What would make a good aftermarket, third-party microphone for my car CB radio?

[kc0bus]

Hi,
I'm new to using a CB radio in my car. What would be a good third-party, after-market microphone that would give my signal more talk power or 'punch'? My current radio is a Uniden Bearcat 980 SSB if that would make a difference or not.......
Thank you

 

[Retroradio]

Cant fo wrong with Astatic IMHO. But then again thats been my default microphone for years....... I am not currently running a power mic mobile so have no experience with the Bearcat 980 in that setting. The D-104 works well for me as a base but would be unmanageable mobile..... :-(

 

[iMONITOR]

Hi,
I'm new to using a CB radio in my car. What would be a good third-party, after-market microphone that would give my signal more talk power or 'punch'? My current radio is a Uniden Bearcat 980 SSB if that would make a difference or not.......
Thank you

I think the stock microphone is good. There are Youtube videos showing how to tweak the modulation.

 

[Skylloga]

I to agree with astatic mics, I use to use the red devil mic just because it was red. There is another version that is black. They also make a mobile version of the D104 that use to be popular. I would take imonitor's advise and look on youtube or the innerwebs and find out if you can tune it up. But only if you are comfortable doing this and have a good meter to test with. Probably the best advise is get a quality noise cancelling mic if you want more punch and learn how to make your voice boom.

 

[KC3ECJ]

The Cobra HG M75 works good. You need an adapter for it. The supplied uniden 4 pin adapter doesn't work with cobras.

 

[prcguy]

I tried a mobile Astatic D-104 on my 980 and it sounded way too squeaky with very little bass. I was able to equalized and tame it by adding some capacitance across the mic cartridge and now its not too bad and it does punch through the noise, but I would like it to sound better. If anyone wants the value of capacitor I used I can look in the mic and post the info.

Then I tried my favorite base mic on the 980, a old Shure 526T and that rocks big time. The 526T gets very loud with no distortion and its big and full sounding like a late night FM radio DJ but with a bull horn. That at least tells me the radio is capable of very good, loud and punchy transmit audio.

If you have not made any internal adjustment to the mod limiter you should try that first, it will improve the sound and punch a little with the stock mic.

 

[firefighter_21701]

I drive a truck day in and day out. I recently upgraded to the galaxy line of radio but kept my astatic 636L. Been running that mic for two years. No complaint yet

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

 

[Ensnared]

Strongly recommend this standard mike. Turner used to make these. I don't know the history of the manufacturing process or who owns what, but this Mike is my all-time favorite and I've owned K40, Astatic, etc. https://www.bellscb.com/products/microphones/turner/Turner_RK-56.htm

 

[Astrogoth13]

Back in the good old days of CB when there were choices galore the best was said to be a tie between the Sure 526T and the Turner +3B. Maybe the Astatic D-104 lollypop as a runner up due to it's cool metal retro look but bad tinny sound.
Mobile mikes are another issue. Lots of them to pick from. A mike for all uses. I liked the Astatic M6B myself. Black with a chrome screen power mic. Turner made a JM+2/U mobile mic too. Gray and blue and square. Looked unique. Worked great. Their M3 mobile mic looked bad but sounded good too.

The CB mic's available new now are a sad lot. Buy an older model off eBay and rebuild it is your best bet.

 

[DJ11DLN]

Back when I was active in CB most of the mobiles I used just had the stock mic on them and worked just fine. I tried a Turner Plus 2 but it carried too much racket over, people could hear the blower fan, windshield wipers, tire noise, etc, so I reverted to just stock mics which worked fine for cars or pickups. The one exception was a Cobra 21 (GTL I think...been too many years, but it was a 1st- or 2nd-gen 40-channel unit) that I moved between various tractors, combines, and trucks I ran...the noisy stuff. I used a Turner Road King 70J on it...I know that because though the CB is long gone I still have the mic in my "junque box," LOL. It did an excellent job of making me understandable despite a good bit of background racket.

I agree with others that the Astatic D-104 is very hard to beat as a base station mic.

 

[prcguy]

I agree 100% here with the Shure 526T being the best of the best and the Turner +3 series being a close second. The best mobile mic of the day hands down was Turner +3 in the blue and white plastic case. All of these mics sounded the same no matter what radio they were used on.

In contrast, the amplified D-104 series could sound really good on some radios and a little screechy on others, but generally its a good loud mic with reasonable frequency response. Similar with the Turner +2 series base and mobile, some radios sounded very good with those but ocasionally it just wasn't quite right and you had to try another combination.

Back in the good old days of CB when there were choices galore the best was said to be a tie between the Sure 526T and the Turner +3B. Maybe the Astatic D-104 lollypop as a runner up due to it's cool metal retro look but bad tinny sound.
Mobile mikes are another issue. Lots of them to pick from. A mike for all uses. I liked the Astatic M6B myself. Black with a chrome screen power mic. Turner made a JM+2/U mobile mic too. Gray and blue and square. Looked unique. Worked great. Their M3 mobile mic looked bad but sounded good too.

The CB mic's available new now are a sad lot. Buy an older model off eBay and rebuild it is your best bet.

 

[hypersight]

I tried a mobile Astatic D-104 on my 980 and it sounded way too squeaky with very little bass. I was able to equalized and tame it by adding some capacitance across the mic cartridge and now its not too bad and it does punch through the noise, but I would like it to sound better. If anyone wants the value of capacitor I used I can look in the mic and post the info.

Hi prcguy, would you mind checking out the value of that capacitor you used in your D104? I would like to try do do the same to mine.

 

[helvis]

I’ve been using a Palomar SL-41 with great reports.

 

[hypersight]

I’ve been using a Palomar SL-41 with great reports.

Hey helvis. Do you know how your SL 41 would compare to an Astatic Road Devil? I'm using Road Devil now on a President Lincoln 2 and I'm getting a few reports saying it sounds too high pitched and raspy sounding.

Perhaps I will have better luck with an SL 41?

 

[helvis]

SL41 : road devil

Hey helvis. Do you know how your SL 41 would compare to an Astatic Road Devil? I'm using Road Devil now on a President Lincoln 2 and I'm getting a few reports saying it sounds too high pitched and raspy sounding.

Perhaps I will have better luck with an SL 41?

I used to used a road devil then moved to the palomar SL 41 because I was told pretty much the same thing about my audio. The switching in the SL41 is the old style heavy duty type too. I’m very happy with the move I made. I’m confident you would be as well. Take care bud.