[ARC5] T-30 throat microphone

[WA5CAB--- via ARC5]

I've never actually tried to use a T-30 myself but several armor collector 
friends of mine tried them in their tanks and half-tracks.  And called me 
and bought a bunch of T-45 lip mics.  

Robert Downs - Houston
wa5cab dot com (Web Store)
MVPA 9480

In a message dated 01/12/2015 12:13:29 PM Central Standard Time, 
aaf-radio-1 at aafradio.org writes: 
> On 1/11/2015 7:38 PM, Robert Eleazer wrote:
> >Back in the mid-70's I got a T-30, plugged it into the stock PTT switch 
> that matched it and gave it to a friend to try out in his airplane.  He got 
> signal reports back that his voice was garbled.  Aside from that, he said 
> he just knew that if the airplane crashed he would be trapped by that strap 
> around his neck.
> 
> In addition to the warning from the Bell Labs document, the "Graphic 
> Survey Of Radio And Radar Equipment Used By The Army Air Forces (Vol 2.)" has 
> this on the T-30:  "The intelligibility of its output varies widely according 
> to the shape of the throat, voice, and accent of the individual speaker."  
> I can't imagine the USAAF running around testing every flyer for those 
> characteristics...  :-)   
> 
> Besides the shift to oxygen mask mics, it's no wonder they became disused 
> toward the end of the war.
> 
> >What kind of adapter was employed for the tests?
> 
> Not sure, but I think it was simply an adapter cable from a male PL-291 
> to whatever the interphone system used.  They had a modern set of 
> aircraft radios in the plane.
> 
> 73,
> Mike