Jim,
The American economy will suffer !
You were not supposed to let the "cat out of the bag"
about "expensive" ham microphones.
Before you know it, someone out there will discover that the cheapest
electret element , ripped out of an old panasonic or nortel telephone will
provide
EXCELLENT audio. Then these ham guys will put these elements into some kind
of stand , and walah,,,, A FREE EXCELLENT MICROPHONE. causing economic
disaster...
Plus we know these guys become attached to things they build.
GOOD JOB
Bill ny9h ( a manufacturers' rep who has represented several REAL
microphone manufacturers over the last 30 years,,, AKG, SHURE, & SENNHEISER
and none of them importers of someone else's products...)
At 10:34 AM 9/1/2004, Jim Brown wrote:
As some of you know, I'm in the pro audio business, so microphones are
something I know a bit about. :) At a recent hamfest, I bought three
variations
of Plantronics headsets made for use with cellphones. I paid $5 each; in a
store they would likely fetch $15-$25. I've seen similar Plantronics
models at
Fry's Electronics, packaged for use with VOIP into a computer sound card, for
$25. For those of you who don't know, Plantronics is the originator of the
miniature "Starset" headsets for telecommunications decades ago. They're a
publically traded US company.
Over the past two weeks, I've made adapters to use these headset/mic
combos with my laptop for Echolink and VOIP, and also to run into my ham
rigs. I haven't done one yet for the K2, but I just did one for the Icom
746 that I
use on six meters. I am VERY pleased with the result -- on the air reports
from
critical listeners tell me that I have clean, punchy audio, the emphasized
high
end that works for good communications quality, and no breathe pops.
The wiring to make these mics work with a K2 is quite simple. First, you need
to cut off the plug and identify which conductors go to the mic and earphone.
On my Plantronics units, white is the mic, red is the earphone, blue is
common,
and there is an overall shield that should be tied to the mic connector
shell. To
get bias for the mic element, add a 2.2K resistor between +8v and the white
wire. If you want the earphone to work, you'll have to either bring
receive audio
to the connector or put a second connector on the mic to go to the headphone
jack.
If you're adapting it to a typical computer sound card, you'll also want
the 2.2K
resistor from wherever it shows up on the computer's mic input to the
"hot" mic
lead. It's no problem fitting a low wattage resistor into a Switchcraft
1/8" plug.
It's trickier fitting it into the 8-pin plug used on the K2.
Jim Brown K9YC
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