The high impedance crystal cartridge of the D-104, if it is in reasonably decent electrical condition, can drive the Line In (5K impedance) input. Frequency response can be further tailored in the PowerSDR Equalizer form. For the mike settings, I started with the default D-104 settings and then diddled with them. Further tweaking, mostly done in the AM mode, was done in actual contact with several stations. My goal: does it work and does it sound decent. It met both of my goals.
I have four D-104 heads. Three of them, which were made in the 50's and early 60's, all seem to work well with this setup. The 4th head, which came on an Astatic amplified mike stand built in the late 70's, did not, from on the air reports, sound as good as the other three. Don't know if they made manufacturing changes to the cartridge by then or if the cartridge crystal salts were just "dying away"(or whatever these salts do when they are not working properly). Pete, wa2cwa http://www.manualman.com On Tue, 25 Sep 2012 09:50:44 -0400 Bob Kay <wa2...@gmail.com> writes: Line in? For a mic level signal? Seems strange. How about the large impedance mismatch? On Tuesday, September 25, 2012, wrote: The D-104 that I use is an unamplified mike. However, it's simple enough to bypass the preamp in the mike stand if you have one. I'm not sure why you would you even want to use it. No RF-related problems have been detected in SSB or AM using the "Line In" jack even when driving some old linears (Heath SB-200 and Johnson Thunderbolt). Pete, wa2cwa http://www.manualman.com On Mon, 24 Sep 2012 21:17:10 -0700 Jim Barber <audio...@q.com> writes: > > I don't believe the original poster was using an amplified D-104, > but a > number of us have found that > there can be issues using the amplified ones with Flex 5K and > certain > types of HF amplifiers. The culprit *appears* to be > a cap that discharges into the audio line when the mic is keyed, > causing > a "spike" in the output. > > In the case where the HF amplifier has a lot of gain and the op is > driving it with reduced power from the 5K, > the spike can be very substantial. Maybe not enough to damage > equipment, > but certainly enough for the > spike to go far over the legal limit - even though normal SSB > modulation > with the same mic and > settings wouldn't. Two of my amps will do it . One has a pair of > GU-74B > tetrodes, (grid driven) and the > other is a cathode-driven single 8877. I haven't tried it with my > prototype YC156 - I can only imagine. > > No doubt someone could fiddle with the D-104 output amp cap, the > leaf > switches or any number of things to come > up with a fix. Perhaps even swamping the output with a fairly > low-value > resistor might work, especially since the amp > boards in the mics have far more gain than necessary to drive the > mic > input of the 5K. My excuse is that I haven't > gotten A Round Tuit. Considering I've sold off my boat anchors and > so no > longer use the D-104's regularly, I > may not get there. > > My .02, > 73, N7CXI > > On 9/24/2012 2:40 PM, Lee Mushel wrote: > > Gentlemen: > > > > Pete's comments were just a bit too much for me to ignore! The > > Lafayette lapel mike! Wow! I hadn't thought about using my > > Lafayette "Throat mike" dating from about the same time but maybe > this > > winter I might get around to it! It has an interesting "gurgly" > > sound. I think we all know that it is easy to pump stray RF into > our > > 5000A's but I want to warn everyone who might want to proceed that > > > given the "great age" of the D-104 (I will ignore the potential > > impedance problem since that is info readily available on the > > web---including kits) we always have to be aware that at some time > in > > it's life someone might have "rewired" it and you have to be sure > that > > the shield is not used for signal and that the shield is properly > > > grounded to the 5000. My personal opinion is that anyone who > doesn't > > use a D-104 and doesn't use Software Defined Radio is simply nor > > getting maximum enjoyment from his hobby. > > > > 73 > > > > Lee K9WRU > > ----- Original Message ----- From: <manual...@juno.com> > > To: <wa2...@gmail.com> > > Cc: <FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz> > > Sent: Monday, September 24, 2012 12:33 PM > > Subject: Re: [Flexradio] D-104 with Flex 5K > > > > > >> When I use my D-104 with the Flex 5000, mike is connected to the > "Line > >> In" jack on the back panel. Then you go to the "Audio Mixer Form" > and > >> click on "Line In RCA". You can then use the D-104 pre configured > > >> choices > >> as a starter, and tailor the settings to your own voice > characteristics. > >> The D-104 actually works quite well with the Flex 5000. For fun > and > >> giggles, I even tried my crystal lapel microphone that I bought > from > >> Lafayette Radio in 1961, for $1.95, using the Line In jack and > tailoring > >> the audio with the internal mixer. Good audio reports, punchy > audio, > >> that > >> helped make some DX contacts in pileups. > >> > >> Pete, wa2cwa > >> http://www.manualman.com > >> > > >> -- > >>> *Best 73 de WA2SQQ > >>> Elmwood Park, NJ > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> FlexRadio Systems Mailing List > >> FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz > >> > http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz > >> Archives: > http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ > >> Knowledge Base: http://kc.flexradio.com/ Homepage: > >> http://www.flexradio.com/ > >> > >> > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > FlexRadio Systems Mailing List > > FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz > > > http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz > > Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ > > Knowledge Base: http://kc.flexradio.com/ Homepage: > > http://www.flexradio.com/ > > > > > _______________________________________________ > FlexRadio Systems Mailing List > FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz > http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz > Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ > Knowledge Base: http://kc.flexradio.com/ Homepage: > http://www.flexradio.com/ > _______________________________________________ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kc.flexradio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flexradio.com/ -- Best 73 de WA2SQQ Elmwood Park, NJ "The only dumb questions are those we don't ask" _______________________________________________ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kc.flexradio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flexradio.com/
