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  • 1.  Headset Adapters

    Posted 12-12-2016 15:07

    I recently bought two beautiful Clear-Com headsets for my department. They came in today (well, one of them) and I realized that they don't fit the outlets!

    Each headset has a 4-pin female plug.

    Our auditorium has 3-pin male plug and 4-pin female plug.

    Does anyone know where I can buy adapters? I honestly didn't think of it when I bought them (I was really excited that my $500 request got approved, to be honest). If I send them back, the company takes a 30% reshelving fee (which is crazy because they were supposed to be here on the 6th).

    Help please!

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    Heather Cribbs
    Theatre Director
    New Smyrna Beach High School
    New Smyrna Beach, FL
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  • 2.  RE: Headset Adapters

    Posted 12-13-2016 03:53

    I'm thinking that maybe you are confused about what plugs into what.

    The connector(s) on the wall plates are for connection to the Intercom belt-packs.  They are typically 3-pin male XLR connectors and you can use a standard male-to-female 3-pin microphone cable to connect the two.  Some belt-packs have two of the 3-pin connectors (one male, one female) so you can connect another belt-pack in a daisy-chain (this is handy if the lighting operator is sitting near the Assistant Stage Manager / Director, or maybe the sound operator).

    If you have a two channel system, then there would be two of the 3-pin connectors on the wall plate (typically labeled 'A' and 'B').  This way your fly crew can all be on one channel and the rest of the show crew can be on another channel (or your stage crew on one channel and your lighting crew on another channel).

    The 4-pin jack (usually female) on the intercom belt-pack connects to the 4-pin plug (usually male) on the end of the headset cable.

    The headset cable does NOT plug into the wall receptacle (so you probably don't need any adapters).

    NOTES OF CAUTION: 

    • DO NOT plug a microphone jack to an Intercom jack!  It can fry the equipment. This is why the connector sex is opposite - to reduce the likelihood that you might plug the wrong thing into a jack.  The signals and voltages on the intercom jacks are incompatible with the signals and voltages on a microphone or a microphone input on a mixer.
       
    • If you have some stage lighting instruments or control console that use the NON-standard 3-pin XLR connector for the DMX control, DO NOT connect it to a mic jack or to an intercom jack.  That can fry equipment, too.  Always buy lighting equipment that has the STANDARD 5-pin XLR connectors.
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    Erich Friend
    Theatre Consultant
    Teqniqal Systems

    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Headset Adapters

    Posted 12-13-2016 09:08

    The connector supplied is the standard headset connector used on all partyline production intercomes.  Normally the headset will be connected to the intercom via a beltpack or a wall mounted station with a 4 pin male connector to accept the plug that came with your new headsets.  The normal partyline ring/loop/circuit terminates in 3 pin XLR connectors into which you connect the beltpack.  I know of no systems that use a 4pin female panel connector for anything - and I have been dealing with ClearCom, Telex, Granite and other partyline systems since 1977.  Maybe the system is non-standard or maybe the installer tried to make it proprietary - I don't know.  

    Pictures of all the components in your system would be helpful.  You can post them or text them to me at the number below.  Feel free to call me for any help.

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    Rod Reilly
    Owner, Bodymics
    908-899-1277
    Somerset NJ

    Original Message


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