[Elecraft] Heil Handi Mic

[Geoffrey Mackenzie-Kennedy]

Van,

The Heil HC-5 and HC-4 mic elements do produce less output than many other 
types of mic element, and you will find a number of Posts to the List 
discussing this issue. Unless these mic elements are quite close to one's 
mouth it does seem that a preamp is required with the K2.  I use a Heil 
Proset Plus headset which has a boom assembly containing a HC-5 and a HC-4 
which means that the mic is about 2 or 3 inches from my mouth, and I do not 
need a preamp to drive my K2/100 to full specified output, in fact on 40m I 
have to move the mic a little to avoid the ALC becoming too active. FWIW my 
wife says that I have a 'quiet' voice.

73,
Geoff
GM4ESD


Frank Van Cleef W1WCG <w1wcg at snet.net> wrote:


Greetings, all

I recently acquired a Heil Handi-Mic with the HC-5 element, intending to use
it with a new K2 radio (#5510).  I used straight-across wiring for the
configuration connector in the front panel since the Handi-Mic is equipped
with a cable wired for Kenwood mikes.  No resistor from pin 1 to pin 6 since
the element is dynamic.  The mike does work, but the output seems low -- the
ALC indication barely lights the top bar, and the RF output barely shows on
the louder peaks.  A MH-2 mike shows a little more output, though not that
much more.  The over-all feeling is that the Handi-Mic has a relatively low
output level and may need a preamp to work properly with the K2.  The mike
works about the same with either K2 here.  I've noted the diagram for a mike
preamp for the K2, but before I build up something like that, I'm just
wondering if anybody else has tried the Handi-Mic, and what any experience
has been with respect to driving the K2 with that mike.  Comments, anyone? ?