Anyone skilled in electronics? - jacks for headphones in several parts of the hall for hearing-impaired

[Adelin]

This is a need in our hall as we have many old ones who have hearing problems.

So how could I find the best solution to connect their headphones to the sound system?

Do you have any ideas?

Thanks much!

[Stavro]

The fail-safe solution would be to buy a short-range FM transmitter and let others bring portable radios.

 

Alternatively, if it is a relatively low need, have someone with audio experience install permanently mounted headphones at a couple points along the wall.

 

Under no circumstances would it be advisable to provide a headphone jack for others to use with their own headphones, because one faulty pair of headphones (or an errant paperclip) can short out and potentially destroy the sound system.

[pnutts]

In Canada we use a Williams receiver or similar originally used at conventions. They broadcast on lower frequencies about 71 -75 MHz

 

This is what I connect  my recorder to at conventions & assemblies. Not sure if our hall re-connected it to new system - it wasn't for awhile.

[Musky]

I agree with Stavro. Our. meetings are broadcast on the FM band and those that need it bring headphones with built in FM radios or small portable radios with headphones or "ear buds".

[pnutts]

15 minutes ago, Stavro said:

The fail-safe solution would be to buy a short-range FM transmitter and let others bring portable radios.

 

Alternatively, if it is a relatively low need, have someone with audio experience install permanently mounted headphones at a couple points along the wall.

 

Under no circumstances would it be advisable to provide a headphone jack for others to use with their own headphones, because one faulty pair of headphones (or an errant paperclip) can short out and potentially destroy the sound system.

I have seen a couple of halls that did have headphone jacks and the Norval Ass. Hall did have them in one room when new in mid 70's.

[pnutts]

2 minutes ago, Musky said:

I agree with Stavro. Our. meetings are broadcast on the FM band and those that need it bring headphones with built in FM radios or small portable radios with headphones or "ear buds".

William receivers and the like use frequencies below normal FM radio broadcast.  Supposed to less interference.

[Adelin]

59 minutes ago, Stavro said:

 

have someone with audio experience install permanently mounted headphones at a couple points along the wall.

 

do you know how could this be done?

how to connect the headphones to the speaker wire? (that is what I want to do) I made a search on the internet and I found no suitable adaptor/converter/amplifier or anything like that. I know I could use speakers that include the circuit I need (that is what we do now for one brother), but I want a more practical solution.

Don't worry about the sound system - it's pretty cheap and simple (right now, I'm in congregation in a rural town)

Edited March 7, 2016 by Adelin

[Adelin]

1 hour ago, Stavro said:

The fail-safe solution would be to buy a short-range FM transmitter and let others bring portable radios.

I'd do that, but I'm not sure if it'd work ... these friends are old and don't like it to be complicated at all -putting headphones and potentiometer manipulation is already enough

I would rather connect them directly to the wires for the speaker, or maybe I'll use a separate circuit if there's no other solution

 

Edited March 7, 2016 by Adelin

[Stavro]

Just now, Adelin said:

how to connect the headphones to the speaker wire?

This is the part where you would want someone with experience. You would need an impedance matching transformer with the input set to your amplifier voltage (24V or 70V), and the output set to match both the impedance and wattage of the headphones. If any of the three settings are wrong, either the headphones or amplifier will stop working.

6 minutes ago, Adelin said:

Don't worry about the sound system - it's pretty cheap and simple (right now, I'm in congregation in a rural town)

The cost to replace the sound system isn't the concern here, an improper setup will simply stop working in the middle of the meeting.

48 minutes ago, pnutts said:

I have seen a couple of halls that did have headphone jacks and the Norval Ass. Hall did have them in one room when new in mid 70's.

It is possible if the system is sufficiently isolated from the main equipment, but for a small kingdom hall the $200 FM transmitter would be far more efficient than hundreds of dollars of isolation equipment that might be used once every six months.

[Adelin]

sooo ... I connected to the system a speaker through which I could connect 4 headphones (using multiplication adaptors) ....

 

all is just fine - music works great - except the microphones ... the headphones do not render the sound signal coming from the mics - through the station -(yesterday they worked at last after some restarting of the system but today ... no way)

I can't understand firstly, why it makes a difference between music and mics .... and secondly why the difference between the headphones and the loudspeakers (when it comes to mics) as long as this speaker is connected to the same exit as the other ones

Edited March 10, 2016 by Adelin

[Stavro]

On 3/10/2016 at 3:40 PM, Adelin said:

I can't understand firstly, why it makes a difference between music and mics .... and secondly why the difference between the headphones and the loudspeakers (when it comes to mics) as long as this speaker is connected to the same exit as the other ones

This is why I suggested an impedance matching transformer suitable for your amplifier and headsets...

 

Between LDC and the nearby congregations, someone with experience should be available in your area to give you some advice suited for your particular setup. Personally, I would not recommend any more sound system experiments on a live system until someone can verify that the impedance matching transformers are installed and the main equipment is properly isolated.