Astatic AST-878DM Base Mic

[Shadetree Mechanic]

Got one of these on order. Bump.

 

[Holydvr]

I have one. I was not overly impressed with it. I prefer an old school 1104c myself.

 

[w9cll]

I have one. I was not overly impressed with it. I prefer an old school 1104c myself.

The 1104c was the best mic Astatic made. I currently have six of them.

 

[AmericanEagle575]

Had one of these and still do, sitting up on the shelf,was not impressed,and replaced it with a Delta M2 ,a much better desk mic in my opinion!

 

[wildchild455]

copper and there twin h&y

H&Y is still around? Thought they closed up shop a while back

 

[Shadetree Mechanic]

The one I got needs a little more bass for AM, but is fine for SSB. The switch is scratchy, and now it sits in pieces on my work bench.....

 

[Recon]

Anyone used this mic. I have one and it squeals like a pig if you turn it to were the mod needs to be. Found out they are having a recall on this mic for this reason. I sent mine in and should get another in a week or so. They told me the new ones work fine. The company I work for makes the plastic used to make it. Its called Cycolac. If you have one of these mics call BarJan. They look nice for a newer style mic. Hoping it works even better. Will give a update on the replacement when I get it in.

Have you considered the DELTA M2? It has an AC adapter to eliminate the 9V battery.

 

[AmericanEagle575]

Have you considered the DELTA M2? It has an AC adapter to eliminate the 9V battery.

I can say from Personal experience that the Delta M2 is a much better mic than the astatic 878,better built and better sounding imo,I have one hooked up to my Ranger and I get nothing but great reports from other operators,plus the ac adaptor is a Plus also( I use a 9 volt and got a month out it before I had to replace it!!

 

[Shadetree Mechanic]

For $70 on Amazon, it is the cheapest base mic available. With a couple of tweaks, it is a great microphone. I know its a shame to buy something, and then have to work on it. Kind of like MFJ, I guess. But if you can find one used, all the better.

The first fix was the scratchy PTT switch that all the Barjan mics suffer from. No need to replace the switch. A solder blob on the audio pins on the switch keeps them connected all the time which doesn't hurt anything. The audio is switched by turning the mic amp on and off with the PTT, which it already does.




The audio is great for pileup breaking on sideband, but not much else. The solution is to put a capacitor across the audio wire and ground to tame the treble. On my Galaxy DX2547, 0.5 microfarads worked out perfect. Two polarized electrolytic capacitors tied together by the negative leads makes it non polarized. Two capacitors of 1 microfarads each makes 0.5 microfarads total. Your results may vary depending on what radio you use. Experiment by listening to yourself with another radio with no antenna and headphones. This could be put on a switch to change how you sound on the fly.





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