{"id":27332,"date":"2017-07-26T07:59:38","date_gmt":"2017-07-26T11:59:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=27332"},"modified":"2017-07-26T08:00:31","modified_gmt":"2017-07-26T12:00:31","slug":"guest-post-old-school-infrared-wireless-headphones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/07\/guest-post-old-school-infrared-wireless-headphones\/","title":{"rendered":"Guest Post: Old School Infrared Wireless Headphones"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor,\u00a0Mario Filippi (N2HUN)<\/a>, who shares the following guest post:<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Old School (Infrared) Wireless Headphones<\/h2>\n

by\u00a0Mario Filippi (N2HUN)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Have you ever mindlessly walked away from your TV with headphones\/ear buds still tethered, causing all sorts of havoc? Been there, done that hi hi! Let\u2019s face it; there are plenty of avenues to remedy the situation by upgrading to wireless headphones. Nowadays most state of the art wireless headphones use radio frequencies to achieve a wireless method of listening. For example, my XYL blissfully listens to TV audio with Sony stereo wireless headphones, using a frequency of 915.5 MHz; below is the actual signal viewed with an RTL-SDR dongle.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Sony wireless headphones signal viewed via a SDR dongle; FM modulation.<\/p><\/div>\n

But hold the presses: there\u2019s good news for folks not averse to old-school technology.<\/p>\n

I recently purchased a set of RCA wireless headphones using infrared technology from shopgoodwill.com<\/a>. \u00a0Yes, those of us who are somewhat long in the tooth remember infrared as the common method for consumers to \u201ccut the headphone cord\u201d way back when. \u00a0Infrared is located just above the radio frequency spectrum starting around 300 Gigs (Gigahertz) and is still commonly used in TV and satellite remotes, but less so now with modern wireless headphones operating in the \u00a0900 MHz \u00a0and 2.4 GHz ISM (Industrial, Scientific, Medical) bands.<\/p>\n

Admittedly, the new breed of wireless headphones possesses an array of options not available with older infrared units, but if you are satisfied with a no-frills method of headphone freedom (well about 25 feet range that is), check out the pre-owned inventory offered on shopgoodwill.com<\/a>. \u00a0The pair I purchased started at \u00a0$7.99 with no other interested bidders so the total with shipping was $16.82 with the original box and was complete, including the rechargeable NiCad batteries which still functioned but undoubtedly will need replacing. \u00a0To boot, the money went to a charitable organization.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Wireless IR stereo headphones from shopgoodwill.com<\/p><\/div>\n

Interestingly, I tried using the wireless IR headphones in conjunction with a shortwave receiver (Panasonic DR22) but there was lots of interference, evidently from the IR transmitter; shortwave and the AM BCB were wiped out by the interference. Now on the FM BCB it worked fine. Even tried it with a scanner and it seemed to work well with FM transmissions (police, fire, EMS) but not with aero AM (108 – 136 MHz).<\/p>\n

In the end my venerable older headphones have been relegated to the \u201cshelf of infrequently utilized equipment.\u201d Radio hobbyists might want to visit www.shopgoodwill.com<\/a> as there are lots more radio memorabilia for window shopping or adding to one\u2019s armamentarium. Remember to read the descriptions carefully as to the working condition. In the interest of full disclosure, I am not associated with ShopGoodWill in any way except that I\u2019m a very satisfied customer. And yes, there are new, state-of-the-art wireless headphones available at a comparable price, so why the reason for this tale? Well, for knowledge, a little history, and a dash of sentimentality, that\u2019s all! hi hi!<\/p>\n

\n

Thanks, Mario!<\/em><\/p>\n

I briefly worked in a RadioShack store in the mid 1990s. We had a set of IR wireless headphones on display and hooked up to a receiver. I remember putting them on and listening to music after\/before store hours completing mindless tasks like inventory, clean up, etc. It felt incredibly liberating to walk around the store without a headphone cord umbilical cord! The IR footprint covered the entire store, but fell apart if I had to duck below an end-cap or shelf partition. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Thank you for taking us on a wireless stroll down memory lane, Mario!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor,\u00a0Mario Filippi (N2HUN), who shares the following guest post: Old School (Infrared) Wireless Headphones by\u00a0Mario Filippi (N2HUN) Have you ever mindlessly walked away from your TV with headphones\/ear buds still tethered, causing all sorts of havoc? Been there, done that hi hi! Let\u2019s face it; there are plenty of avenues […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4199,3,129],"tags":[4342,1982,4311,1827,6373],"class_list":["post-27332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-accessories","category-news","category-reviews","tag-guest-posts","tag-headphones","tag-mario-filippi-n2hun","tag-rca","tag-rca-infrared-wireless-headphones"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-76Q","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":54356,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2022\/10\/mario-reminds-us-to-log-10-meter-cw-beacon-activity\/","url_meta":{"origin":27332,"position":0},"title":"Mario reminds us to log 10 meter CW beacon activity!","author":"Thomas","date":"October 17, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to\u00a0SWLing Post\u00a0contributor,\u00a0Mario Filippi (N2HUN), who shares the following guest post: Recent 10 Meter CW Beacon Activity Mario Filippi, N2HUN The 10m band has been coming alive lately and it\u2019s time for all hams and SWLs to take advantage of it.\u00a0 For several years I\u2019ve been listening to 10m\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Beacons"","block_context":{"text":"Beacons","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/beacons\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/10-Meter-Beacon-SDR-Sharp-Mario-Filippi-Spectrum-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/10-Meter-Beacon-SDR-Sharp-Mario-Filippi-Spectrum-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/10-Meter-Beacon-SDR-Sharp-Mario-Filippi-Spectrum-1.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/10-Meter-Beacon-SDR-Sharp-Mario-Filippi-Spectrum-1.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/10-Meter-Beacon-SDR-Sharp-Mario-Filippi-Spectrum-1.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17190,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/02\/brilliant-article-on-rtl-sdr-dongle-uses\/","url_meta":{"origin":27332,"position":1},"title":"Brilliant Article on RTL-SDR Dongle Uses","author":"Robert Gulley","date":"February 1, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Frequent contributor Mario Filippi N2HUN has written a brilliant piece for the latest edition of The Spectrum Monitor entitled RTL-SDR: Your Eye To The Wireless World, February 2016. Here is a brief synopsis: RTL-SDR Dongle: Your Eye to the Wireless World By Mario Filippi N2HUN The RTL-SDR dongle has garnered\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"sdr-Mario2","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/sdr-Mario2.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/sdr-Mario2.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/sdr-Mario2.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17408,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/02\/guest-post-listening-to-10-meter-radio-beacons\/","url_meta":{"origin":27332,"position":2},"title":"Guest Post: Listening to 10 Meter Radio Beacons","author":"Thomas","date":"February 19, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mario\u00a0Filippi (N2HUN) for the following guest post: Listening in to 10 Meter Radio Beacons Mario Filippi, N2HUN (All photos courtesy of author--click to enlarge.) Radio beacons can be found across the RF spectrum from the LF (low frequency) band all the way up to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"SX-99-Dial-Nar","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/SX-99-Dial-Nar.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/SX-99-Dial-Nar.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/SX-99-Dial-Nar.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/SX-99-Dial-Nar.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":29339,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/11\/bose-quietcomfort-25-noise-cancelling-headphones-179-shipped\/","url_meta":{"origin":27332,"position":3},"title":"Bose QuietComfort 25 Noise Cancelling Headphones $179 shipped","author":"Thomas","date":"November 25, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Some of you might recall a post I published a few weeks ago about my friend BJ Liederman and how he introduced me to Bose QuietComfort headphones. Since then, I've been watching the prices of both the wired QuiteComfort 25 and wireless QuiteComfort 35 models. This morning, the price of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Accessories"","block_context":{"text":"Accessories","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/accessories\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Bose-QuietComfort-25-Sale.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Bose-QuietComfort-25-Sale.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Bose-QuietComfort-25-Sale.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Bose-QuietComfort-25-Sale.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":25322,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/07\/a-review-of-cozyphones-sleep-headphones\/","url_meta":{"origin":27332,"position":4},"title":"A review of CozyPhones sleep headphones","author":"Thomas","date":"July 23, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"A few months ago, SWLing Post contributor, Mario Filippi--being both a good friend and an (ahem!) enabler--sent the following note: My XYL bought me a set of CozyPhones\u00a0for Christmas.\u00a0 If you like listening to the radio, especially at night while in bed, these work great. Speakers are nice and flat.\u00a0\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Accessories"","block_context":{"text":"Accessories","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/accessories\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/CozyPhones.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":17652,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/03\/godar-antennas\/","url_meta":{"origin":27332,"position":5},"title":"GODAR antennas","author":"Thomas","date":"March 25, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mario Filippi (N2HUN), who writes: [Check out]\u00a0this site I came by accidentally, small company, USA made antennas, most are OTA TV but he has a few shortwave antennas, quite reasonable. [...]\u00a0Also has old vintage pics. A little of this and that on the website,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Accessories"","block_context":{"text":"Accessories","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/accessories\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"GodarAntennas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/GodarAntennas.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/GodarAntennas.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/GodarAntennas.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27332"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27332\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}