[Elecraft] Microphone for K2

Thu Sep 2 11:02:56 EDT 2004

Don't tell me it was a J-38 mic cartridge!

At 9/2/2004 09:49 AM, JEAN-FRANCOIS MENARD wrote:

>Could you tell us what you found in the MH-2 ???
>
>On Thursday, September 02, 2004, at 09:46AM, <redmen1969 at optonline.net> wrote:
>
> >I had the occassion to take apart the hand held mic that Elecraft 
> carries (MH-2?) and was really shocked at what I found inside.
> >
> >Now as a mostly CW guy I really don't have a good appreciation of sound 
> quality, but I'm finding this thread very interesting.
> >
> >Tom
> >WB2QDG
> >
> >----- Original Message -----
> >From: Jim Brown <jim at audiosystemsgroup.com>
> >Date: Wednesday, September 1, 2004 8:22 pm
> >Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Microphone for K2
> >
> >> I must not have been clear. it is not "another option" -- it's
> >> precisely the
> >> Plantronics headset I noted I had seen at Fry's Electronics. So
> >> everything
> >> that applies to making a cell phone headset work applies equally
> >> to
> >> making the PC headset work.
> >>
> >> The point is that these headsets differ only in 1) the quality of
> >> the headset
> >> and mic elements; 2) Physical comfort; 3) the connector(s) on the
> >> end. All
> >> of the Plantronics headsets have noise cancelling mics. Bill,
> >> NY9H, has
> >> observed that these capsules (and the capsules used in the VERY
> >> expensive ham mics) sell for half a dollar or less without the
> >> name of the
> >> very expensive ham mic marketing company on them.
> >>
> >> Another point. Plantronics is an old line telecommunications
> >> company.
> >> The "Altec Lansing" NAME was purchased at least a decade ago, is
> >> applied to cheap junk from the far east, and sold. There is no
> >> connection
> >> (other than this sale of the name) between the company using the
> >> name
> >> and the company that MADE the name a household word for high
> >> quality
> >> audio. In spite of its pedigree, I'll bet your headset works a
> >> treat on the K2!
> >>
> >> What can be very tricky to get to work is a headset with an inline
> >> PTT
> >> switch sold to work with a ham talkie. In essence, you have to do
> >> major
> >> surgery on what is a very delicate (and cheap) switch with very
> >> tiny and
> >> delicate wiring to either disable it or rewire it to work with a
> >> radio for which
> >> it was not intended. I  bought one of these new at a hamfest. VERY
> >> bad
> >> idea.
> >>
> >> Jim Brown  K9YC
> >>
> >> --Original Message Text---
> >> From: G3VVT at aol.com
> >> Date: Wed, 1 Sep 2004 19:08:31 EDT
> >>
> >> Another option may be to use a PC microphone/headset that are
> >> available in the market
> >> at very low prices. I use an Altec Lansing AHS-201 headset
> >> electret boom microphone
> >> with a single earpiece with my K2. As the headset is terminated in
> >> the standard 2 x
> >> 3.5mm stereo jacks I made up the necessary connectors and a PTT in
> >> a small plastic
> >> box with two leads out for the K2,  8 pin mic connector and a
> >> 3.5mm stereo plug for the
> >> headphone connector. A foot switch could be added if desired for
> >> PTT. The +5V bias
> >> voltage is already available at P1 on the K2 Front Panel board.
> >> All it takes is a suitable
> >> resistor to provide the bias voltage needed from the +5V on P1 pin
> >> 6 to the designated
> >> AF pin or pin 1 on the K2/KSB2 side. There is already a 2.2uF
> >> isolating capacitor, C34
> >> on the KSB2 I/P, so no other isolation is required with the
> >> standard K2/KSB2. The bias
> >> voltage needed for the Altec Lansing AHS-201 does not seem
> >> critical. I used a single
> >> AA 1.5V dry cell in tests and with that was able to overdrive the
> >> K2 in the microphone
> >> high setting.
> >>
> >> An added advantage with this particular headset is the microphone
> >> is noise cancelling
> >> for use in noisy situations and the earpiece seems to work well
> >> with the K2 giving a
> >> good RX audio level. I had built the setup originally to use with
> >> a Yaesu VHF/UHF
> >> mobile and it was pleasing to find that it worked very well with
> >> the K2. Trying it out was
> >> easy as I already used the Yaesu standard for the K2 8 pin
> >> microphone connector. The
> >> Altec Lansing AHS-201 should be retailed from about $10 in the
> >> USA. The obsolete
> >> AHS-15 should also work well at an even cheaper price if still
> >> available.
> >> Bob, G3VVT
> >> K2 #4168
> >>
> >>
> >>
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> >>
> >
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> >
>
>
>--
>
>Jean-François Ménard, VA2VYZ
>va2vyz at rac.ca
>
>Club des Astronomes Amateurs de Sherbrooke
>Club Radio Amateur de l'Estrie
>
>http://homepage.mac.com/jfmenard
>
>--
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