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How to improve sound the more complicated way.

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vdubb16

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I was considering buying a d104 as it seems to be the mic of choice for many, and ive heard several over the air that have good sound but i dont know what all the radios are doing.

Anyways. The other day the skip was rolling pretty well and i heard guy talking who sounded as if he was talking over a radio station. Made me think of listening to old Paul Harvey back when.. I actually had to youtube some excerpts to entertain the memory.

So i got to wondering how about this operator had such a clear wideband well rounded audio without booming or hearing background or anything. Aside from someone with many 1000's of dollars invested. I figure theres got to be some way to improve atleast somewhat.

Well ive found that people are running audio through their comps to an interface of sort into their radio to tx. I knew this already. i use centracom system at work while dispatching.

But what interface and software is the easiest on the pockets. Now i understand that you get what you paid for and i dont want to go so cheap of a route to where it either doesnt work or will fail shortly.

Looking for some input to add to and stir my pot of ideas. Ive got a home stereo EQ being unused, and was even considering using a mixer. A desktop and laptop in my shack. and plenty of room to use up. So anyone with insight into this please chime in.

I currently and using a Realistic Navaho TRC-458 as a base. I may be picking up a cobra 2000 here soon if the price is right. But im very fond of my navaho as it has its sentimental value.
 

kb2vxa

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Without modifying the living daylights out of the transmitter (not recommended) nothing you add for audio processing will do anything. The audio chain in the radio is restricted for good reason, communications effectiveness and avoidance of excessive bandwidth which means keeping signals on channel rather than wasting energy where it's not needed and causing interference.

Seems to me this guy is using illegal equipment to begin with (probably a wayward ham rig) and broadcast like audio processing in order to sound like a big shot, all he's doing is stroking his ego.

"I was considering buying a d104 as it seems to be the mic of choice for many, and ive heard several over the air that have good sound..."
You just answered the question of why it is the mic of choice for many. While the D-104 comes in many flavors including mobile hand mics trying to find a "lollipop" may be a little difficult. The Silver Eagle was the last one made so you won't find a new one and you'll have to search around for any version of the lollipop.

"...but i dont know what all the radios are doing."
Neither do I but I can steer you in the right direction. D-104 is the part number of the head only, there are several different stands. An un-amplified stand usually serves well but depending on a number of factors you may or may not have to "close talk" the mic. Be careful of amplified stands like the TUG-9 because they have SO much gain it's very easy to overdrive the rig resulting in distortion and splatter.

Some seem to think that sounding like they're using a cheese grater for a microphone is "getting out" but only serves to make them difficult to understand and splatter all over nearby channels making them a royal pain in the rump. A good operator will advance the gain until he sounds a bit raspy, then back it down until it clears up and leave it there.
 

vdubb16

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The guy was broadcasting either out of michigan or indiana. i cant remember which contact he was.

what i come across was this device here...
W2IHY iBox

However it its a bit pricey. Ive been reading storys of successful setups using this item. Along with desk equipment, or digital mixing software.. It apparently has several variants i havnt read too much into it yet to tell the difference. But an interface such as this seems to be practical. I do realize that this extra mess is only as good as what the radio can process... but isnt that just another project?
And the navaho is a 5pin din mic input which is a simple cable, if not configured the same would just need rewired on one end...
I tend to make myself think things are less complicated as they might be to trick myself into pursuing them. So im anticipating more work than what i make it sound like.

Like this past summer when i build my first dipole just to see if i could do it. i didnt even have any radios here. I didnt think id have a guyed 60ft tilting tower talking across the country now.
 

SCPD

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Seems to me this guy is using illegal equipment to begin with (probably a wayward ham rig) and broadcast like audio processing in order to sound like a big shot, all he's doing is stroking his ego.

Why can't he be rich and have high-end high-dollar equipment, instead of "using illegal equipment" as you say? I'm not a ham, but i've seen several messages from you and they all seem to have a similar theme of something being illegal. So you must be this radio-cop I keep hearing about, huh?

*grin*
 

JayMojave

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Mojave Ca
Hello vdubb16:

I have a few D-104 Mic's on my old Tube CB radios and they sound great. I have a old Tram D-201A that came from the factory with a D-104 Mic. It sounds like broadcast quality audio and the locals and skip stations love the sharp clear audio. I run a Pride 300 into a Interceptor 10K, 5/8 Wavelength Ground Plane Antenna and get out all over the place.

Some radios didn't have a improved sound quality when a D-104 Mic was plugged in, as it had a low input impedance for the mic. And the D-104 Mic has a high impedance output. But its certainly worth a try to improve your audio quality. Be advised... Some D-104 Mic's come with a pre-amp to even boost the audio voltage signal more. Got to watch this as too much audio will sound distorted and will sound very bad. And even cause TVI and no one will want to talk to ya.

I have both kinds of D-104 Mic's, but the audio pre-amp in the mic and or radio is turned down so that I can speak into the mic from about 2 to 3 inches, which sounds great. When any Mic pre-amp is turned up too high you can hear the ol Lady, tolet flushing, kids, and the neighboors TV in the background, nobody wants to hear all that.

The W2IHY audio equalizer sounds pretty good from the radios I have heard, on both the ham and cb bands.

Well expermenting around is always a lot of fun, and it probably worth a try to see how the equalizer works out for you.

While expermenting around with audio and Mic's and such I will have the radio transmit into a Dummy Load, while listening to my signal on a receiver that is connected to a outside antenna, on headsets. So that I can compare the audio signal with others on the band without causing interference. Besides I don't want the other stations to hear all the neat-o, keen-o stuff I am doing. This will also allow you to gauge the guys giving you a audio radio check over the air. Some guys will hear terrible audio and say it sounds great, another thing you gotah watch.

I know some stations out there have external audio circuits that totally bypass the radios audio circutis. To have more audio power and such. But the radios audio circuits are limited by production costs and have to be FCC Certified. So the internal radio audio circuits only allow the needed 3 Kc or less audio bandpass or bandwidth to mdulate the finial RF Stage in the transmitter. And have a internal circuit to restrict the audio from over modulating the transmitter. This is all good stuff.

Using external modulation circuits and such some claim to have "Super Modulation" that is able to send out a louder signal. But has to be able to lower the audio modulation on the negative side to keep from turning off the carrier and causing some distortions.

Again listing to the audio from another radio and looking at the audio envelope with a Ocillscope is always a good thing to do. It gives a real feel whats happening. Using a equalizer and limiting the audio frequency to just below 3 Kc will be needed as you don't want to modulate the transmitter with too wide a audio bandwidth that will not help out in a improved transmitting signal.

Good luck, have fun expermenting around. I am sure there a few web sites out there that cover all this.

Jay in the Mojave
 

kb2vxa

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"I have a old Tram D-201A that came from the factory with a D-104 Mic. It sounds like broadcast quality audio and the locals and skip stations love the sharp clear audio."

The Tramp was one of the high end CBs at the time and had excellent audio but hardly broadcast quality. I really liked the sound of the one a local was using, he had the best stock audio on the band.

"When any Mic pre-amp is turned up too high you can hear the ol Lady, toilet flushing, kids, and the neighboors TV in the background, nobody wants to hear all that."

Thanks for reminding me, even with an attenuator I added to the preamp some of the 2M repeater crowd complain of background noise. The computer cooling fans are bad enough but I can turn it off but when it gets hot enough in summer to fry eggs I'll be darned if I'll shut the AC off and I tell them so, live with it! (;->) Strange, none of the FM simplex or SSB guys say a word.

"Why can't he be rich and have high-end high-dollar equipment, instead of "using illegal equipment" as you say?"

Because there's no way in hell you can get broadcast quality audio out of a CB set, the price of a rig has nothing to do with it.

"I'm not a ham..."

That's pretty obvious.

"...but i've seen several messages from you and they all seem to have a similar theme of something being illegal."

I try to encourage legal operation in a sometimes vain attempt to keep people out of trouble.

"So you must be this radio-cop I keep hearing about, huh?"

No. I'm an internet cop. I leave radio policing to the "OOs", the ARRL Official Observers trained in FCC liaison.

Yeah *grin* but although <g> is the parlance I prefer my little winkie (;->) not to be confused with a smiley :)->) and I'm too lazy to type out LOL.
 
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vdubb16

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Dec 28, 2005
Messages
124
Location
Havelock, NC
Well i have the radio off to be tuned. And im purchasing a nice old D-104 from the guy whos workin on the radio. Black with chrome switch and handle to cosmetically match my radio. He'll be tuning with the D-104 also so i hope for good results.Also has a plether of parts for them he has stock piled over the years. Anyways. Im going to try that out and see how it sounds, i do not want to butcher the radio, As it is it perfect condition..

But im thinking i still may like to set up some rack gear to see if i can get my audio the way id like it. We'll see what happens.
 
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