LightSpeed Tango - Wireless headset

[eman1200]

1 hour ago, 1964-M20E said:

I wonder what the range is on the wireless?

 

In helicopters operations when doing hot fueling (fueling while the engine is running) it would be handy when one gets out to supervise the fueling process he can still talk to the pilot in the helicopter.

 

 

Dang it, I wish this post came out about a half hour before it did, I went over to JQF and tried the headset out and I could have tested this.    I'm not sure if this video came out or will be helpful, I'm downloading it now and will let you know.

[ryoder]

I wish my Clarity Aloft were wireless.

[mike_elliott]

On ‎11‎/‎17‎/‎2015‎ ‎7‎:‎21‎:‎25‎, eman1200 said:

if you have time or are bored or curious and if you can deal with my rambling, here are two initial review videos on the Lightspeed Tango.

General overview:

https://youtu.be/OcogMxpVoBU

Bluetooth:

https://youtu.be/Jn9wvn88v6E

 

Nice touch, stopping at Bed bath and beyond and getting the wifey something she wants also!

[Marauder]

On ‎11‎/‎17‎/‎2015‎ ‎7‎:‎21‎:‎25‎, eman1200 said: if you have time or are bored or curious and if you can deal with my rambling, here are two initial review videos on the Lightspeed Tango.

General overview:

https://youtu.be/OcogMxpVoBU

Bluetooth:

https://youtu.be/Jn9wvn88v6E

 

Nice touch, stopping at Bed bath and beyond and getting the wifey something she wants also!

Well, we all have heard of the "sterile cockpit" rule. Maybe there should be a "sterile man cave" rule, especially if you are making a video.

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[eman1200]

LOL nah I deserve that.....and if the kitchen is your man cave then u might deserve some ribbing too!

[timpercarpio]

I co-own our airplane and when I fly with my partner I usually fly one leg and he flys the other. We always switch headsets and dealing with the wires is a pita.  On exiting the aircraft I have caught my foot in a wire on numerous occasions since we always have two headsets hooked up.  I bought a Tango just for those reasons. Our plane in in for annual so I haven't tried it out yet. I  already complained to Lightspeed about needing to open the door in order to charge the headset.  I hope to try it out next week.

[Hank]

When the rightseater gets out, I always have them put the headset on the floor, in front of the rudder pedals. Makes is much easier for me to exit, and to reenter.

[aviatoreb]

Who here has ever tried to climb out of the airplane with the headset still on your head?

Of course that NEVER happened to me....

[carusoam]

Erik,

That is the standard of 'how comfortable are my headsets?'

If the wireless headsets are that comfortable, how far will the pilot get before realizing he is still wearing them? I can see a guy in the FBO paying for fuel, breaking out in laughter when he realizes what he has done....

Best regards,

-a-

[ArtVandelay]

I notice the don't fold in the middle, and pictures are from the side, they look like they stick out a bit unless you have a wide head.

[Hank]

10 hours ago, aviatoreb said:

Who here has ever tried to climb out of the airplane with the headset still on your head?

Of course that NEVER happened to me....

I never did until I bought my Halos. Now it happens every now and again, a couple of times every year it seems.

[Marauder]

I'm really curious as to how immune they are from interference. Although not in the same class cost wise, I have used my son's wireless gaming headset and found that they would pick up ambient radio interference from other electronic devices. And since I have experienced dealing with this on my GTN, it can get real annoying, if not problematic.

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[eman1200]

I'm really curious as to how immune they are from interference. Although not in the same class cost wise, I have used my son's wireless gaming headset and found that they would pick up ambient radio interference from other electronic devices. And since I have experienced dealing with this on my GTN, it can get real annoying, if not problematic.

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Can you be more specific on what I should look for or listen for? I'll be flying this weekend and hopefully really putting these things to the test.

[Marauder]

I'm really curious as to how immune they are from interference. Although not in the same class cost wise, I have used my son's wireless gaming headset and found that they would pick up ambient radio interference from other electronic devices. And since I have experienced dealing with this on my GTN, it can get real annoying, if not problematic.

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Can you be more specific on what I should look for or listen for? I'll be flying this weekend and hopefully really putting these things to the test.

Buzzing in the headset when you put a USB charger in the cigar lighter, clipping or clicking sounds when you transmit over the radios or that mimic the timing of the strobes.

If you do start noting these, turning off stuff to see what is causing it would help us know what to watch out for.

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[eman1200]

I'm really curious as to how immune they are from interference. Although not in the same class cost wise, I have used my son's wireless gaming headset and found that they would pick up ambient radio interference from other electronic devices. And since I have experienced dealing with this on my GTN, it can get real annoying, if not problematic.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Can you be more specific on what I should look for or listen for? I'll be flying this weekend and hopefully really putting these things to the test.

Buzzing in the headset when you put a USB charger in the cigar lighter, clipping or clicking sounds when you transmit over the radios or that mimic the timing of the strobes.

If you do start noting these, turning off stuff to see what is causing it would help us know what to watch out for.

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Roger that, I'm on it.

[Marauder]

I'm really curious as to how immune they are from interference. Although not in the same class cost wise, I have used my son's wireless gaming headset and found that they would pick up ambient radio interference from other electronic devices. And since I have experienced dealing with this on my GTN, it can get real annoying, if not problematic.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Can you be more specific on what I should look for or listen for? I'll be flying this weekend and hopefully really putting these things to the test.

Buzzing in the headset when you put a USB charger in the cigar lighter, clipping or clicking sounds when you transmit over the radios or that mimic the timing of the strobes.

If you do start noting these, turning off stuff to see what is causing it would help us know what to watch out for.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Roger that, I'm on it.

I just saw the Avweb review on it. Interestingly they are not using Bluetooth or WiFi protocols to link the units. They are using something they developed called "Lightspeed Link" for the communication. They described it as a combination of analog and digital proprietary communication protocols. Now I am really interested in seeing how it will work in the plane.

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[eman1200]

I used it in a quick lunchtime flight the other day but the video didn't turn out well. Looking forward to getting some good video this weekend.

[Chocks]

On 11/12/2015, 3:12:08, Seth said:

...it looks like it costs $800.00 - less than the PFX ($1175 and Zulu 2 $900)

-Seth

I just have one question. Don't you wonder why they did them for that price?

[Chocks]

On 11/19/2015, 11:10:44, eman1200 said:

 

Can you be more specific on what I should look for or listen for? I'll be flying this weekend and hopefully really putting these things to the test.

I can. Find someone else to go with you and try talking to them normally in the airplane. Just regular conversation and tell us what happens when you try and talk too soon after the other person or at the same time. 

[eman1200]

On 11/19/2015, 11:10:44, eman1200 said:  

Can you be more specific on what I should look for or listen for? I'll be flying this weekend and hopefully really putting these things to the test.

I can. Find someone else to go with you and try talking to them normally in the airplane. Just regular conversation and tell us what happens when you try and talk too soon after the other person or at the same time. 

Well that won't happen by tomorrow but do u mean any other headset or another anr or wireless?

[eman1200]

On ‎11‎/‎19‎/‎2015‎ ‎4‎:‎48‎:‎53‎, Marauder said:

 

Sorry for the delay. Here's my current writeup, although I still was unable to get a good video for you to watch and listen to to make your own decision.

COMFORT

- Quite comfortable, they did NOT feel their weight (18oz). My old headset was almost spring loaded laterally, so if it was gonna clamp, it clamped. Tango seems to adjust 'diagonally', and I was easily able to find a comfortable position on my big head.
- The overall size was not an issue for me at any point in the flight.

WIRELESS/PANEL INTERFACE

- I have no major complaints with the audio aspect of Tango wireless, I believe the feature functioned well. Not perfect. I do hear an occasional 'snap' or 'pop', but definitely no crackle. So far I've taken a local flight as well as a flight from Charlotte to N. Myrtle Beach and back, and total I believe I heard 4 little snaps. Didn't interfere with any communications, only one time did Comm Priority lower the music because of one of these snaps.
- The complaint I do have is with this monsterous brick panel interface I now need to carry around. And charge. And find a place to put it in flight. If the whole point of wireless is to get rid of the hassle of cables, it's only replaced by the hassle of the panel interface. If you own and have more options for a permanent mounting location, the hassle should mostly go away.
- The headset's usb port location as well as the battery compartment door is an issue. The door absolutely will break, and once that door breaks the headset is close to unusable, as the battery will fall out in flight for sure, unless you come up with some cheesey solution to keep it in place until your replacement door arrives. Definitely needs improvement here. If the usb port was exposed ouside of that door, it would be far less of an issue because you'd almost never need to open that door.

BLUETOOTH

- Worked well, sounded very good, easy to set up and use. I first tested bluetooth in my kitchen and while wearing the headset, walked away from the panel interface/phone and it had a solid signal up to30 feet before any signal loss...anything less than 30 feet and it streamed flawlessly. The phone got spotty after about 11 feet away from the panel interface.

COMM PRIORITY

- Worked very well, no issues with this feature at all.

ANR

- This is my first ANR headset. I really wanted to be wow'd. Don't get me wrong, this is definitely a step up from non ANR headsets, but I'm not sure I was wow'd, and I'm not sure I can justify the significantly higher price tag. This part is bugging me, but I'm also a cheap bastard.

BATTERY LIFE

- Still to be determined. I'll say this....after flying from Charlotte to Myrtle I got to the hotel and plugged in my Nexus 7 to charge as well as the Tango headset and panel interface. It took Tango less than 30 minutes to fully charge, while the Nexus took almost an hour. Only other current thought about the rechargable batteries in Tango vs regular batteries in other ANR headsets......in the others, do you get ANY indication of battery life remaining? With the Tangos you see an amber light when they are not at full charge, an audible notification when there are 3 hours left, a green light when fully charged, AND a backup cable should your batteries quit in flight. I don't think double A's give any of those.

FLIGHTLINK

- There's basically 2 options within Flightlink, record level and record time. So I don't think I did anything wrong but both times I recorded using Flightlink, it didn't record ANY 'inbound' radio comm (ATIS, tower, approach, etc...). It only recorded what it picked up on MY mic. Very disappointed, as I wanted to post video AND audio so people can hear the quality. I don't hold this against the headset itself, but needs to be fixed, as I do a lot of recording in flight. I've been in touch with Lightspeed support on this and they are looking into it.

LIGHTSPEED CUSTOMER SERVICE

- So far these guys have been extremely supportive and responsive. Real good support network.

RECOMMENDATIONS

- Headset usb port/battery door needs updating.......fast. Spring loaded retractable system for the 2 cords inside the panel interface. Size of panel interface. Did I mention the size of the panel interface? Flightlink compatibility (or tell me if I did something wrong).

ON A SCALE OF 1 - 10

- I give this headset a solid 7 1/2. They're close, REAL close.

MY FLYING "PROFILE"

- I don't own. Quite often I decide last minute to go on a flight (or maybe the weather decides for me), so being able to throw a headset or two in my bag is important. Planning the battery charge may not always work for me. I do take a lot of video, nothing to write home about but I try to video a little of every flight, especially when bringing up passengers or first timers. Unless Flightlink can capture ALL audio, this will be an added hastle for me. Having to 'line up' the audio to the video is a pain but I can overcome that. Overall, there is some extra work that comes with Tango. I'm not sure the convenience of wireless trumps the extra work....for me.

FINAL VERDICT

- I believe the 2nd version of this headset (T2 ?) will be a winner. There is a chance I will return these, but not before inquiring about Lightspeeds 'trade up' program. If T2 comes out with a few of the improvements I'm looking for, plus who knows the feedback other people are providing, they will be a solid headset to own. If Lightspeed lets me trade up for minimal (or no) cost, I'm in. I would be quite happy keeping and using these, they are a solid headset, but I'm looking forward to version 2.

So, I guess my final verdict is still up in the air. I really really wanted to provide some good video (with full audio) to help you make your own decision. I'm still working on that, but here's my feedback for now.

*And Marauder, I futzed with just about everything in the panel trying to create interference, but could not.  The only thing I didn't do that you asked about was the cigar lighter, as the 510 was plugged into it and I wanted to leave that, but everything else in ever combination didn't produce any noticable interference.

Thanks and I hope some of this was helpful to someone, whether you end up buying them or not.

[Marauder]

On ‎11‎/‎19‎/‎2015‎ ‎4‎:‎48‎:‎53‎, Marauder said:  

Sorry for the delay. Here's my current writeup, although I still was unable to get a good video for you to watch and listen to to make your own decision.

COMFORT

- Quite comfortable, they did NOT feel their weight (18oz). My old headset was almost spring loaded laterally, so if it was gonna clamp, it clamped. Tango seems to adjust 'diagonally', and I was easily able to find a comfortable position on my big head.

- The overall size was not an issue for me at any point in the flight.

WIRELESS/PANEL INTERFACE

- I have no major complaints with the audio aspect of Tango wireless, I believe the feature functioned well. Not perfect. I do hear an occasional 'snap' or 'pop', but definitely no crackle. So far I've taken a local flight as well as a flight from Charlotte to N. Myrtle Beach and back, and total I believe I heard 4 little snaps. Didn't interfere with any communications, only one time did Comm Priority lower the music because of one of these snaps.

- The complaint I do have is with this monsterous brick panel interface I now need to carry around. And charge. And find a place to put it in flight. If the whole point of wireless is to get rid of the hassle of cables, it's only replaced by the hassle of the panel interface. If you own and have more options for a permanent mounting location, the hassle should mostly go away.

- The headset's usb port location as well as the battery compartment door is an issue. The door absolutely will break, and once that door breaks the headset is close to unusable, as the battery will fall out in flight for sure, unless you come up with some cheesey solution to keep it in place until your replacement door arrives. Definitely needs improvement here. If the usb port was exposed ouside of that door, it would be far less of an issue because you'd almost never need to open that door.

BLUETOOTH

- Worked well, sounded very good, easy to set up and use. I first tested bluetooth in my kitchen and while wearing the headset, walked away from the panel interface/phone and it had a solid signal up to30 feet before any signal loss...anything less than 30 feet and it streamed flawlessly. The phone got spotty after about 11 feet away from the panel interface.

COMM PRIORITY

- Worked very well, no issues with this feature at all.

ANR

- This is my first ANR headset. I really wanted to be wow'd. Don't get me wrong, this is definitely a step up from non ANR headsets, but I'm not sure I was wow'd, and I'm not sure I can justify the significantly higher price tag. This part is bugging me, but I'm also a cheap bastard.

BATTERY LIFE

- Still to be determined. I'll say this....after flying from Charlotte to Myrtle I got to the hotel and plugged in my Nexus 7 to charge as well as the Tango headset and panel interface. It took Tango less than 30 minutes to fully charge, while the Nexus took almost an hour. Only other current thought about the rechargable batteries in Tango vs regular batteries in other ANR headsets......in the others, do you get ANY indication of battery life remaining? With the Tangos you see an amber light when they are not at full charge, an audible notification when there are 3 hours left, a green light when fully charged, AND a backup cable should your batteries quit in flight. I don't think double A's give any of those.

FLIGHTLINK

- There's basically 2 options within Flightlink, record level and record time. So I don't think I did anything wrong but both times I recorded using Flightlink, it didn't record ANY 'inbound' radio comm (ATIS, tower, approach, etc...). It only recorded what it picked up on MY mic. Very disappointed, as I wanted to post video AND audio so people can hear the quality. I don't hold this against the headset itself, but needs to be fixed, as I do a lot of recording in flight. I've been in touch with Lightspeed support on this and they are looking into it.

LIGHTSPEED CUSTOMER SERVICE

- So far these guys have been extremely supportive and responsive. Real good support network.

RECOMMENDATIONS

- Headset usb port/battery door needs updating.......fast. Spring loaded retractable system for the 2 cords inside the panel interface. Size of panel interface. Did I mention the size of the panel interface? Flightlink compatibility (or tell me if I did something wrong).

ON A SCALE OF 1 - 10

- I give this headset a solid 7 1/2. They're close, REAL close.

MY FLYING "PROFILE"

- I don't own. Quite often I decide last minute to go on a flight (or maybe the weather decides for me), so being able to throw a headset or two in my bag is important. Planning the battery charge may not always work for me. I do take a lot of video, nothing to write home about but I try to video a little of every flight, especially when bringing up passengers or first timers. Unless Flightlink can capture ALL audio, this will be an added hastle for me. Having to 'line up' the audio to the video is a pain but I can overcome that. Overall, there is some extra work that comes with Tango. I'm not sure the convenience of wireless trumps the extra work....for me.

FINAL VERDICT

- I believe the 2nd version of this headset (T2 ?) will be a winner. There is a chance I will return these, but not before inquiring about Lightspeeds 'trade up' program. If T2 comes out with a few of the improvements I'm looking for, plus who knows the feedback other people are providing, they will be a solid headset to own. If Lightspeed lets me trade up for minimal (or no) cost, I'm in. I would be quite happy keeping and using these, they are a solid headset, but I'm looking forward to version 2.

So, I guess my final verdict is still up in the air. I really really wanted to provide some good video (with full audio) to help you make your own decision. I'm still working on that, but here's my feedback for now.

*And Marauder, I futzed with just about everything in the panel trying to create interference, but could not.  The only thing I didn't do that you asked about was the cigar lighter, as the 510 was plugged into it and I wanted to leave that, but everything else in ever combination didn't produce any noticable interference.

Thanks and I hope some of this was helpful to someone, whether you end up buying them or not.

Excellent write-up and thanks for taking the time to do it. Please keep us posted on your experience and that battery door.

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[eman1200]

just a couple of audio snippets using lightspeed tango and flightlink to record.  nothing crazy......

https://youtu.be/0eXBWHqit4A

[Marauder]

just a couple of audio snippets using lightspeed tango and flightlink to record.  nothing crazy......

https://youtu.be/0eXBWHqit4A

You almost had me there. I'm looking at your speed across the ground and I'm thinking you are bucking a heck of a headwind. Then I realized what I thought was C panel was a Piper panel -- the rest fell into place from there!

The audio wasn't too bad. Still would like to hear your thoughts after a few months of ownership.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[eman1200]

just a couple of audio snippets using lightspeed tango and flightlink to record.  nothing crazy...... https://youtu.be/0eXBWHqit4A

You almost had me there. I'm looking at your speed across the ground and I'm thinking you are bucking a heck of a headwind. Then I realized what I thought was C panel was a Piper panel -- the rest fell into place from there!

The audio wasn't too bad. Still would like to hear your thoughts after a few months of ownership.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Ouch.

But I did have pretty strong headwinds. I think it one point my ground speed was 82kts.