RADIO'S MIC GAIN + D104 GAIN

[Stellasstillarat]

Is leaving the volume on a power mic (d104) turned up to maximum volume and using the radios (uniden washington) mic gain in order to control the total amount of audio (volume) advisable? Or should one adjust the power mic and the radio's mic gain in concert? I myself leave the mic's (d104's) volume all the way up and use the radios (uniden Washington) mic gain to make slight adjustment, according to these factors, ssb, am or the recivers of the person im having a qsl with. For the most part I rarely touch the radios mic gain and since the mic's (d104) volume is all the way up I never touch it. How do you use your power mic's volume and your radios mic gain?

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

I wouldn't crank tbe D104 wide open. Far too much gain that you don't need and it could cause distortion even if the gain on the radio is turned down because of overloading the mike preamp.

 

[AudioShockwav]

I agree, the power D104 will pick up a ton of background noise at Max setting.
It is something you will need to play with and adjust for the surroundings at your point of operation.
This is why both the mike and radio have adjustments...not every operating position is the same.
I would "start" at 25/30% on the D104 and mic gain at Approx 50%
You do not want the mic picking up every little noise in the background of the room when you are not speaking.

73
Jeff

 

[357magnum]

Like has been said turned up too much picks way too much back ground noise . I run my mic gain set on @ 9-10 o'clock an the Silver Eagle @ 1/4 open on my 2K . I actually switched to a Turner SSK an that works better for Me on SSB .JMO

 

[M0GVZ]

Put the D104 at maybe 30% as mentioned. With a power meter connected to the radio and using a 1kHz tone fed into the mic (mobile phone app will do) at a normal speaking volume, up the mic gain on the radio until you get max output power. If you start getting over 3/4 mic gain on the radio up the D104 a bit.

End result is max power but you're not overdriving the radio with the D104 or overdriving with the radios own mic gain so you don't get distortion.

Personally I've never understood the need for a power mic as the mic gain of the radio is sufficient. Once you're getting max power out on SSB then anything else is just overdriving and leading to distortion.

 

[midnight special]

what captain and audio said, no doubt.....

 

[Dipole]

I can take the heat so flame on..... A D104 IMO is about the worst choice for a Mic especially for use on SSB. I have never understood the appeal & love affair for Power mics on radios. A high quality Dynamic mic with a range from 50- 15,000 hrtz has much better sound & tonal quality with no background noise or distortion from over driving the radios preamp. It will give you the Audio to punch through a pile up and be understood with a clean sound. Food for thought!

 

[Stellasstillarat]

I will take all the advice left. Great answers to a question im sure others like myself without the knowledge needed to run a power mic and radios mic gain correctly. I will leave the d104 at about 30% and the radios mic gain at less then 50%. I'm actually having a turner +3 wired to use on my Madison and Washington. I'm gonna switch them during a qsl without mentioning the switch. I wanna see if the reciving end notices any differances on (am and ssb). Thanks for your kind responses.

 

[w9cll]

Running a "power" mic is not a bad thing if you adjust it properly. The mic element should be "better" than the one is a stock mic, notice I said should. As has been said turn the gain in the mic down, control the output with the mic gain on the radio and talk close to the mic with the element off at a 45 degree angle (do not talk directly into it).

I do agree that a D104 is one of the worse choices for use on SSB (unless you use a 10da head), a stock mic would sound better. If you want something different look at a Turner Super Side Kick, Astatic 1104c, Astatic 575m6. The 1104c and the 575 will also allow you to adjust the tone of the mic which can help smooth out the response depending on your or rigs vocal characteristics . I can't comment on any of the "newer" mic's out there because I don't pay any attention to them.

Personally I run an 1104c on my Yaesu with the master gain in the mic set low, the outside gain to mid, tone slightly below mid and the gain on the radio at 9 o'clock (low). I watch the ALC meter for a low reading, you want the alc meter to read low meaning the limiter is not kicking in.

 

[space cowboy]

I always run the radio wide open and the astatic as low as I can get away with. on my road devils it's less than 1/4 of the way up. on my bases it's lower.
I get so many flowers people think I've died.

 

[vkrules]

D104 is a great ssb dx mic ,wont get any flowers locally for audio quality, but will cut through a dx pileup like a hot knife through butter,