Ear-O-Tec Shooting Plugs and Varicom Communications

Ear-O-Tec specialises in custom-made hearing protection and communication devices.

The increasing demand from industry for more effective ways of preventing noise-induced hearing loss has led Ear-O-Tec to actively market and pilot test custom-made and test capable hearing protection devices to various industry sectors. Specialised hearing protection is available with some technologies permitting ambient or environmental sounds to pass through with special mechanisms preventing harmful noise to enter the ear canal.

We provide a range of custom-made products provided by certified professionals and manufactured in Australia.

Industrial hearing protectors

We understand that the often-used, disposable forms of protection do not provide the best long-term solution to the problems of noise-induced hearing loss in the workplace.

Our Variphone hearing protectors offer an adjustable attenuation valve, so you can be sure of the levels each person is exposed to.

The main features of the Variphone hearing protector include:

• Adjustable attenuation valve (1dB increments to allow communication)
• Durable acrylic
• Comfortable: custom made
• Various comfort and colour options
• On-site impression taking, fitting and training with limited down-time
• Easy maintenance
• Environmentally friendly
• Verified in the wearer’s ear
• Adaptable to communication system (Varilink)
• Access to central database

Electronic shooting plugs

The AEP-1 has been designed to be used in high-noise environments and especially where high noise peaks may occur such as with gun use or machinery. They are available for left or right ear fitting and are manufactured from an ear impression taken at a location convenient to you. The highly sophisticated audio processing used in the AEP-1 has a wide dynamic range and will respond to low level signals when using a telephone or engaging in whispered conversation as well as very loud noises without saturation distortion.

The AEP-1 can be used singly or in pairs where it is important that every noise detail is heard and to minimise disorientation effects which may occur when listening with one ear. If the AEP-1 is used in one ear only it is essential that the opposing ear is fitted with a quality hearing protector such as the Variphone.

• Volume control with output limiting
• High attenuation (up to 30dB)
• Flexible ear canal tip for wearer comfort
• Ultra-fast Attack Time
• Soft flexible canal tip
• Lightweight
• Average gain: 18dB
• Maximum gain of 22dB
• Maximum Output SPL: 87dB
• Equivalent Noise Input: 30.9dB
• Dynamic Noise Compression Threshold: 70dB
• Brickwall Limit Point: 85dB
• Battery Life: < 80 hours
• Colour: various
• Accessories: Batteries, storage pouch and cleaning set

Passive valve shooting plugs

The Stopgun hearing protector, manufactured from silicon material, has a non-linear filter that has been especially designed for impulse sound. This hearing protector mainly restrains the impulse sound and allows the continuous sound waves and environmental sound through clearly because of the specific action of the passive filter.

The success of the Stopgun is in part due to the perfect fit that also provides high wearing comfort. The hearing protector is delivered in a rigid storage pouch with an earwax removing tool and cleaning cloth. Features include:

• Ultra-fast function time
• Passive compression
• Integrated impulse sound filter
• Soft, flexible material
• Environmentally friendly
• User friendly
• Several colours (blue, red, black, transparent and green)

Budget solutions: affordable passive filtered protectors

The ‘Shooting Filtered’ protectors are available in custom and universal fit.The passive valves react upon impulse from sound waves and shut down momentarily when the gun fires but still allow you to hear normally otherwise. They are not electronic and the valve barrels can be removed for easy cleaning of the moulds.

Varicom two-way communication and hearing protection

Microphones for use in noisy places have always been a headache for acoustic engineers, as the microphones cannot distinguish between the ambient noise and speech and therefore amplifies all sound. If placed close in front of the mouth, they pick up a great deal of ‘ambient’ noise, as well as sounds that come from the wearer’s breathing. Throat microphones are noisy too, and not ideally intelligible.

Both types can be a nuisance to the wearer and interfere with other equipment. The Varicom consists of a custom made earpiece with a built-in high profile miniature microphone and speaker. All the electronic parts are imbedded in the earpiece and thereby insulated against the environmental noise. This leads to exceptional speech intelligibility in noise. The Varicom proves to be not only a good communication system but also an excellent hearing protector as it is manufactured from an ear impression and thus an excellent fit is guaranteed.

The Varicom connects via a PTT (push to talk) interface to most common two-way radios. The beauty of the system is that a boom microphone does not get in the wearer’s way and can be worn with other protective head wear. When talk back is required a push on the PTT switch will activate the microphone inside the earpiece, which picks up the vibrations from the voice in the ear canal, and sends it via the radio to the receiving destination. This way of communicating is called ‘ear speech’ and is an excellent means of communicating via two-way radio in high-noise areas.

One-way communication is also available. Features include:

• Wearer comfort
• User friendly
• Optimal speech intelligibility
• Easy to use
• Easy to combine with protective clothes and/or gas suits with breathing apparatus
• Compatible with a large range of 2-way radios
• Hands free use
• Attenuation
• Average amount of attenuation: 27 dB (1 KHz)
• Adjustable attenuation optional
• Options
• Various colours
• Soft canal tip
• Budget earpiece for one-way communication
• Can be worn with Variphone is opposite ear when shooting