New Peltor headset with close comm function

[GJM]

https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2019/01/11/new-comtac-vi-nib-tactical-headset-from-3m-peltor/

[RJ]

I’d like to see what technology sits underneath this.

Interesting Idea if it is as seemless to the user as it appears.

Some concerns.

How do I prevent the Taliban next building over from eavesdropping on my units local NIB comms? One suspects it is not 256 byte encrypted.

How ‘quick’ does it link up? Users aren’t going to want to wait very long, at all.

What is the range? Small battery powered comms is cool. Also, depending on what freq this runs at, spherical spreading and absorption losses in the RF could limit effective comms beyond X.

Is it ‘always’ transmitting? A design that is ‘on’ all the time is no bueno for design up-time, nor is it great if you really don’t want to have RF emitting constantly advertising each of your teammates positions.

It’d be great for a shooting class though. I wonder if Motorola (my usual choice for hand held radios) has a padded/ear cup headset available on say a FRS band radio. That would be a serious competitor in this market space.


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[Wake27]

Damn, that's cool. I love my Peltors, bet they're $$$ though.

[SeriousStudent]

...

Some concerns.

How do I prevent the Taliban next building over from eavesdropping on my units local NIB comms?

...

Sounds like opportunity knocking, to me. In the immortal words of MSG Paul Howe: "Go find work."

But it's probably my Texas heritage that makes me think that way.

[DMF13]

It’d be great for a shooting class though.Only if everyone in the class has spent the outrageous amount of money necessary to buy these.

These are appropriate for a very specific market, and those are tactical teams, that have a need for hearing protection, that is very low profile for use under a helmet.

The shooters in the class you mention might benefit from the comm aspect (but again, only if everyone has bought the same setup), but could get much better hearing protection from something that isn't so low profile.

If you're not wearing a helmet, you shouldn't be sacrificing the valuable protection a larger profile would provide.

[peterb]

I worked on a project for Navy flight deck hearing protection. One of the ideas proposed and prototyped was using infrared for face-to-face voice communication.

[RJ]

I worked on a project for Navy flight deck hearing protection. One of the ideas proposed and prototyped was using infrared for face-to-face voice communication.

How did using IR as the carrier frequency work out, in general?


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[peterb]

How did using IR as the carrier frequency work out, in general?
k

In the lab, fine. There are obvious line-of-sight and range limitations, but for that problem — people a few feet apart who can’t hear each other because of the noisy environment, and a requirement for radio silence — it seemed reasonable.

I left the company, and don’t know how far it got in field trials. One can imagine that rain, fog, other IR sources, etc. could all be problems.

[RJ]

In the lab, fine. There are obvious line-of-sight and range limitations, but for that problem — people a few feet apart who can’t hear each other because of the noisy environment, and a requirement for radio silence — it seemed reasonable.

I left the company, and don’t know how far it got in field trials. One can imagine that rain, fog, other IR sources, etc. could all be problems.

Cool. Yeah I was thinking LoS would have been tough in that operational environment.

I’ve had a little exposure to MILES gear both personnel and vehicle mounted, but that was more for scoring (“Congratulations Hotel One Four, you just received a simulated 120mm Sabot round on your front glacis plate!”) purposes than comms.