Re: [Elecraft] KX3 SSB ALC Mic Gain - a new problem
John, I sent my Elecraft MH3 microphone off to Bob Nagy, AB5N, to have the microphone upgraded with a high-fidelity electret element. The price was very reasonable and the turnaround was days. The audio reports I have gotten are great. Here is his contact info: "Robert Nagy, AB5N" <7000...@gmail.com> https://www.7000mic.com/elecraft 73 Bill N4LG __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Elecraft] KX3 SSB ALC Mic Gain - a new problem
It's worth checking continuity through the cord as well. The wires in the stretch cords do sometimes break. I used to service radios on large ships, and broken stretch cord wires on the VHF bridge radios were common. The wire usually looked fine - the insulation was intact - but the stranded wire inside was broken. 73, Ron AC7AC -Original Message- From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of John H Farmer Sent: Sunday, October 8, 2017 1:00 AM To: donw...@embarqmail.com; elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: [Elecraft] KX3 SSB ALC Mic Gain - a new problem Dear Don & Group, Thanks for your suggestions. After some more exploration, I think the problem is the MH3 and here's why: Backing down the mic gain didn't help and neither did a firmware reload. I was suspicious of the MH3 being at fault, as the ALC / Mic gain adjustment remained perfectly consistent and reliable in data modes. I then remembered I had a Yamaha CM500 headset lying in a drawer. I made an adapter (thanks Walter, K6WRU for your very helpful and clear webpage describing the adapter cable) I plugged it into the KX3 mic socket and lo and behold, the KX3 plays perfectly with it - the ALC shows 5-7 bars with a mic gain of 35-37 and I get the expected RF output, which is exactly how it used to be with the MH3. I took the MH3 apart and mechanically it all looks sound, no loose wires or dry joints, and I checked that there is indeed a bias voltage on the mic + ( tip) wire at the microphone. There's not much to go wrong in there, so I wonder if the electret element has died. I'll order a replacement MH3, because even though the CM500 headset works well, I like using the handmic and I've always had good audio reports using it. Thanks everyone for your interest. 73, John VK7JB -Original Message- From: Don Wilhelm [mailto:donw...@embarqmail.com] Sent: Sunday, 8 October 2017 11:09 To: Dr John H Farmer <opensile...@bigpond.com>; elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: Re: [Elecraft] KX3 SSB ALC Mic Gain - a new problem John, Try backing down the MIC Gain setting to something low or mid-range. If you get the mic voltage too high, the mic amplifier detects that and inserts attenuation that will shut the audio from the mic down. So bottom line, start with a low MIC Gain setting and increase it until you see 5 to 7 bars on the ALC meter. 73, Don W3FPR On 10/7/2017 7:53 PM, Dr John H Farmer wrote: > Yesterday, I noted that I had no RF output on SSB and find that now I > get no ALC indication until the Mic gain is advanced to the maximum setting of 80. > Nothing else has changed in my > > setup. I've checked that MIC Bias is set to ON and the TX EQ settings > have not changed. I've also checked and there is indeed a bias > voltage on the Mic socket. __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to r...@elecraft.com __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Elecraft] KX3 SSB ALC Mic Gain - a new problem
John, If you can find an electret microphone element, you should be able to replace the mic element in your MH3 microphone. 73, Don W3FPR On 10/8/2017 4:00 AM, John H Farmer wrote: Dear Don & Group, Thanks for your suggestions. After some more exploration, I think the problem is the MH3 and here's why: Backing down the mic gain didn't help and neither did a firmware reload. I was suspicious of the MH3 being at fault, as the ALC / Mic gain adjustment remained perfectly consistent and reliable in data modes. I then remembered I had a Yamaha CM500 headset lying in a drawer. I made an adapter (thanks Walter, K6WRU for your very helpful and clear webpage describing the adapter cable) I plugged it into the KX3 mic socket and lo and behold, the KX3 plays perfectly with it - the ALC shows 5-7 bars with a mic gain of 35-37 and I get the expected RF output, which is exactly how it used to be with the MH3. I took the MH3 apart and mechanically it all looks sound, no loose wires or dry joints, and I checked that there is indeed a bias voltage on the mic + ( tip) wire at the microphone. There's not much to go wrong in there, so I wonder if the electret element has died. I'll order a replacement MH3, because even though the CM500 headset works well, I like using the handmic and I've always had good audio reports using it. Thanks everyone for your interest. 73, John VK7JB -Original Message- From: Don Wilhelm [mailto:donw...@embarqmail.com] Sent: Sunday, 8 October 2017 11:09 To: Dr John H Farmer <opensile...@bigpond.com>; elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: Re: [Elecraft] KX3 SSB ALC Mic Gain - a new problem John, Try backing down the MIC Gain setting to something low or mid-range. If you get the mic voltage too high, the mic amplifier detects that and inserts attenuation that will shut the audio from the mic down. So bottom line, start with a low MIC Gain setting and increase it until you see 5 to 7 bars on the ALC meter. 73, Don W3FPR On 10/7/2017 7:53 PM, Dr John H Farmer wrote: Yesterday, I noted that I had no RF output on SSB and find that now I get no ALC indication until the Mic gain is advanced to the maximum setting of 80. Nothing else has changed in my setup. I've checked that MIC Bias is set to ON and the TX EQ settings have not changed. I've also checked and there is indeed a bias voltage on the Mic socket. __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
[Elecraft] KX3 SSB ALC Mic Gain - a new problem
Dear Don & Group, Thanks for your suggestions. After some more exploration, I think the problem is the MH3 and here's why: Backing down the mic gain didn't help and neither did a firmware reload. I was suspicious of the MH3 being at fault, as the ALC / Mic gain adjustment remained perfectly consistent and reliable in data modes. I then remembered I had a Yamaha CM500 headset lying in a drawer. I made an adapter (thanks Walter, K6WRU for your very helpful and clear webpage describing the adapter cable) I plugged it into the KX3 mic socket and lo and behold, the KX3 plays perfectly with it - the ALC shows 5-7 bars with a mic gain of 35-37 and I get the expected RF output, which is exactly how it used to be with the MH3. I took the MH3 apart and mechanically it all looks sound, no loose wires or dry joints, and I checked that there is indeed a bias voltage on the mic + ( tip) wire at the microphone. There's not much to go wrong in there, so I wonder if the electret element has died. I'll order a replacement MH3, because even though the CM500 headset works well, I like using the handmic and I've always had good audio reports using it. Thanks everyone for your interest. 73, John VK7JB -Original Message- From: Don Wilhelm [mailto:donw...@embarqmail.com] Sent: Sunday, 8 October 2017 11:09 To: Dr John H Farmer <opensile...@bigpond.com>; elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: Re: [Elecraft] KX3 SSB ALC Mic Gain - a new problem John, Try backing down the MIC Gain setting to something low or mid-range. If you get the mic voltage too high, the mic amplifier detects that and inserts attenuation that will shut the audio from the mic down. So bottom line, start with a low MIC Gain setting and increase it until you see 5 to 7 bars on the ALC meter. 73, Don W3FPR On 10/7/2017 7:53 PM, Dr John H Farmer wrote: > Yesterday, I noted that I had no RF output on SSB and find that now I > get no ALC indication until the Mic gain is advanced to the maximum setting > of 80. > Nothing else has changed in my > > setup. I've checked that MIC Bias is set to ON and the TX EQ settings > have not changed. I've also checked and there is indeed a bias > voltage on the Mic socket. __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Elecraft] KX3 SSB ALC Mic Gain - a new problem
John, Try backing down the MIC Gain setting to something low or mid-range. If you get the mic voltage too high, the mic amplifier detects that and inserts attenuation that will shut the audio from the mic down. So bottom line, start with a low MIC Gain setting and increase it until you see 5 to 7 bars on the ALC meter. 73, Don W3FPR On 10/7/2017 7:53 PM, Dr John H Farmer wrote: Yesterday, I noted that I had no RF output on SSB and find that now I get no ALC indication until the Mic gain is advanced to the maximum setting of 80. Nothing else has changed in my setup. I've checked that MIC Bias is set to ON and the TX EQ settings have not changed. I've also checked and there is indeed a bias voltage on the Mic socket. __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
[Elecraft] KX3 SSB ALC Mic Gain - a new problem
Hi All, Apologies if this question posts twice - my attempt yesterday was unsuccessful, so here goes again. I've been running KX3 #2511 for several years on SSB with the MH3 mic and with settings: Mic gain 35 and compression 12. It's worked flawlessly and that combination of settings has given me an ALC indication of 5 bars while speaking normally. I'm running the latest firmware. Yesterday, I noted that I had no RF output on SSB and find that now I get no ALC indication until the Mic gain is advanced to the maximum setting of 80. Nothing else has changed in my setup. I've checked that MIC Bias is set to ON and the TX EQ settings have not changed. I've also checked and there is indeed a bias voltage on the Mic socket. I can still run digital modes in DATA mode A, using an external soundcard connected to the KX3 mic socket via an adapter cable and I easily get 4 bars of ALC with the 5th flickering with a Mic gain of 35. That hasn't changed. I don't have another MH3 mic to check whether it's the microphone that's at fault here, but that's my suspicion. Any ideas where to look next? Many thanks, John VK7JB __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
