Questions about how to use Roger Pen/Roger 21

[Artsy]

Hello all,

I received my first (Med-El) CI on October 2nd of 2017. With it came the Roger kit.

I had a lot of difficulty with the Roger until now, so I hardly ever used it. My audi discovered that it was defective, and now I have a new Roger Pen. Lo and behold, it actually works!

So now I have some questions.

1. Is there any way to turn off its microphone when I'm wearing it for bluetooth use with my cellphone? I wear it around my neck, and when I drive it keeps waking up from the noise of rubbing against my shirt. The same happens to a lesser extent when I am walking around with it. I usually keep it under my shirt so as not to lose it, so the mike gets constant rubbing.

2. Is there any way to turn up the bluetooth volume in the Roger? I have the volume on my phone at max, and have an app that boosts bluetooth output. But I need to turn my CI volume to max in order to hear phone calls. When outside sound then comes into the CI microphone or the Roger microphone, it is so loud that it is actually debilitating.

I read somewhere in this forum that maybe my audie can turn up the Roger volume. But all I need is to have the bluetooth volume increased. The microphone and bluetooth volumes are badly out of sync.

I am scheduled for my second CI implant on March 20th, so I would really like to get this working.

 

Thanks again in advance,

Artsy

[Mary Beth]

Hello @Artsy and welcome!  Congratulations on your first CI and wishing you the best on your second CI in March.  So many March CI surgeries in our group right now.

 

interesting questions about the Roger Pen and Roger 21 receiver.

You are correct that the Easy Gain of the Roger 21 receiver can be increased but that would increase the volume of all Roger audio.....mic, USB cable and BT.  It requires using a Roger Touchscreen Mic or a Roger Inspiro to alter the Easy Gain of the Roger receiver built into the Roger 21 battery cover.  The Roger Pen can not make those adjustments but the Easy Gain adjustments are saved on the Roger receiver so they will work with the Roger Pen after they are changed.

 

Which cellphone are you using for BT with the Roger Pen?  Just out of curiosity, are you able to pair it with a friend’s cellphone of a different brand phone and see if this is a cell phone BT problem?

@Nikki and @Jdashiell have you noticed that the BT is too quiet with your Roger Pens? @Wayne have you?

I’m not sure who else here is using the Roger Pen right now.

 

@Artsy both of your Roger questions bring up difficulties I have not heard before.  I will check around to see what people are doing to keep the Roger asleep until a BT call comes in but also wearing it in a discreet manner.  Are you only using the Roger System for the phone?

[Mary Beth]

@Artsy

Have you tried muting your Roger Pen while wearing it so it does not send the sound when clothing rubs against the mic?

[Mary Beth]

@Artsy

 

Looks like you have two possible solutions to avoid the Roger Pen mics becoming activated by your clothing yet still being able to use the Roger Pen for BT phonecalls.

 

Turn off the Roger Pen, but the BT blue light remains active or mute the Roger Pen mics.

 

[Mary Beth]

Looks like you are not alone with experiencing problems using the Roger Pen’s BT feature.

[Jdashiell]

43 minutes ago, Mary Beth said:

Hello @Artsy and welcome!  Congratulations on your first CI and wishing you the best on your second CI in March.  So many March CI surgeries in our group right now.

 

interesting questions about the Roger Pen and Roger 21 receiver.

You are correct that the Easy Gain of the Roger 21 receiver can be increased but that would increase the volume of all Roger audio.....mic, USB cable and BT.  It requires using a Roger Touchscreen Mic or a Roger Inspiro to alter the Easy Gain of the Roger receiver built into the Roger 21 battery cover.  The Roger Pen can not make those adjustments but the Easy Gain adjustments are saved on the Roger receiver so they will work with the Roger Pen after they are changed.

 

Which cellphone are you using for BT with the Roger Pen?  Just out of curiosity, are you able to pair it with a friend’s cellphone of a different brand phone and see if this is a cell phone BT problem?

@Nikki and @Jdashiell have you noticed that the BT is too quiet with your Roger Pens? @Wayne have you?

I’m not sure who else here is using the Roger Pen right now.

 

@Artsy both of your Roger questions bring up difficulties I have not heard before.  I will check around to see what people are doing to keep the Roger asleep until a BT call comes in but also wearing it in a discreet manner.  Are you only using the Roger System for the phone?

my experience with sound quality from Roger Pen is excellent - BT from iPhone is great for cell calls and streaming music or audio books.

 

[Jdashiell]

By the way I use Roger Perm an Roger X receiver. Also I have to make certain my iPhone and Roger pen are active each morning. I do not have to re-pair but Settings-Bluetooth- Connected each morning 

 

[Mary Beth]

@Jdashiell So you find the volume levels to be the same whether you are using the Roger Pen BT function for calls, the USB cable for music/audiobooks or the Roger Pen as a remote mic?

I have not read of people experiencing different volume levels between the Roger Pen’s functions before.

[Artsy]

Thank you Mary Beth and Jdasheill,

I am using a Motorola Droid Turbo 2.

For now at least, I am only interested in the Roger for  Bluetooth. From what you are saying, it would seem that I should ask my audie to turn up the Easy Gain setting.

I can turn up the volume of my laptop's bluetooth so that I can stream audio. With my Captel landline, the room needs to be very quiet for me to hear with the bluetooth, and even then I miss some words.

If i turn off my Roger Pen, will the bluetooth function still work. Or would I need to turn the Pen on when I receive a phone call?

If I mute the Pen, I assume I would need to remember to unmute it when I receive or initiate a call. Is that correct?

Thank you also for posting the instructions for muting and power, Mary Beth.

 

 

[Mary Beth]

I do not have a Roger Pen here to test out, so I will leave your questions about how things work when receiving a call on mute and how things work when the Roger Pen is off but BT is still on and blinking blue to someone who is using a Roger Pen.

 

Does your CapTel phone have an audio out jack?  You can plug into it with the Roger Pen’s mini cable and see if that sounds louder to you.  There are also other options instead of the Roger Pen for BT phone calls which may work better for you.  If you live near Philadelphia, there is going to be a Hands On Hearing workshop there in March.  The workshops are free but require registration.

 

Have you tried listening on your phone with your Sonnet on T or MT yet?  Without the Pen.

[Artsy]

Hi Mary Beth,

I assume the microphone portion of the Roger is loud when I turn up the volume, though it could be the CI microphone portion that is loud. The brushing and clicking sound of the Pen against my shirt is pretty loud. I have never used the USB cable, so I don't know about that.

I don't live that close to Philly. I'm up in the Catskills of New York State.

I saw the MyLink (IIRC), a box that is worn around the neck. Someone told me that it is old technology and that the Roger Pen is better. Is that correct? I can probably intercept my Med-El kit order and get that if it works better (and bilaterally).

I'll try the mini cable in the Captel's mini jack. Then I'll figure out which microphone to speak into, the Roger or the Captel.

Telecoil works pretty well, louder than the Roger. The CI is on the side of my formerly bad ear, and I hadn't held a phone to that ear in 20 years, so coordinating holding a phone in right position is a work in progress.

What is a hands-on hearing workshop?

[Mary Beth]

@Artsy

We are actually not too far apart.  I am in the Adirondacks in NY.  Which CI center do you use?

I also implanted my worse ear first so I know exactly what you mean about holding the phone to that ear being a work in progress.  Smile.  It gets better.

Something does not seem right with the BT and your phone.  Most phones do not need to use a BT booster.  Before spending too much time trouble shooting, I would pair the Pen to a friend’s phone and see if it is louder.  Then you can at least determine if it is happening on more than one phone model or a problem happening just on your phone.

The little cable that came with the Pen allows you to plug the Pen into headset jacks.  It is not BT.  My guess is that you would speak into your CapTel phone but that is just a guess.  Maybe test it out with a patient friend?

The Roger 21 Receivers work better with the Sonnets than the MyLink neckloop however the MyLink neckloop offers a 100/0audio mix (just from the sound source) and the Roger 21 mixes at 50/50.

Check out this website for Hands On Hearing workshop info.  I flew to NC to attend one.  It was fantastic.  There was one in NYC last year.

 

http://handsonhearing.com/

 

[Artsy]

Thanks Mary Beth. My surgeries are at Weill Cornell in NYC. If you had yours at NYEE, it's possible we have the same surgeon.

I was on a long conference call this morning using the Roger and my cellphone. Afterwards I dropped the volume on the CI and hit mute on the Roger, and it works fine. I'll probably need to hustle a little when I initiate or receive another phone call.

I hope you don't get too much ice today.

[Mary Beth]

@Artsy

 

I had two different surgeons for my right  and left CIs.  Both were amazing.

Dr. Alexiades performed my right surgery.

Dr. Ana Kim performed my left surgery.

Glad your phone call went well.  Hopefully it gets easier.

[Artsy]

Hello Mary Beth,

I've been away for a while.

Dr. A did both my surgeries. He is unbelievably skilled.

I had my first on 9/26 and my other ear last Tuesday, 3/20.

Thank you for the info on the Roger Pen. It works with my phones and computers now. The volume is lower for everything coming in via the bluetooth than it is via the CI's microphone, so I turn up the volume on the fine tuner whenever I use the Roger.

I'll ask my audiologist to turn up the EZ gain for the Roger 21 when I next meet with her.

[Mary Beth]

Hi @Artsy

I am glad things are going well for you.  I hope you get your Roger Pen volume issue resolved soon.