T-coil hearing loop

[Don W.]

Hello All,

We are going to have our 21 hatch in July. We will use it with my mom who has Cochlear implant and a hearing aid...soon both ears will be the implant.

For rooms, and meeting spaces a "Hearing Loop" can be installed. Which is basically a wire starting at the t-coil device, looping around the room, and then plugging back into the device. This unit then has plug-ins for the tv, microphones, radio etc.

So anything plugged into this can then be automatically picked up by my mother's implant and she can hear things dramatically better, as well as not having to connect cables to the tv to hear.

Has anyone ever installed one of these in their home? or Camper I am thinking of having Escape industries run the wire loop for me, and then I will finish the rest myself.

This way inside the camper my mom can hear clearly and without all the cables laying about.

Thoughts, insight, is greatly appreciated

Don and Brenda

[fudge_brownie]

I cannot speak to the coil and its use, but having Escape run the wire during the build process is an excellent idea. I plan to ship Escape a 25 ft pre-finished cable for my Trimetric battery monitor that I will install myself after delivery.

[cpaharley2008]

Look into Blue Tooth, wiring is becoming a thing of the past for speakers. I bought an adapter for the tv that sends the signal to a blue tooth device, such as a speaker. See here Amazon.com: TaoTronics® TT-BA01 Wireless Portable Bluetooth Stereo Music Transmitter (Not A Bluetooth Receiver) for 3.5mm Audio Devices (iPod, MP3/MP4, TV, Kindle Fire, Media Players...) + 3.5mm Female to 2 RCA Male Cable: Kindle Store

[Vermilye]

Here is a link to some information about audio frequency hearing loops. And here is an article on building your own.
The biggest problem with them is the amount of power it takes to run them. The one in our theatre was driven by a 800 watt amplifier.

Of course the theatre was a bit bigger than an Escape, but you are still going to need a fairly powerful amplifier to drive the loop. If you camp with full hookups all the time, no problem, but for dry camping & overall ease of use & installation, I'd go along with Jim - if the implants can work with bluetooth, that is the direction I'd go.

[Brian B-P]

I had never heard of these loops - thanks everyone for the introduction.

The induction loop which runs around an auditorium is a big antenna, transmitting a signal to be picked up by the hearing aids, instead of using the hearing aid's microphone. In the case of a cochlear implant, it looks like this replaces the external aid entirely. As Don explained, it is driven by the "t-coil device" (amplifier), and the signal from the television or whatever must still be connected to that amplifier (the red line in the overall diagram of Jon's build-it-yourself link).

So...
Yes, installing the loop around the interior sounds like a good idea and I'll bet Escape could accommodate its installation at build time. I suspect that some consideration should be given to the routing versus metal components such as window frames and appliances... and the frame.
Powering the amplifier does sound like a bit of challenge, but maybe not so bad for such a small space, and it's only needed when some electronic thing (TV, radio...) is being listened to.
Connecting devices to the amplifier is a potential application for a Bluetooth receiver.

Bluetooth transmission from the source device to a receiver with a neck loop could eliminate the need for all built-in equipment, including the trailer-sized loop and amplifier. I ran across an example at the bottom of the page at What are examples of ALDs?

[Don W.]

If I could go totally bluetooth I would. Currently the implants do not have bluetooth. There are plans for the next generation implants....which my mom might get in her other ear this spring will have it, but it is awaiting approval from the FDA. So what most have been going with is the "hearing loop" So just to be safe, I am looking into this option.

Mom, would probably just join us on sites where we have hookups, so the power use is not a huge concern for me, and if we are dry camping, I could use our generator for the short times.

Thanks for all the help so far, keep it coming.

This is going to be a great surprise for my mom. She is the one that got me camping, even after my dad passed away, she hitched up the camper took us kids and went with the camping club. So when she said, hey I want to join you on your travels, I sold the casita.

It would be great to have it a total comfort and hearing comfort for her as she joins us on adventures and re-lives some of our past ones.

[cpaharley2008]

How will you address the tow vehicle? Will she accompany you in it?

[Don W.]

Some of the time she will be in the tow vehicle, but that is a rough one, mostly my wife turns slightly and then my mom leans forward from the back, and they can carry on a conversation as I drive.

[Donna D.]

I'm gaining a bit of knowledge and that's cool. My question would be will the wiring (if it's under the reflectix) possibly be as effective? Or would it be better to run a loop along the floor and under the toe boards for the cabinetry? I just remember how speaker wire can be effected in a car with all the electronics. Provisions sometimes need to be made... Like I said, I don't know anything about this but thought the question I have might have value.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Don W.

Some of the time she will be in the tow vehicle, but that is a rough one, mostly my wife turns slightly and then my mom leans forward from the back, and they can carry on a conversation as I drive.

There are apparently systems in which a microphone (in front of you and your wife) feeds a transmitter to a neck loop.

If it's just the three of you in the vehicle, both passengers can sit in the back to talk, leaving the (hearing) driver just listening.

Originally Posted by Don W.

If I could go totally bluetooth I would. Currently the implants do not have bluetooth.

I wasn't expecting the cochlear implants or their external driving units to be compatible with Bluetooth. This short-range radio standard could be useful for connections from computers and mobile devices (phones, tablets, etc) to either

• the loop amplifier via an external Bluetooth reciever, or
• a Bluetooth receiver in the same unit as a neck loop transmitter.

As I understand the neck loop systems, they receive by various methods (including Bluetooth, but also FM radio the way I connect an iPod to my car stereo), and set up a personal little hearing loop. Of course, that means wearing a device instead of being free to hear anywhere in the trailer without extra worn hardware.

Originally Posted by Don W.

This is going to be a great surprise for my mom. She is the one that got me camping, even after my dad passed away, she hitched up the camper took us kids and went with the camping club. So when she said, hey I want to join you on your travels, I sold the casita.

It would be great to have it a total comfort and hearing comfort for her as she joins us on adventures and re-lives some of our past ones.

It's hard to put a price on that - throw in whatever technology might help!

Originally Posted by Donna D.

My question would be will the wiring (if it's under the reflectix) possibly be as effective? Or would it be better to run a loop along the floor and under the toe boards for the cabinetry?

Good catch, Donna!
If the loop is run high (above the door, near head height), I assume that it should be installed after any Reflectix, but still under the foam-backed wall lining. It's a low-frequency radio transmission system, and the foil layer of the Reflectix can't help.

If you run around the edge of the floor, I think you want to ensure that you get behind any seating - not at the seated person's feet - to keep the seating area within the loop.