Idea's and opinions on converting broadcast mic for CB use

Ok the radio's I have that need or could use a nice mic are diode switched. The ones that are fine as is are relay switched. Go figure.

I was thinking about taking a PTT switch from a non-working mic and useing it to convert harp/early broadcast mic to CB use. I know I need the two auid line and I need tx and rx. A ready made ptt switch out of an old non-working mic seems like an easy solution then I just need to add the two extra wires one for tx and one for rx.

Problem is the PTT switch's in most mic's are terrible cheaply made all plastic housings and such. Non of the ready made Ham PTT's will do me any good since they plug into the radio like a phono jack and and they are not wire set-ups either.

Anyone know where I could get a really robust ptt switch already set-up for modern 4 wire standard? I can not see making one from scratch or re-inventing the wheel if their is something already on the market that will allow me to have a nice clean install and good reliability and durability. It would be fantastic if it was mostly metal but anything heavier then what the average stock mic has would be good as well. I am not ham fisted and have only ever had one PTT switch fail on me and that was after over 10 years of daily use in a mobile unit.

I know I am lazy!!!

You are right I know. I just like the look. I do not have to do it....I have considered a decent D104 off ebay. You have to admit though they made some sharp looking cast bodies with chrome plated finish on those old Harp Mic's.

I almost bought a Heil(sp) but the company never wrote me back when I emailed them about a harness that would allow me to use their mic on an HR2510 type radio. I do not want to spend $36 for a Heil(sp) cable set then have to cut into it to modify it to work. When they failed to return my email that told me all I needed to know about their company.

I already have a nice Harp Mic collecting dust.....

Yes it has an impedance of 50K ohms and was designed to plug into a tube type guitar amp or the like. Today you can actually buy inline transformers to lower or raise impedance. In this way you do not need to semi-permanently modify the mic or do it internally like you would have had to have done in the past.

To be honest no one makes a mic today that has the same type of audio as these old dynamic harp mic's well not for non- commercial broadcasting at least. Buying trained as a musician I really like a good sounding mic on a base setup. Seeing how space is not limited in most peoples home base's set-ups well not so limited that mic size is an issue it would be fantastic to have a mic that actually allows me to sound like me! For mobile use I fully understand compromising sound for practical space limitations.

Like I said I do not have to do it. Maybe I will put it on the back burner.

What is so dreaded about the 2510 type radio's??? My son has his license and is using the radio I bought originally back in 1998 when I was going to get my license but did not get around to it....In fact before I got the radio I had it chip switched in advance planing to use it on 10/12 meter. Not every one is in love with 2 meter's and the like!!! LOL In my case it is a President Lincoln but I just put HR2510 "type radio" in the email since they all used the same basic internal design with regard to the keying circuit.

I suppose the fact that I have a dipole in the attic is white trash too??? Not high dollar enough to count? LOL

I know you are joking too about "dreaded" HR2510 but it is precisely that type of attitude that I hate about most Ham's I have meet in real life not on the internet......Everyone on this sight has been fantastic and always helpful!!!

Based on Roger Birds work and the various published articles on these radio's not to mention how they are held on too like gold nugets by most that own them I think that their are prob. more people both the amateur and CB world that like them especially in chip switched configuration. They sell for more now on ebay often then they did when they where bought new.

I get machine parts from Taiwan in 1 weeks time via EMS. Seeing how emails travel much faster then machine parts from Taiwan I am not too tolerant of companies with long delays in their email response times.I use email and my non-smart phone to do business with them and have never had a problem. Same goes for China but it is more like 1-2 weeks. I order stuff from former USSR States too. Never wait more then a few hours before I get an email or return call. Keep in mind I want to give them my money for their goods but have a very simple question. It is really a "Yes or No" question. Elaboration would be welcome but it is not needed. I did not ask anything of a technical nature or propitiatory.

True I could gut the Mic body and put fresh components in. I never thought about that with this mike because it works perfectly and sounds fantastic nice crunchy Chicago sound when you play a harmonica into it.I did consider that with a Huge Shure 55 mic body.That one is so large I considered doing a voice compressor board or preamp in it with all modern parts. I actually thought about doing that one for the car.....I thought it would look cool and get peoples attention especially if I hung it from the rear view mirror!

My Calrad 36G does not look the part of a Harp Mic but has fantastic sound. It is rather conventional vocal mic shape.It is not specifically for Harp like some mic body shapes and is not the streamlined bullet shape or the truncated cone shape most associate with harp mic's. The fact that it is Hi-Z, has a 1/4 inch jack and has that classic kind of dirty Chicago sound with a harp is what I like. If you use it for vocals it does not sound as crunchy and dirty it is quite warm sounding.

I was going to take the mic and stand once I made it into a mic for 2 way radio use to a local Tattoo shop and get it airbrushed. LOL I was thinking candy apple red with metallic flake and mask the chrome in flames so that the body was red with chrome flames.

I have a neighbor about a mile down the road that rebuilds high end studio and broadcast mic's but we are talking high ticket mic's outside my price range in the thousands of dollar type range. Maybe I should pay him a visit and see what his shop has for large old mic bodies that are collecting dust? His daughter goes to school with my twins. His shop is about 2 hours from here but he just lives down the road.I am not gutting the Calrad I like how she sounds too much. That is a good idea though about just tossing out the internals and putting modern gear in a prettier package!

Ok I bought a D104M6B NOS with the ceramic cartridge in it and older design. I figured this way I would not feel rushed to do this project quickly!

I am thinking about feeding this mic into tube preamp that would give me total control over the signal ie level of compression and amount of amplification etc.....Then feed this into a inline transformer to get the impedance down from 50K Ohn to say something in the 500-1000 ohm range. Then I just need a simple PTT circuit that will path the mic in the radio and control the tx and rx......This way nothing is altered it and the switching box interface can take any shape or form I like.

In the mean time all I need to do is put a connector on the power hand mic. So I am still going to make this killer NOS Calrad mic work I am just going to take my time.