[Icom] Heil Goldline & VOX

[K4HW]

Hi Bill,

Your observations seem quite logical to me. I also appreciate your notice of
the advantage of having a less sensitive mic input. This all got started
with me many months ago when I bought the Goldline after Bob Heil and others
claimed it was a perfect match for the Pro. Bob tells me he has a Pro as do
some of his testers. Very willing to be helpful, he even checked my mic
personally saying that all was well with the mic and the Pro. So I have been
searching to find the answer to the discrepancy between what I and others
have observed and what Bob and his others have observed. Since I have access
to only one 756Pro I have to depend on the observations of others to collect
meaningful data. And for that input I thank all of you. I am aware that
there are fixes for the problem such as George and Michael mentioned. I also
feel that the Goldline is a fine microphone. In fact I get many unsolicited
compliments on my audio. Sometimes even asked if I am using an equalizer
which I am not.  I have implemented my own fix and am happy with the way my
station operates (except I would need a preamp to use VOX). So this research
is not inspired by discontent but by curiosity.


Hal -K4HW


----- Original Message -----
From: "Greg Ordy" <ordy@seed-solutions.com>
To: <icom@mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Tuesday, February 12, 2002 11:24 AM
Subject: Re: [Icom] Heil Goldline & VOX


> >>>Bill, W9NHQ, wrote:
>
> >>>The choice of a microphone is subjective and highly dependent on the
> >>>operator's voice.  That is why you see such disparate replies to these
> >>>types of questions.
>
>
>     In addition to this factor, it should be remembered that ICOM radios
> are usually designed to prefer 'electret condenser' microphone elements.
In general
> electret condenser elements produce 5 to 20 dB more signal than
> dynamic elements. When folks connect dynamic element microphones
> to ICOM radios, they often are disappointed in the results, and
> at the least, have to turn the microphone gain (way) past "12 o'clock".
>
>     The SM-8, SM-20, HM-36, HM-103, and all of the ICOM microphones
> I know about, have electret condenser elements. The Yaesu and most
> of the Heil (but not all of the Heil) microphones use dynamic
> elements. If you want to use a dynamic element with most ICOM
> radios, be prepared to talk loud, turn the microphone gain all the way
> up, or get a preamp.
>
>     For me, I prefer the ICOM approach since I believe that requiring a
> stronger input signal makes the microphone cable less of an antenna (RF
pickup),
> and electret condenser elements have become standard on anything
> which is connected to a computer.
>
>     All of the microphones/headsets designed for recent 'Soundblaster
cards'
> work very well with ICOM radios. This includes the $5 unit at the
> drug store to the $60 headset at the computer store.
>
>
>     Greg Ordy, W8WWV
>
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