Kenwood: Kenwood MC 60A

[AC2OY]

My lovely wife bought me this microphone for my Birthday. I read the manual with is somewhat....brief. A few questions for anyone here who has used this mic with a TS-2000. Do I set the ohms setting at 50 or 500? The preamp switch should be where in or out? Lastly how can I set it where I have clean,crisp audio and not overdrive or over modulate the receiver? Sorry one last question should the AGC be on or off? Thank anybody for their insite on this matter!

 

[Cataddict]

I have the same mic and radio as you.

The two swithces on the mic are 500 or 50K ohms. Switch it to 500. And the slide switch on the mic itself OFF.

Leave the preamp switch OFF (marked as OUT). On mine, no need for the batteries in the mic. IF you want to see what it sounds like with the preamp ON, the TS-2000 supplies power to the preamp. (You can turn on the TxMON function and listen to yourself with headphones)

Receiver AGC - I leave mine set to ON all the time. I personally have not come across a case where turning it off helped anything. Note that in SSB and AM modes, just push the AGC button and you can then set the AGC response time. When you first see it, remember where the pointer on the S_____F display shows so you'l know where the factory default was. Then the response time is something you experiment with depending on your signal and noise levels. I leave mine slightly on the S side from mid range most of the time.

On the "where do you set it" to not overmodulate the receiver, the mic settings won't affect the receiver, only the transmitter. I just followed the instructions in the users manual for setting up the levels to match my voice and speaking level, watching the ALC and comp meter carefully when I did it.

My settings were fairly different than the factory defaults, but your mileage will vary. I probably don't have mine to the "most optimum". Some people have the ability to record your audio and immediately play it back for you. I haven't dont that yet.

On FM mode, I have mine set to HIGH (or whatever they call the most sensitive setting).

Then have someone (better if someone you know) that you have a clean signal with, that also knows what good audio sounds like, to give you an honest opinion. I hear some guys giving out "excellent" audio reports to people that are really overdriving or have WAY too much compression (SSB). And some are over particular (IMHO) and may say you will always sound sub-par and need a XXXX brand mic.

Good luck!

 

[AC2OY]

Thank you Cat where do you set the mic gain at?

 

[AC2OY]

I wish you were online now I would say we pick a quiet HF frequency and I could make adjustments while you listen but your not here but thank you for everything so far man I really appreciate it!!!

 

[AC2OY]

Well it works! Made a few Q's tonight and received decent signal reports. I'm going out to get some headphones and put into Tx monitor and really try to get the best audio out of it and the radio again thank you cat addict your guidance got me to wher I'm at now!

 

[Cataddict]

You asked about where I have my mic gain. Here's where they are - today anyway:

Mic Gain 78
Proc In 55
Proc Out 45

I've actually tried several settings over the last couple years that seemed to be "acceptable". So yours will probably end up being different. I've seen several posts or articles in other forums where people recommend just the defaults, or something quite a bit different from mine.

I set mine purely from the instructions in the manual by trying to speak the same way (level) I would in a QSO and adjusting the settings while looking at the ALC, etc. meter. It can be a little tricky to interpret, for example when setting the levels you should adjust (as described in the manual) so that you don't exceed the ALC bars on the meter. The problem is I tend to over-emphasise certain syllables, so I'll set to not exceed while talking normally and THEN comes along a letter or word here and there that goes way past the ALC limit. So it becomes a judgement call - depending on your voice.

I always use a dummy load to play with things like this, that way I can say anything I want for as long as I want. I really need to borrow an SSB receiver from our club for a weekend again and actually record my voice to see what it sounds like "on the other end". If you scronge around on the web there are remote receivers around the country you can monitor or control to some degree. So you could try to find one that can hear you so you can record yourself for a remote location. Nope, sorry, I don't have a list handy - I lost mine.

Oh, also, I have the TX Equalizer set to OFF. This is a case where listening to another receiver in the shack (TX lowest power on dummy load, no antenna on receiver in my case or whatever so you don't overload the receiver) can be quite revealing.

Again, good luck!

 

[AC2OY]

Thanks Cat!! I went out and bought a set of headphones at Radio Shack today and actually figured how how to put the radio in Tx monitor. It sounds good but the trick is now taking it out of Tx monitor...LOL I actually made a Q while I heard myself so what I did is lower that number from 1-9 down to zero. I made a few Q's with the new mic and so far everybody said I sound ok. I tried calling up a guy in my club to go on HF and find a quiet frequency and make adjustments but he wasn't home. I guess I need to get a dummy load for things like this and not interfere with a frequency. As fears as the meter goes the ALC is less then my top meter by a few db's so I gues I have it somewhat right but I really want to hear how it sounds transmitting. But I thank you for all your help!! The headphones are a major helper with noise and hearing that distant DX...LOL I heard the Hawaiian station better but I still can't real him yet but I will continue to try and improve my overall audio. Thank you again for all your help I hope to work you one day.