[ARC5] T-30 throat mic.

[Mike Hanz]

Excellent question.  The mic keying scheme was actually an independent 
design consideration from that of the microphone involved.  The 
designers of the Army T-17* and Navy RS-38 (and several others) 
incorporated the key in the microphone.  The difficulty with that was 
the location when other concepts were involved, like oxygen mask and 
throat mics.  FWIW, about halfway down the page at 
http://aafradio.org/flightdeck/Peripherals-mikes.html is a review of the 
most common mic switches in use during the war.

  - Mike  KC4TOS

On 1/12/2015 5:03 PM, Richard Schumann wrote:
> >olding the microphone and keying it in the bargain,
>
> Hmmm...that begs the question as to how the T-30 was keyed....button 
> on the yolk?
>
> Curious minds...etc.
> On 1/12/2015 13:52, Mike Hanz wrote:
>> 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? :-)
>