Peltor headphone Mod Excalibur

[OBN]

This is a How to Video, I'm not doing this as a side.
With more hunters coming out to the beach, one needs every advantage and this is a inexpensive way to stay EQUAL for about 25 Dollars compared to hundreds you would spend on similar.
A excellent upgrade for Old and New water detectors. Tested several sets of Peltors over the last 3 years, The 98's (NRR25), 101's (NRR 27), and by far the Best, the Peltor 105's with a (Noise Reduction Rating of 30db), these have a extra shell insert to block more amblient noise, (ruff waves, sea gulls, human generated back ground noise, etc) allowing for better audio, and faint targets to be heard. I chose the Excalibur because it has the poorest quality head phones, with a weak grip, and poor NRR of 12+db. This would work great on the older CZ's and PI machines allowing those weak deep signals to be heard. The 105's come in the standard R/B color and also offered in a HI VIS...., this upgrade will Void any warranty...

Good luck, hope this simple guide will increase your treasure...............OBN

 

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[stevemc]

Re: Tired of those old Head Phones?

Well done! Very well made video! I have White's Surfmaster PIs and those headphones are also not great. Plus the original turquize ones for the old blue and green sword/NY Excal. I do plan on doing that mod. I had bought some of Harbor Freight's noise blocking ear muffs for use with chain saws, and cutting and grinding tools. They work well for that, and are very inexpensive, and had thought of doing just what you did with them. They dont have the inner cup like the ones you showed, just a foam sheet. So I will research and find a good source for those that you recommended, Thanks! Who has the best price on those? Steve.

 

[grizj]

Re: Tired of those old Head Phones?

OBN, Thats a good one i just got my new excal and the head phones are junk.I may have to try that, thanks for sharing maybe see you on the beach. GRIZ

 

[OBN]

Re: Tired of those old Head Phones?

Steve I got these at Lowe's for $25 total, quick and easy. But I have seen them amazon for 22 shipped. The newer version are under 3M now since they have bought Peltor out. There are alot of old detectors out there and these will bring new life to them..special with the Double shell noise protection. One thing to take note on is to make sure you leave a couple small holes in the tranducer plate for more audio to come thur from behind. Near the end I show a few of my other sets of Peltor's..........Peltor Treasure Screamers, been working on them for about 4 years now..

 

[stevemc]

Re: Tired of those old Head Phones?

Got it! Thanks again.

 

[stevemc]

Re: Tired of those old Head Phones?

Old Beech Nut, went to Lowes, got the 3M 30 db. Thanks.

 

[OBN]

Re: Tired of those old Head Phones?

Great steve, I think you will find a 100% improvement over the stockers, Those old NY xcals have some of the best audio of all...reason, the hard plastic that is used is a excellent conductive of the piezo buzzer. Plus many don't know this and this is one secret of the GM's & the old New York xcal's...there is no filters in the endcaps, allowing a louder audio from the detector.

 

[Stumppass]

Re: Tired of those old Head Phones?

OBN,

I did one set today and it worked out fine! I'll be doing another this week.

Also, I did not realize that the yellow's use 50mm piezo's, I bought some for Digi Key and didn't use them however, I might just make a new set and try them out.

BTW - Northen Tool has the HI VIS for $21.00

Thanks again for doing what you do!

SP

 

[surfnturf]

Re: Tired of those old Head Phones?

OBN,
Great step by step, since hunting has slowed down it's time for some tuning up!!! Thanks for the info!!!



Snt

 

[killerb]

Re: Tired of those old Head Phones?

Will the mod allow water to drain if you dive with the headphones?

killerb

 

[OBN]

Re: Tired of those old Head Phones?

SnT, you being a PP/AM hunter will reconize the greatest improvement of all.

Stumppass
yellow's use 50mm piezo's

Yes the stock yellow xcal headphones do use the 50mm but for some reason the better of the two are the PUI Piezo 50mm, same as used on the GM's. If you change to the PUI piezo 50mm available from digikey.com the audio of the targets will change. And you have to almost relearn your tones.

I'm in the slow process of obtaining these from china...60mm....which from the beginning of time the saying goes........, Bigger is better

Kind a funny, this post was kicked out by the Moderators of Findmall.com because someone complained about it...rumor has it was "Mr. Gold Master"?

 

[OBN]

Re: Tired of those old Head Phones?

killerb
Will the mod allow water to drain if you dive with the headphones?

I have used these underwater but not for more then a few seconds, the main thing theses are for, those who hunt in the surf and have to deal with amblient noise. Underwater/diving I would recommend keeping the stock or having to drill the 4 holes for drainage, like the stock yellows, on the peltor cups. The only advantage then would be for the duribility over the stock, the fact they stay on your head much better..and you would lose the NNR 30db rating with the drain holes.

 

[John (west central FL)]

Re: Tired of those old Head Phones?

Kind a funny, this post was kicked out by the Moderators of Findmall.com because someone complained about it...rumor has it was "Mr. Gold Master"?

That's why I don't post much on Findmall anymore. You can't post about any product that is not sold by one of their sponsors. Treasure Net is much more open to the free exchange of information.

 

[Midas_touch]

Re: Tired of those old Head Phones?

Hi OBN.

Thank you for posting this video. I am definitely going to do this to my excal2. I was curious during the part of the video when you cut the back shell of the peltor ear muffs for the transducers to slide into you said you cut an extra 1/4" off of the middle part of the back shell. In the video it looks like you just cut around your blue tape without removing the extra 1/4". Am I misunderstanding this part? I've watched it twice and am unsure. Thanks again. You did a great job and I would love to see an in depth video for how you added the screamer as well as your remote discrimination switch.

 

[OBN]

Re: Tired of those old Head Phones?

I 'll get you a picture of a uncut and the cut to show the difference and how much extra needs to be trimmed off....this afternoon..........joe

The cuts on this secondary Peltor shell are for the Yellow HeadPhone Excaliburs only. For any other excalibur or detector model you will need to measure and trim as needed. I think the others would be less, I have most of the popular water detectors and most Piezo transducer plates are flat.

 

[Born2Dtect]

Re: Tired of those old Head Phones?

I like the mod. Well done. My only concern would be the exposed metal on the new headphones. I hunt salt water and salt water can play havock on any metal not designed for it. For now I think I will keep using the original headphones on the Excal II at least until they fail, then who knows?

Ed D.

 

[wormsdad]

Re: Tired of those old Head Phones?

Steve can you tell me if the transducer that come with the standard yellow headphones for the excallibur should be changed as well,and if so where would be a good place to get them?Thanks Paul

 

[OBN]

Re: Tired of those old Head Phones?

I like the mod. Well done. My only concern would be the exposed metal on the new headphones. I hunt salt water and salt water can play havock on any metal not designed for it. For now I think I will keep using the original headphones on the Excal II at least until they fail, then who knows?

Ed D.

Good to see you Ed,!!

The Peltors use stainless steel only. I've been using Peltors for over 4 years now and hunt the same beach's you do, mine have been under several times with no issues at all, other then when someone starts talking ..I have to take them off.. Infact I still have a old set of 101 H7A's that I started using long ago....no rust here.

 

[OBN]

Re: Tired of those old Head Phones?

Steve can you tell me if the transducer that come with the standard yellow headphones for the excallibur should be changed as well,and if so where would be a good place to get them?Thanks Paul

I would recommend if this is your first time, stay with the yellow stockers, they are as good as most.. Then maybe build a second set once you have some idea of what you are getting into, and really..it not hard at all. Digikey you can get the 50mm piezo buzzers, make sure you silicon fully over and to a piece of hard plastic..they work only if pressed against a object
I believe these are the same as used on the GoldMasters...

http://parts.digikey.com/1/parts/1388061-buzzer-piezo-element-1-2khz-50mm-aps4812b-lw100-r.html

One thing to remember, always becareful and not cut, nick the headphone cord..what happens is something called wicking..if the water enters the coiled HP cord the integrity of the cord to keep water out will cause issues later, turning the copperwires black causing a weak signal, and even shorting out the electronic's of the Pod if it reachs there........Good Luck

 

[Midas_touch]

Re: Tired of those old Head Phones?

Thank you for clarifying. I will be making mine this weekend.