A popular personal assistive amplifier device is the Pocketalker. 2.0 is a 3rd generation of body worn personal sound amplifiers, typically seen in doctors offices for patients who don’t have or don’t want hearing aids.
Are using it for personal use to enable them to hear family and friends better. Suitable for hearing friends and family, the tv, or others in noisy areas with a lot of background noise.
It should come with a warranty card, fill it out and send it in to register your warranty. It lasts for 5 years.
The manual is a great reference on how to use your pocketalker for the English, Spanish and French.
The main switch in the middle is your on/off. switch and volume wheel. As you swipe the wheel up, it turns on and goes up to a volume setting of up to 5.
On the right side, there is a headphone jack and tone wheel. Swipe towards plus, increase treble / high frequency, swipe the dial towards the minus symbol, it will increase base / low frequency.
On the top, there is an internal microphone port, and an external microphone jack. It comes with a range of accessories to use with the external jack as well.
On the left side, access to the internal tele-coil, switch the button towards the T, and be able to access any looped facility. Looped facility are such things as churches or theatres, look for the following symbol:
Recharging port, though need the extra accessories to trun it into a rechargeable unit.
Back, there is a compartment of the batteries, comes with 2 AAA non rechargeable batteries.
If you wish to use as a rechargeable unit, make sure the switch it flicked towards the NiMH option.
It also has a metal clip to attach to clothing, plus a loop to attach a lanyard to keep it secure whilst using.
Pocketalker 2.0 Accessories
Regular lanyard to loop through the bottom of the Pocketalker. Wanting to gain access to your own tele-coil to use the additional functionality. Can get a tele-loop neck loop, that you can loop around and gain access to all the other features into your hearing aids.
External Microphone, plug into the external jack, plus a 12 foot extender cable to enable the microphone to be positioned further away from you.
Also comes with a pair of earbuds and head phones depending on which style you like to use.
To use, attach the Pocketalker to your clothing using the clip or loop the lanyard around your neck with the Pocketalker attached, put on the headphones, turn it on, and find the right volume for you.
It takes the sound into its internal microphone or an external microphone (if attached) and amplifies the level of the sound it picks up. Similar to increasing the volume of the TV (without deafening those around you!).
Has some other features and accessories.
Can convert it into a rechargeable device. You can purchase a rechargeable cable and batteries and turn the device into a a rechargeable one.
Also use regular alkaline batteries but if type of person who likes to recharge the unit itself every night, the Pocketalker provides that as an option.
Access a looped room, by using the tele-coil inside of the device, flip it to tele-coil mode, and it will pick up where ever that looped signal is inside the room or building, converts it into an acoustic signal that goes into the headphones. The coolest thing about the 2.0, is that is has a 12 foot long microphone extender cable. How you use it, is plug it into the external mic jack on the Pocketalker, take the extra microphone and plug it into the other end. Take that microphone and extend it out 12 feet so you can pick up the voice of people who are much further away from you.
Set it up right in front of the tv speaker, pick up the sound of the tv and pump it right into your ears at a level that is more comfortable for you.
If you already have hearing aids, and still wanted to use the pocket talker, you can. There is actually a tele-loop that you can purchase that will loop around your neck and it will communicate with the tele-coil inside your hearing aids. So if wanting to use the extended microphone using it like a remote microphone feature, still gain access to the sound from the Pocketalker and just have it communicate with your hearing aids.
It has some pretty cool features to it but how well does it work? The amount of amplification coming out of the Pocketalker to see if it is suitable for various levels of hearing loss. May experience feedback at levels 4-5, and if so, best to invest in a better pair of headphones that reduces the surrounding noise.
Not a hearing aid. It is intended to increase the volume of sound, need a little or lot of boost in sound, the 2.0 will providing a lot of amplification. Just looking for a amplification in certain situations, such as around friends and families. For the price, especially in comparison to hearing aids that are often in the thousands, it is a very good option to improve your hearing ability.
What you’ll learn:
Designed to be easy to set up and use.
Battery Management
If the Pocketalker doesn’t light up when you turn it on, make sure the batteries are not depleted. Ensure that they have been inserted in the correct orientation in the battery compartment.
If using rechargeable batteries, make sure they are sufficiently charged, and battery switch is set appropriately in the NiMH position.
T-coil Switch
If you turn it on, see tit lit up, but hear no sound or static, check the t-coil switch on the side of the unit to ensure that it is in the OFF position. Should be used only when you are in an area where an induction loop hearing assistance system is set up.
Remember, if you have hearing aids with a t-coil, you will never need to use the t-coil switch on the side of the Pocketalker. However you can still used the 2.0 with the neck loop in a non-loop space as long as you have a hearing aid with t-coils.
If you turn it on, see it light up, the T-coil switch is in the off position, and you still hear no sound, you may have a bad ear phone or head phone.
Feedback Reduction
If you experience a howling or squealing sound, you are experiencing feedback. To reduce feedback, there are a few things you can try. Because feedback can occur anytime when the volume control is set to 3 or higher, simply reduce the volume setting, move the microphone, internal or external, further away from the ear phone or head phone. Also try turning down the tone control counterclockwise to reduce the high frequency.
Audio jack headphones
If using the included external microphone, make sure the microphone is plugged snuggly into the external mic jack to ensure a secure connection. Make sure the earphone or headphone is fully plugged into the head phone jack.
Stereo-mono headphones
The Pocketalker headphone jack is a stereo jack, designed for use with stereo headphone or earphones. If you use mono earphone or headphone with the 2.0, you will still hear out of both sides, but the balance control will not function.
Turn the balance control, which is located in the battery compartment, fully to the left, or “mono” position. This maximises volume and also helps to maximise battery life.
Connecting an extension cable
When using the 12 foot cable extender cable, be sure to push firmly when you plug it into the external mic jack. When you hear or feel a noticeable click, it is ready for use.