Headphone Boom Mic Summary - by KM5FA The following a summary of the replies I got concerning my request for advice on headset mics for contesting. Briefly, I'm looking to get something for the University of Texas club station and was hoping to find something less expensive than the Heil Prosets that would do an adequate job (and be less painful to replace should they "walk away" or whatnot...) Unfortunately, none of the comments received so far have pushed me in the direction of reaching a decision yet. My comments (if any) are indented. -------------------------------- Check out an old issue of QST ... January 1993. You can build your own headset mike for about $5, and clip it onto an existing pair of phones. Use it myself, and works great! Be a good "club project"!! -------------------------------- I'll admit I haven't looked at this yet. -------------------------------- Kenneth, you might give some thought to one of my tricks...I got the best of both worlds, so to speak. I bought a Heil mic (the HC-4 element on a thin, tubular boom) -- it comes complete with the mounting bracket for not a lot of money ($40?). I epoxied a 1/4" machine screw to the best pair of stereo phones I could find (Sony, in this case). When the epoxy dried, I hung the Heil boom mic on it, securing the plastic mounting clip with a big wing nut. My custom headset works like a champ! More aesthetically pleasing arrangements could be made for the mount -- I wasn't particularly worried about how it looks...only how it works! I also own a Heil Proset -- I like my homemade version better...and my Yaesu 1000MP likes the Sony 'phones a LOT better. One of the 'phone elements in the Proset measures 35 ohms, the other, 17.5 ohms :-[ -------------------------------- This was also suggested to me by a friend. The boom and element costs $40 or so, and a good pair of headphones might cost about the same, leaving maybe $20 savings over the basuc Proset. This is still about $20 or $30 more expensive than what I was hoping to find. The club doesn't necessarily need the world's greatest equipment - unless the gap between the very top and the next to top makes the extra investment really worth it. I'm getting the impression that either that is what most people here think, or they are wealthy enough not to be concerned by such questions. -------------------------------- Saw your message. The very best is Beyerdynamics and they have two models. They are for broadcast work. They both are between $700 to $800 each. -------------------------------- -------------------------------- Save up the extra money and get the Heil. There only about $150 list price with the adapter for the rig. I bought mine new for $120 at a hamfest from a dealer having a "sale". Shop around and see what you can come up with. Anything else is cutting corners and is a waste of money. -------------------------------- -------------------------------- One of our members at the U of Wis here in Milwaukee swears by Radio Shack's microphone "cell". Just the bare element. Says to mount that on a cheap boom headset and they sound great. Haven't tried it yet ourselves but may be a cheap alternative! -------------------------------- -------------------------------- Get the heil. I bought the radio shack, then another one, bought the wrong heil for me. Thought I would like the smaller earpieces so I could hear what was going on in a multi multi enviroment. Mistake. i could hear way too much of what was going on in a multi environment. Bottome line. I spent way more than I would if I had just bought good quality right away instead of trying to save money. Hey, Christmas and Hannakauh are coming up. Maybe you can get them then. -------------------------------- I doubt Santa Claus will be visiting N5XU. The club station doesn't even have a chimney! :-) And besides, it would take us a year to get the gift approved and routed through the accounting administration... -------------------------------- Ken - Don't give up on the Heil headsets and boom mics. I have bought two used pairs of the model BM-10's in the past three years; both for less than $40 each and in excellent overall condition. Keep your eyes open at hamfests and on the net. You may have to rewire the mic/PPT cable for your own rig, but that's not a big problem. Also, you can buy replacement ear pads from AES or directly from Heil. They appear to be the only part that wear out... -------------------------------- I've been to a fair number of hamfests - I've never seen used Heil headphones for sale. I've always thought they were like TNCs - things people buy and never sell off. -------------------------------- Ken, save your $ and get the Heil, or watch for a used one at the 'fests. Take a look at the cover of CQ mag the past 2 years, most every cover station has one, or more on the desk. That kinda speaks for itself! -------------------------------- This was an interesting comment. Most every station on the cover of CQ also has an FT1000MP, TS870S, IC756, or similar high-end HF radio as well. The UT club is still using a TS-830S and Heathkit SB-220 for contesting. We don't have the kind of money to take the next step forward in HF radios yet; is the difference in performance between a Heil headset and the $45 special advertised in the back of QST a similar situation, maybe? -------------------------------- About a year ago I replaced my Heil foam pad jobs with a new set of what I believe might be the best phones I have ever used. I took my boom mic off of the Heil set and affixed it to my new set with a hot glue gun. I am very happy with what I wound up with. I liked them so much, I bought a second set for standby service. The headphones are Radio Shack model 33-1120TQ. I broadcast this info becuse I just received a Rad Shack Christmas flyer advertising these phones for sale at the price of $12.49 (half off) These really are fine phones for extended ham radio operating and at this nice price they might very well be a swell deal for anyone interested. Buy a pair. Try them. If they work for you, I'm glad to have put you on to them. If you don't like them, I am sure you could return them without question. -------------------------------- I've actually tried these on. Can anyone else who owns these provide any further feedback about their use in a real contest? -------------------------------- I'm using a computer multimedia headset. (Labtec C-315,though if I were to do it again I'd get a stereo one -- this one has only one earpiece) Cheap, easy to buy (and replace if necessary -- I usually run over the cord with the chair wheels!), and I get excellent reports. The Labtecs (and I would assume others) use condenser mike elements; this means you have to provide DC bias to get them to work. I put a 10K resistor on the mike connector between a source of 8V DC (presumably for a DTMF microphone -- on a TS-940?!) and the center conductor of the cable from the headset; then, a 1uF 15V tantalum cap (+ side to the headset) from this same point to the microphone audio pin on the mike connector. Of course, the shield of the cable goes to ground. (and you plug the headphone side into the jack with a regular 1/8=>1/4" adaptor) If you use small components, you can fit the parts in the mike plug and run a short cable to a 1/8" inline jack; this lets you avoid modifying the headset. -------------------------------- -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kenneth E. Harker "Vox Clamantis in Deserto" kharker@cs.utexas.edu University of Texas at Austin Amateur Radio Callsign: KM5FA Department of the Computer Sciences President, UT Amateur Radio Club Taylor Hall TAY 2.124 Maintainer of the Linux Laptop Home Page Austin, TX 78712-1188 USA http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/kharker/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------