u/EmotioneelKlootzak

Highest quality hand mics that can be plugged into an 8 pin mic jack, either directly or with an adapter?

I've been planning on converting my shack over to vintage gear with physical knobs and buttons for a while, just because I find that much easier and more satisfying to use. I just bought an extremely good condition FT-736R from an estate sale with the much sought after 220mhz module as my first piece of that. Next on my list is probably a FT-1000MP, or maybe a TS-590S. I'm also putting SDRs on these so I've still got modern receiver capabilities like waterfalls and DSP.

Anyway, I also prefer hand mics over desk mics or boom mics, but the majority of hand mics available are very cheap feeling and plasticky, and the sound quality isn't great. Does anyone know of some really nice, high quality hand mics on the market, especially that can interface with the older 8 pin microphone jacks, either directly or through an adapter?

reddit.com
u/EmotioneelKlootzak — 1 day ago

Good FT8 opening on 6m right now across the southern US and Mexico, but nobody's on except me and one guy in Mexico

Just FYI, if you want some 6m contacts.

Edit: Now getting heard by monitors clear up to the Canadian border, this is a pretty wide bit of sporadic E coverage.

u/EmotioneelKlootzak — 2 days ago

Attached is a Hepburn tropo forecast for 30 minutes from now. Extreme ducting chances all over the place.

The Gulf of Mexico is a tropo duct machine, but I've yet to make an international tropo contact across the water. I've made it along the coast all the way west to Galveston and Houston, and all the way east to St. Augustine and Tampa, but I've never even heard Cancun or Havana. There's no physical reason a signal can't duct that far, so has anyone around here successfully done it? If so, with what equipment, and how active is the VHF DX community down there?

u/EmotioneelKlootzak — 18 days ago