K2 Microphones
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Gang,
Just put the SSB board in my K2 [S/N 4858]. I have tried my Shure 444 with the K2 and seem to have no drive. I think I will try a portable telephone headset. I will need to get some bias for the mike from the K2 then I'll find out if I have a problem with the SSB board or my old trusty 444. Would like to hear from those who have used cheap/nonstandard microphones with the K2. Wayne K9NE _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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Hi
I have used the model 701 hand mike sold by TenTec on the K2. This mike comes with a 4 pin connector but if you change it to the 8 pin used on the K2 and add the 5.6K resistor from the +5 volt pin to the AF pin on the front panel board it works fine. It only costs $28. If you add the bias resistor most headsets for cell phones should work also if you change the connector or build an adapter cable with a PTT button. Most dynamic mikes do not have enough output to properly drive the K2 without a preamplifier. The electrit capacitor mikes like the TenTec or headsets work fine. The MH2 hand mike sold by Elecraft has been discontinued. This mike had a electrit element inside it. Don Brown KD5NDB ----- Original Message ----- From: "Wayne Reed" <[hidden email]> To: <[hidden email]> Sent: Thursday, November 17, 2005 2:09 PM Subject: [Elecraft] K2 Microphones Gang, Just put the SSB board in my K2 [S/N 4858]. I have tried my Shure 444 with the K2 and seem to have no drive. I think I will try a portable telephone headset. I will need to get some bias for the mike from the K2 then I'll find out if I have a problem with the SSB board or my old trusty 444. Would like to hear from those who have used cheap/nonstandard microphones with the K2. Wayne K9NE _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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In reply to this post by Wayne Reed
Wayne,
The Shure 444 has a high impedance. This works great with an old valve TX (I use one with my Drake T-4XC), but not with the K2 or another modern rig. Try a small audio transformer. Rgds Nick - PAØNCV K2 - 1510 KX1 - 681 ----- Original Message ----- From: "Wayne Reed" <[hidden email]> To: <[hidden email]> Sent: Thursday, November 17, 2005 9:09 PM Subject: [Elecraft] K2 Microphones Gang, Just put the SSB board in my K2 [S/N 4858]. I have tried my Shure 444 with the K2 and seem to have no drive. I think I will try a portable telephone headset. I will need to get some bias for the mike from the K2 then I'll find out if I have a problem with the SSB board or my old trusty 444. Would like to hear from those who have used cheap/nonstandard microphones with the K2. Wayne K9NE _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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In reply to this post by Wayne Reed
I put the hand microphone from my Kenwood TS-850S/AT on my K2 and it works fine and I've had good audo reports.
The K2 requires a low impedence microphone and the TS-850S/AT requires a 500 or 600 ohm (can't remember which) impedence microphone. The K2 uses the same 8-pin connector as the Kenwood, so I thought this a good match. I've since purchased a second Kenwood hand microphone, on eBay, so I have one for each radio. Mark Saunders, KJ7BS Glendale, AZ ============================================================ From: "Wayne Reed" <[hidden email]> Date: 2005/11/17 Thu PM 03:09:19 EST To: <[hidden email]> Subject: [Elecraft] K2 Microphones Gang, Just put the SSB board in my K2 [S/N 4858]. I have tried my Shure 444 with the K2 and seem to have no drive. I think I will try a portable telephone headset. I will need to get some bias for the mike from the K2 then I'll find out if I have a problem with the SSB board or my old trusty 444. Would like to hear from those who have used cheap/nonstandard microphones with the K2. Wayne K9NE _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com ============================================================ _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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In reply to this post by PA0NCV
In addition to Nick's comments, these days "cheap" and "nonstandard" are no
longer synonyms. Like optics and other highly-complex precision manufacturing processes, automation has brought the price of high-quality mic elements down to a few dollars. Almost all the various microphones sold for communications purposes use the same low-cost elements. The difference in price is mostly the packaging and, occasonally, the name on the package. I picked up a Radio Shack electtret element that I mounted in a hand-held mobile microphone enclosure. The original enclosure held a dynamic element about 1 inch in diameter that fit snugly in a ring moulded in the case behind the grille. I wrapped the tiny electret module in soft sticky foam tape until the diameter matched the moulded ring, then pressed in place so the element is suspended by the encircling foam. The impedance the K2 audio input sees is defined by the 1,000 ohm biasing resistor required by the electret element. Complete hookup instructions come with the mic element. The output is adequate to drive the K2 to full output on all bands. You'll notice that on most K2's the demands on audio from the mic is greatest on 10 meters. That's because the transmit RF chain overall gain is lowest on 10 meters. You can easily determine whether you have adequate gain by switching the bargraph from RF to ALC mode. If one bar flickers slightly in ALC mode, you are making all the RF you can. More bars just mean that the system is backing down the gain more on bands where the overall gain is higher. You can tell if you're making full output by whether the 10 (or 100 watt if you have a K2/100) bar on the RF meter just flickers on peaks, but it's usually easier to see whether a bar is flickering in ALC display mode. Lest I be accused of belittling many of the excellent (and expensive) communications microphones out there, let me add a couple of observations. The electret element sold by RS (and most others) is a "hi-fi" element, providing an essentially flat frequency response from a few HZ to well over 10 kHz. That means that the audio bandwidth transmitted is determined entirely by the crystal filters in the K2. In the 'old days' of conventional A.M. few rigs used filtering. The audio response was quite broad and limited more by the microphone than anything else. For those rigs, microphones that rolled off the audio below about 200 Hz and above 5 kHz were highly-desirable for best communications quality audio. The microphone's characteristics were aided a bit by the selection of components in the audio circuits that helped establish the frequency response, but most of the shaping came from the mic. Many of the most popular microphones of that period had a shaped audio characteristic that rose from about 200 Hz to about a 6 dB peak at around 3,000 Hz before dropping off again. That produced a little "brilliance" or high-frequency emphasis to most voices that made them easier to copy under noisy conditions. I've tried such mics with the K2 (using a suitable transformer since, as Nick said, the impedance of these mics is usually quite high - 50,000 ohms is common). In my estimation, there's no real advantage to using such mics with the K2 because the filters in the K2 can be adjusted to product the desired characteristic with a flat response from the microphone. The high impedance makes the microphone more susceptible to RF intrusion and requires a matching device between the mic element and the rig: a transformer or audio pre-amplifier. But, for those who love their prized D-104 or other vintage mic, they do an excellent job if the impedance is properly matched to the K2. A good friend once sent me a beautiful Astatic D-104 as a gift. I happened to be doing some work on his 1950's vintage E.F. Johnson Viking Ranger AM/CW transmitter and, after playing with the mic on my K2, I couldn't help but send the mic back to him with the repaired "Ranger". Some things just belong together. Sort of electronic Feng Shui, I guess. Other things that justify the cost of many mics are the nice packaging with an attractive and convenient desk stand, boom arrangement our headphone boom mounting. Also, well-designned "noise cancelling" microphones earn their price when used in very noisy environments. Typically, they have special elements with a baffle arrangement that directs your voice to only one side of the mic element while allowing sound travelling from around you to strike both sides of the mic element simultaneously. Sound waves striking both sides of the diaphragm simultaneously will produce very little movement and little or no output from the mic. Some exotic designs use two mic elements and add their outputs together to cancel the noise while attenuating your voice only sliightly. Ron AC7AC _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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In reply to this post by Wayne Reed
I have a new K2 and bought a "Texas Ranger" non-amplified microphone from a
truck stop (Johnson's Corner on I25 near Loveland, CO) for $17. I had to change the connector which I bought from Radio Shack. This is not where I bought the microphone, but here is a link to the one I have. I got the "Replacement Mike". I didn't think I would need an "Echo Mike", HI HI. http://www.dx-electronics.com/mics.htm I have had nothing but good reports on the quality of my audio. My brother W7CKW said it sounded good to him and he knows what I sound like. 73's Leon NE0N -----Original Message----- From: [hidden email] [mailto:[hidden email]]On Behalf Of Wayne Reed Sent: Thursday, November 17, 2005 1:09 PM To: [hidden email] Subject: [Elecraft] K2 Microphones Gang, Just put the SSB board in my K2 [S/N 4858]. I have tried my Shure 444 with the K2 and seem to have no drive. I think I will try a portable telephone headset. I will need to get some bias for the mike from the K2 then I'll find out if I have a problem with the SSB board or my old trusty 444. Would like to hear from those who have used cheap/nonstandard microphones with the K2. Wayne K9NE _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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In reply to this post by Wayne Reed
My pre-built K2 (SN567) came with one of those MC-43 handheld mics that come
with every Kenwood ever sold, I think. I thought they were just used to cover up the unsightly mic jack on the front of the rig, but turns out it is a pretty good mic. I hope I'm right about this, but I think Don W3FPR even recommends their use with the K2. I've only made one SSB contact with my K2. It was a few months ago on 15 meters. There were 4 VKs on the air and NOBODY else. One called CQ and I returned the call. I was running 5 watts 'cuz I forgot to run it up higher after being on CW. The mic must have been up to the job. I got a 559 and a clean audio report. Eric KE6US www.ke6us.com -----Original Message----- From: [hidden email] [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Wayne Reed Sent: Thursday, November 17, 2005 12:09 PM To: [hidden email] Subject: [Elecraft] K2 Microphones Gang, Just put the SSB board in my K2 [S/N 4858]. I have tried my Shure 444 with the K2 and seem to have no drive. I think I will try a portable telephone headset. I will need to get some bias for the mike from the K2 then I'll find out if I have a problem with the SSB board or my old trusty 444. Would like to hear from those who have used cheap/nonstandard microphones with the K2. Wayne K9NE _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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