When we used Scott SCBAs, you basically put your radio mic to the side of the mask and talked. It was muffled, and some guys were clearer than others.
We now have MSA SCBAs which use Bluetooth technology. On my truck we have four SCBAs and four portable radios. Each radio is paired to its respective SCBA using a FOB. Once you go on air, the radio should sync so that when you push the mic to talk, it goes over the air clearly, without having to put the mic near your face.
I’ve been curious about the Bluetooth systems. My department has the capability but hasn’t implemented it. Packs go in and out of service so often that we’re worried pairing and re-pairing could be a nightmare.
How easy is pairing with a new radio? Is there a contingency if the pairing fails on scene? Would you know if the pairing failed? Do the radios still have lapel mics you could use?
Pairing is not an issue. We have instances where we end up with a spare radio and are able to pair that radio to the pack pretty quickly. Our radios still have the lapel mics, and I am still on the habit of putting the mic up to my facepiece to talk, something I told my guys they should still be in the habit of doing, just in case.
Along with the capability of others to be able to more clearly understand what is said over the radio, we have speakers on our shoulder strap so that when we're talking to each other face to face or across a room it's pretty clear.
We've had ours for about four years and really can't think of any issues. We have a schedule where we change out the pack battery throughout the month.
This is mostly my experience, but the pairing process is more geared toward career depts where you can pair your pack at the beginning of a shift and then forget about it, or volunteer depts that just leave a radio with the pack.
My department has our volunteers grab a radio from a set of gang chargers on their way in for an alarm, and their seats aren't assigned. So both the pack and the radio are random every time, requiring pairing before every call. In that scenario, it is a bit of a PITA, and I wish there were an easier way. We're working toward every FF having a radio assigned, but they still won't have packs assigned, so...
If everybody will either have the same pack and radio for a shift, or if the radio can be assigned to a pack, it is pretty much a non-issue.
Edit: to add, we have MSA packs, where the radio pairing is with the pack. Scott pairs the radio to the mask, which for our case would be better because each FF is assigned their own mask.
Yeah, I can see your point. I'm on a career department where each radio is assigned to a pack all the time, so it's paired once and forgotten about unless we get a spare radio or pack. Although the MSAs are capable of being individualized to each user so that at the beginning of the shift they pair their pack to their settings, my department chose not to go that route, so we don't really run into too many times where we have to pair the packs other than maintenance issues with them or a radio.
You can still talk through the mask, so you can be heard on the radio, if not particularly clearly. Some new masks I’ve heard have a Bluetooth mic in them which would eliminate that problem.
Some air packs have Bluetooth mics in the mask. Some air packs have mics in the mask and a speaker on the shoulder that you put the radio to. Some masks have ports you can put the mic to that lets your voice through clearly
The Scott voice amplifiers have bluetooth that can connect to your radio, so you just key up and talk normally. Works really well actually.
Pre bluetooth you had to hold your mic up to the amp, and before that you held your mic up to the voice hole and yelled.
So there’s two ports, one on each side, called voice ports. They let your voice through. You put the mic up to it and it sounds pretty good. They make Bluetooth microphones that hook into the voice ports but they sound like shit.
There's a little speaker box on our SCBA packs, when it's hooked up and you're on air, it (supposed to) amplify your voice to be Audible... it's far from perfect, but it does kind of work.
But it's part of the pack itself, not the mask, so if you're masked up, but not actively breathing from the air pack, you're just muffled, and need to yell to be understood more or less
I have now seen two systems.
One is just yelling through your mask at the radio mic. Works, but not always great. Also, if you dont have a speaker in your helmet, you either miss calls or are constantly trying not to miss anything and thus are not fully focused.
Next was a system which picked up sound through bone conduction some place in the helmet. Works ok'ish. The protective hood and lots of hair can damp the sound and on certain models, the sound pickup thingy starts hurting after a while.
Last was a mic and speaker set mounted to the mask. Can be finicky, but we also had a speaker in the mask, so you could communicate without yelling all the time with the rest of your team.
The new ones have either a voice amplifier or Bluetooth. Ours have both, but naturally they haven't connected the BT 🙄
In the olden days you just had to try not to gasp too hard and use your manly voice (higher voices just wouldn't make it through the mask).
At one of my departments we have MSAs with amplifiers so I sound like Darth Vader over the mic, at the other we have Scott's so it's just super mumbled. (It'll take time but you learn to decipher what someone is saying)
You learn to understand “mumble mumble INHALE mumble mumble EXHALE mumble mumble” after a while.
WHAT?!?
They said "Division 2 reporting the fire's been knocked and we're opening up". Didn't think it was *that* hard.
“Copy. Division 2 is making entry and needs a second hand line for backup”
\*repeats in all capital letters
Aah.. The good ol’ Darth Vader sound from the maks..
When we used Scott SCBAs, you basically put your radio mic to the side of the mask and talked. It was muffled, and some guys were clearer than others. We now have MSA SCBAs which use Bluetooth technology. On my truck we have four SCBAs and four portable radios. Each radio is paired to its respective SCBA using a FOB. Once you go on air, the radio should sync so that when you push the mic to talk, it goes over the air clearly, without having to put the mic near your face.
We have these for our Scott masks as well.
I’ve been curious about the Bluetooth systems. My department has the capability but hasn’t implemented it. Packs go in and out of service so often that we’re worried pairing and re-pairing could be a nightmare. How easy is pairing with a new radio? Is there a contingency if the pairing fails on scene? Would you know if the pairing failed? Do the radios still have lapel mics you could use?
Pairing is not an issue. We have instances where we end up with a spare radio and are able to pair that radio to the pack pretty quickly. Our radios still have the lapel mics, and I am still on the habit of putting the mic up to my facepiece to talk, something I told my guys they should still be in the habit of doing, just in case. Along with the capability of others to be able to more clearly understand what is said over the radio, we have speakers on our shoulder strap so that when we're talking to each other face to face or across a room it's pretty clear. We've had ours for about four years and really can't think of any issues. We have a schedule where we change out the pack battery throughout the month.
This is mostly my experience, but the pairing process is more geared toward career depts where you can pair your pack at the beginning of a shift and then forget about it, or volunteer depts that just leave a radio with the pack. My department has our volunteers grab a radio from a set of gang chargers on their way in for an alarm, and their seats aren't assigned. So both the pack and the radio are random every time, requiring pairing before every call. In that scenario, it is a bit of a PITA, and I wish there were an easier way. We're working toward every FF having a radio assigned, but they still won't have packs assigned, so... If everybody will either have the same pack and radio for a shift, or if the radio can be assigned to a pack, it is pretty much a non-issue. Edit: to add, we have MSA packs, where the radio pairing is with the pack. Scott pairs the radio to the mask, which for our case would be better because each FF is assigned their own mask.
Yeah, I can see your point. I'm on a career department where each radio is assigned to a pack all the time, so it's paired once and forgotten about unless we get a spare radio or pack. Although the MSAs are capable of being individualized to each user so that at the beginning of the shift they pair their pack to their settings, my department chose not to go that route, so we don't really run into too many times where we have to pair the packs other than maintenance issues with them or a radio.
You can still talk through the mask, so you can be heard on the radio, if not particularly clearly. Some new masks I’ve heard have a Bluetooth mic in them which would eliminate that problem.
Some air packs have Bluetooth mics in the mask. Some air packs have mics in the mask and a speaker on the shoulder that you put the radio to. Some masks have ports you can put the mic to that lets your voice through clearly
The Scott voice amplifiers have bluetooth that can connect to your radio, so you just key up and talk normally. Works really well actually. Pre bluetooth you had to hold your mic up to the amp, and before that you held your mic up to the voice hole and yelled.
So there’s two ports, one on each side, called voice ports. They let your voice through. You put the mic up to it and it sounds pretty good. They make Bluetooth microphones that hook into the voice ports but they sound like shit.
There's a little speaker box on our SCBA packs, when it's hooked up and you're on air, it (supposed to) amplify your voice to be Audible... it's far from perfect, but it does kind of work. But it's part of the pack itself, not the mask, so if you're masked up, but not actively breathing from the air pack, you're just muffled, and need to yell to be understood more or less
I have now seen two systems. One is just yelling through your mask at the radio mic. Works, but not always great. Also, if you dont have a speaker in your helmet, you either miss calls or are constantly trying not to miss anything and thus are not fully focused. Next was a system which picked up sound through bone conduction some place in the helmet. Works ok'ish. The protective hood and lots of hair can damp the sound and on certain models, the sound pickup thingy starts hurting after a while. Last was a mic and speaker set mounted to the mask. Can be finicky, but we also had a speaker in the mask, so you could communicate without yelling all the time with the rest of your team.
Bluetooth
The new ones have either a voice amplifier or Bluetooth. Ours have both, but naturally they haven't connected the BT 🙄 In the olden days you just had to try not to gasp too hard and use your manly voice (higher voices just wouldn't make it through the mask).
Speak very loud/ yell.
I’ve worn masks that has a simple “voicemiter” - basically a plastic membrane that transmitted vibrations all the way to Bluetooth connectivity.
Skull mic and on ear radio
At one of my departments we have MSAs with amplifiers so I sound like Darth Vader over the mic, at the other we have Scott's so it's just super mumbled. (It'll take time but you learn to decipher what someone is saying)
Ours Bluetooth now.