How do I put on and use a radio earpiece (Asked by Pete from Cambridge)

OK Pete, the first thing to do is take the clippable (which, according to my spellchecker isn’t a word, but bear with me anyway) microphone and attach it somewhere on your person where it can pick up your voice without too much difficulty (a tie would be a great place).

Pete’s question may seem obvious, but it is actually a perfectly reasonable thing to ask. Besides, Pete’s email was long, detailed and impeccably polite. I like Pete. I dig Pete (HUR HUR HUR – Sorry Pete, that one couldn’t be helped).

Anyway, Pete wanted a step-by-step guide to putting on a radio earpiece. It is actually ridiculously easy to get tangled up in the wires (which, as I told one curious soul back in March last year, has something to do with the randomness of the universe). In any instance, I decided that others might have experienced the same problems as Pete, so I thought it best to acquiesce and write this guide.

Next, attach the earpiece to your ear. It goes on the same way your headphones do, you may have to toggle it until it is comfortable, but that’s all part of the fun! Put it through your shirt so you don’t have cables hanging out everywhere.

At this point, you might as well turn the radio on. It’ll be easier to do now than when it is clipped to the back of your belt.

Then, you take the remaining piece of wire (the bit dangling down from the clippable mic) and loop it through your shirt so that it comes out of the back. You then take the radio itself, slap the plug into it and attach the radio to your belt behind you (or wherever you plan on attaching it).

To operate the radio, you have to use the PTT (Push To Talk) function on the mic. You do this by simply pushing the button and talking.

In most cases, the other radio functions (whatever they may be) will have to be performed after removing the radio from your belt (unless, of course, you happen to be some kind of contortionist, in which case: go nuts with different body combinations and freak random people out as you go).

I hope that answered your question, Pete. Have fun using your radio!