The RS-60CF is the top model in the line of Radiosport headsets made by Arlan. The manufacturer started to develop these headsets for his own use when he was an active motorsports driver. The goal was to have better intelligibility and higher comfort of wearing the headset for long hours. Further a much better durability was to be achieved. The result is a top-quality headset with a boom microphone for radio communications. Since the establishment of the company more than 250’000 items of this product line have been sold.
The robustness of the RS-60CF is a result of the use of good materials and good workmanship. The speaker shells are make of carbon-fiber reinforced plastcs, the holder and frame is made from lightweight, stainless spring steel. Due to the extra-thick ear pads – which are gel-filled – the headsets has a great wear comfort. This allows you to use this headset for many hours during a contest without fatigue. Additionally the earpads are covered with a removeable, washable cotton fabric.
IN contrast to other headsets the Arlan products are built with modularity in mind. You can exchange the microphone even many years later. Together with the detachable cable a change of system from one radio brand to another is easily possible. Various microphones are available, for example dynamic and electret microphones with different frequency responses. This enables to radiosposrt headsets to be used with nearly all radio models without problems. The microphon capsules are mounted to a flexible boom. The boom can be rotated over a wide range, even fully upwards when not in use.
The following microphones are available:
RS-M207 dynamic capsule with narrow frequency response, ideal for DX and the contest
RS-M208 dynamic capsule with standard frequency response für daily QSO use. Occasional use in a contest or DX situation can be optimised with the equalizer of the radio.
RS-M350-ADJ Electret capsule with narrow frequency resposne and adjustable signal level
RS-M360 Electret capsule with standard frequency response for daily QSO use. Occasional use in a contest or DX situation can be optimised with the equalizer of the radio.
Furtjher advice for the microphone selection see below.
The headset has an easy to reach PTT pushbutton integrated on one side. This allows to continue the chat even when moving away from the radio desk for a moment, or when the headset is temporarily used on another radio without moving the PTT. To avoid a dangling PTT branch cable on the headset cable Arlan proposes to use the (often unused) accessory PTT input found on most radios. For this purpose a selection of adaptor cables and a footswitch is offered. And even when using a multimode controller like the microHAM MicroKeyer-II oder MicroKeyer-2R/2R+ you can attach the Radiosport headset directly with a suitable, ready made cable.
The connecting cable from the headset to the radio is always detachable and must be ordered separately. On the headset side professional Micro-XLR connectors are used. Various headset cables are available, which allow a direct connection to the radio without further adaptors. The headphones and connectors are wired for stereo, because many newer radios do offer stereo audio as well. For example one VFO on one side, the second VFO on the other ear. This is helpful for chasing DX when the rare DX station is constantly monitored on one ear, and the pile-up crowd on the other. For older radios a ‘Mono’ switch is provided.
A further speciality of the Arlan headsets is the secondary headphone connector. THis connector (3.5mm phone) is integrated on the right side of the headset and allows connection to a second set of earphones, for example for the second op during a contest. Or the copilot… The RS-60CF headset weighs c. 550 g.
Price: 279.00 €