Lee,

I use an Elecraft MD2, but you can't get them anymore. I also have an old D-104 microphone that had a damaged crystal element in it - I replaced the element with a Heil HC-5 and a bunch of foam some time ago. The mic plug is wired to mate with the Elecraft pinout. Heil has a conversion kit for the D-104 that you may be interested in.

The later D-104s were amplified, and any of those will work with the K3 if the plug is wired properly. Most any desk microphone can be wired to use the Elecraft pinout, it does not even have to be a ham type if you use VOX or take care of the PTT with a footswitch. Heil has several other microphone solutions and mic stands - some are quite nice, but expensive.

You may also want to look at the Ten-Tec PN 708 and 709 microphones (those two have a 4 pin plug, so you have to find an 8 pin elsewhere), or the 708A and 709A which come with an 8 pin plug, but the plug must be re-wired to work with the K3. The 711 is a desk stand that is usable with the 709 and 709A mics. Those looking for an inexpensive hand mic could consider the TenTec 701 or 701A - the same thing goes for re-wiring the plug.

There are many, many other choices, but for most of those choices, plan to change the mic plug, or if it already is an 8 pin, plan to re-wire it for the Elecraft pinout. With the built-in K3 TX EQ, you can tailor the audio response of most any microphone to your liking.

Then at the high end, one can always use a ProAudio microphone along with an external mixer and feed the K3 line-in with the line level output from the mixer.

At the low end of the scale, find a desk type computer microphone (those are usually electret types), turn on the bias for the rear mic jack and plug it in - you have to make other arrangements for PTT if that is desired, but several K3 owners have reported good to great success with those mics. Or see the "Shower Head" microphone featured in QST for November - that woks too (but looks ugly IMHO).

Be creative.

73,
Don W3FPR

Lee Buller wrote:

Ladies "n" Gents....

I use my Heil Headphones HC-4 most of the time for SSB operation, but I was wondering what people use for a Desk Mike for the K3. I don't have one if the Heil set goes bad. I thought I would pick something up. What are you using if anything?

Lee - K0WA


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