help an old man

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virginian

Joined Dec 22, 2006
1
I have a hearing problem and would like to get an fm transmitter to attach to my tv without cutting off the speakers. (my wife has good ears).
I know their are transmitters available but the oriblem is connecting them without blowing the audio output on the tv. any ideas would be greatly appreciated. I am not up to date on my electronics. I did some work in the tv repair field, but that was 30 years ago . then i changed professions. so i guess i am a novice. thanks
 

beenthere

Joined Apr 20, 2004
15,819
Hi,

I use an IR transmitter & headphones from Radio Shack. I use a source switch to select between my VCR and DVD player. It has a 3.5 mm jack for headphones, which is where I hook in the IR transmitter. The headphones aren't too comfortable, but the volume control is pretty good.
 

wireaddict

Joined Nov 1, 2006
133
One way to be safe is to use impedance [Z] matching transformers between the speaker leads the transmitter audio inputs to isolate the TV audio outputs from possible grounds in the left and right transmitter audio input wiring.

I don't know what the audio input impedance for the transmitter is, though it's probably at least 600 ohms; the speaker impedance is about 8 ohms so I'd get a pair of transfromers with a 16 ohm or higher windings to connect to the speaker leads.

If you want to build your own transmitter, one source that sells FM transmitter kits is Ramsey. You can search for them on the internet & check out their kits. You can also ask them about the Zin of their transmitters so you can size the matching transformers properly.
 

Gadget

Joined Jan 10, 2006
614
Most modern TV's have multiple AV sockets on the rear. If yours has an AV OUT or MON out as well as the normal AV inputs, then you are Home and Hosed. Just use the audio from the AV or MON out.
If not, then you could use the Audio Out on the VCR (assuming you have one). The only hitch there is to make sure the VCR is receiving the same program as what you are watching on the TV....
 

hgmjr

Joined Jan 28, 2005
9,027
I have a hearing problem and would like to get an fm transmitter to attach to my tv without cutting off the speakers. (my wife has good ears).
I know their are transmitters available but the oriblem is connecting them without blowing the audio output on the tv. any ideas would be greatly appreciated. I am not up to date on my electronics. I did some work in the tv repair field, but that was 30 years ago . then i changed professions. so i guess i am a novice. thanks
Greetings virginian,

Here is a product that I ran across during my last visit to my audiologist. It is call TV Ears. I don't have any personal experience with these so I suggest you do a little research if you have any interest in the product.

hgmjr
 

Ron H

Joined Apr 14, 2005
7,063
Greetings virginian,

Here is a product that I ran across during my last visit to my audiologist. It is call TV Ears. I don't have any personal experience with these so I suggest you do a little research if you have any interest in the product.

hgmjr
I have TV Ears. It seems to work well, and does exactly what you want. It comes with good instructions, and is easy to hook up.
 

Adjuster

Joined Dec 26, 2010
2,148
There should be no question of blowing anything up, provided the TV is of a fairly recent type suitable for use with external audio equipment. You really do need to be sure about that before going ahead with it though.

Very much older television sets may indeed be difficult or even unsafe to use in this way, and certainly for a long time in my country many valve (vacuum tube ) and even semiconductor sets did not have their circuits isolated from the mains, leading to potentially fatal results if users tried to connect headphones etc.

While it is possible to imagine using an isolation device such as an audio transformer to get sound from such an older TV in reasonable safety, this may not be an advisable project for someone in your circumstances of age etc. Perhaps it is time to consider a new TV, or perhaps for a cheaper option a smaller set with earphone socket for your personal use?

I don't want to sound patronising, but if this is not fairly obvious to you, you really should think about getting someone to help you out in person.
 
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