Jupiter Wireless Intercom Adapters  

We had 3 of the original units.  Hopefully they addressed some of the issues with the original design as it did have problems.  For our application, we thought it'd be a good idea...but in the end they didn't really work as well as we had hoped.   The range was good, and the battery life could mostly make it through a full day...but there were some big drawbacks...foremost, there was an incredibly annoying sidetone echo.  The answer I got from JAC when I asked about the echo was, " The echo you are hearing is sidetone. There is a built in sidetone for safety in all wiJAC systems. This ensures that both base station and headset adapter are linked. If you do not hear the sidetone that that means the aircraft cannot hear you. Most users get use to it and it becomes second nature to hear it."

For most of our crew, the echo was so annoying that we stopped using them. 

I can't speak for the new design...but...if you are considering buying one of the originals...here were my suggestions that I sent in to JAC several years ago:

  ..."When using them, there is rather annoying echo when speaking...has anyone else reported this, or do you know if there is any way to reduce it?  I've played with them a bit and can't seem to make it go away, so I thought I'd ask you. 

  As for another suggestion for future models... It would be better if the power button and the PTT button were drastically different.  We actually think it'd be best if the only button was the PTT, and instead of a power button, it could be a pot-switch on the volume knob...so to turn the unit on and off you'd simply rotate the volume knob.  Then the PTT could be a 3 position slider switch...center is off ...left could be momentary...and right could be hot (similar to the way our ICS boxes for our rear seat passengers currently are designed).   Then if the user wants to use VOX, the switch could be slid to the locked HOT position, and the VOX adjusted as necessary.  In the current layout, it is hard to find the PTT with gloved fingers, and sometimes people end up pushing the power button instead of the PTT button. 

   In our particular application, the user typically has the VOX adjusted to an appropriate level to the interior of the helicopter.  When she gets out to do some loading/unloading, the dramatic increase in noise immediately passes the VOX threshold...so she has to quickly find the VOX knob and adjust it accordingly.  Then when she gets back in, she has to readjust it appropriately for the cockpit noise levels again.  This could be easier with a 3 position slider switch.  When she gets out, she could simply move the switch to the off position, and if she needs to talk to the pilot, she could slide the switch either direction to talk before returning the switch to the center-off position. Then when she gets back in, she can simply slide the switch back to the locked HOT position and resume using the VOX functionality.

   Another suggestion concerns the LEDs...they would be easier to see and reference if they were located on the top near the volume/knobs instead of on opposite sides of the units.  Or at the very least, the LEDs could be located next to each other on one face of the unit, so that it is easy to see what they are indicating.  

   Another improvement to the VOX and Volume knobs would be adding detents, so that the knobs are slightly harder to turn by mistake.  Also, some sort of index marks could be helpful so that with a simple glance you would be able to tell where the two knobs are currently set." 

  Hopefully JAC addressed these issues with the new design.  Good luck.