MP3 / Intercom Cable

[realitycheck]

I am making cables for intercoms. Will work with any MP3, mini disc, etc. with an 1/8" headphone jack. Compatible with Embraer and Canadair intercom systems.

The cable has an 1/8" male on one end and a microphone jack on the other. It plugs into the jumpseaters intercom, and is played either over the speaker or through your headsets.

All cables are soldered with no splices. PTT (non-momentary) is optional to broadcast music to your cabin over the PA.

Enjoy some music at cruise or on the ground.

Send me a private message if you're interested.

 

[mckpickle]

How much?

 

[realitycheck]

$20, includes shipping.

 

[alrightythen23]

Watch your ass with that stuff guys........I know a crew who fried their avionics with that and heard about another crew that did the same thing. Lost comm sucks in IMC around the DC area!!!

 

[acaTerry]

Oh gawd....Doug Masters is back!

 

[embraerjetpilot]

Yeah, but no longer in his F16...

now hes in his F/A/ERJ 145C

comes fully armed these days with american eagle flight attendants!

 

[AirBoard]

Watch your ass with that stuff guys........I know a crew who fried their avionics with that and heard about another crew that did the same thing. Lost comm sucks in IMC around the DC area!!!

Sure is. In the meantime I'll squawk 7600 and enjoy the tunes. Now how do we order.

 

[FmrFreightDog]

Watch your ass with that stuff guys........I know a crew who fried their avionics with that and heard about another crew that did the same thing. Lost comm sucks in IMC around the DC area!!!

Ok, I'm no engineer, but......

sounds like a load of BS to me. I don't see how any kind of input could fry avionics. The mic jack doesn't know the difference between a Telex, a David Clark, or an iPod. Input is input is input.

 

[DoinTime]

Ok, I'm no engineer, but......

sounds like a load of BS to me. I don't see how any kind of input could fry avionics. The mic jack doesn't know the difference between a Telex, a David Clark, or an iPod. Input is input is input.

The mic jack needs an input voltage within the tolerances it is specified to work with. The output voltage of an IPOD was not designed to work in aircraft intercom systems so there is no guarantee that it will work.

I think a much safer rigging would be to splice into the headphone circuit somewhere in between the cockpit plug and your head with diodes on both the IPOD line and headphone line to protect any backfeed into the intercom system and your IPOD. This setup will use the drivers in the headset just as it would have used the ear buds its designed for, however, this will only allow listening for one person. You may need to use abnormally high volume levels on your IPOD to compensate for the inefficiencies of the larger drivers in the heaset though. This will lead to shorter battery life.

I spent several years underneath car dashboards trying to install things that weren't meant to be there. Electronics can be very fussy and, in the case of airplanes, very expensive to fix.

 

[realitycheck]

If you're interested... send me a private message. Some people have asked about PayPal... I could set up a personal account... but would prefer a check.

Also, I've experimented with the push-to-talk feature, and it seems to work very well when plugged into the handheld microphone jack. This allows you to play music directly into the cabin... the switch is an on-off switch, not momentary.

About frying avionics... I've heard the rumors too. And while voltage is directly related to volume, I too doubt the concern.

Let me know...

 

[realitycheck]

Oh yeah... this is not like the cable you can buy from some pilot shops that plug directly into your headset. This is designed to plug into a microphone jack and go over the intercom and/or cabin.

 

[xjavro85]

Doingtime:

Using diodes is a good idea except for one thing. It won't work. Diodes rectify AC signals to DC. Guess what, audio is AC. Also the bias voltage for a standard diode is .5-.7 volts, The output of an iPOD etc is no where near that so no current will flow through the diode resulting in no input to the audio system. I don't see how the cables will cause any damage to avionics equipment, however the input impedance will most likley be mismatched resulting in degraded sound quailty.

 

[DoinTime]

Thanks for the info XJ. I've never dealt that much with rearranging audio paths so I'll admit I have some studying to do. I also can't see how the input from an outside source would damage avionics but I have fried several circuit boards in the past for things I thought were safe. There has to be a better solution though considering the thousands of dollars in equipment (and our jobs) that we would most likely have to pay if we were wrong.

 

[labbats]

Go with the official version.

www.ps-engineering.com/muse.shtml

 

[realitycheck]

The PS-Engineering unit is nice... it should be, their GA intercoms are outstanding. But, this only works with one headseat... so if you want to share your music with others, you need a cable that plugs into the mic jack.

I've also heard that the attenuation gets annoying when the comm radio receives a signal or when someone speaks on the intercom. I've used their intercoms with a music plug, and it did the same thing... however, I think this feature can be turned off/on.

 

[realitycheck]

I'm soldering some up today... anyone? anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

 

[airtunes]

AIRTUNES adapter cable

Now, you and your passengers may enjoy MUSIC through your aircraft headsets!

Please see the following link for more information:

http://members.cox.net/airtunes/airtunes.htm

Thanks!

 

[realitycheck]

Or, save $10 and buy the same thing from me.

Send me a PM if interested.