[TenTec] Re: D-104

[Steve Baron]

Thanks.

That covers the crystal and dynamic flavors.

What about the electro-FET (is that what they are called) ?

-----Original Message-----
From: Michael O. Hyder <N4NT@wireco.net>
To: Roy Koeppe <royanjoy@ncn.net>; Ten Tec Reflector <tentec@contesting.com>
Date: Sunday, June 13, 1999 5:01 PM
Subject: Re: [TenTec] Re: D-104



Oh, yeah!  More techno-doublespeak!  And mis-mixed metaphors.  Solid state
rigs didn't come into much vogue until after we had landed on the moon.
Well I remember sitting in East Africa listening to reports of moon-walking
on Collins, Drake and Heath rigs that used TUBES, of all things.

Back when I had microphones I ran countless tests -- had many microphones.
ALWAYS got reports from people who knew me in person that dynamic mikes were
just a bit 'muffled sounding,'  ALWAYS got the best reports from a D-104
crystal mike with NO preamp.  The highest marks for a microphone in my book
are not "boy it has punch," but that, "it sounds just exactly like you do in
person."  That was on all of my Heath, Drake, and Ten-Tec Argosy, Triton,
and Omni-C rigs.  I don't have a mike set up for my newly working Corsair II
(and probably won't), but I'd bet my bottom dollar that my D-104 would beat
the rest hands down.  Got the worst reports from the Shure 444 (tried two of
them to make sure one wasn't defective).  Got the second best reports from
the ElectroVoice model 638's that came from Heathkit Co. to go with their SB
line.

SO for those of us who don't drive nails with our mikes, the venerable
D-104 -- fragile as Roy says it is -- will serve well for many decades.  The
trick to a D-104 is to talk with the rim touching (or almost touching) your
cheek so your words hit it at a 45º angle.  Of course this means the
receiving station will have to cant his speaker 45º from his ear to get you
back in phase.  Oh, and don't drive nails with any crystal microphone!

Tee Hee,  Mike N4NT@wireco.net

----- Original Message -----
From: Roy Koeppe <royanjoy@ncn.net>
To: Ten Tec Reflector <tentec@contesting.com>
Sent: Sunday, June 13, 1999 11:28 AM
Subject: [TenTec] Re: D-104


>
> Hi folks,
>
> My thoughts on the '104:   Back in ancient tube days, gain was not so
easy,
> and perhaps one entire pre-amp stage could be eliminated by using the high
> output voltage from the crystal element which matched very well the near
> infinite impedance of a small grid. Hence the advantage of the delicate,
> vulnerable xtal cartridge.
>
> Now gain is cheap and easy, along with response control of the audio
> bandpass. A rugged, lifetime-lasting mike such as a dynamic, with a
> relatively flat response seems the natural way to go. If you want to have
a
> response curve other than flat, the place to achieve it is in the
> transmitter's pre-amp circuitry. Xtal elephants seem silly in the space
age.
> :-)
>
> Roy    K6XK




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