The way you talk about this microphone is that if you close your eyes you would think you were listening to an operation done by a doctor. Thank you for this video
I was always envious of anyone who had a D104 mic back in the day. I finally snagged one in near perfect condition on eBay. It’s the Silver Eagle version. I love it and it compliments my radio. It has nice, clear, punchy audio.
Your presentation was very informative, I remember the CB Radio craze I was into it Radios, Towers and Mic's. D104 and the "Screaming Eagle" Radio with a set of "MoonRaker's " thanks !
I still have my D-104 that I bought back in the mid-1970s. These days, it is just a bookshelf curio / decoration, but it would be great if I could use it for a PC mic without modifying the circuitry (nostalgia, perhaps).
@@TheCodyNetwork -- I got it to work somewhat, but I wasn't happy with the sound... I took it apart to look at it, but then got distracted and it ended up being yet another incomplete project and I discovered that I had a professional grade microphone that I had bought a few years ago for my wife when she was wanting to do that karaoke crap (i.e. where people who do not know how to sing prove to others that they do not know how to sing) with her relatives and friends... I did find a couple of companies online that were selling kits for replacing the original elements with lower impedance elements, but I never got motivated enough to try it... One of the hazards of getting old -- your "give a shit" factor gets really low... :(
Got lucky. Was invited to a silent key private auction and picked up 2 of them in working condition. When the seller said $50.00 for BOTH of them, I said " S-O-L-D" paid him and high tailed it out of there.
I've got a D-104 out in my storage shed. I just don't know what model it is. It is from the mid 70's. I'll have to try and find it. I love the looks of a D-104.
This video was in my RU-vid recommended page... While as a HAM, I can appreciate Heathkit electronics, I have absolutely nothing good to say about the D-104 microphone. Astatic made a proper microphone called a D-10, and was the Astatic microphone for use with Amateur Radios. The D-104 had a dynamic range exceeding 80-DB (because of its crystal element, not a great element, because the salt-crystal element became a problem if it absorbed too much moisture), which is very much too loud for proper dynamic range on solid-state radios where the microphone amplifiers only range about 60-db (this was fixed by the audio amplifier added to later production, but this did not help for people with tube transmitters requiring Hi-Z microphones). For tubes, this can overload the first-stage microphone driver tube. The other extreme problem with D-104 is that its frequency range equalization, placed its peak at 3-khz, which is way too hi-frequency for radios where the transmit filter in SSB normally stops before 3-khz (while the male Human voice centers at about 1200-hz), usually way before. And the average slope of this equalization does not produce pleasant audio below this peak. Many people use this microphone for contesting because of its very wide dynamic range, and brittle frequency peaks, for signal clearing. But in normal service, this microphone is difficult to listen to, on any transmitter, due to its brittleness. So no, I don't wish to see videos about anything with a crystal element for microphones.
I found one of these cool looking microphones in an antique shop and I'm so curious on how I can record audio from this microphone, I have no idea what I am doing, can someone please help me out?
Most desktop amd laptop computers have a microphone audio input. If you made a suitable cable to connect the microphone to the 3.5mm audio jack of your computer you could use a sound recorder program to record with it. These microphones can be wired differently - you would have to open it up and determine what wires are for audio, maybe consulting a copy of the D104 manual that you can find in the Internet.
Great video but one question. I have the model that has the transistor amplified base that has the 4 pin female connector. My Heathkit D.X. 35 has an amphenol connector. Do you know of a site that shows how to rewire it so that it can be used with the Dx35? Any help is appreciated. :)
I'm not sure if all Heathit radios worked the same way. They typically documented in the manual how to wire up a microphone. My Heathkit HW-101 manual covers this, for example.
Hi I found a vile with this model number on it and a mercury like substance inside I’m having trouble identifying though with anybody hear have an idea??
I'm just trying to figure out how to remove the stupid (CB) preamp and have this sound good with my Johnson Invader 2000. When I bypass the preamp, the audio is terrible. Surely, in 1963, when the Invader was produced, they didn't really use CB as we know it and all these preamp models didn't exist. It does have good audio with the 9 volt battery installed and the preamp turned almost all the way off. The preamp is NOT necessary, but for some reason the Invader can't work well without it. What is the difference between the preamp (CB) model and non- CB early 60's models? I want to convert mine to 1963 non CB specs. Thanks and 73's W1RMD.
