Minelab Koss UR 30 headphone!

[duggr]

I picked up a pair of Brand New Koss UR 30 to give them a try on my x-terra. They have
a pretty decent overall volume compared to other headphones I tried. More Volume than
the Rats I sold and a better tone than My Jimmy Sierra maxiphone I had. But whoever designed
them needs to go back to the drawing board and design a better housing for the speakers!
I think a 10-15 MPH wind gust would blow them off your head...I guess I will Gut them and install
the speakers into a Pair of Thunder 29's....

 

[duggr]

Looking at the very first photo you will see the UR 30's completely disassembled.
Notice How I modified the Original Koss speaker Housing from looking at the Photos below.
I used my Dremel too, and a cutting wheel and cut the (Oval Shaped) that holds the speaker from
the rest of the cover and sanded the sides down smooth. I also sanded down the top side of the
speaker where the plastic is raised compared to the rest of the area to make the Speaker lay Flat.




Koss UR 30 disassembled

Notice the shape of the speaker housing Now as compared to the
Photo above!

After the speaker housing is cut and the sides are sanded

Sand down the Raised area so it looks like the speaker in
the Photo below

After sanded

I use a video cable for the speaker wire as I have several of these
around the house and never used them

I measured the outer diameter of the Video cable to find a Drill
Bit close to the same size for a nice fit into the Muff housing

This bit should work Great!

The hole is drilled. Drill a smaller hole first before drilling the final hole

Notice the nice fit into the Muff

Next step is to run the wire your going to use for the speakers threw the
Head band cushion. I use a double loop tied around the speaker wire
so the twine doesn't come off while pulling the string and wire through the
cushion

Now tie the string onto the end of a Tie like shown below and push the tie
threw the cushion then remove the string from the tie, pull out the tie
and pull the string to feed the cable threw the cushion

More Later When I get the other parts I need to order
Duggr

 

[timmysys]

Duggr you are master of headphones! Excellent work, you give me some great ideas.

 

[duggr]

Thanks T but I just used all the info that everyone else posted and added a few things
of my own...Here is the finished UR-30 Mod below. I ended up having to use the spacer
because of the there wasnt enough clearance between the speaker and the 1/4 TRS female
jack I installed in the Muffs. Now they fit snug and will not fall off of my head....

I put a female Switchcraft 1/4 TRS jack into the headphones and two Stereo Switchcraft 1/4 trs
male jacks on both ends of the cord. It doesn't matter which end plugs into the detector or
the headphones as both are wired the same.... It just makes it easier to install a new
cord if I should ever need to...

The internal wiring is simple and will work with both stereo and mono type detectors.
The Red & White wires that connect the left speaker are shown here Together in the cable i used
. The white wire hooks to the Positive side of the left speaker while the Red is connected to the negative
side of the left speaker.. The Right Speaker (shown) wiring code is, White is the Positive
Side of the speaker and Black is negative side. The white wire from the right speaker is
soldiered to the Tip side of 1/4 female trs, the Red from the left negative and the Black from the right
negative are both soldiered to the Sleeve side of the 1/4 female trs. The White wire from the left
speaker is soldiered to the Ring side of the female 1/4 trs....Soldier both the male connectors for the cord
accordingly, Tip to Tip, Ring to Ring and sleeve to sleeve...

 

[SkiWhiz]

They look great duggr, very nice work indeed. Steve.

 

[timmysys]

How can i identify, what is te positive or negative side of speaker?
I have couple wrong / not used headphones. Philips, Sennheiser ..
i thinking about build two good headphones, one for land one for water.

 

[duggr]

Positive is usually marked by a Red dot or marking...If not It should be on the Right side of the soldier pad with the pad positioned on the
bottom of the speaker........Duggr

 

[timmysys]

Thank you for info, duggr!

 

[duggr]

I went a different route this time with my Koss Mod. I wanted to make a Lighter headphone
than My usual design but still retain the detachable cord for an easy replacement or fix. The
cord I used was a Lot smaller but will stretch out to touch the ground while I'm standing up (6ft tall)
and recoil back nicely into it's original shape. Instead of using the standard 1/4 Male and female jacks
for the mod, this time I used Mini XLR connectors that would allow me the clearance needed to assemble
the speakers inside without using the Black spacers needed on my last headphone mod because of clearance issues.
The result is a lightweight durable headphone that will last. Below is some photo's to show the differant stages of the modification....

 

[mikeothmer]

Does the jack stay in when the cord is stretched a bit or is there some sort of locking mechanism?

 

[duggr]

Yes it stays in. Theres a small black button on the inside toward the earcup) that you press before pullung the
mini connector free from the female XLR input
Check out the 3rd photo down

 

[hammer0419]

Awesome work. I really like it.

 

[Tin Fin]

Would you be able to use the jack in the head set for bluetooth setup, with dongle on the MD? That way you would be wirelessly hooked up to the machine, using the same mods you have already made.

 

[duggr]

Tin Fin
If your referring to the Blue tooth Dongle Transmitter and receiver as show in the photo below, I wouldn't go that route...
The Bluetooth has a signal delay that will have your detector signaling on a target after the coil has past the target....
I have tried this already! The other option is to find a pair of TDK WR 700 that work on a FM frequency that doesn't
have the signal lag the Bluetooth has.... My next mod will be installing the wr 700
headphone interior parts into another set of thunder 29's to help reduce the exterior noise..

 

[duggr]

[video]http://cnettv.cnet.com/tdk-th-wr700/9742-1_53-50094461.html[/video]

 

[Tin Fin]

Sounds like the 700 inards and the 29's outers, will be a good combination. The wireless interests me partly because I have some locations that are heavily wooded/weedy/brushy, and the fewer wires there are, the less tangle there is. Having hearing problems, combined with snagging wires, does nothing positive for me. Wired under water, Ok, on the family land; different story. Though I do have locations that a headset cable doesn't bother me too. Still, land is a couple hundred years old within my family; aside from brush, tangle, etc., there are hills to climb to get almost anyplace on it; so wireless is worth me looking into seriously.

 

[MINELABMIKE]

duggr
thanks for the step by step instructions on how to do my own headphones

 

[duggr]

I might have an extra set or two of the thunder 29's if anyone needs a set for a mod of there own...
$20.00 plus shipping (my cost) New in Box.....

 

[Sven]

Cheapest way to get yourself a nice sounding headset. You have the parts, do it. You'll enjoy them more.

 

[starvin]

This has been a real education for me. I want to thank you for posting this as I would have never even tried this before. Marv