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Underwater Amplified Headphones Project...


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Hi all of You!

I want to share the first toughts on my new project for a waterproof amplified headphones need...

As usual, I'm pissed by a number of things, not to be boring, but at a certain point my patience has a limit and with people legs between my search pattern, swimming at dawn over me...What can I do to relax myself until the summer ends?

So I started a long research for a real tiny, cheap and effective amplifier board to install inside the headphones and hopefully to pump decently the audio on my Ctx3030..

I'm probably the last of the tribe that discovered this item, but hey! I'm impressed by the things can  be done with this little toy...

The board name is Pam8403 and is dirty cheap, to say a lot you can find it for 3 bucks in some cases...
There are multiple variants of this board even with potentimeter already wired!
This is however a digital class dual channel stereo amplifier and the audio source by the ctx is mono...
So I'm still looking how to manage the wiring scheme to don't make a mess...
I bought a pair of anti noise headphone frame to apply the speakers and the board and right now studying a way to get some power with an internal dedicated battery...The downside is that these boards need a specific tension of 5V and to be powered solely..
In my case, I need to waterproof the entire system with silicon gum (same type for epoxy moulding)...Wagnersil 22NF will cover completely the stuff inside...When it is time to replace the battery, the problem will arise of having an isolated compartment for it
Once I'll be able to master this thing, I'll show if it works properly...
I'm looking for the right speakers too...

As usual, any thought or suggestion will be greatly appreciated!

 

pam8403.jpg

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Everything is possible, allthrough it is always good to k.i.s.s. 

Here is amplified EX headphones from the friend of mine. 

He is using a cheap amplifier from chinaexpress.

The phone itself is a membrane sealed dynamic head.

 

IMG-f62cc5467d42ddcee51eea686596b44c-V.jpg

IMG-fb4989e8bb37a7a9efea1b23c4f4d3b0-V.jpg

IMG-d3eb0f023c02033a8e34c7d4b4405565-V.jpg

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A volume control would be nice too.

For batteries, have you checked out the off contact rechargables like they do with cell phones? This would allow you to completely encapsulate the board and make it truely waterproof.

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20 minutes ago, pjrough said:

amplify piezos.

Have You tried regular speakers instead of piezos in your projects?

I'm actually interested in that type of headphone, due to the kind of sound they can give.

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19 minutes ago, kac said:

A volume control would be nice too.

There's a version of this board with volume regulation with a potentimeter.Once You tune to 90/95% of the maximum range the board, easily, you can control on the machine the source volume.

This is my plan, cause when I'll insulate all the stuff with gum will be tough to modify any setting.

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SGD This is what I did to make my headphones louder, as I always have a hood on the valcro keeps phones in place and with out the pads the phones are on your ear, work great and easy to do.

ear.jpg

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1 hour ago, Skullgolddiver said:

Have You tried regular speakers instead of piezos in your projects?

I'm actually interested in that type of headphone, due to the kind of sound they can give.

 

Wow, That is some great work on all !! Well thought out and made.

Over the years I think I tried just about every possible. I got a box full of old amps and the best was Doc's Treasure screamer. Never got around to making it fully submersible, I did speakers also. I ended up finding that using 50mm Audio Unlimited Piezo's with a super then membrane as the piezo plate with a very a thin piece of tube as the horn using dow111 as the protective covering gives me the very loudest audio you would need. The secret is, low restriction of the piezo. If used for diving it would have to be serviced after every hunt. Here are the speakers I did..Audiosears 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gHS84aRm_k

And how I made them...Add to the video, I found doubling the Gortex material was the best for long life. 

 

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23 minutes ago, Joe Beechnut OBN said:

And how I made them

What a work Joe!I still miss that powerful sound already strong on the Excal, but this is gorgeous!

I just hope to realize something similar with the stuff I can find locally...

I was also thinking to use the two channels like in a stereo system even if the source audio from ctx is mono...

Maybe I'm saying bullsh...but on the board I see the audio In for a cable only from one channel source and two outputs.

So maybe I can wire the speakers singularly to connect them at the exits of the board, instead of reproduce the Minelab and Grey Ghost original wiring...

 

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8 hours ago, kac said:

A volume control would be nice too.

For batteries, have you checked out the off contact rechargables like they do with cell phones? This would allow you to completely encapsulate the board and make it truely waterproof.

There is no need for the volume control ones you can do the adjustments straight from you detector's menu.

Both posted examples got lipo with a charger. The connector got a couple of extra pins for charging purpose. 

Both posted examples are fully waterproof.

7 hours ago, Skullgolddiver said:

Have You tried regular speakers instead of piezos in your projects?

I'm actually interested in that type of headphone, due to the kind of sound they can give.

Yes I did it three or four years back. These are headphones I'm using nearly everyday for snorkeling and diving.

Let's see if I can post a link.

The link works! Such a surprise, this is a first forum i see that allow to embed a link from insta. thanks, Steve, for such a great forum!

Adding....

There is no need to do the amplified headphones for CTX, ones there is amplified output available inside the detector: the loudspeaker output has built in amplifier, so you can hook up you headphones to this output, SGD.

I did it some year back for my waterproofed Etracs and forgot about weak sound problem.

 

 

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