[ARC5] T-30 throat mic.

[Mike Hanz]

I think enthusiastic deployment in the 1930s was driven *far* more by 
the "hands free" feature than intelligibility, Ken.  There were just too 
many things for the pilot to do without adding the responsibility of 
holding the microphone and keying it in the bargain, especially in an 
emergency.  It was another one of those "seemed like a good idea at the 
time..."  And, as my UK correspondent indicated, it did seem to work for 
some people.  Perhaps it was the British accent? :-)

On 1/12/2015 4:28 PM, Kenneth G. Gordon wrote:
> When I first heard of, then saw, the subject mic many years ago, before I
> knew anything at all about radio, I thought it was a very bad idea for any of
> several reasons.
>
> For one thing, I could not imagine how properly articulated sound could have
> gotten through the stupid thing.
>
> I also wondered who could have thought up the idea. It didn't seem to be
> very-well-thought-out to me, but since I didn't know anything at that point, I
> just figured that someone must have known far more about it than I did.
>
> I do remember holding my JT-30 against my throat, talking and asking hams
> on the other end of my DX-35 if they could tell what I was saying. As I
> remember it, most said all they could hear was a kind of growling, but they
> couldn't make out any words.
>
> This was in 1957 or 1958 as I remember it.