Thursday 11 February 2021

HEIL HTHD-I HEADSET

LIGHTWEIGHT HEADSET

I was looking for a new headset to include in my IC-705 RuckSack and thanks to a guy called John Halkiadakis on FaceBook, I came across the HEIL HTHD-I which has a twin-pin plug specifically made to suit Icom HandHeld radios. Luckily, the IC-705 has this configuration, so it fits perfectly.


The Heil HTHD-I is a twin-speaker design with small 'on-ear' faux-leather cushions. They're not perfectly comfortable but good enough for short  periods of operation with a few breaks in-between (just as you would operate normally on a field-day).

The headset includes a nicely adjustable goose-neck microphone (with a wind-silencing foam covering) which will rotate almost 360 degrees meaning you can position the mic on either side of your head. There's also a convenient PTT switch on the lead.  The 2-pin moulded plug inserts directly into the radio and is easy to insert, but a pig to remove!!! Just yanking it out could lead to stress-damage on the sockets. 

The HEIL HTHD-I has a good range of adjustment in the headband, making it suitable for a variety of head sizes - it would even fit Herman 😂

The quality of the incoming audio is pretty good and certainly good enough for strong signals, but just like any other headsets, SSB can get pretty tiring after extended listening periods. The secret to success is to take frequent breaks.

The outgoing audio has been fine. No one has poured compliments over my audio using this device and no one has complained about it. I don't ask for audio reports directly because people seem to go overboard with their compliments when asked and I don't always feel like they can be relied upon. Mind you, when I speak to some of my regulars using this, I'll get them to give me an honest report and add their comments below.

CONCLUSION

I'm very happy with this headset. The HEIL HTHD-I is extremely light, well constructed and does everything it's supposed to. Given the choice, I'd prefer to have 'over-ears' headphones, but then they'd be a lot bigger and bulkier, so you can't have your cake and eat it, can you?

They cost around £45 which is not a bad price considering the quality of the item. If you have an Icom IC-705, yes, I would recommend one of these for your trips outdoor.


UPDATE!
I've just sorted out a fix for this problem removing the plug from the radio. Simple and effective....



And I spent some time on VHF tonight and got some very satisfactory audio reports. One guy even recorded me and played it back. Happy days!


Thanks for visiting - please take a minute to leave a comment below 

73, Tom, M7MCQ.

7 comments:

VE3IPS said...

Awesome thanks. I will try the HTH-i headset that is single ear

Pat K7GUD said...

Hi Tom. Thanks for headset review. I might get a pair because they are light, and that's important to me for pota and sota. I noticed an issue with the IC705 and stereo headsets. When I put the headset jack all the way in, I get sound in only the left ear. If I pull it out a little bit, then I get both, but the plug is kind in hanging there and not seated. I tried this with regular stereo headset and with heil pro 7 using only the headset plug. Only left side sound on both. Did the HEIL HTHD-I have sound in both ears?

Pat K7GUD said...

Hi Tom. Thanks for headset review. I might get a pair because they are light, and that's important to me for pota and sota. I noticed an issue with the IC705 and stereo headsets. When I put the headset jack all the way in, I get sound in only the left ear. If I pull it out a little bit, then I get both, but the plug is kind in hanging there and not seated. I tried this with regular stereo headset and with heil pro 7 using only the headset plug. Only left side sound on both. Did the HEIL HTHD-I have sound in both ears?

Pat K7GUD said...

Hi Tom. Thanks for headset review. I might get a pair because they are light, and that's important to me for pota and sota. I noticed an issue with the IC705 and stereo headsets. When I put the headset jack all the way in, I get sound in only the left ear. If I pull it out a little bit, then I get both, but the plug is kind in hanging there and not seated. I tried this with regular stereo headset and with heil pro 7 using only the headset plug. Only left side sound on both. Did the HEIL HTHD-I have sound in both ears?

MadDogMcQ said...

Hi Pat, thanks for the visit. Yes there's sound in both ears :-)

Regards, Tom, M7MCQ.

Pat K7GUD said...

Thanks for the reply.

Unknown said...

Hi Pat, bit of a late reply but don't forget to change the speaker socket setting in the menu.
73
Daphne-G7ENA