Phil, You have to get the K3 ALC meter to illuminate 5 to 7 bars with the compression set to zero. That is true with any microphone.
According to the G4WPW microphone information, the MC60 mic has no preamp, but has a hi-Z, Lo-Z switch (it should be set to lo-Z for the K3). The M60A has a preamp that needs voltage on pin 5, but unfortunately, that is the part that is not compatible with the K3 which provides voltage in pin 6. In other words, the MC60 will work with the K3, but the MC60A will not work unless you change the microphone plug. 73, Don W3FPR On 3/5/2011 11:02 PM, Phil Hystad wrote: > So, I asked a question late last night but no responses. So, either no one > cares or maybe I got lost in the noise. But, that is OK -- I will try again. > > I am confused and mystified by a mic that I borrowed from a friend to try out > with the K3. It is a Kenwood MC-60 and I think it is fairly new and I only > have a day or two to play with this so I want to make use of that time. > > I am discovering that I don't understand all there is about microphones and > the K3. For example, when you use the MENU to set the Mic to something like > FP.L or FP.H, what is the true meaning of the L and H. I know that the > document says Low gain and High gain but how am I to interpret this. Does H > mean that the mic has high gain or does it mean that it needs high gain. > > This MC-60 mic has a preamplifier on it and when this amp is off, I have > trouble getting the ALC meter to measure anything. I do the test of speaking > normally into the mic but with the mic gain set to 60 I have to either shout > or speak VERY CLOSELY to the mic to make the ALC meter move at all. This > does not seem right. I get the same behavior whether the mic setting is FP.L > or FP.H. By the way, Bias is set off as I believe it should be with a > dynamic mic. > > Now, I have done some tests on-air with a few friends and they say my audio > sounds OK. Right now, I have the compression either zero or very low and I > am forgetting which audio report I got with which setting. But, the > compression setting didn't seem to make a whole lot of difference. > > Also, another question --- this mic has a preamp and I am wondering if there > is wisdom in using the preamp versus the mic gain set to a high value on the > K3. > > And, lastly -- I checked the history of some discussion on Kenwood mics and > the K3 and I see there is some discussion about the pin wiring of whether pin > 5 is used or pin 6 for something or other. I was under the impression that > the K3 was using the Kenwood mic wiring so what is this question on pin 5 > versus pin 6? > > Yes, when it comes to microphones I do not know very much. I am about 90 > percent CW so I obviously do not care about audio too much but I do want > things to sound OK without over driving the K3. > > 73, phil, K7PEH > > > ______________________________________________________________ > 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 > ______________________________________________________________ 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
