> I thought about going the Radio Shack electret element route myself.
> The only reason I didn't is I wanted the ability to use the headset
> with another radio besides the K3.
Since all of the "communications headsets" seem to have 3.5mm mic and
headphone jacks, one will need some kind of adapter to use them with
the "normal" 8 pin "Foster" and RJ-45 mic jacks. Adapting an electret
element does not take anything more than a 5.6K resistor and a 1 uF
capacitor ... the cap goes in series with the mic line and the resistor
goes from the "fixed" 5 to 8 volt pin to the junction of the cap and
the mic element. Those components can generally fit inside the 8-pin
mic plug along with a lead for PTT (to an RCA or 1/4" jack) and a
lead with 3.5mm jack for the mic.
You will need three such adapters ... one for "Kenwood", one for
Icom (no resistor or cap) and one for Yaesu/Ten-Tec ... in your kit
to cover all the rigs. Similarly, it will take three RJ-45 adapters
- Kenwood TS-480, Yaesu (FT-817/857/897/900) and Icom (703/706/7000)
- to cover any eventuality.
The only difference is that the Kenwood and Yaesu/Ten-Tec adapters
will need the RC network for an electret mic whilst adapters for a
dynamic mic will require a (series) blocking capacitor for Icom rigs.
There is no significant difference in "degree of difficulty" building
adapters for an electret vs. dynamic mic.
73,
... Joe, W4TV
On 3/27/2012 9:53 PM, Gary K9GS wrote:
> Hello Joe,
>
> I thought about going the Radio Shack electret element route myself.
> The only reason I didn't is I wanted the ability to use the headset with
> another radio besides the K3. Like at FD other contest stations, etc.
>
> But yours is a great suggestion.
>
>
>
> On 3/26/2012 10:14 AM, Joe Subich, W4TV wrote:
>> > In doing the above mods to the SB40 you end up with a VERY comfortable
>> > headset with a great sounding mic element. I just could not get the
>> > stock SB40 element to sound good. The HC5 rocks.
>>
>> The alternative is to use one of the Radio Shack electret elements in
>> the SB-40 mic housing. The electret elements are essentially the same
>> as the one in the CM-500 with performance similar to the new HC-6 -
>> broader than the HC 5. With HC-5, HC-6 or an electret element one
>> will still want to use the K3 TS EQ to roll off audio below 200 Hz
>> and add 3 to 6 dB per octave of pre-emphasis above 800 Hz.
>>
>> 73,
>>
>> ... Joe, W4TV
>>
>>
>> On 3/25/2012 3:11 PM, Gary K9GS wrote:
>>> Final post on my quest for the ultimate headset for my K3.
>>>
>>> First, a TON of thanks to Lu, W4LT. His step-by-step for replacing the
>>> mic housing on the SB40 with the housing from a Heil BM10 was first rate!
>>>
>>> Here's what I ended up doing.
>>>
>>> I replaced the microphone housing on the SB40 with a microphone housing
>>> from a broken Heil BM10. Heil still sells the housings and windscreens.
>>>
>>> In place of the crappy SB40 dynamic mic element I replaced it with a
>>> Heil HC5 that a friend had. It's a pity that Heil no longer sells the
>>> HC4 and HC5 elements separately. Ask around though...you'll find
>>> someone that has one laying around.
>>>
>>> In doing the above mods to the SB40 you end up with a VERY comfortable
>>> headset with a great sounding mic element. I just could not get the
>>> stock SB40 element to sound good. The HC5 rocks.
>>>
>>> By the way, I don't own a Yamaha CM500 but others have said it is
>>> identical to the SB40 except for the CM500 has an electret element and
>>> requires bias.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 3/17/2012 11:50 AM, Lu Romero wrote:
>>>> Gary:
>>>>
>>>> I own both a Koss SB40 and two Yamaha CM500'ds.
>>>>
>>>> The Koss and the Yamaha are exactly identical, save for one
>>>> thing... The microphone capsule.
>>>>
>>>> The Koss SB40 has a dynamic capsule while the Yamaha CM500
>>>> has a electret condenser capsule. Other than that, the
>>>> headsets are exactly identical in every detail except for
>>>> the name. Probably made in the same Chinese jobber.
>>>>
>>>> But here is where the simialarity ends: The Yamaha
>>>> electrect capsule is flat and can be made to sound really
>>>> great on the K3. The Koss dynamic capsule is all bass, very
>>>> mushy, and has low output. Even engaging the K3 equalizers
>>>> and tweaking a lot, I could not make my SB40 sound very good
>>>> at all. The capsule just sounds ugly.
>>>>
>>>> The fix for this is to remove the two screws that hold the
>>>> capsule on the SB40's boom and remove the offending
>>>> microphone that looks surprisingly like a cheap Chinese
>>>> dynamic earphone (its actually the same exact size as a IPod
>>>> headset element and looks identical!) and replace it. In my
>>>> case, I had an old Heil BM-5 with a bad earpiece but a
>>>> perfectly good DX4 capsule. I removed the plastic mic
>>>> holder from the rigid Heil boom, and with a slight widening
>>>> of the boom inlet with a Dremel tool, it fits right on to
>>>> the SB40 boom! Solder up the existing wires from the Koss
>>>> mic and you have a wonderfully comfortable headset with a
>>>> very flexible boom that, in my case, works great on my
>>>> secondary Kenwood TS570 rig.
>>>>
>>>> Of course, YMMV, but it works for me here!
>>>>
>>>> Lu - W4LT
>>>> Using the "AL/K-Line": K3/P3/ALS600/MFJ998
>>>> Al Kaline: 1960's Detroit Tigers Slugger
>>>>
>>>> ---------------------------------
>>>>
>>>> Message: 20
>>>> Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2012 22:33:06 -0500
>>>> From: Gary K9GS<garyk...@wi.rr.com>
>>>> Subject: [Elecraft] Koss Headsets for the K3 (Was: Re:
>>>> Yamaha CM500
>>>> Headset)www
>>>> To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net
>>>> Message-ID:<4f62b472.6020...@wi.rr.com>
>>>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>>>>
>>>> An update:
>>>>
>>>> I stopped by the Koss Factory Store today. I looked at the
>>>> SB49 first.
>>>> (The SB45 is identical to the SB49 but without the volume
>>>> control in the
>>>> cord). I didn't really like the way the SB49 fit. It's a
>>>> very
>>>> subjective thing but comfort was what I was looking for.
>>>> The other
>>>> thing I didn't like was the flexible boom for the microphone
>>>> was very
>>>> "whippy". It was almost like a wet noodle. Not good.....
>>>>
>>>> Next I looked at the SB40. The fit was great and very
>>>> comfortable for
>>>> the 5 minutes I wore it. The mic boom was stiffer too. The
>>>> SB40 has a
>>>> dynamic mic element. I ended up buying the SB40. The price
>>>> was $39.00
>>>> plus sales tax.
>>>>
>>>> I was all set to buy a Yamaha CM500 but I really wanted to
>>>> see how they
>>>> fit first. I looked at a couple places and couldn't find a
>>>> local store
>>>> that had the CM500. For this reason I look at Koss. The
>>>> other thing
>>>> Koss has going for it is the limited lifetime warranty.
>>>> Being that I
>>>> live near the factory this is a big advantage. Second is
>>>> that I've
>>>> owned other Koss products and have always been very happy
>>>> with them.
>>>>
>>>> As I said I've never used the Yamaha CM500 but the Koss SB40
>>>> looks very
>>>> similar.
>>>>
>>>> I'm also kind of a headphone junkie. With the K3 I figure
>>>> that most
>>>> modern headsets have much more performance (frequency
>>>> response, etc)
>>>> than one needs for communication. So they are all pretty
>>>> much up to the
>>>> task. Same for the microphone. With the TX and RX Eq
>>>> features of the
>>>> K3 I decided to concentrate on fit and comfort. I think
>>>> that juist
>>>> about any headset and microphone can be made to sound good.
>>>>
>>>> I haven't used the SB40's yet but will report back once I've
>>>> played with
>>>> them a bit. Here's the link to the Koss website:
>>>>
>>>> http://www.koss.com/en/products/headphones/communication_headsets
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>> ______________________________________________________________
>> 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
