Shure 522 Mic Wiring to Cobra radio?

[Robb]

I picked this mic up awhile back, and thought I would give it a spin on a Galaxy 95T2. Which is the same wiring as a 4-pin Cobra - and other radios.

I thought I would try to stump out panel of experts and Hams on the WWRF - too!
Let's see how knowledgeable they are.

 

[SR385]

I run it on a Kenwood plug, the wire colors are

Red - PTT
White - Audio/Mic
Black - Audio/Mic Ground
Green and Shield I tie together and run to Ground common

I don't know 4 pin cobra, but that should help you map it over.

 

[Robb]

I run it on a Kenwood plug, the wire colors are

Red - PTT
White - Audio/Mic
Black - Audio/Mic Ground
Green and Shield I tie together and run to Ground common

I don't know 4 pin cobra, but that should help you map it over.

Hey - Thanks!
I got this mic with a Kenwood TS-120S from an estate sale.
I was wondering how it would sound with a CB radio; so I could write an article about using a Ham mic on a CB rig.
Thought it would make an interesting read.
Thanks again for the info; I'll play with the wiring now...

 

[Robb]

I found this wiring online and tried it.
Seems to work quite well so far.
If you have a Shure 522 mic, or the Shure 444 - give this wiring a shot.
It is supposed to be a real nice sounding mic that works very well on SSB.
Set the switch to high impedance and try the wiring as shown below.

Pin #1 - Shield+Black+Green
Pin #2 - White
Pin #3 - Red
Pin #4 - N/C not connected

 

[SR385]

I picked up a pair of these on ebay...

They are noise cancelling so with dogs/kids/wives/kitchens near the shack, that is rather excellent.

They are a full range mic element, much wider fuller audio than a 444D.

They aren't the worlds hottest output, but the quality is very very nice.

Take three to four fingers like you're saluting, that is the sweet spot, right on center of the head to work these mics. Set your mic gain up to work like that and you get the nicest overall sound and almost completely knock out background noise too. If you turn your head or work to the side or work a foot or so back, you will drop off sharply. If you get too close, you will be very bassy.

I run the base impedance switch on high for the nicest response with my Kenwood HF rigs...though they do need the mic gain cranked quite high up.

I switch mine in occasionally if I'm doing a lot of repeater work as the PTT of a desk mic is very handy for quick keying. Guys generally go quite a while before anyone asks if I swapped out my pro-audio boom gear for this mic.

ebay is the key on these. They are widely used in paging systems and if you time it right, you can find junk merchants selling them in lots for really cheap. I got my two for $40 for the pair. They are built like tanks too.

I forget what I did inside the base of the mic, but by default the mic element is dead on these so they won't work with VOX until you mod a ground connection in the base to bypass the PTT killing the audio when not pushed. I basically just disconnected and re-attached one of the ground wires that go to the PTT switch...I want to say the green wire, but it has been a long time.

 

[SR385]

On AM, this mic will give you really nice, full, natural audio. For CB screamer audio, the 444 or one of their omni pickup models will give you louder harder sound because you can gain them up higher.

 

[Robb]

After getting into my mobile and driving a mile away from the base station, I had my brother read a poem ('The Jabberwockey') while using this mic on my Galaxy DX 96T2 base station. First on AM; then on LSB. It was very clear on AM. But I felt it excelled on LSB; very wide and CLEAN response - which sounded like I was still on AM!

I am going to try it on my Magnum OmegaForce S45 today. If my guess is correct; the Top Gun Modulation feature on this radio will make this station ROCK! I have to play with the spacing of the mic to my mouth; but I think it should work as I imagined it would. I will repost after I get some on-air reports from this setup.

The only thing that I don't like about this mic - is the sensitivity. It isn't nearly as sensitive as my Astatic D-104. But it does have an optimal bass response - along with a clearly defined midrange. With enough high-end response to make every syllable completely understood. I think it is one of the best -if not the best- unamplified dynamic mic I have used or heard on a CB. And to think I borrowed a mic whose main purpose in radio was strictly by Ham radio operators. If you want to try something different, or you want to help make your station have a more dynamic range; then you might want to give one of these mics a spin.

 

[hotrod]

leave me know how it works with the magnum

 

[Robb]

The mic sounds tame - even on the OmegaForce with the mic gain turned all of the way up. My guess is that it could use a mic preamp and some compression. The audio is very clean - but far from being bodacious as the Astatic D-104/TUP9 is. In the future, if I should get such a processor - I will give it another shot...

 

[SR385]

If you want a screamer for CB audio, the 526T is the one. It has rolled off audio response and an amp in the base.

They key for enough output is to be in just the right spot with the 522...it's a narrow spot. Three fingers width is pretty much right on it...closer and it gets muddy and overloads..farther and the level drops off quickly. It's probably the most hi-fi sounding desk mic though...really nice on FM if the radio has enough input gain.

A small external pre-amp would probably help it quite a bit...I've kicked around trying to stick one in the base of one of mine to try it.

 

[Robb]

I'll check one out if I get the chance.
I am looking for a full-range dynamic mic; so that I can improve my SSB transmissions with the OmegaForce. It works very well with the D-104/9. But I have heard some stations use dynamic mics and I thought it was very clear and punchy. I think they do as well on AM - right?

 

[SR385]

It's not the type of mic, it's the frequency response of the element that is key, then matching the impedance of the mic to the input of the radio.

Dynamic are my favorite because they aren't as sensitive so you don't drag in as much background noise on the signal. Wider response from a dynamic generally means a more expensive element and design. They also have lower output generally and need more gain in the mic circuit in the radio.

Electret or other type of condenser mics have a hotter output and a wider frequency response for less money in many cases. A PC headset is a great example of this. They are cheap and if you get them powered up and matched properly have very good audio response. They require a lot less drive from mic gain on the radio and they also tend to pick up a lot more background noise.

Wider response, say from 80Hz to 16kHz gives you more natural sound and fidelity.

With radio, the radio itself limits the amount of frequencies that can pass. This varies from radio to radio.

FM and AM pass the widest range typically
SSB passes a narrower range.

Depending on the radio though, how wide each of those modes is can vary a lot.

Also, who is doing the receiving and on what equipment matters a LOT. What do they want/like to hear that is their idea of 'good' and what/how much they can actually hear depends a lot on their equipment too. If you are running 3-6kHz wide on SSB , a lot of people can't even hear your top and bottom frequency range...their receivers won't hear it...so they won't know if you sound good or not. They'll only know if your midrange is balanced right, bottom and top will be completely missing on their receive.

Lot of variables.

It's this chain

Your voice....
The mic...
The amp stages after the mic or even inside the mic
The radio itself and any further processing/filtering to the audio
The radio itself and how it passes what's left on transmit
The receiver the listener is using and how wide a range it can hear
The listener themselves and what their own concept of what 'good' is.

Lot of variables there.