Make my own Waterproof headphones.

[Harold in Fla]

Was wondering if anybody made their own waterproof headphones and where did they get the parts, any help will be appreciated. Harold

[hobbes_lives]

I read somewhere before about making them using hearing-protection earmuffs and piezo speakers embedded in silicone, but I don't recall the source. I think it would be simple enough to do.

I'm interested in making waterproof bone-conduction headphones.

[Harold in Fla]

I would sure like to find out more, and where to get the parts to build a headphone, they cost so much when you buy one, Harold

[Tinkerer]

I read somewhere before about making them using hearing-protection earmuffs and piezo speakers embedded in silicone, but I don't recall the source. I think it would be simple enough to do.

I'm interested in making waterproof bone-conduction headphones.

The piezo speakers work ok in shallow water. For the deeper water I used to make the clicking bone conductors.
The clicking varies in frequency from 0.5hz to about 120hz, but the most indicative frequency is in the low range.

Tinkerer

[hobbes_lives]

Hey Tinkerer,

Do you have instructions on how you built the clicking bone conductors?

Thanks.

[Tinkerer]

Hey Tinkerer,

Do you have instructions on how you built the clicking bone conductors?

Thanks.

Do you only need the bone conductor or the drive circuit too?

I still got some around, including the spare parts, need to dig them up. They are simple to build. The clicker is a relay, cast in epoxy resin. It needs a diode to quench the flyback from the relay. I used a red LED, so it made a visual indicator at the same time.

Give me a day or two to dig up all the information.

Tinkerer

[Harold in Fla]

Yes i would like that info also and would appreciate it very much, Harold

[ODM]

Being careful with LEDs is a good idea, most of them can only hold 5 volts in reverse voltage. There aren't many relays available in operating voltages below 5 volts, and the switching voltages can easily burn a LED without a higher voltage diode to help block that reverse voltage.

Funny enough, most LEDs will happily take quite high current peaks though!

[Tinkerer]

Hey Tinkerer,

Do you have instructions on how you built the clicking bone conductors?

Thanks.

Attached are 3 pictures.

#1 shows 3 Underwater metal detectors. The top and bottom one use click bone conductors. The middle one uses a piezo element.

# 2 shows the parts. the bone conductor element is the relay. The clock is produced by the relay switching. Only the switching pins, the solenoid, are used.

# 3 shows the schematic of the bottom detector. Note the output of the bone connector is also the input of the NI-Cad batteries charger.

Tinkerer

[hobbes_lives]

A nice, simple setup Tinkerer. I like it!

What brand of waterproof connector is that? Did they work well?

[Tinkerer]

A nice, simple setup Tinkerer. I like it!

What brand of waterproof connector is that? Did they work well?

These are IKELITE waterproof connectors. I don't know if they are still in business.
I never had problems with the connectors, but they only have 2 pins.

I still have a bunch of connectors, actuators and housings for metal detectors like the bottom one shown.

They were made to go 200 feet deep.

I used to stick the bone connector under my diving hood, anywhere near the ear or under the mask strap for just a quick dive.

Tinkerer

[Harold in Fla]

thanks for all th help!!!!

thank you very much for all your help, the one's that i want to build is for shallow waterhunting, with the piezo speakers, do you know of a place where they are reasonable on their prices for those speakers. and what type of wire do they use to run from one ear to the other? appreciate any info you can give me on this Tinkerer. Harold

[6666]

interesting

whats with C8 being 22k
I take it really should be an R

[Tinkerer]

interesting

whats with C8 being 22k
I take it really should be an R

6666,

this was my first try in metal detector design. The date is on the drawing 23 of May 1987.

It was working well, but strictly for diver use.

C8, 2.2KpF is part of the low pass filter together with R 14.

Tinkerer

[Tinkerer]

thank you very much for all your help, the one's that i want to build is for shallow waterhunting, with the piezo speakers, do you know of a place where they are reasonable on their prices for those speakers. and what type of wire do they use to run from one ear to the other? appreciate any info you can give me on this Tinkerer. Harold

I don't know how to help you with the piezo elements. They come in an very wide selection, frequency, voltage and drive methods.

Try Radioshack, DIGIKEY, MOUSER ETC.

Check the datasheets, they usually contain samples of connections etc.

Tinkerer