[Elecraft] Heil Handi Mic

[Steve Banks]

Bob, and the List:

I bought, and still use, a Heil MH2 electret mic when it was offered for
sale through Elecraft; then it was called the Heil MH2.  That was several
years ago as I recall. 

The MH2 works FB with plenty of output and good-quality audio according the
reports I get on the air.  I'm mostly a CW user, but the little handheld MH2
seems fine for my needs, and the K2 seems happy with its output level.  My
relevant K2 MENU entries are : SSbA 1, and SSbC 1-1.  The MH2 is physically
connected to my Rigblaster interface, which then connects to the K2 8-pin
Mic connector.

The only reason I can see that Heil would say the HM-4 and HM-5 are only for
Icom rigs might be that their mic connector pins might be wired differently
than the K2 expects to see.  Certainly you ought to be able to play with
your RS electret replacement element without hazard to your K2.

Keep us posted, es GL.

73

K0PQ
Steve Banks


-----Original Message-----
From: elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Solosko, Robert B
(Bob)
Sent: Wednesday, December 20, 2006 7:19 AM
To: Ron D'Eau Claire; Elecraft at mailman.qth.net
Subject: RE: [Elecraft] Heil Handi Mic

Hello All,

	There seems to be differing opinions about whether the Heil HM-4 and
HM-5 provide enough output to properly drive the K2. Looking through the HRO
catalog, I found that Heil now has several electret mikes (HM-iC, iCM, etc.)
which they say gives higher output, but they also say these work only for
ICOM radios... Does anyone have experience with these mikes? Do they solve
the low drive problem for the K2?... And why are they "only for ICOM
radios"? And one final question: are they likely to work better than the
mike that I'm using that I put together using a
$3 Radio Shack electret replacement element (plenty of drive, but mediocre
audio reports)?

	Thanks.

Bob W1SRB

-----Original Message-----
From: elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Ron D'Eau Claire
Sent: Monday, December 04, 2006 6:54 PM
To: Elecraft at mailman.qth.net
Subject: RE: [Elecraft] Heil Handi Mic

Mike AI4NS wrote:

 I am using the Heil HM-5, and the audio is just fine according to reports.
I didn't have to do anything special. I set SSb A menu to 2, and SSbB menu
to 3-1, And it works well for my voice.
Just another option.

---------------------

Excellent point Mike! The SSb A menu will switch in about 10 dB of
attenuation if it's set to 1! That's useful when an external mic preamp to
over-driving the K2 but will keep many mics from properly driving the rig
when connected without a preamp. 

Even so, I've noticed that several mics won't drive the K2 properly on 10
meters (where the TX gain is lowest) especially if I use any compression.
That seems to be the experience of a great many operators. I use an electret
element that has an output of about -64 dB. It works FB once I changed R14
to 5.6K. 

I considered an external preamp, but it seemed to me more efficient to
reduce the unnecessary loss at the mic input rather than add external active
components to make up for it.

Ron AC7AC  


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