[ARC5] [External Sender] Re: German throat mics - mystery almost solved
Bill Henderson
bill.henderson at ocdsb.ca
Fri Dec 4 13:41:05 EST 2020
It seems cell phones these days are not marketed on their technical
telephone specs - sound quality, how many bars of signal in a certain area,
etc but on how good the quality of the photos is.
Odd - my cameras weren't marketed on how good their phone calls are...
- Bill H. / va3hwa
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12/04/20,
01:38:31 PM
On Fri, Dec 4, 2020 at 8:05 AM Michael Hanz <aaf-radio-1 at aafradio.org>
wrote:
> Well, perhaps there was a tiny nugget of wisdom in the satcom phone test,
> though the issue was not necessarily the earphone element per se.
> Sometimes I reflect on how much we have lost since the arrival of the cell
> phone. Has anyone in this august audience compared voice quality of a
> conversation on your cell phone to that of a landline conversation between
> two older dial phones? The silly ad a few years ago of an engineer
> wandering about, saying, "Can you hear me now" rings in my mind... We
> still have a landline and two older such phones on the house line. Bell
> used to pride itself in the quality of its voice reproduction back in the
> day. Now, referring to the worldwide industry at large, apparently not so
> much. Oh, how have the mighty fallen... We have become accustomed to
> mediocrity for the sake of convenience.
>
> If you look deeper into that link on my website, you'll see a section on
> the importance of fit between the earphone element and ear, featuring the
> M-201 "Harvard Socket" cushion. How can you achieve that goal with today's
> stylish cell phone? It's a variation on the old Miller "Tastes great -
> less filling" debate, only with cell phones, it's "Looks great - sounds
> terrible."
>
> And yes, I have achieved the advanced age of a well established
> curmudgeon.
>
> - Mike KC4TOS
>
> On 12/4/2020 7:19 AM, Mike Feher wrote:
>
> It was for a small manpack SATCOM terminal. I knew the design inside out.
> Regardless, in the qualifications matrix in the spec., this was marked
> “test”, probably by some idiot who copied another spec., to put this spec.
> together, so it had to be done. I believe the score was 100%. It was a
> waste of resources. The program was finally cancelled due to massive budget
> over runs. Later it was recompeted, the test was not included in the new
> spec.
>
>
>
> Mike B. Feher, N4FS
>
> 89 Arnold Blvd.
>
> Howell NJ 07731
>
> 848-245-9115
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: arc5-bounces at mailman.qth.net <arc5-bounces at mailman.qth.net>
> <arc5-bounces at mailman.qth.net> On Behalf Of Richard Knoppow
> Sent: Friday, December 4, 2020 12:07 AM
> To: arc5 at mailman.qth.net
> Subject: Re: [ARC5] German throat mics - mystery almost solved
>
>
>
> Maybe not such a waste as you suggest. You have not given us any
> details of why the tests were made or what was being tested.
>
> Articulation and intellibibility testing is common in audiology but was of
> considerable value in testing microphones, headphones, signal processing
> and other aspects of communication. Bell Labs had a list of test words. I
> think it is published in the BSTJ and in some texts. So, what was being
> tested there?
>
>
>
> On 12/3/2020 8:32 PM, Mike Feher wrote:
>
> >
>
> > Interesting comment Mike. Back about 20 years ago I was witnessing a
>
> > test, run by a contractor for the Military, where speech
>
> > intelligibility was performed. They hired around 20 random people from
>
> > the street for a few hours. There were two rooms and the group was
>
> > split in two, half in each room. One group was each given a list of
>
> > words to speak into a mike and the people in the other room had to
>
> > write down what they heard.
>
> > After that, the groups switched rooms and the test was repeated. They
>
> > were then released and the results scored. I actually thought the
>
> > whole exercise was hilarious and a waste of government funds. 73 –
>
> > Mike
>
> >
>
> > Mike B. Feher, N4FS
>
> >
>
> > 89 Arnold Blvd.
>
> >
>
> > Howell NJ 07731
>
> >
>
> > 848-245-9115
>
> >
>
> > *From:* arc5-bounces at mailman.qth.net
>
> > *On Behalf Of *Michael Hanz
>
> > *Sent:* Thursday, December 3, 2020 11:18 PM
>
> > *To:* MARK DORNEY <mkdorney at aol.com>; Hubert Miller
>
> > <Kargo_cult at msn.com>
>
> > *Cc:* arc5 at mailman.qth.net; milsurplus <milsurplus at mailman.qth.net>
>
> >
>
> > Well, the science of larynx mics was pretty well investgated even
>
> > before the war began, and more intensively in the early part of the
>
> > war. I always remember with amusement the Bell Labs report that said,
>
> > "[the throat microphone] would probably have been a very effective
>
> > instrument but for the fact that the speech signal available at the
>
> > larynx is intrinsically unintelligible." (Page 131 at
>
> > https://aafradio.org/docs/NDRC_Division_17_excerpts.pdf
>
> > <https://aafradio.org/docs/NDRC_Division_17_excerpts.pdf> )
>
> >
>
> > In sophisticated word articulation tests, the low percentage of
>
> > success rates were significant. Fortunately, the move to higher
>
> > altitudes encourage mask mics, so the throat mics began to die out
>
> > through disuse and more modern hands free mics like the M5A/UR boom
>
> > mic originated by the Navy.
>
> >
>
> > - Mike KC4TOS
>
> >
>
> > On 12/3/2020 9:01 PM, MARK DORNEY via ARC5 wrote:
>
> >
>
> > I wonder if the Germans had better luck with their throat
>
> > mics than the US had with theirs. While never fully
>
> > eliminated from USAAF use, they were replaced by better
>
> > mask mics and even the T-17 lollipop mic because hardly
>
> > anybody could understand what the hell was being said when
>
> > the throat mic was used. But it’s use sure looked good in
>
> > the movies.
>
> >
>
> > Mark D.
>
> >
>
> > WW2RDO
>
> >
>
> > “In matters of style, float with the current. In matters of
>
> > Principle, stand like a rock. “. - Thomas Jefferson
>
> >
>
> > Sent from my iPhone
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> > On Dec 3, 2020, at 6:20 PM, Hubert Miller
>
> > <Kargo_cult at msn.com> <mailto:Kargo_cult at msn.com
> <Kargo_cult at msn.com>> wrote:
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> > I'm going thru my stuff and picking out downsizing
>
> > candidates, and found a German
>
> >
>
> > 'throat microphone', but with a 5 pin connector, so not
>
> > Panzer. The strap has only
>
> >
>
> > the number L38114, so on a lark, I decided to try to
>
> > look this up. Lo and behold, an
>
> >
>
> > "Online Throat Microphone Museum",
>
> >
>
> > http://beatboxmics.com/#!/pages/museum
>
> > <http://beatboxmics.com/#!/pages/museum>
>
> >
>
> > Who would have thought?
>
> >
>
> > <image001.png>
>
> >
>
> > I learned this:
>
> >
>
> > "Abfragegarnitur L38 - Luftwaffe headset with throat
>
> > microphone and single receiver.
>
> >
>
> > All parts have special codes starting with "L38".
>
> > Throat microphone L 38114 is exactly the same
>
> >
>
> > as Kmf.b tank throat microphone. Luftwaffe production
>
> > control marks are all around
>
> >
>
> > (BAL = Bau Aufsicht Luftfahrt). The 5-pin connector is
>
> > of the type widely used by German
>
> >
>
> > Wehrmacht for telephone equipment. Maybe such "L38"
>
> > headsets were in use at
>
> >
>
> > Luftwaffe telephone switchboards."
>
> >
>
> > That seems likely. Anyway, the mystery of what this
>
> > item was, is solved. Also I had looked
>
> >
>
> > at German tubes for many years and never knew what
>
> > "BAL" referred to. How about that !
>
> >
>
> > I have a Swedish "Ericsson" throat mic this museum
>
> > doesn't know about. I wonder if it was
>
> >
>
> > supplied to the German Luftwaffe during WW2 or just
>
> > prior to the war. Sweden did trade
>
> >
>
> > with Germany until the point they saw Germany was on
>
> > its last legs and no longer presented
>
> >
>
> > a threat of taking their country.
>
> >
>
> > -Hue Miller
>
> >
>
>
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