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Remove Noise-Cancelling Feature of Astatic 636L

HBW1412

HBW1412

Member
Jan 18, 2011
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Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia
I’ve had an Astatic 636L mic with the metal clad cord and a Galaxy 959 since July 2007. I love this mic because it has held up extremely well and I really like the looks of it. I drove a truck for several years and needed the noise-cancelling feature.

I no longer drive a truck and am in the process of installing this radio in my 1996 Lincoln Town Car.

The Town Car is so quiet inside that I no longer need the noise cancelling ability of this mic, but I really like the way it looks.

Can I remove the noise-cancelling feature of this mic so I can keep the looks and feel of the 636L or will it not make much difference? I’ve heard of other people using the 636L as a base station mic, but I don’t have the loudest voice to begin with.

I could simply use another mic, but I HATE the coiled cords. Besides, this radio and mic combination look great in a Lincoln.

My other line of thinking was to put the metal cord from the 636L onto an Astatic D104M6B power mic. Is this a better option?

Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions you all may have.
 

They used to sell audio DB meters at Radio Shack years ago; I still have one. Pretty darn accurate - actually - for measuring the exact db numbers for any room or space for ambient noise or to see how loud your sound system really is.

Although your Lincoln is a quiet ride - no doubt - there is still noise that any decent power mic would still pick up. But if you are sure about the low noise in you Lincoln; then I'd suggest getting a D-104 mobile mic.

Trying to take out the noise-cancelling property from your 636L is like trying to take all of the water out of Lake Michigan. Not gonna happen. The mic element itself is what controls the noise-cancelling effect. Just not worth it to take it out - IMO . . .
 
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Robb – Thanks for the response. You said exactly what I was afraid of concerning the noise-cancelling element of the 636L being integrated into the mic itself.

The Town Car is quiet – especially since I installed Dynamat everywhere. I even did a double layer around the transmission hump and on the firewall. The D-104 is the mic I thought about going to, but I don’t like the coiled cord.

Is there an issue with replacing the coiled cord on the D-104 with the metal cord of a 636L?
 
RoadRanger – I looked at the Road Devil mic and actually like it for its features, but I can’t get past that red color and the coiled cord. In most situations I’d go for it, but I just can’t in my Town Car. That mic would stand out like a sore thumb.

You see, it’s that black and chrome look of the 636L and the Galaxy 959 that go so good with a Lincoln Town Car. To me, they just have a more luxurious feel to them. I know it probably sounds stupid to a lot of you guys, but I’m building a car to tour the U.S. with and see all the places I didn’t get to see when I was driving a truck.

If I could get Astatic to make me a Road Devil mic in black and chrome and put a metal cord on it, I’d order one in a heartbeat.
 
HBW1412 said:
I’ve had an Astatic 636L mic with the metal clad cord and a Galaxy 959 since July 2007. I love this mic because it has held up extremely well and I really like the looks of it. I drove a truck for several years and needed the noise-cancelling feature.

I no longer drive a truck and am in the process of installing this radio in my 1996 Lincoln Town Car.

The Town Car is so quiet inside that I no longer need the noise cancelling ability of this mic, but I really like the way it looks.

Can I remove the noise-cancelling feature of this mic so I can keep the looks and feel of the 636L or will it not make much difference? I’ve heard of other people using the 636L as a base station mic, but I don’t have the loudest voice to begin with.

I could simply use another mic, but I HATE the coiled cords. Besides, this radio and mic combination look great in a Lincoln.

My other line of thinking was to put the metal cord from the 636L onto an Astatic D104M6B power mic. Is this a better option?

Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions you all may have.
Click to expand...


Wow, at first I thought this was some kind of joke post. That said a D104M6B is really your only choice unless you stumble across a 575.
 
They use to make a Black RD Mic, but for some reason canceled them and just make the Red now (Both of which IMO are junk)

Not sure what you have against coiled mic cords. Personally I never liked the chrome "Pay Phone" looking cords because they always seemed to stretch out all over the place. But I've seen the chrome cords for sale before on eBay, so you could get one and use it to replace a coiled cord on just about any Mic you want.
 
I have all three mics. My 575 PTT bit the dust and I ended up scavenging a cobra mic PTT for it. Digging into the circuit, the only difference between a D104-m6 is the resistance on the gate of the FET. More resistance lets you hear more of the body of the ceramic element. Less resistance equals higher tone. That being said, I like the lower tone of the D104 so I swapped the resistor for the same value as the D104 and like it better. Swap the FET for MPF102 or J201 or even just a new 5457(?) and it wakes the mic up a little. The RD is nothing more then 2 stages of an jellybean opamp with a filter network for feedback control. I'm sure the preamp could be improved but at the limit of the mic element and board size. Maybe an electret element fed through the same pre of the RD, of course with a few circuit changes to deal with the high impedance of the element.
 
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711 said:
I have all three mics. My 575 PTT bit the dust and I ended up scavenging a cobra mic PTT for it. Digging into the circuit, the only difference between a D104-m6 is the resistance on the gate of the FET. More resistance lets you hear more of the body of the ceramic element. Less resistance equals higher tone. That being said, I like the lower tone of the D104 so I swapped the resistor for the same value as the D104 and like it better. Swap the FET for MPF102 or J201 or even just a new 5457(?) and it wakes the mic up a little. The RD is nothing more then 2 stages of an jellybean opamp with a filter network for feedback control. I'm sure the preamp could be improved but at the limit of the mic element and board size. Maybe an electret element fed through the same pre of the RD, of course with a few circuit changes to deal with the high impedance of the element.
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get a d104m6 and put a metal cord on it . you can find the cord on ebay im sure and redmancb.com and others
 
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I remember buying a road devil new back in the 1990,s and within 2 weeks the ptt relay inside the mic just came completley apart right off its little circuit slider so i threw it out the window never owned another
 
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The 636 is a fine sounding mic that doesn't have to be used in a noisy environment, used one for years in a big truck. Don't understand the desire to modify a well made mic that sounds good in quiet also but whatever blows your skirt up. It's one of the few items left with the Astatic brand on it that's not ChiCom junk. The RD104E's manufactured in the past decade or so are pure crap. Bought one and have kept it but I don't know why, have no use for it.
 
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