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anyone had one or know much about them ? ive been looking at the turner +3 base mic and the built in compression seems to be a good thing . it seems the 500 has that as well as a tone controll . im not sure if i like the look of the 500 or not . in a way i feel its hip and geeky lookin and i kinda like that , but i also think its kinda goofy lookin too . but either way apperance is secondary to performance . how does the 500 compare to the +3B ? from what i can tell the SSK is a non-compression version of the +3B and thats about it other than its color , is that about right ?
Woody's Turner Microphone Page

how would these compare to new/modern mics like the Astatic AST-878DM Desk Mic
CB Microphones
and the Galaxy Base Station Echo Microphone
CB Microphones

thanks .

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I still have a Turner+3 desk mic. Very nice mic when used with any Cobra 4-pin radio - IMO.

I've repaired and used the Galaxy mic for a friend. I liked it - and I also had a chance to hear it work from my base station once it was fixed. Impressive and clear modulation. Echo was OK too. For the money, it offers a lot - IMO.

The Astatic mic you mentioned I've never had a chance to see or hear - as far as I know anyway...

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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..."

booty,
from memory the +3 had a discrete component compressor amplifier and a ceramic cartridge,
the ssk had a dynamic cartridge with a matching transformer and an opamp amplifier no compressor,
the ex500 had a dynamic cartridge and a pumpy compressor with a strange tone control that was either too wooly or too tinny, plastic case screened with foil like the turner hand mics, imho the ex500 was a pos but some folk liked em,

how they compare to each other and to mics available today is subjective, it depends on how your ears are wired to your brain, the voice, the transmitter and the receiver.

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the blind lead the blind but the enlightened will lead you to the sigma4

thanks guys

seems like the origional +3 was grey and a second version was black .
anyone know what the difference is besides their color ?
is either better performing or better constructed than the other ?

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You probably read this article on 'CB Radio Magazine' for the Turner+3, but I'd thought I'd post it here because it is a goodie...

I think the only difference between the black version and the grey version (I have that one BTW) - is the paint...

Turner +3 Microphone Review

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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..."

The +3 is a great mic with the compression whether it's a black or gray one, I have both and love them both. I think the +3 is the only compression mic turner made.
The SSK seems to respond better on SSB for me, so i keep my SSK's.
I do not have a 500 at the moment, i never liked the one i had so i got rid of it.

The Galaxy mic I know a few people running them and they always seem to have weird problems with them, could be just user abuse though.

The Astatic mic I know nothing about, I do have the older 1104 and it's a good mic but i hardly ever use it.

On another note, the JCD-201M kinda seems to be all of those mics rolled into one. I do like this mic, other than when i switch it from radio to radio, mainly because i'm to stupid or lazy to write notes on which setting works best with what radio and whether i'm on SSB or AM. But that's my fault for changing radios so often, not a fault of the mic.

Over all, I still use the +3's for most everything.

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And Booty, maybe i'll do a base to mobile gate tomorrow as well if time permits. Show a few differences in base mics along with the AB - C box test.

aka AK295

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thanks AK . wanna sell of of those extra +3's ????

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No sir, sorry, I only know how to buy buy buy, not sell, the wife hasn't forced me into the sell mode thing yet, lol. Pretty good for me after 25 years with her

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I got mine - from all places - on eBay. I only paid a little for it including the shipping - I think it was $60. They haven't made these for a few years now, so finding one in decent shape is a juggling act. The one I have is in decent shape, but I have plans to put it on my IC-718.

They will work on most radios that I have. It won't work on my OmegaForce, because they already have that compression circuit built it. It conflicts with these design of radios. But on any Cobra, Galaxy, or Ranger, they sound mighty fine. The Tuner+3 isn't as sensitive as a D104, you have to get right up on the mic. But they sound bodacious and cut right through.

Compression/compressors is/are a tricky thing to use if you use an external compressor unit. If not set right, they can sound nasty - or weird. TopGun technologies sells pre-set compressor kits for most popular radios and are fairly inexpensive. That is, if you are handy with a soldering iron and like the challenge. That will give any mic you use that punch - that I think is what you are looking for. It is worth someting to consider this option - IMO. Compression done right is a powerful tool for radio communications. There is no doubt about it...

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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..."