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Mobile Mic

crmzendrgone

crmzendrgone

CB newbie
Nov 29, 2010
108
1
28
43
M town Arizona
What is a good mobile mic? I was given what I am told was/is a Road King 50 (somthing, maybe noise reduction.) and it cuts in and out. I would like to know if there is anything I can do to tighten up somthing or do I need a new one? If I should get a new one what is good?
 

Carefully take apart the plug on the mic that goes to the radio. You might have a broken wire there. The wires are thin and delicate; so take care and pay attention when taking it apart. Solder any wire that looks weak or broken off with a 35 watt soldering iron.

There is a saying in Ham radio: "every radio operator should know/learn how to solder".

If that plug checks out OK; then the switch inside the mic may be bad, Chances are - it is the mic plug. Be sure that the mic plug has enough strain relief - by making sure the clamp that holds the mic cable in place is tight when screwed down. It should hold the cable firmly.
 
Robb said:
Carefully take apart the plug on the mic that goes to the radio. You might have a broken wire there. The wires are thin and delicate; so take care and pay attention when taking it apart. Solder any wire that looks weak or broken off with a 35 watt soldering iron.

There is a saying in Ham radio: "every radio operator should know/learn how to solder".

If that plug checks out OK; then the switch inside the mic may be bad, Chances are - it is the mic plug. Be sure that the mic plug has enough strain relief - by making sure the clamp that holds the mic cable in place is tight when screwed down. It should hold the cable firmly.
Click to expand...


Ok I am pretty confident on soldering but again vocab(sorry) I have a solder gun from harbor freight my son bought.
solder.jpg

and
then the pencil tip iron from Radioshack (pulled off the internet not mine but close)
CIMG1491.JPG

so which is the 35 watt iron?(sorry I feel silly asking.)


Ok I will look into it this weekend when I play around with the other stuff. THANKS!!!
 
The Pencil iron is a 40 watt, it will work fine. The gun is probably 100 watt and is to big for a job like mic wires.
Robb is correct, 75% of "no audio" problems are broken wires in the mic cord and dirty switches.
The cord on the Mic is flexing constantly this is just like taking a piece of wire and bending it back and forth over and over and after a while they break.
I would suggest that you get some practice using the iron and solder.
You want rosin core solder ( never acid core ) for radio work.
If you have a old radio, stereo, anything that is electronic and broken, rip the cover off....well take it off and remove and reattach some of the wires inside.
It is a good idea to get a old small sponge, wet it and squeeze the excess water out , plug the iron in, allow it to get hot, and then flow (melt) some solder on the tip, then wipe the excess solder off on the wet sponge.
This should leave a nice shinny surface of clean solder on the tip of the iron. This is called "tinning" the iron.
The idea is to apply enough heat to get the solder to flow in the connection, but not stay on it so long that you damage what you are soldering. A clean, hot iron will flow solder into a connection fairly quickly if the tip is clean. Cut a few wires, strip the insulation back about and 1/4 inch and "tin" the end......apply the hot, clean tip of the iron for a second or so and them touch the solder to the wire, if the wire has reached the proper temp, the solder should flow onto the wire and down into the small spaces in between the strands. You want to apply enough to coat the wire, but not have a big blob hanging off the bottom.
Tinning wires helps the process go faster when you get ready to connect the wire to what ever you are soldering it to.
practice, practice,practice.
And have fun!
If you start off practicing on a old radio or something like that you do not have to worry about hurting anything until you get comfortable using the iron.

73
Jeff
 
Ok so I pulled apart the mic and found no wire loose or broken. But I did discover that someone had been in there cause the circuit board(?) was off the mount hole a 1/4 turn and missing one screw. Also one of the wires was caught in the switch so maybe wasn't sliding quite like it should.


Oh I also painted the case black.
RK56B4P.JPG

(internet pic but exactly what mine looks like now.


and here.
1zdum2p.jpg
 
Last edited:
So what color was it before you painted it black?

That picture is just one you grabbed from salestores.com
 
Robb said:
Nice work!
Those RK-56's have the best sound in the N/C class of mics - IMO!
Should be a keeper . . .
Click to expand...
Good to know thanks

What is N/C class?
GLR said:
So what color was it before you painted it black?

That picture is just one you grabbed from salestores.com
Click to expand...

I feel as though I may offend some, but it was chrome. I am not a fan of chrome. Later down the road I want to put red strips on it where the grooves are.

I guess the name gives away what is my favorite color.
 
"N/C" is noise cancelling; that kind of mic is best in a mobile that may be noisy. A favored mic of truckers - too - for that very reason. There are other brands and models of N/C mics; but the RoadKing 56 is best. In a car that isn't noisy, an Astatic D104 MinuteMan II is what I use. The Astatic is not a noise cancelling type of mic - however . . .
 
Neither of your irons are ideal for doing mic plugs, much better to use a 15 watt or 18 watt pencil iron on mic plugs, 25 watt maximum. far neater and less likely to cause shorts between the pins.

Solder guns are pretty naff for doing anything related to radios, pencil irons having smaller tips concentrate the heat where you need it most which is ideal.

if you want a top mic look out for an astatic 575-m6,cb radio mic's don't get much better than that.

about 80% of mic problems occur in the cable within 2-3 inches of the plug as it is the part where most strain is, especially on mic's with short cables.

a small analogue multimeter is a great aid in checking and wiring mic's.

a fantastic guide to learning how to wire just about any mic to any radio, its a must read:

MIKE WIRING GUIDE

as audio shockwave says the key to wiring mikes is to practise over and over again at soldering and desoldering,an old circuit board is ideal to practise on,as Jeff says pretinning wires is essential for good connections.

a solder sucker is a cheap but invaluable tool for helping to desolder.

another great accessory for soldering is a small tin of tip tinner/cleaner,a quick rub of a hot soldering iron through it will keep your iron bit/tip in pristine condition,it will even bring some less well looked after bits back to usability.far better than a wet sponge,any of the 3 below is ideal:

Soldering Tip Tinner, Improves Solder Flow & Tip Life - eBay (item 320619055776 end time Dec-17-10 18:13:19 PST)

Caig Deoxit Soldering Iron Tip Tinner. - eBay (item 120371622438 end time Dec-22-10 07:57:58 PST)

Radioshack Soldering Iron Tip Tinner and Cleaner - eBay (item 120628109324 end time Dec-29-10 02:36:43 PST)

antex have a terrific range of soldering irons,with a wide variety of replacement/different size/shape bits, and are ideal for radio work of all varities,

a 15 or 18 watt,plus a 25watt is ideal for most radio/mic work, 25 watt iron is also ok for rg58/pl259

a 100w standard/pencil (not gun type) or 50 watt temperature compensated iron (part number tcs 230) are ideal for doing up to 10mm coax/plugs like rg213/u.

if you can only afford or are willing to spend money on one iron, a 25 watt antex xs25 is a good general purpose iron.

a company called multicore make some excellent 60/40 rosin core solder if you can source it over in the states (just checked on us e bay and there is some for sale,see below link). 1.2 mm diameter 60/40 is ideal for general purpose work,

MULTICORE SOLDER - 60/40 - 1.2mm -FLUXED- 500GRAM ROLL - eBay (item 360322219274 end time Dec-23-10 10:52:40 PST)

60/40 leaded solder is now banned in europe,but its the best.not sure if its banned stateside, if not it probably will be in the future.

hope some of that info helps you.
 
GLR said:
I see.

Crimson Dragon...correct?
Click to expand...
You are the first to guess it in all the different forums I have been in with out my helping.

jazzsinger said:
Neither of your irons are ideal for doing mic plugs, much better to use a 15 watt or 18 watt pencil iron on mic plugs, 25 watt maximum. far neater and less likely to cause shorts between the pins.

Solder guns are pretty naff for doing anything related to radios, pencil irons having smaller tips concentrate the heat where you need it most which is ideal.

if you want a top mic look out for an astatic 575-m6,cb radio mic's don't get much better than that.

about 80% of mic problems occur in the cable within 2-3 inches of the plug as it is the part where most strain is, especially on mic's with short cables.

a small analogue multimeter is a great aid in checking and wiring mic's.

a fantastic guide to learning how to wire just about any mic to any radio, its a must read:

MIKE WIRING GUIDE

as audio shockwave says the key to wiring mikes is to practise over and over again at soldering and desoldering,an old circuit board is ideal to practise on,as Jeff says pretinning wires is essential for good connections.

a solder sucker is a cheap but invaluable tool for helping to desolder.

another great accessory for soldering is a small tin of tip tinner/cleaner,a quick rub of a hot soldering iron through it will keep your iron bit/tip in pristine condition,it will even bring some less well looked after bits back to usability.far better than a wet sponge,any of the 3 below is ideal:

Soldering Tip Tinner, Improves Solder Flow & Tip Life - eBay (item 320619055776 end time Dec-17-10 18:13:19 PST)

Caig Deoxit Soldering Iron Tip Tinner. - eBay (item 120371622438 end time Dec-22-10 07:57:58 PST)

Radioshack Soldering Iron Tip Tinner and Cleaner - eBay (item 120628109324 end time Dec-29-10 02:36:43 PST)

antex have a terrific range of soldering irons,with a wide variety of replacement/different size/shape bits, and are ideal for radio work of all varities,

a 15 or 18 watt,plus a 25watt is ideal for most radio/mic work, 25 watt iron is also ok for rg58/pl259

a 100w standard/pencil (not gun type) or 50 watt temperature compensated iron (part number tcs 230) are ideal for doing up to 10mm coax/plugs like rg213/u.

if you can only afford or are willing to spend money on one iron, a 25 watt antex xs25 is a good general purpose iron.

a company called multicore make some excellent 60/40 rosin core solder if you can source it over in the states (just checked on us e bay and there is some for sale,see below link). 1.2 mm diameter 60/40 is ideal for general purpose work,

MULTICORE SOLDER - 60/40 - 1.2mm -FLUXED- 500GRAM ROLL - eBay (item 360322219274 end time Dec-23-10 10:52:40 PST)

60/40 leaded solder is now banned in europe,but its the best.not sure if its banned stateside, if not it probably will be in the future.

hope some of that info helps you.
Click to expand...
Great info. THANKS! Josh
 

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