky or expensive.
Researched 2.4GHz RF headsets including some threads on this here website.

What i ended up buying is a Rapoo wireless headphone set for under $60 online.
No lag that i can perceive. They're not full size which means no hot sweaty ears.
So far i've got about 9 hrs. on them with no problem including wiggle pinpointing.

Syncing between xmitter and headphone is under a second. Which means no problem shutting one of the units off to quiet down the detector while digging.

Both units charge simultaniously with a 'Y' cable from a single USB port in about an hour or so.
A full charge according to the literature is supposed to last 6 hrs. which is fine for me as i seldom detect for over 3 hrs.

No inline volume control is needed. The set works right out of the box by adjusting the volume at the detector or headphone.
The headphones look cheezy but haven't had a problem with them falling off my cap. They also adjustable.

Now for the negatives.
The small transmitter on/off switch and the headphone on/off/volume controls are delicate. Don't know how long they're gonna hold up.
My unit somewhat attenuates high audio frequencies though not enough to make a big difference.
Also if this thing proves out in the long run, i'm going to enclose and fasten the xmitter to one side of the arm cuff out of harm's way.

One other thing to keep in mind , since these are not full size headphones (which do a good job to keep out ambient background noise), this wireless kit might not be the best for some other metal detectors which rely on barely audible indications for deep targets. Not an issue with the eTRAC though.

All in all, man is it great NOT to be leashed to the detector.

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o273/moparado/Wireless_2_zps06f79214.jpg

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o273/moparado/Wireless_1_zps477c2ab5.jpg

 

[sprchng]

Try an inline volume control "patch cord" from radio Shack (it's about 8" long) and you don't have to mess with the tiny volume control on the headset just leave it wide open. That gives you enough slack to attach the transmitter to the stand leg with some 2xsided velcro and you'll be good to go. Been using mine for nearly two years in the heat. Drug them out today and was surprised to see the battery had held about 4 hours worth of charge for nearly six months in the back of my truck.

They are a bit delicate but I haven't manged to break them yet.

 

[ironsight]

Try an inline volume control "patch cord" from radio Shack (it's about 8" long) and you don't have to mess with the tiny volume control on the headset just leave it wide open. That gives you enough slack to attach the transmitter to the stand leg with some 2xsided velcro and you'll be good to go. Been using mine for nearly two years in the heat. Drug them out today and was surprised to see the battery had held about 4 hours worth of charge for nearly six months in the back of my truck.
They are a bit delicate but I haven't manged to break them yet.

Thanks for the comment, good to know you've been using it for 2 years and the batteries hold up for that long. So far i'm really liking this headphone set.

Yeah, the xmitter position is temporary while i'm testing this thing out. I already bumped it a couple times in the heat of digging. LOL!
Got a 6" patch cord on order and plenty of sticky sided velcro too.

 

[looknforgold]

Interesting... I've racked my Brain on which sets to use, etc. I would be a bit concerned about losing some of my High Audio on deeper targets... how does it hit on deep stuff, like over 7 inches, Thanks

 

[duggr]

[size=x-large]Do you know how the Volume is compared to the TDK wr 700[/size]

 

[sprchng]

[size=x-large]Do you know how the Volume is compared to the TDK wr 700[/size]

NO!!! I think the TDKs are about twice as much and I haven't used them. The rapoos have plenty of volume --more than I can stand if volume is all that mattered. One thing I've noticed this year however compared to last year gives me some concern. Previous to using the rapoos I was using some Koss 9000 phones and the transition to the rapoos was not that difficult. This Winter I detected mostly with Grey Ghost Ultimates and , while they took a bit of adapting to at first , I have become quite comfortable to them and the transition back to the rapoos in the heat is proving to be a bit more of a challenge than I was expecting--especially the threshold hum. One of the most noticeable issues is the lack of exclusion of the ambient noise with the rapoos. Being small microphones that only cover a small portion of the ear , I had to go back to the GGs today while detecting near an interstate highway to block out the traffic noise.

Looking for some wireless ear buds now!

 

[duggr]

[size=x-large]Do you know how the Volume is compared to the TDK wr 700[/size]

Looking for some wireless ear buds now!

I understand. I usually hunt areas that are in the woods with minimal noise...The rapoo's
would probably be just what I need for that.....I don't think they make an wireless earbud's
that has Bluetooth 3 with a separate wireless transmitter...

 

[ironsight]

Interesting... I've racked my Brain on which sets to use, etc. I would be a bit concerned about losing some of my High Audio on deeper targets... how does it hit on deep stuff, like over 7 inches, Thanks

As far as the deep targets with the eTRAC, no difference from the stock headphones. There is just a barely noticeable high frequency roll off at least with the set i have. The low frequency response like with the TTF low tones is a little better than the stock headphones probably because they're designed for listening to boom box'n music. They just transfer audio from the detector to the headphones with absolutely no loss of volume.

As i mentioned previously and per sprchng's reply, these are not full headphone cups that can keep out most of the environmental noise and might not be the best for other metal detectors that require low subtle audio volumes for deeper targets (or at extremely noisey sites)....no deep target volume issues with eTRACs because of DeepOn and other settings.
I've used these things at a site very close to busy RR tracks with no problem hearing the threshhold tone let alone audio target responses.

They are light weight, keep from sweating around the ears in hot weather and there is no perceivable audio lag due to its 2.4Ghz RF stream unlike bluetooth with its time consuming packet send/receive protocol. I've had zero problems with tight wiggle pinpointing.

After using these things for a while now, the only way i'm going back to the corded headphones is if these Rapoo's break.

 

[SC Dirt Fisher]

Looks like a much better fit for the Etrac than my DFX. I have to use a 1/8" x 1/4" adapter which looks really fragile hanging out the back of the control box. The Rapoos work really well but the other problem I have is that the with the large radius headband of the headphones, ( obviously needed to fit people with big heads (lol), it is impossible to wear them under my wide brimmed hat I need to keep the sun off. I'm trying to think of some mod to the headband so that it fits more neatly around the head. If I can I would use them a lot more.

 

[ironsight]

The headband fits over my cap with no problems and hasn't fallen off yet. The headband is also adustable up and down but not much.

Edit: The Rapoos also require a 1/4" male to 1/8" female stereo audio adapter. The Rapoo xmitter has a male 1/8" audio plug.
Bought the 90 deg. adapter at the local electronics store for a couple bucks.

 

[SC Dirt Fisher]

Yes, when I can wear a ball cap they are great. It's just the hat with a brim that doesn't work with.

 

[looknforgold]

Where at online did you pick yours up at, if you don't mind me asking, Thanks

 

[ironsight]

Still not sure about the rules posting non-supporting vendors here but it begins with an A.
Or search for Rapoo H3070 wireless headphones.

 

[nge]

If you wear your cap to keep the sun out of your eyes, then get yersef a "visor" style lid.

 

[duggr]

Check it out!
Wireless Earbuds

 

[ironsight]

Check it out!
Wireless Earbuds

Yeah, i checked those out too and they're no doubt a better quality than the Rapoos.
I went with the Rapoos because of price: <$60 vs. ~$150
But the main reason: TDK discontinued that wireless headphone model.

Anyhow thats a slick mounting job. If you're still out there, how do they work?

 

[duggr]

Check it out!
Wireless Earbuds

Yeah, i checked those out too and they're no doubt a better quality than the Rapoos.
I went with the Rapoos because of price: <$60 vs. ~$150
But the main reason: TDK discontinued that wireless headphone model.

Anyhow thats a slick mounting job. If you're still out there, how do they work?

They seem to work fine> I don't have any time on them yet as i'm still working on
decreasing the size of the case...When I gave them a test run though they almost blew
my ears off...."Very Loud" Definitely louder than the stock version..
My threshold setting will have to be adjusted as well....I'll post more when I'm completely done..

 

[duggr]

Check it out!
Wireless Earbuds

Yeah, i checked those out too and they're no doubt a better quality than the Rapoos.
I went with the Rapoos because of price: <$60 vs. ~$150
But the main reason: TDK discontinued that wireless headphone model.

Anyhow thats a slick mounting job. If you're still out there, how do they work?

I cut the electronic housing down to as small as possible and mounted the battery holder on the case
as well....I tried them out and can say one thing for sure!! If your hard hearing this is what you need...
Even with the standard headphones you have to turn the volume down at least a couple clicks...

 

[Johnnyanglo]

I've used the Rapoo headphones for last several years. But be careful with the 1/4 to 1/8" adapter sticking out the back. Should you accidentally drop the detector, even if only from several feet - the force will/can shear off the plug inside the socket. I bought a 12" extension for 1/4 to 1/8 and mounted the xmitter on the detector forward area with waterproof Velcro. A more stable area.

Noticed after about a year - the Rapoo internal rechargeable battery decreased its charge holding time from 10 hours to about 5-6 hours. But they are cheap - so I bought two as a spare.

Johnnyanglo

 

[ironsight]

Yeah, the battery life in those sealed units are a concern down the road. When the batteries die and the phones are otherwise operable, depending on how their sealed, gonna try to jury rig either AAA niMH's, button watch batteries or hunt down the original lithium ion replacement.

The xmitter is now velcro'd on the armcuff out of harms way and connected to the 1/4" eTRAC jack via a 90 deg adaptor and a short dongle.

As aside, so impressed with these phones, i ordered another backup set.
Don't know if this is normal but the old xmitter will not communicate with the new headphones and viceversa. Unless there's something wrong with the new set and there might be, it appears the xmitter and headphone are sorted-matched maybe by slight carrier frequency differences.
The new set also cuts out intermittently. Might end up returning them if an overnight charge doesn't fix the problem.