Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2019 — Belated Merry Christmas wishes to my readers, and here’s hoping for a safe and joyous New Year!
Just a quick entry to catch up on my ham radio musings and eBay sniping.
HEADSET HOO-HAH. I have a fetish for quality headsets (when I can buy them worth the money, of course!). My most recent acquisition arrived today, an AVCOMM AC-454PNR aviation headset. Its switchable mono/stereo, and features a noise-canceling electret mic element.
I’ve not studied how to connect the mic, but probably will try an adapter to use it with my Yaesu FTDX-3000. The headset sounds excellent, and the headset fits as nice as a David Clark headset — in other words, these cans do a great job shutting out ambient noise (like the TV playing in the room here in Studio B), hi hi.
HEADSET HOO-HAH PART 2. My go-to stereo headset has always been the Behringer HPX2000 over-the-ear DJ headphones. Why? Well, for starters, they are inexpensive and sound good. I’ve tried other low-end headphones (i.e. $20 price point), and none have the quality sound these have.
Now I’ve been looking for higher quality headphones, and I was looking at the Behringer HPX6000 headphones. On eBay, they sell for $75-$85. Well, in my casual searching, I found a like-new pair that was missing the cable. the HPX6000 has a cable that disconnects; it comes with 3.5 mm connectors on each end of the cable. The guy was selling them for $20! How hard is it to come up with a cable with male 3.5 mm connectors on each end??
I had to shave the molded plastic on the connector to get it to fit in the recessed jack on the headphones, but they work like a champ. Very comfortable headphones.
MICROPHONE BOOGIE. I have a Heil Classic set up on a boom here in Studio B. I removed the flag since I didn’t have call letters on it anyway. I just won an auction for a used Heil PR-77D “pill” microphone. I love the retro look, though I’m not unhappy with the Classic, its just time for something else.
Now I already own a couple of this type of microphone, including at least two MXL mics, dynamic and a condenser version. I’ve haven’t put them inline in Studio A or B, though my plans for to use one in Studio A.
My current mic that I run with my Yaesu FT-2000 is a Behringer C-1 condenser mic on boom. With the EQ capability of the rig, I was able to dial-in the transmit audio to a tee, and the rig sounds great. If I can’t duplicate the audio quality with one of the MXL mics, I’ll go back to the Behringer.
The Yaesu FTDX-3000 has similar EQ capabilities. The Heil Classic sounds great, and I expect the Heil PR-77D will too.
YET ANOTHER RIG??? Yep! I don’t know why I did, but I saw an FT-817 (non ND model) on eBay for a really inexpensive Buy It Now. I may be buying a pig in a poke, I understand, but I’m willing to take a chance on it.
Why buy an 817 when I just sold one I owned for a couple of years?? Simply said, versatility. With the battery pack, you can work your local repeater like an HT; or QRP HF with a decent antenna. The price was right, and hey, I can’t pass up a bargain.
One thing I also picked up was a power connect fitting that adapts the stock power connector to work with Anderson Power Poles. Its an inexpensive upgrade. Another upgrade I haven’t done yet is replacing the stock plastic tuning knob with a machined aluminum one. When I sold my FT-817, I couldn’t find the original knob to put back on it before I sold it. Of course, I found it about six months later. Go figure.
My wife has to work New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, so I’m hoping to get it a little time here in Studio B on the air for Straight Key Night. Not sure yet what key I’ll drag out, but it probably won’t be a bug — unless I can get a little practice ahead of time. I’ve got 7 CW keys within reach, and not one bug or straight key.
The list includes my go-to key, an early Kent iambic; a Vibroplex Square Racer standard; a Square Racer Deluxe; two Bencher BY-1s; a Vibroplex Vibrocube standard, and a Scotia Carson model iambic key that later was sold by Vibroplex as the triangle-shaped Brass Racer.
I have a Bencher RJ-1 handy in the shack, and I think a Chinese key and a Brown Brothers double key with the straight key. I’ll find something!
In the meantime, 73 and HNY …. de KY4Z SK SK …. (dit dit) ….