[TowerTalk] Desk Mike for FT-847

[Bill Putney]

Steve,

Any good cardioid mike should do. I used a Shure SM-58 because I have them
around for doing sound work. They sound good and they are dynamic so they don't
need a power source.

The input to the FT-847 is unbalanced and I suppose that it would have been
fine to just hook the mic input to pin 2 of the XLR and tie pins 1&3 to ground
connection on the mic connector. I chose to use a small open frame mic to line
transformer. I put the transformer, an XLR connector and a 1/4" TS phone jack
(for a foot PTT switch) in a small box that sits next to the radio. I ran a
small flexible cable through a grommet to a mating mic connector that plugs
into the radio. It took me about an hour with hand tools to do all this. While
I was putting the box together I lumped all the other stuff I needed in the
same box. I put some amplifier controls (my Henry 2K-2 has no standby mode), a
remote jack to bring the CW key jack up in front and a momentary switch to key
the radio (in CW) for tuning the amp

The people I have spoken with on the air say that the mic sounds much better
than the Yeasu hand mic (duh...). The mic gain setting is about the same as the
hand mike (~ 11 O'clock). There are all sorts of gold plated this and that from
Heil and others that are "special" communications mics but with rare exceptions
any good quality mic should do. Cardioid mics will keep the side noise down and
a dynamic mic makes connections easier. The Shure SM-58 is an old standard and
they can be bought in the ~$75 range when they're on sale.

- Bill


On Nov 11,  2:50pm, w0sjm@juno.com wrote:
> Subject: [TowerTalk] Desk Mike for FT-847
> Can anyone recommend a good desk mike for the FT-847?
>
>
> 73's
>
> Steve
> W0SJM@amsat.org
>
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