[Elecraft] Knowles HC-3 Mic Element Replacement For Heil HC-5

[Fred Jensen]

"It would be great if these elements could be modified to perform better"

Au contraire, Tony.  They were designed for a particular purpose and 
they perform very well for that purpose.  Unfortunately, that purpose is 
just not normally found in ham radio.

It is very hard to beat electret mics.  They're cheap, tiny, have flat 
responses, and tend to be immune to breath-blasts if you talk across 
them rather than into them. Some mics [dynamic and especially ribbon 
velocity mics] will emphasize the lows as you move close to them.  The 
classic RCA 44-BX series [fairly large, prismatic-shaped one, Johnny 
Carson used to have one on his desk] was particularly afflicted ... when 
I was 17 and on AM, I sounded like I was 17.  Crawl up very close to the 
-BX and I sounded like Morgan Freeman playing God in "Bruce Almighty."  
There is little speech information in the low frequencies but a lot of 
power.  Electrets are generally less prone to this.  Most of today's 
rigs provide the DC bias electrets require right on the mic connector.

73,

Fred ["Skip"] K6DGW
Sparks NV DM09dn
Washoe County

Tony wrote on 3/21/2022 1:42 PM:
> Jim:
>
>> Close-talking" microphones are designed for use in very noisy 
>> environments, like military aircraft.They are not directional, rather 
>> they cancel all sounds more than an inch or two from their element. 
>> 73, Jim K9YC 
>
> That seems to be the case with the Knowles HC-3. It would be great if 
> these elements could be modified to perform better. I've been 
> searching for a drop-in headset element that has the same sensitivity 
> and response curve as the original Heil HC-4 / HC-5 (see below). They 
> have great articulation and work well with rigs that don't have TX-EQ. 
> Used HC-4/5 elements are pricey!
>
> Tony



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