Cruising with hearing impairment

[Captain Parry]

I use a device that plugs into the 3.5mm earphone jack. It turns the signal into bluetooth.That is picked up by my COMPILOT which is under my shirt hanging from my neck. Phone calls, tablets, PCs, anything Blue tooth is now in my hearing aids without reasonable. outside noises. I hope this helps.

[danielamartindm]

Originally Posted by Captain Parry

I use a device that plugs into the 3.5mm earphone jack. It turns the signal into bluetooth.That is picked up by my COMPILOT which is under my shirt hanging from my neck. Phone calls, tablets, PCs, anything Blue tooth is now in my hearing aids without reasonable. outside noises. I hope this helps.

Thank you; but my hearing loss is too severe. I tried a blue tooth connection from my iPhone to my hearing aid, but it didn't help with word recognition.

[JPA Cate]

Daniel,

On the word recognition, have you ever asked people to spell key words for you using the phonetic alphabet for radio? That helps me, too. It helps to have pen and paper ready. It is that "sierra" is easier to copy than "es" or "ef"; "bravo," "delta," and "victor" are easier than "be," "dee," and "vee"; likewise for "poppa" and "tango", etc.

Good luck with it, I do hope better external speakers will make your life easier. This one is like many of life's other problems, you just persevere, and try to make life better.

Ann

[roverhi]

FWIW, the new Resounds are supposed to be water proof, as are Siemens, for normal wear. Can't dive with them but showers and spray supposedly aren't a problem. Actually went snorkeling and dove to at least 10' and took showers with my old Resound Aids and they survived. They weren't supposed to be water proof but definitely had some good sealing of the case.

[svfinlandia]

Originally Posted by Stu Jackson

I, too, have the mid and high frequency loss that Ann described.

Turns out that my wife's voice is right in those same frequencies, and she's soooo considerate of other people she never raises her voice!

When I first got a hearing aid, I asked the tech if there was some reading my wife could do to help her to help me. It included much of what Ann said. She never read it and that was 25 years ago! I repeatedly, but gently, explain to her that she can't walk out of a room and keep talking, nor can she start a conversation from another room! Hasn't worked too well.

She just doesn't understand what background noise can do, even if someone is right next to you.

Her 96 year old father, who has perfect hearing, is the one she "yells" at!

I couldn't wear my hearing aid on the boat. When I'm singlehanding I just turn the volume up.

The hearing aid went belly up a few years ago. I sail as much as I can!

My friend has a hearing aid that lets him change the frequencies with a little remote gizmo.

Sorry, don't have any info on text. My aunt was really deaf and used close captioning even watching golf! Her phone was TTY.

My old Uniden handheld had a crappy speaker. The newer SH is great. My fixed mount old SH is fine, but I hardly use it.

The external speaker idea is superb. And you should try them first, too, before you leave the store. Don't know if you can get what we used to call "tone" controls on those.

I have the same problems. My wife is famous for turning around in mid sentence and expecting me to hear her. She also starts out a sentence with good volume and then her volume lowers as she continues to speak, so I get the first few words and the rest trails off and I have to ask her to repeat, sometime even when I have my hearing aid in. It is no fun for anyone.
I bought a new Standard Horizon fixed mount VHF recently and the very small internal speaker was so crappy that I was forced to purchased their $40.00 external speaker to go with it. It works well now for me.

Al, S/V Finlandia

[SVTwilight]

Originally Posted by captmikem

Say again?

What?

[svfinlandia]

Originally Posted by oleman

A mechanical bell is far superior as an alarm than some touchy-feely sweet sounding alarm system. It's normally known as a fire alarm bell. I have one on an old 1955 Detroit diesel engine in a equally old work boat that at 1800 RPM is loud "LOUD". The fire alarm clang always works. If you don't hear it you can normally feel it!
It takes more than one person to have a conversation, unless that person is a schizophrenic.

I have a Raymarine e97 plotter that has a very quiet little squeaking sound for an alarm that I cannot hear over the wind or the engine. My last plotter, a Raymarine C90W had an output that you could connect to a louder alarm.
I have complained to Raymarine about this but they have not come up with a solution. I am now think of drilling a hole in the case of the plotter and attach a wire to it's "squeaker" for an output and then seal the hole.

Al. S/V Finlandia

[SVTwilight]

Originally Posted by SVTwilight

What?

I am starting to lose some of my hearing and have several friends, employees and family (father) with major hearing deficits.

One friend even had cochlear implants, but basically has to resort to lip reading.

Seems to me the related medicine/technology should be better than it is. I guess US big pharma couldn’t make enough money or push enough lobbying on K Street to get it to matter in the US public health services spectrum, unfortunate...

[jfischgrund]

Sorry to respond so late. I am hearing but have worked in schools for the deaf for many years and know deaf, signing, sailors. There is also a Cape Cod Deaf Sailing Club (you can Google them) has has activities including cruises on a Beneteau 45 specifically designed for Deaf sailors who use American Sign Language.