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Security headset is the earpiece you see wore may U.S. Secret Service men. It is the transparent audio tube that goes into the ear. It is made famous through many movies and TV shows. I could not find a public domain image of a U.S. Secret Service agent wearing the security headset, but the following White House public domain photo demonstrates the security headset clearly.
In this article, we will review a generic security headset used for 2-way radios. This generic security headset is marketed on Amazon as the "Advanced Nipple Covert Acoustic Tube Bodyguard FBI Earpiece Headset Mic PTT/VOX for 1-pin Motorola Talkabout Cobra Radio" (see "Related Links" section below). At the end of the article, we provide our experience of this security headset with several two-way radios.
Technical Details
If you are interested in the audio connector interface, see our "Single Pin Mono Headset Pin-Out" article.
Upon receiving our security headset order from Amazon in a yellow packing envelope, we discover the following zip lock bag with the content. The packaging seems decent enough.
The content of the zip lock bag includes the black wiring from the radio to the PTT/VOX switch box to the speak/microphone, a spare transparent earbud, and the transparent audio tube. The photo below shows the package content. The audio tube is shinning and looks clinically clean and clear.
The photo below shows the PTT/VOX switch. PTT stands for push-to-talk. In this mode, you push and hold the small button on the side of the switch box to talk. VOX stands for "Voice Operated eXchange" (see Wikipedia link in "Related Links" section below). It is basically an acronym for voice activation in 2-way radio jargon. In this mode, the radio detects your voice and automatically transmits your voice.
The back of the PTT/VOX switch box is an alligator clip, allowing you to clip it anywhere on your clothing. Two wires come out of the PTT/VOX switch box. One goes to the 2-way radio. The other goes to the speaker/microphone (see photo below).
The round black object in the photo below is the speaker/microphone combo. The speaker generates audio, which travels through the clear audio tube to your ear. In the same manner, your voice travels up to your ear canal, through the audio tube to the microphone.
Sound comes out of the transparent ear bud loud and clear. It also capture sound clearly for transmission. See the following sections for specifics on sound quality.
In order for this security headset to work with the Cobra microTalk CXT280 radio, the radio has to be in VOX mode while the headset is in PTT mode. After pushing and holding the PTT button, you can start transmitting voice. But the transmission will only occur after the CXT280 radio has detected voice (VOX mode). Therefore, your initial voice will be cut off (as with any radio in voice activation mode).
It seems to us that the Cobra radio cannot detect the PTT button being pressed on the headset. Instead, the PTT button simply enables the voice to travel to the radio. It is a limited success with the Cobra microTalk Two-Way Radio CXT280. It seems that the limitation is on the radio side.
The audio is loud and clear through the transparent earbud and transparent audio tube. Voice activation works well, too, but be prepared to talk at a slightly louder voice than your typical chatting voice.
The security headset works right off the bat with the Motorola TalkAbout MR350R radio. Both VOX and PTT works. However, there are some artificial limitation imposed by the Motorola MR350R radio. In order for the security headset to work in VOX mode, the security headset has to be plugged in, then the MR350R radio turned on. The MR350R will detect the security headset and automatically switch to VOX mode. However, as soon as you press the PTT button on the MR350R radio, it switches VOX off.
That also means you can't switch between PTT and VOX mode on the fly with the switch on the security headset. As soon as you switch to PTT mode using the headset, you have to stay in the PTT mode. Switching back to VOX mode on the headset causes the MR350R radio to think PTT button is continuously pressed. The only way to switch back to VOX mode is to turn off the MR350R radio, switch the headset to VOX, and then turn the MR350R radio back on.
The audio is loud and clear through the transparent earbud and transparent audio tube. Voice activation works well, too, but be prepared to talk at a slightly louder voice than your typical chatting voice.
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