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found a guy with a "black face D104 mike" for $25 , looks nice , hes gonna test it to be sure it works . its black and chrome , not black and gold like the black knight . black base and black rings on the front and back of the mic/head , everything else is chrome . has the side bar key and a base key bar (chrome) . but its not a power mic .

in the pic it looks nice and clean . IF......its %100 electrically ...... would this be a good match with the washington?

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Sounds like the same mic I'm using now - the difference being that mine is an amplified D104/TUP9. I use that one with my OmegaForce.

I dunno...I'm pretty sure I would go with an amplified mic.

BTW-LC says he turns the mic gain on the radio up almost all of the way - and then turns up the mic amp(in the mic itself) until it begins to squeal. And then back it off. I do pretty much the opposite. I turn up the mic gain in the mic itself - about 2/3 of the way up - then turn the mic gain up on the radio until it begins to squeal slightly. Then back it off a tad. It is easier to control the mic setting from the radio once the mic is being 'amped' sufficiently first. That is my opinion - of course...

I would stick with getting a mic that can get maximum gain before feedback and distortion. One sure reason to go with an amplified mic - IMO. Unamplified mics are better used for Ham radios; as Ham's often gut these mics before they use them on their rigs. Ham rigs often have digital sound processors in them already - so they really don't need amplified mics. You could also get a separate mic preamp/compression unit and use it with this mic - but then that will cost even more $$$.

It's your call...

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What gear do I use?
BASE: Icom IC-718 & GAP Titan DX, Yaesu FT-8800R & Diamond X50A, Magnum OmegaForce S45 & IMAX 2000 w/Astatic D104/TUP9.
MOBILE: Galaxy DX99V & Wilson 1000 w/Astatic D104-M2, Yaesu FT-8800R & Diamond NR-770.
"...The 444 in San Jose CA; the Central Gold Coast..."

rob, just to clarify; my radio doesnt squeal, i just dont want everyone on the receive end to hear my wife talking on the phone in the other room while im keyed up. LOL

D104's are straight pre-amplified mics. this means that the "gain" control is really just a sensitivity control. turn it up too high, and the mic feeds back.

IMO- the best way to set a mic like this is to turn the sensitivity up just enough to get the full swing from the radio. to me, its not really a preference thing; it is the correct sensitivity for my voice volume at the distance from the mic i speak at. you will notice this if you try it the way i do it.
while turning the gain on the mic up from 0, you will see its like, nothing, nothing, nothing, BAM! full swing from the radio.

turn it up more, and i can achieve the same level of "talk power" with the mic at arms length, its just that to do that on a straight pre-amplified mic, you have also made the mic sensitive enough to hear a toothpick hit the floor upstairs. (i sure love making these little jokes LOL)

turn the sensitivity up just enough to pick up my voice from a couple of inches away, and the person on the receiving end only hears my voice and not the cars driving down the street a block away. (LOL)

now, i do have to point out that my radios are not stock, and saying that i turn the mic gain on the radio all the way up is somewhat misleading, because depending on the radio, i may run it at half way or 3/4 of the way up.

my point is about how D104's work and why many times on the air when you are talking to someone who is using one, you can hear the fan on their linear at the same volume as their voice.

one guy here has been running like that for 10 years now, and he operates out of his garage. so he has like four fans going at once to stay cool.

he sounds like complete crap, but he is one of those people who is not happy unless every knob, pot, and tuning coil is turned all the way up.LOL

booty, what kind of audio mods did mojo do for you?
i know mojo and he is a good guy, and knows his stuff.
just curious what he did to open up the audio on that radio, as there are three or four different approaches people usually take.

just make sure that TR32 is not removed. it will make your SSB sound like crap.

is the radio still with mojo?

if so, i can offer him some suggestions about what mods you might like, and you two can agree on them.

later, and sorry for rambling, LOL, i love to talk audio!
LC

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"Man shall never reach the moon, for such a quantity of gunpowder would be needed as to gravely injure the crew."
~ Children's Encyclopedia, 1926

This videogate has me and a couple of friends of mine - "YamahaDude/426" and "Russ". This is YamahaDude's Madison and he is doing the videogate. I am on a Galaxy DX 99V in my car on the first half of the 'gate. At one point, I say (I'm "triple four" or "444" or "Rob"-BTW) "I'm going to get on my base radio now" - or something to that effect - about half way thru the 'gate.

Listen to the audio quality with my base radio. I'm using an Xtreme 2018 on the stock Malaysia/Cobra 148 GTL. It sounds very crisp and clean and the echo is on very low. Makes the modulation stand out. I still think the 2018 is a great base mic as well as a great mobile mic.
You decide...



That Madison radio that YamahaDude is using is an awesome radio - along with the rest of his system. I'm gonna get him to do a videogate of the whole thing. I think most of you will be impressed. The distance between each of us is about ~4-6 miles...

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What gear do I use?
BASE: Icom IC-718 & GAP Titan DX, Yaesu FT-8800R & Diamond X50A, Magnum OmegaForce S45 & IMAX 2000 w/Astatic D104/TUP9.
MOBILE: Galaxy DX99V & Wilson 1000 w/Astatic D104-M2, Yaesu FT-8800R & Diamond NR-770.
"...The 444 in San Jose CA; the Central Gold Coast..."

hey man, i ran a "cheesy" microphone on mine when i had it and everyone told me it sounded fantastic. it is made by superstar, its called a mighty mini base. its basically a little silver box with a ptt button on the front and a small stem sticking out of the top of it with the element on the end of it. for being so compact and cheap (got mine for around $35) it really has a lot of audio. also, i cut the mod limiter on my washington and it wasnt overmodulated or distorted, but i had to keep the mic gain down to about 10 o'clock or so lol. anyways, i hope this helps.

the 2018/148 combo sounded nice . i am expecting the 2018 to do a great job on the washington , but i would like a nice desk mic for it , it just seems ......... more right . if the 2018 does a incredible job though ........

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rob, that 2018 sounded very clear and loud. thanks for that, its the first time ive heard one of those mics.

your friend Russ was way overmodulated. LOL that is the classic 148, clip R131, turn the mic gain on the radio all the way up sound. cant tell really, but i think he was running a power mic as well.

i used to be a die hard power mic user, base and mobile. now i dont run any power mics in the mobile. once i realized how much background noise there always is in a mobile environment, and that my mic was amplifying it along with my voice, i tried an astatic 636 noise canceling mic and i will never go back.

if you get a good radio that can be made louder internally without ruining the sound, like the 148 type uniden chassis, the 25/29LTD radios, and the galaxy type radios; there is no need for a power mic and all it does is make your audio noisier.

i think power mics in the mobile are like 92 octane gas, many people think its better for their car, but its actually for certain specific situations only.

im just putting my opinion out there, not trying to convince anyone of anything. LOL

BOOTY, if you are thinking about using a D104 you need to know that the non amplified D104's are a HI-Z (impedance) mic, and modern solid state radios are LO-Z mic inputs.

therefore, if you want to use a non amplified D104 with your washington, you will have to buy and install a little circuit for it that converts it from HI to LO impedance to match your radio's input impedance.

i have seen them before online, and i think on ebay, but i cant remember exactly where.

one thing you could do is put the Xtreme 2018 circuitry and element in a D104 body.

i would only do this if the D104 circuitry and element were shot.


BTW- i love this idea of people making videogates about what different setups sound like.
maybe there should be a section of the forum where someone records what another local sounds like, and lists the setup, including the type of radio used, the mods done to the radio, the type of mic used, and what both are set at.

i for one would really enjoy knowing what type of setup im listening to.

later,
LC

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"Man shall never reach the moon, for such a quantity of gunpowder would be needed as to gravely injure the crew."
~ Children's Encyclopedia, 1926

LC: If you listen to my radio in the first half of the 'gate, I am using a D104/M6 on a galaxy DX 99V and a Wilson 1000 mag mount on the roof of the car. They work great on ANY radio - you should only use one in a car if the car is really quiet inside - IMO. It sounds XLNT - and NO PROBLEMS...

Russ's radio - the Cobra 148 GTL - is a bone-stock radio - just like my 148 GTL is. Nothing has been clipped. He is using a noise-canceling 'SkyThumper' mic. They look identical to a Turner RoadKing 56 - but modulate to the max w/o ANY road noise getting into the mic. He also has a Texas Star DX 399 and a predator 10k...Bodacious? YES!!!

Booty Mon - LC is right about the difference in impedance of a non-amplified mic to an amplified mic. The mic amp circuit also matched the impedance as well as creating gain in the mic circuit. Two transistors cascade to create gain and match the impedance of a Hi-impedance mic to a low-impedance radio mic input. That is why I would get an amplified D104 rather than an unamplified one.

D104's are only noisey on a base IF YOU HAVE A NOISEY BACKGROUND. Take away the noise - and they are beautifully sensitive and clean. Don't be put off for that reason. Just because someone used one of these mics and didn't consider the background noise - it is certainly NO REASON to fault the mic. Fault the operator - where the blame belongs...

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What gear do I use?
BASE: Icom IC-718 & GAP Titan DX, Yaesu FT-8800R & Diamond X50A, Magnum OmegaForce S45 & IMAX 2000 w/Astatic D104/TUP9.
MOBILE: Galaxy DX99V & Wilson 1000 w/Astatic D104-M2, Yaesu FT-8800R & Diamond NR-770.
"...The 444 in San Jose CA; the Central Gold Coast..."

A friend using this device in Turkiye. I have never seen such powerful and deep modulation capability ever. So I guess it will be perfect whatever you connect