Wednesday, 4 September 2024

KX2/KX3 ULTRA-LIGHT MIC

The microphone which is designed for the KX3 (the MH3) is a great mic, but considering this is a compact QRP radio, the supplied mic is ridiculously big! It's like putting a size-12 boot on a baby!

Thankfully, there's alternatives out there and this one from Dave Pegler is probably the smallest one you'll find and at 27g, the lightest too!  If you want one of these, I suggest you contact Dave (M0JKS) directly and he’ll sort one out for you straight away.

They cost a measly £20 and not only is it great value, but it also includes a handy little carry case (pouch). The TRRS to TRRS lead can be detached, which I really like. 

I also like the fact that the tiny mic has two extra buttons for changing the radio's frequency, That's handy! Finally, it comes with a stick-on belt-clip which I personally won't be bothering with because it makes this little gem a bit bigger.

I ordered the mic and it was delivered very quickly and well packed. Inside was a note explaining how the microphone's performance can be tweaked to suit an individual's voice by altering the radio's setting - and Dave provides a link to a PDF file is included to show you exactly how to do this.

After plugging the mic into my KX3, I spun the dial and found EG7SDC on 15M. I only had some Duracell AA batteries inside the radio, so I tried making contact  on SSB down at 4W through an EFHW. I was rewarded with a 59 and compliment on the audio. This was very encouraging considering that I had just plugged it in and played without any setup other than to turn MIC BIAS on.

After making a few more contacts on other bands, I decided to read the PDF that Dave had written and made some adjustments to the Compression and Mic Gain levels. This made the mic produce a more ‘punchy’ sound which is great for DX, but can be switched back when you want to transmit something easier on the ear.


I’m extremely pleased with this tiny mic. IMHO Elecraft should have produced something like this themselves instead of offering the MH3 (which I never liked). I look forward to using this mic much more in the future and it would be handy if Dave gave it a proper designation so people could find it easier, such as DP27G or DPKX3 or whatever.

Anyway, no matter what it’s called, it’s a little cracker and I highly recommend it!

73, Tom, M7MCQ


2 comments:

John AE5X said...

Hola Tom, thanks for the info on this - I have one on the way.

73,
John

Tom McQuiggan - MadDogMcQ said...

Good stuff John! You'll love it.

73, Tom, M7MCQ