[Boatanchors] Carbon Mics

[Kludge]

-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Haynes [mailto:jhhaynes at earthlink.net] 
> Sounds like what you would really like to have is a military T-32, which
> is a "candlestick" body with a push-to-talk replacing the switch hook.

This sounds like a good possibility.  What vintage is it?

> Outside of that, probably your best bet is to get into the Yahoo group
> groups.yahoo.com/singingwires    which is a group of rabid telephone
> collectors.

After checking out their group page, they sound more like they'd shoot me
for what I want to do rather than be helpful ... if they'd let me in at all.
I'm allergic to being shot.  It makes me break out in intense pain and
leakage.  :-)

> Now if you intend to actually use this thing on the air, keep in mind
> that carbon mikes do not improve with age.  If you have an actual old
> phone transmitter it will be pretty awful.

Packing, among other things.  I remember slamming all too many telephone
handsets against hard objects to "fix" them.  OTOH, the RS-38 I used my
entire flying career was WW II Navy surplus and didn't give any trouble
whatsoever.  Maybe the infrequent use helped or maybe it was the vibration
from the various airplanes.

> I'm not sure why it's called a bulldog, but it
> has a considerably larger mouthpiece than the original thing that
> looks like a shot glass.

It looks kind of like a bulldog's snout ... or it does if the bulldog was
painted by Salvador Dali.  :-) 

> There is a company named phonecoinc.com that sells old telephone
> stuff and parts for updating them. 

This looks promising.  I'm sure that if I begged and pleaded (and maybe
groveled just a little) they'd tell me what all I need to assemble a
workable mic.  Don't tell anyone but I might slip an electret element in
later to prevent those moments of bashing mics against hard objects.  

Many much thanks for the info.  This is a wonderful start.

Best regards,
 
Michael, WH7HG BL01xh
http://www.nationalmssociety.org/chapters/NTH/index.aspx 
http://wh7hg.blogspot.com/ 
http://kludges-other-blog.blogspot.com 
Hiki Nô!