QT Halo Help

[Niko182]

So I decided to give halo's a shot and ordered them. So far I really like the feel of them but I haven't been able to use them in 52Q. I have one flight in a 172 with them. The reason I haven't been able to use them is because ATC can't hear me when I hit the mic switch. I can hear myself on the intercom and so can my Co-Pilot but the moment I hit the mic switch, there is no sound going through the mic. ATC can hear me on the radios in the 172, but not in my Mooney. So then I plug in my a20 set, and they hear me loud and clear. Its like the Audio panel works with my A20's and my DC's, and the Halos work in the 172, but the audio panel doesn't work with the Halo's. I know the mic is working perfectly because the sound quality on the intercom is perfect. I tried from the copilot seat with the copilot plugs and the copilot mic and the same thing occurred. I don't just want to return the Halo's. I really like them and I would like to continue using them. If anyone is within 100 to 150 miles and has halos and is willing to let me just test the Mic, that would be awesome. I obviously won't put them in my ear. I just want to know if it's my aircraft, or the headset.
Any Ideas?

My radio stack consists of a PMA450B, GTR225, and GNC255.

[carusoam]

Let’s ask Mark @Mscheuer about connections and settings... for your audio panel...
 

And possibly Phil @pmccand in case there is something he knows about the Halos and your system...

There is something about wiring the system that takes exactness...

Some set-ups work enough to get out of the panel shop...

Example... I can’t here my SIC, when they push the PTT button on their side...

Haven’t got that fixed in a decade...
 

PP thoughts only, methods of seeking help I learned around here somewhere...

Best regards,

-a-

[Ross Taylor]

Is the audio panel in the 172, where the Halos work, a mono or stereo panel?

[Niko182]

172 is mono. Pma450b is stereo. I tried with the switches in both places.

[gsxrpilot]

With a PMA450b, the stereo/mono switch won't matter. It works in both positions. 

The mic on the Halos is super directional. The flat face of the mic has to be on your lips. If it's turned sideways at all, it won't work. It doesn't sound like that's the case as you can hear the side tone and your passengers can hear as well. But check it. Or maybe you have.

I'm using my Halos with a PMA450b as well and they work great.

[Ross Taylor]

I don't remember the contact profile of stereo vs mono jacks...but I was wondering if that might be the difference?  I thought of the mic direction, as Paul mentioned, but if it's working for the intercom then that sort of rules that out...maybe?

IOW, I'm of no help here... sorry.

[Skates97]

3 hours ago, Niko182 said:

If anyone is within 100 to 150 miles and has halos and is willing to let me just test the Mic, that would be awesome. I obviously won't put them in my ear. I just want to know if it's my aircraft, or the headset.
Any Ideas?

My radio stack consists of a PMA450B, GTR225, and GNC255.

I'm just up the road at KFUL and have my Halo's and my wife's if you want to meet up and test it out.

[M20F-1968]

I tried using the Halo's last Fall and had a similar experience.  I was able to transmit but with poor sound quality and ATC had a difficult time hearing me.  Phil at Halo said that the mic circuit in my plane needs to be a "floating ground" which is independent of other ground circuits.  I have not yet had a chance to test it but he described a procedure of testing where you check for a voltage drop with transmission.   Give him a call, he will explain.  Please let me know what you find out as I have not had time to pursue it.  It is on my list of things to do, but not high on that list right now.

John Breda

[Hank]

All I know is that they've worked just fine in my Mooney since 2009, and also in every other plane in which I've tried them. After many years of hearing "no, I don't want to out anything in my ears," I bought a set for my wife. She wasn't thrilled with the fit sitting on the couch, but after 20 minutes in the air she was a convert.

Had trouble once, may have been pre-Halo, had to fiddle with the plug in the panel after knocking the plug getting in / out of the plane.

[Vance Harral]

Simple things first: make sure the (T)ip of the 3-connector TRS plug on the Halo is making good contact with the corresponding terminal of the headset jack in your airplane.  Depressing the PTT switch shorts that terminal to ground, and it could be that the exact condition of your jack is such that the Halo plug is making intermittent contact and causing noise or other issues, where other headsets make good contact (or possibly no contact at all - this can still "work" depending on how the PTT is wired to the rest of the com system).

Assuming your co-pilot's headset plugs are wired with a PTT switch as well, you can try plugging the halo in over there.  If it works there but not on the pilot side, it's very likely that the jack needs to be replaced, or just tweaked a little.

There are all kinds of other things that could cause your problem, but this one is easy to check yourself.

[59Moonster]

Doesn't the 450B instructions recommend certain mic covers? Better check the manual, that might be the reason. 

[Mscheuer]

16 hours ago, Niko182 said:

So I decided to give halo's a shot and ordered them. So far I really like the feel of them but I haven't been able to use them in 52Q. I have one flight in a 172 with them. The reason I haven't been able to use them is because ATC can't hear me when I hit the mic switch. I can hear myself on the intercom and so can my Co-Pilot but the moment I hit the mic switch, there is no sound going through the mic. ATC can hear me on the radios in the 172, but not in my Mooney. So then I plug in my a20 set, and they hear me loud and clear. Its like the Audio panel works with my A20's and my DC's, and the Halos work in the 172, but the audio panel doesn't work with the Halo's. I know the mic is working perfectly because the sound quality on the intercom is perfect. I tried from the copilot seat with the copilot plugs and the copilot mic and the same thing occurred. I don't just want to return the Halo's. I really like them and I would like to continue using them. If anyone is within 100 to 150 miles and has halos and is willing to let me just test the Mic, that would be awesome. I obviously won't put them in my ear. I just want to know if it's my aircraft, or the headset.
Any Ideas?

My radio stack consists of a PMA450B, GTR225, and GNC255.

Hi Niko, first thanks for trusting us with your audio panel, I hope that you are getting everything you want out of it.  (Check out this YouTube video PMA450B Review) 

As far as your radio transmissions, whether the PMA450B is ON or if it is OFF, the microphone mechanically connected during radio transmissions. The audio panel has no impact on the microphone's performance. 

The Bose A20 holds FAA TSO,  so Bose had to pass specific microphone impedance and gain tests. Little known fact that modern amplified dynamic microphones must replicate the electrical characteristics of the old fashion Carbon Microphones! 

Visiting Quiet Technologies' website, it specifically calls out that the Halo is not FAA TSO'd. That is not necessarily a bad thing nor is it required. But I can't say that it is true carbon mic equivalent. 

Halos are excellent headsets! Many of our customers love them. But it is important to me that you understand that when using our audio panels, there is nothing between your mic and the radio while you are transmitting, except a mechanical connection. We took the belt and suspender's approach.

Hope this information is of help.

[Niko182]

12 minutes ago, Mscheuer said:

Hi Niko, first thanks for trusting us with your audio panel, I hope that you are getting everything you want out of it.  (Check out this YouTube video PMA450B Review) 

As far as your radio transmissions, whether the PMA450B is ON or if it is OFF, the microphone mechanically connected during radio transmissions. The audio panel has no impact on the microphone's performance. 

The Bose A20 holds FAA TSO,  so Bose had to pass specific microphone impedance and gain tests. Little known fact that modern amplified dynamic microphones must replicate the electrical characteristics of the old fashion Carbon Microphones! 

Visiting Quiet Technologies' website, it specifically calls out that the Halo is not FAA TSO'd. That is not necessarily a bad thing nor is it required. But I can't say that it is true carbon mic equivalent. 

Halos are excellent headsets! Many of our customers love them. But it is important to me that you understand that when using our audio panels, there is nothing between your mic and the radio while you are transmitting, except a mechanical connection. We took the belt and suspender's approach.

Hope this information is of help.

Thats what my mentality is. I meating up with skates probably on saturday and ill find out. I think its the unit but I could be wrong. Ill update when I find out. Someone said they had the same problems with their halos a couple months back. He switched them out and the problem went away.

[Niko182]

I personally think and hope it's a bad unit. I don't care about the fact that I might have gotten a bad unit. If it's a bad unit, I'll be stoked since that means I can just switch it out and problem solved. I tried with my David Clarks, Bose A20s, and the handheld mike with the portable PTT and all of them worked fine today. I don't think it's the audio panel since that has been working perfectly since day one. BTW the PMA450b is insane. Absolutely phenomenal audio panel. I think I'll be meeting Skates on Saturday and we'll see if its the audio panel or the Halos. I'm hoping halos as that's the easier fix. But then again I may be wrong.

 

[Hank]

Hold the Halo microphone plug against one that works, and make sure the insulation bands are in the same location.

I've reached under my panel and tweaked the location of the connection in the jack to make it work, after cramming my knee getting out of the plane, too.

[Niko182]

Well here's the update. I ran into my former instructor that used to fly acro, so he had a pair  of Halos laying around and he gave it a shot with his headset. It worked perfectly fine with his setup. we tried it with both the pilot and the copilot jacks and they worked just fine with his set. I guess in the end I just got unlucky and got a bad set. I'll probably just have phil switch them out and hopefully they'll end up working because so far I really loved them in the 172.
 

[carusoam]

Great support Phil & Mark!

Thanks for taking care of the MSers!

Best regards,

-a-

[gsxrpilot]

@pmccand (Phil) is a great guy and makes a great product. I own three pairs and have sold at least ten pairs for him just hanging around his booth at Oshkosh. I'm always stopping by to get extra ear buds, and usually to pick up a spare set of Halos for myself, just in case.

I've never had a problem with mine, and wouldn't wear anything else. 

If you ever ride in my airplane, there is a set of Zulu 3's, that cost more than two pairs of Halos, (but not half as good) knocking around in the back seat that you're welcome to use.