Don, Thanks to you, Richard, Gene, Charlie, Bob and Mitch for your constructive and educational responses on this topic.
Don, I am happy to say that the settings you mention below were the ones that I settled on after some experimentation prior to my post. I appreciate the validation and the background on the reasons why those settings are the desired ones. Not all information is in the manual, certainly not specifics. The collective experience on this list is greatly appreciated, especially from those of us that are new to the Elecraft line. Thanks again! '73 de Jim N2ZZ -----Original Message----- From: Don Wilhelm [mailto:w3...@embarqmail.com] Sent: Wednesday, November 04, 2015 8:06 AM To: James F. Boehner, MD; elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Microphone Setup Dr. Jim, There is no FAQ that I am aware of. Actually the information is pretty basic. Microphone elements come in two basic types - Electret and Dynamic. The Electret types need a DC bias applied to the AF line. The Dynamic elements should *not* have bias applied or they will be distorted. The other thing that often causes confusion is the mic plug pinout. The mic plug wiring must match the pin arrangement used in the transceiver, and that information is shown in the transceiver manual. In the case of the Elecraft K3 and K3S, the 8 pin mic pinout differs only from that used by Kenwood in that the use of pins 5 and 6 are reversed. Since most Kenwood unamplified dynamic microphones do not use pins 5 and 6, most all Kenwood dynamic microphones will work directly with the K3 and K3S. Heil microphones normally use a 4 pin XLR as a generalized connector *and* use an adapter or special cable to change that XLR connection to that required for the transceiver. The adapter to be used with the K3 and K3S is the one for the Kenwood (which has a red band). Heil microphones come in both the dynamic and the electret types, although most are dynamic. If the microphone is designated with a "-iC" or "-K2" it is an electret type. A lot of information on microphones and transceiver connections can be found at http://homepage.ntlworld.com/rg4wpw/date.html. G4WPW has done an excellent job of collecting information about microphones, mic pinouts and even schematics. In your particular case with the Heil PR-781, use the Kenwood cable (Heil CC-1XLR-K) with that microphone and make certain the bias is turned off. I believe that microphone has a rather low output, so you may have to use the high range for the mic gain. So - the K3(S) MIC SEL menu should be set to "FP H". Set the mic gain as described in the K3 manual - first set compression to zero, then adjust the MIC GAIN until you see 5 to 7 bars illuminated on the ALC meter (that can be done in TX TEST so no RF is produced). Then bring the compression up to your tastes, usually in the 3 to 6 dB range. 73, Don W3FPR On 11/3/2015 10:44 PM, James F. Boehner, MD via Elecraft wrote: > Is there an FAQ for microphone setups for the K3(S)? > > Particularly, I am looking how to set up the Heil PR-781 on the K3, > including the menu setup. > > ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
