Heil Sound Microphones......

[WX2MIG]

DANGER I DON'T DO FLEA PAY!:w00t:

I've been buying and selling on eBay for 9 years, and knock on wood, I haven't been burned yet.......

The only two times I had any unfavorable issues was with a camera I sold tp a woman in Frisco who tryied to claim it didn't work and that it cost her $150.00 to get fixed. I knew the camera was in perfect working order when it left my hands, and I even burned up a roll of film before sending it just to make sure.
The other issue was before I got established with PayPal, I had a Fender Stratocaster listed with payment options being a Postal Money Order, or certified cashier's check. Some assclown from New York kept e-mailing me and badgering me to take PayPal and he would buy the guitar, I replied politely a couple of times that I wasn't set up to take payments from PayPal. That wasn't good enough for him and he continued to badger me about it to the point I reported him to eBay for harrasing me.

Beyond those two incidents, I have a 100% possative feedback rating with over 80 transactions accounted for, I never shafted anyone, and no one has ever shafted me. Some where a little slow on shipping, but I always got my stuff, and it was all good.....

 

[DTB Radio]

I've used an HM-10, and still have it with its original case, cord, etc. It worked well for me. I no longer use it since I'm partial to my Silver Eagle.

 

[WX2MIG]

I still haven't decided what I'll do with my TS-130S, but I did just order a Handi-Mic IC, and coil cable for my IC-2200H from Cheapham.com...

This place has some of the lowest prices on ham gear I've seen on the net, my only disappointment was at check-out time when I discovered they charged me sales tax, that added another 7 dollars and change to the final price, but even with that I saved quite a few sheckles over HRO's going rate for the same stuff......
I was going to get the ICM mic for my IC-2200H, that mic comes with the cable attached, but it only comes with the Icom 8 pin Foster type plug, and that means I'd have to order Heil's HSTA-ic adapter from HRO at $28.95 + shipping before I could connect it to the IC-2200H.....(Cheapham.com doesn't carry this item).
With the Handi-Mic I could get the CC-1 cable with the IC modular plug already on it, the Handi-mic plus cable cost less than the ICM mic alone not counting the required adapter.

I'll let you all know how it works out when I get it.....

 

[SR385]

Cheapham is relatively local to us. I think he's in the Lakewood or Brick area. He told me quite a while back that he may have a local pickup and shop option at some point but I haven't checked back with him...probably better for my bank account that I haven't.

 

[WX2MIG]

Cheapham is relatively local to us. I think he's in the Lakewood or Brick area. He told me quite a while back that he may have a local pickup and shop option at some point but I haven't checked back with him...probably better for my bank account that I haven't.

That answers the sales tax question then.......

There was no indication on their website as to their location, had I seen a New Jersey address I would have expected it, I just assumed they were from somewhere's else.
It would be nice to have a ham radio dealer within driving distance that has such good prices, HRO in Delaware is just a little over an hour away for me, but it's a P.I.A. to get there because they are located in the middle of 3 different major highways, one wrong turn and you end up in Baltimore....
Besides HRO's prices aren't always all that great compared to a couple other discount retailers.

When I retire I get a pretty decent unused sick leave payout, I'm hoping to take a chunk of that and upgrade my shack with some good stuff....(Icom 7600, or Yaesu 950 type stuff plus good mics, tuners, antennas...etc...)
It would be nice to drive to a place that's not in another state and shop for everything you want or need right there, and bring it all home. Nothing sucks more than waiting by the curb for the big brown truck to show up, only to have the package gorilla slam all your electronics to the floor of his van, then kick it all out the back door onto the street.......:headbang

 

[SR385]

HRO is not far from you really over in Delaware, no sales tax either, even if you buy it there. They are real pricks in that store though, best to know what you need, walk in and say 'get me this' and just leave quickly. Real bastards....but they have most of what you need there.

 

[WX2MIG]

HRO is not far from you really over in Delaware, no sales tax either, even if you buy it there. They are real pricks in that store though, best to know what you need, walk in and say 'get me this' and just leave quickly. Real bastards....but they have most of what you need there.

I've had two different experiences with that store Chris, one good and one bad. The bad one happened years ago when I went in there to buy an HR-2510 and Bencher Iambic paddle. Got a lot of attitude I think mainly because I was a Novice, and I wasn't spending very much money compared to others in the store at the time.

Was in there early this year to pick up my Icom IC-2200H and a VHF SWR meter, the guy I dealt with was very pleasant and helpful, much different than the prick I dealt with 20 years before....

The Heil Handi-Mic showed up with today's mail, I ordered it Sunday afternoon via the internet, and it was on my front deck at noon today....not too shabby if you ask me.....

This is a cool little mic, and with the long coil cord I can walk around my garage / shack while rag chewing on 2 meters. Called up a buddy for an audio report and he couldn't believe how good I sounded, he thought I got a different radio, and was impressed that it was just a new mic. Then I told him what I got and his comment was....."That Figures"....turns out he's a big fan of Heil microphones and uses them on his own rigs.....

Now to figure out what to do with the Kenwood TS-130S.......

 

[N0NB]

I opted to keep my Yaesu MD-100A8X desk mic for the K3. After wiring a cable to adapt between the two, the marriage seems to work rather well. On the advice of another amateur who knows my voice I tweaked the TX equalizer and I get good reports. This weekend I used my Heil ProSet Micro that I originally bought with the HC-4 element. Over the years I discovered that my voice has enough highs in it that the HC-4 made me largely unintelligible. So I swapped it for an HC-5 and it has worked much better. I found this weekend that I needed to only tweak the mic gain a bit lower for the HC-5 than for the MD-100 and I had little problem being heard.

On the K3 I use the following settings:

MD-100 mic=30, comp=13
HC-5 mic=28, comp=13

 

[W5LZ]

I like Heil microphones, I've used one of them for a lot of years. I don't care for the 'audio' thing much, but they don't have to be all that 'fancy', they do work well. I usually put the cartridge into some holder that was whatever I liked at the time. I'm sure there are other manufacturers that are just as good, but I've gotten used to them.
- 'Doc

 

[Robb]

I like messing with mics. It is the sound that other people get to hear; it is how they can recognize the station. Just like your signature - in a sense. Putting a better foot forward can partially be accomplished by the polish of your mics sound and choice.

Heil mics are OK. Some stations sound fine that use them, some real quality. For the same amount of money spent, you can do better than Heil for condenser mics. Better off with an MXL than a Heil; cost is less and better performance to boot. The MXL V67 Condenser mic is a mic that I would put up against Heil's best condenser mic offering and still do better.

Heil's dynamic mics are pretty decent bang for buck wise; this is where they shine for the most part. Heil Dynamic mics are their real strong suit. Heil has successfully marketed the Ham radio community; HRO carries most of their product line. I would rather have a Shure SM-7A or an ElectroVoice RE-20 or RE-27N/D than a Heil PR-40. But the Heil is pretty close in quality and less in price in this instance. The Shures and EV's are about $100 more; but the Heil comes up with nearly the same goods.

 

[W4KVW]

HEIL

I use a HEIL PR20 on my ICOM 756 PROII & I also use a HEIL HM-10(dual element)on my 746 PRO(also sometimes use a D-104 Silver Eagle on the 746 PRO)& get GREAT audio reports.For the money the PR20 is a SWEET deal.


SIX-SHOOTER

 

[N4WJT]

I purchased the HC-104, Heil conversion kit for the D104 with the HC-5 element to 'freshen up' my old D104. I use it with my Ten Tec Omni VI and have gotten good reports from friends who know what my voice sounds like. The kit did come with some capacitors that are to be used for selected Icom rigs, but I believe the Heil element could be adapted to a lot of rigs. In some cases, depending on the rig, you may need to use an impedance matching transformer. The mic impedance is 1000 ohms @ 1kHz.

 

[KM3F]

To add some updating to this thread,
....I use a w2ihy 8 band with a Heil HM 10 on boom and the new Heil Pros Set Elite with HC6 element.
....Kenwood TS480 Eq on flat.
....IHY output gain set up to satisfy ALC requirements first then compression second to about 6 db compression point.
....IHY box is set to the reverse of the mike frequency response so the low and some high end are boosted.
....3200 Hz Eq is not used because the radio's pass band will not pass it without undesirable artifacts showing up. It's like you can't force 10 lbs of poop in a 5 lb bucket, type of deal.
....The noise gate is not used because under strong signal conditions it sounds like VOX coming on and off without downwad expansion. Said another way, it's too course and lacking in fine control.
....I hear stiff Vox settings with high background noise on other stations and to me it's objectional.
....So, I get to use three different mike cartridges, from two mikes on two different radios with out changing any setting.
....Set up for the radio that requires the least drive first then with mike gains set up for the next radio. After this is done the audio is fine over all combinations.
....Lastly, investing in mikes looking for one that is the magic one, is foolish for the unmodified radio.
....A look at the mike frequency response is all you need to do to dial the EQ level shape in.
.
THEN; "don't" go get a dozen opinions to confuse you or your end up trying to satisfy every one seperately. Stay with someone who knows good audio and is able to 'reproduce it at his station so you get a fair assesment, then let it go. The rest has to get used to it.
Good luck.

 

[ElectronTubesRule]

Opinion not fact but to me it seems like the more modern the gear the worse the sound. I mean the radio not the mic. They keep making everything more narrow in band width to the point that voice is degraded compared to on something less modern. Like another poster said the mic does no good if the radio will not pass the added bandwidth through the amp section and out into the air waves.

 

[RatsoW8]

Opinion not fact but to me it seems like the more modern the gear the worse the sound. I mean the radio not the mic. They keep making everything more narrow in band width to the point that voice is degraded compared to on something less modern. Like another poster said the mic does no good if the radio will not pass the added bandwidth through the amp section and out into the air waves.

It's communication audio so it's not supposed to be broadcast quality. Lot of newer radios have adjustable tx and rx bandwidths. Only good if the other guy can hear you at 3khz wide.