best base mic for uniden washington

[BOOTY MONSTER]

my uniden washington should be here later this week i plan to use my 2018 xtreme hand mic on it till i find the right deal on a desk mic . currently a turner +3 is at the top of my list and a amplified D104 is behind it . im interested in other suggestion for desk mics that folks have had very good to excellent results with using a washington or other similar radios . are there any quirks or tips i should check for or keep in mind when for these mics . the +3 has compression circutry built in according to Turners old literature and advertising . im thinking thats a good thing ? says it helps keep the modulation up without overmodulating , how effective is that in the real world . the Turner SSK seems to be the same mic without the compression circuit . is there much real world difference between the two ? how are they as far as finding a replacement element or other parts if need be .

i had a D104 lollypop as a kid and i really liked it . i thought all D104 mics were power mics but apparently not . there is a crap load of parts and mods and stuff for it . some of the element replacement kits sound amazing also .
RB Micro
although a lot of that fidelity will be lost by most recieving stations lil speaker systems .....

ill be using a 4 pin to 5 pin mic adaptor with the 2018 and hope it wont adversly affect anything if the new(to me) mic has a 4 pin plug also . but ill solder on the correct one (if need be) eventually .
anyhow , whats your opinions/suggestions and tips ?
thanks

 

[Robb]

Hey Booty Mon:

I used to have a Pres Washington years ago. Even stock, it is a very decent radio. I had a D104/TUG8 amplified on it. Worked fantastic. I didn't have a Turner+3 back then - and in that day there weren't any decent echo mics out there. The technology at the time only had crappy echo at best, so I never went that route.

I'm using a Xtreme 2018 on my Cobra 148 GTL on my base station the last few days. I just thought I would hook it up and play with it awhile. It isn't as powerful or feature-filled as my OmegaForce, but the mic/radio combo works out very well - IMO. I think that your idea to use a converter plug is a solid plan. I went the route of soldering a 5-pin plug on the 2018 - because I don't have a conversion plug.

If you are going to get a Turner+3 or a D104, either one is an excellent choice and either one will work great. The D104 will allow you to work the mic at an arm's length distance, while the Turner will need a closer distance to attain the same volume level into the radio input.

 

[Roger Dodger]

I once owned a Washington base. I started withe the worthless stock mic and switched to an Astatic lolipop model. BIG improvement. I then tried a Turner desk mic and the Astatic gave better reports. I also tried a Shure 450 amplified desk mic and that received virtually the same reports as the Astatic did. You can't go wrong with the Astatic D104. The Shure 450 series was ergonomically easier to use over the chicken-choker handled Astatic IMHO. Shure Bros. is a serious, professional microphone manufacturer... even supports NASA specs.

 

[Robb]

I once owned a Washington base. I started withe the worthless stock mic and switched to an Astatic lolipop model. BIG improvement. I then tried a Turner desk mic and the Astatic gave better reports. I also tried a Shure 450 amplified desk mic and that received virtually the same reports as the Astatic did. You can't go wrong with the Astatic D104. The Shure 450 series was ergonomically easier to use over the chicken-choker handled Astatic IMHO. Shure Bros. is a serious, professional microphone manufacturer... even supports NASA specs.

Agreed.
Those Shure's have a wider dynamic range/freq response than the D104's as well. Just harder to find; maybe a little more expensive - too...

 

[loosecannon]

hi booty,

a couple of questions first.

is it the MB8719 washington? or the UPD858 washington?

what mode of operation do you use mostly? AM or SSB?

after i know this i can give you more specific advice.

whichever version of washington you have, its all about matching the mic to the mods youve done to the radio.

PM me about mods for these radios as i know lots of them!

the D104 will sound great with these radios, but the problem is the ages of the mics.

you see, those crystal elements are fragile and can be ruined by heat or cold or humidity etc...

they also dont last forever. good luck finding a new replacement element, and dont bother buying a used one because you are most likely buying the one that someone just replaced because it sucked.

so, you could buy 5 different D104's on ebay and only one of them might sound like its supposed to.

the replacement kits you mentioned dont look that impressive to me.

ive bought crystal elements that looked like that before and they were nowhere near as good as the stock one.

the turners are great mics and the elements are a bit more robust, but because of the age of them, you might have to replace some electrolytics in the compressor circuit.

the turners really shine on SSB whereas they can sound a bit bassy on AM.
depends on your voice tone.

i use a turner +3B on SSB on my 2000GTL, and with the mods ive done to the radio combined with that mic, i CONSTANTLY! get asked if im talking on a ham radio.

the D104 would be my choice for AM if i knew it had a good element in it.

oh, BTW, that whole, hold your D104 at arms length thing, while cool if you dont want to lean over, will seriously decrease your talk power.

its called the inverse square law, and it says that if you double the distance from the mic to your mouth, you cut the "talk power" in half.

yes, people have done this for years and im sure they sounded loud.
the problem is you can hear the ceiling fan in their living room at about the same volume as their voice.

the way to be LOUD and clear without all the background noise is to turn the mic gain on the radio all the way up, turn the mic gain on the mic all the way down, get your mouth about an inch or two away from the mic, and slowly turn up the gain on the mic until you get your full PEP swing from the radio.
then STOP!!!!
turning up the gain on the mic any more than this just increases the background noise.

i put this out there for others too booty, not just trying to school you. LOL

let me know what kind of washington you are getting.

i run old uniden bases pretty much exclusively, and use a D104 silver eagle (with new MC320 element!), a turner +3B, an astatic D104M6B, and an astatic 636 noise canceling mic.

each mic has a different purpose, and works better with certain radios than with others.

good luck to ya in your search,
LC

 

[SR385]

the way to be LOUD and clear without all the background noise is to turn the mic gain on the radio all the way up, turn the mic gain on the mic all the way down, get your mouth about an inch or two away from the mic, and slowly turn up the gain on the mic until you get your full PEP swing from the radio.
then STOP!!!!

Turning up the gain on the mic any more than this just increases the background noise.

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

thanks guys . it is a actual Uniden Washington base with the 8719pll . its the one Killapits had for sale here . ive worked a swap with MOJO on it . it has channels added , 40 up /40 down using a 3 position switch where the rf gain was . it also has a variable power output on it that MOJO got to go down as low as about 1 1/2 - 2 watts for my 500v . MOJO also put a new channel display in it for me , didnt need it but i like the peace of mind knowing i wont have to worry about a fading section on it . he did a few small tidying up things too . im really excited about getting it . if i forgot a mod on it maybe killa will see this post and remind me .

THE RADIO WAS %100 FUNCTIONING ! just want to make that clear for folks considering doing business with killapits in the future . MOJO just did a few changes for me .

im no Barry White , but i do have a kinda deep voice . i tend to talk more on AM than SSB , but of course i want to sound good on both . i keep reading comments about the audio ability and clarity of these radios and want to get something that will complement it and do it justice .

on the D104's .....
how do non amplified D104's compare to the amplified versions ? a radio can only take so much drive from a mic , is the non amplified version anemic output wise compared to the other ? is either better or worse than the other at not picking up so much background noise ? IF.......if i later wanted to try a heil HC-5 element in it would the non-amplified version still be capable of strong modulation ?

ill look into shure mics , thanks for mentioning them . the galaxy and saldelta mics get good comments generally , but im not sure if i like there look or not , kinda like i cant decide if i like the look of the expander 500 , but the 500 hasnt fared well in comments i got from others who's comments i respect and value .
thanks for the tips too LC , never hurts to remind me , i had WAYYYY too much fun in the 70's and 80's .

thanks again

 

[Robb]

If it all depended on looks - I don't think I would own a D104 - or a Turner for that matter...

It is a question of what somebody else gets to hear - after all - you don't get to hear it! 'Intelligibillity' if there is such a word is a determing factor on the receiving end.

What wins?
Gee - that is really the question you pose - isn't it? I have about nine decent mics - not including a dozen stock mics. I have a number of mics, because I check what I think will work with whatever ends up working the best. To do this, having a contact from a trusted radio enthusiast a few miles away giving you the honest A/B comparison will be the only way anyone could have.

I did this the other day with a D104/M6 and the Xtreme 2018. The Xtreme mic won - because the trusted source told me that the Xtreme sounded most like my real voice, the echo was low and clean, and it had a comparable output to the D104/M6. You may find the same thing out, and I suspect you will.

Like LC said, if you get a D104/TUG8 - you don't know what condition it is in. That is, the element may be 'iffy'. Maybe good - maybe not so good. All of the replacement elements range from fair to good - but they are not the original equipment either...

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

looks ARE NOT the main priority . but i want something i dont mind looking at . performance for the price (im poor) is the main priority .

what would be a new desk might i want to consider ?
sparky has the astatic AST-878DM for $60 + S&H .
CB Microphones
im not too hot about a plastic exterior though .

he also has the Galaxy Base Station Echo Microphone for $75 + S&H
CB Microphones
supposed to be similar to the sadelta mics ..... ?

 

[Robb]

Do you want a base mic because you are going to use the Xtreme in your mobile? That would make sense too.

For all you get out of the Galaxy base mic for the money - that is what I would pick. I've used one shortly - as previously mentioned. Lotsa decent features that work very well. Sounds great - too.
Two more cents in...

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

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?

 

[Robb]

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...

 

[loosecannon]

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

 

[Robb]

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...

YouTube - CB RADIO LOCAL TALK PRESIDENT MADISON

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...

 

[kamikaze701st]

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.