Roger On- worth the price?

My experience with the VA: If you get a new model of the same brand, they automatically order your existing add-ons due to expiring warranties.

Well, I didn’t get a tv connector this time. Not sure it is so automatic. Not that I need or want another tv connector….

WH

The microphone will help you only in one case - if you understand speech without the help of vision. For example, the radio. I’ve been thinking about buying a microphone for a long time myself, and I’ve given it up.

Thanks for asking this question ellenb18 - I was going to ask the same thing! I would love to know your thoughts if you do decide to get one - please come back and post your experience

I have owned or used a number of Roger devices including the Table Mic, clip-on Mic, Select, a Roger ON v2 & 3 and also the Phonak Partner Mic. Early on I also had a Roger Pen. They all have had their place for me in different situations. The Table Mic was great for me when I was working and attending meetings where a number of us were around a large table, especially a long table where more than one table mic could be connected in table mode. I liked the clip-on Mic for presenters or paired with the table mics but now it is more than I need. I just use a basic partner mic. My wife also wears HAs and we frequently use the select for small groups, especially shared dining table on cruises. It’s discreet and just does what it needs to do. My own go to device, however, is the Roger ON. It pretty much does everything including pointing mode which none of the others do. There are always some very loud situations where nothing is going to help much but I think non-hearing impaired also have problems in those situations because it seems everyone is shouting to be heard. I can function somewhat in those situations using pointing mode or presenter mode when talking with one person.
I have never used a Roger device with the TV. The TV connector is a very good and inexpensive solution for us. In addition both of us use the Airfly by 12 South for listening to movies, etc on airplanes and for Zoom type meetings.
Admittedly, other than the partner mic and the Airfly, they are all terribly over priced new. I have always had good luck, though, with purchasing on eBay. You need to be very diligent when doing this. Ask a lot of questions and look at the seller’s history.
I apologize for being long-winded but I hope this helps a little.

Absolutely right. A nice write up and informative. Keep it up.

I don’t really agree. If you can face the presenter or speaker in a large room, or if you can see others seated at your table, the Roger ON should help a lot. Agreed that it won’t help in presenter mode if the speaker isn’t facing you, though.

Ideally in presenter mode, the speaker is wearing the Roger so the speaker does not need to be facing you.

@raylock1 said:

Not sure i understand. Streaming is done directly to the hearing aids

It connects via USB to a computer to provide a mic function for outgoing voice on data calls on the computer, incoming audio is sent to the HAs. I think that is what was meant.

WH

anon33641277 was saying that he has to see the speaker (presumably to read lips), so the Roger ON wouldn’t help him. I was trying to point out that the Roger ON WOULD help if he wanted to hear the speaker in addition to reading the lips

Larry, can you explain how you use it in a courtroom. You say you can sit anywhere in the courtroom and here everything that goes on - do you put the Roger mic on the bench with the judge?

I find it helpful to place the Roger in the midst of the speakers (the judge, the witnesses, and the attorneys).

With the judge’s permission, I usually place the Roger on the court stenographer’s desk somewhere, centrally-located between the judge, the witness, and the attorneys. The optimal placement would depend, however, on the configuration of your courtroom. The stenographer’s station is usually situated in the middle of the speakers, because the stenographer also needs to hear each of the speakers.

The courtrooms I use are medium-sized; if you are in a large (meaning “deep”) courtroom, the Roger may not transmit well to the back of the larger courtroom (so you should test to). I recently sat on a jury, and the jury box was relatively close to the stenographer’s station, so it worked very well. In fact, as the trial went along, everyone knew about the Roger and helped me place and retrieve it at the start and end of sessions.

I also carried with me a battery pack with a USB-C cable, in case the Roger ran out of batteries before the end of the day. Never had to use it during my trials, however.

It may have been a mistake by the VA, I can’t speak for them.

My old Phonak Paradise P90’s were delivered with 03 licenses and my Roger On V2 worked fine with the 03 licenses so I retained my V2 Roger On (at my request) and they issued me i90 Spheres with 03 licenses installed.

However, I believe if they issue new Spheres AND a V3 Roger On - the Spheres arrive with 02 licenses. Have not verified this with the VA but I do know of two Vets who did receive the i90 Spheres with RogerOn V3’s and their licenses were 02’s.

So…@nursebill48 might be correct and the VA did make a mistake by issuing a new V3 RogerOn unnecessarily.

David