It's a story that's been told before, I'm sure -- but just in case...
My Argosy and I got on the air this afternoon with a new audio setup.
During each of the three contacts I made -- two on 20 and one on 40 -- I
received unsolicitied compliments on my audio quality. The last one was
from W1AW whose control operator -- Steve -- asked what radio I was
using to achieve such smooth sounding speech. I told him of my Argosy
and then revealed my audio secret -- the special microphone I was employing.
Now, I'm an old broadcaster, so I have a "thing" about good audio.
That's why I normally use a studio mike feeding a preamp/parametric
equalizer/compressor/limiter device into a matching network into my
transceiver. But that's not what I was using today. Today it was just a
mike -- and not my usual high-end broadcast instrument, either. I had
decided to rig up a hand held mike to free the rig from.the confines of
the shack/studio, just in case I wanted to work the Argosy portable (a
role it fits perfectly). I didn't own a working hand held mike, but I
did have the remains of an old, plastic PA mike in my junkbox. I have
no idea where or when I acquired this thing -- or why. No
self-respecting CBer, even, would own this mike. However, I cleaned it
up and broke the thing open to see if it could be salvaged. The dynamic
element in it was not even worthy of a good telephone handset and,
besides, sported a hole in the diaphragm. So, I tossed it.
I then went to Radio Shack and purchased a $3.79 electret condenser
element (the flat response, omnidirectional one), and a 6V alkaline
photo battery. Once home, I wired up the battery and mike element and
mounted them inside the plastic microphone shell through the mike's
rudimentary PTT switch. Mounting the element itself was --
accidentally -- very easy. I had just thrown away an empty Soder-Wick
dispenser -- y'know, the little plastic thingamabob that looks like a
miniature yo-yo? I cut the front half of the dispenser away and pushed
the mike element into the "donut hole" in the center where the friction
fit is perfect. Then I "friction fit" (jammed) this assembly into the
space vacated by the original mike diaphragm in the plastic mike case,
crammed the battery into another open space and reassembled the
microphone.
This is the device that earned me audio kudos from W1AW.
Now, I realize that using a high end audio chain to feed a stock 2.4 KHz
wide SSB transmitter is akin to plugging a garden hose into a fire
hydrant, and that was very aptly demonstrated today. The $3.79 Radio
Shack element at least equaled the $5,000 studio gear in transmitted
audio. It may even sound better.
73 and Happy New Year,
Craig
W3CRR
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