OT: Hearing Aid Advice

[Edward R Cole]

Although Chuck suggested off list replies, I feel this is important
enough for the aging ham that I am going to reply here for benefit of
any others.  I have been wearing hearing aids since 1996.  My first
pair were made by Resound and in the ear style.  I decided on that
style partly out of wanting low key appearance.  They were the top of
the line with programmable equalizing and multiple sound programs.

In 2006 I upgraded to Phonak over the ear style on the advice of my
audiologist (certified).  This provides two mics in each earpiece
which provides noise-cancelation from the rear.  They have four
programs for use in different hearing environments.  One is automatic
with noise-cancelling, another has anti-echo, and one I use a lot is
for music/TV which provides wide-frequency response.  It turns out
this last program provides the crispest sound for listening to ham
radio.  I wear the hearing aids from the time I wake till bedtime
(exceptions are when working outside with noisy machinery when I wear
muffs for hearing protection).

I can wear them while wearing over the ear headsets (SONY MDR-V600),
though over long duration they get a little uncomfortable.  Use
of  standard telephone is not possible since the mics are behind the
ear and standard phone covers the ear so sound does not reach the
hearing aid.  My unit does have a T-coil pickup but I found it
unsatisfactory for hearing well on the phone.  I opt to using speaker
phones.  Interestingly, the cell phone has enough volume so I can use
it with half-inch air gap to my ear.

Not wearing my hearing aids and using headsets is totally
unsatisfactory for me.  The radio equalizer is not even close to the
22-channel DSP in my hearing aids.  So Chuck, if your headsets have
nice soft over the ear muffs they should work fine with OTE hearing
aids (which work way better than in-ear - in my opinion).  So wear
your new aids all the time, even with headphones (as long as they are
over the ear muff style).

One last recommendation:  when you first start wearing your aids the
world will get very noisy.  Resist the urge to take them out and do
without using them.  The mind has to adjust to hearing over several
days to a couple weeks.  The mind is reprogramming itself for the new
sounds it is getting.  You will be surprised the noises you will hear
that before will tolerable.  All that sound is processed by your "wet
ware" and it has to re-learn noise reduction to separate the "good"
sounds from the "bad" noise.  If really uncomfortable go back for
adjustment with your audiologist.  Almost everyone has to do that in
the first few days "to get it right".

Finally, be sure to get annual hearing tests to make adjustments as
your hearing continues to change.  Hearing aids do not cure hearing
loss...they only help it a little.  Thanks to all you normal hearing
for your patience.

73, Ed - KL7UW


----------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 01 May 2012 01:27:07 -0700
From: Chuck Smallhouse <[hidden email]>
Subject: [Elecraft] OT: Hearing Aid Advice
To: [hidden email]
Message-ID: <[hidden email]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed

Hi Guys & Gals,

I'm finally overcoming my procrastination (and ego) and am going to
be getting some hearing aids.  Finally the many explosions that my
ears were exposed to, during my military career, from large AA guns
(90 & 120 MM), experimental large ground to ground and ground to air
guided missiles, to grenades, mortars and small arms fire, has caught
up with me.  My ears have deteriorated to where I have difficulty
with hearing high frequencies, and therefore understanding many
conversations, especially those at a distance.

Over the years, I've been very frustrated with all the problems and
difficulties that my wife has had, with her high end devices.  I
realize that improvements are being made almost yearly, and new
models are addressing customers' complaints, and also one must be
willing to compromise.

  From my limited research and discussions with audiologists, there
are basically two general types,  In the ear and behind the
ear.  From a technical (and personal) standpoint I tend to favor the
behind the ear versions, as I allude to the other type like putting a
cork in the ear to plug up any outside sounds, and then inject
totally artificially amplified sounds.  I realize that this is a
requirement for some types of hearing loss, however, at this time,
mine is not very severe and gives me a choice of types.

A very high percent of ham radio operating is listening to and trying
to pull out, deep into the noise level, weak signals in the VHF/UHF
and microwave bands.  This I try to accomplish, somewhat successfully
(WAS, VUCC & 95+ DXCC on 2M CW), using narrow IF and audio
filters.  I've always used headphones with large comfortable and
effective earmuffs on them.  The muffs aid greatly to my
concentration in trying to decipher CW signals, that are many dB
below the noise.

Therein is my need for some advice and suggestions based on
experience.  I would expect that in this case that in "the ear"
devices might be appropriate as the muffed earphones could not be
satisfactorily used, with "behind the ear" types.
Maybe the best approach, in this case, would be to remove the hearing
aids and attempt to duplicate the hearing aids' response with the RX
EQ adjustments in the K3, and maybe also with an additional response
adjustment with an external MFJ  616 Speech Enhancer ?

One disadvantage with the "behind the ear" types, is that they tend
to interfere with the wearing of sun and reading glasses, also they
are more likely to fall off when engaged in certain recreational
activities, that I'm still quite involved in, such as downhill skiing
and dirt bike and ATV riding when wearing a helmet.  Since wearing of
a helmet has built in audio attenuation, the safest approach is
probably not to wear the "aids" during those activities.

There some neat options that now exist, especially for behind the ear
units.  These are such things as wireless remote controls that are
Bluetooth and TV adaptable, and an option for rechargeable
batteries.  You drop the aids into a magnetic coupled charging
fixture/box every night.  You now have a permanent place to store and
dry them, where you know where to find them the next day !

At this time I don't think I can afford ones with all the bells and
whistles and would like to stay in the 2k to 3k dollar range/pr,
including the remote unit.

So please sound off with your recommendations and thoughts.

Thanks es 73,

Chuck,  W7CS


73, Ed - KL7UW, WD2XSH/45
======================================
BP40IQ   500 KHz - 10-GHz   www.kl7uw.com
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