SS9900 and Power mic's

I am just impressed you managed to find a KPO in stock anywhere I hunted high and low for one to no avail, I hope Astatic listen to their customers as there has clearly been a recurring issue on the Road Devil range.  This is what happens when you put contracts out to tender with companies who put profit above the company name and reputation they cut corners on quality leaving the customer with a substandard product and the companies good reputation tarnished.

This chap is going to replace the key switch at some point to overcome the issue but if you fork out $60 for what you believe is a quality microphone you shouldn't have to do this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKFW2j7iU9I

A quick look on Amazon and another review highlight the same issues for the Road Devil once again:

First downside is that you have to disassemble with 4 Phillips to install the 9V battery. Not a big deal at home but will suck doing it on the road and now I will have to be sure to carry a screwdriver. Next negative is that if you don't press firmly on the talk button and not move at all during the transmission you will be all static. I guess the transmit switch is noisy and is further amplified by the mic. Did not have that issue on a cheaper amplified mic but it had cheap plastic and broke. As long as you get a death grip on the mic the audio is very clear. Unfortunately, I don't recommend it. The scratchy audio was very annoying to the person on the receiving end on a 4-day trip.


Hopefully, they will be more careful with quality control in future as companies good reputation is priceless it is something that cannot be bought at any price.
The people selling older Astatic microphones have no shame, I see several of the D104-M6B models listed at well over $100, the highest is $170 although I have noticed this seller doing the same thing on more than one occasion, one even mentions it was made in America.
This strikes me as ridiculous for a microphone that is a current model and retails for around $60, if people are willing to pay more fro the older version is there a difference or are people just cashing in on the naivety of other I wonder?

Another thing is that some think that the Silver Eagle/Night Eagle/Golden Eagle are different to the normal D104 base microphone (Lollipop style mic) they are not ,its only cosmetic the inner workings  are the same the only difference between them is the base of the mic itself some dont have the push bar on the base they  just have the side bar (the chicken chocker) they are exactly the same other than that so if you see a normal D104 base mic dont get put off cos 9 times out of 10 there cheaper than the fancy versions ,but the fancy versions do look better lol .
Also D104 base mics  made pre 70s didn't have a pre amp fitted in the circuit board (that's why they have a battery in them) like the later ones made after the 70s because the early ones was designed to run from old valve radios and took there power from the radio so when radios became circuit board style they had fit preamp to the mics.

@Alan - Mirror Man - I pre ordered the KPO about 3 weeks ago when I got the SS9900 so the website (can't remember which) I ordered from must have had a delivery of so many and then all been sent out to pre orders so still showing out of stock.

Sgt Bilko wrote:

I used an RF Limited CR577 mic with a ceramic element. When it was released it was advertised as the new Astatic Teardrop. It has Vol & Tone controls and is easier to handle than the Teardrop. I get amazing audio reports whatever radio i have it wired to. When you look at the prices on Ebay for the Teardrop it makes me laugh that people will actually pay what is really stupid money for the greed of others. The Teardrop is a good mic but when some are asking up to £185 it beggars belief. If Astatic were to re-introduce the Teardrop they could ask a decent price but it would probably be made in China and won't be the same quality / sound.
Just my tuppence worth.

Paul.

Hi Paul. The CR577 sounds great....its featured here (link below) along with other "nostalgic" microphones. If you click on one and then scroll down you can listen to the way they sound.

https://lx2smlx2ooo.wordpress.com/

I buy all my mics from knights and the fit a plug to fit the radio you are using and a free batt to,
but I buy the telcom 1000 echo power mic,, it has two adjusters on side I never been near them, and the do sound great
turn the echo down and it becomes a power mic but you must turn the mic gain down as I use one on the dx5000 a
crt6900, and the crt9900 and with the mic gain down in the menu they sound great the cheap mics on all the above
radios the mic, was good on the crt9900 but then it would drop a chan or go up a chan, a little time and good mics that work but its money and when you find things are made to price tend to not last long or are not the best but my telcom mics work very well with the choice to adjust the echo or power not the cheapest but they work well.

Pagan wrote:

Sgt Bilko wrote:

I used an RF Limited CR577 mic with a ceramic element. When it was released it was advertised as the new Astatic Teardrop. It has Vol & Tone controls and is easier to handle than the Teardrop. I get amazing audio reports whatever radio i have it wired to. When you look at the prices on Ebay for the Teardrop it makes me laugh that people will actually pay what is really stupid money for the greed of others. The Teardrop is a good mic but when some are asking up to £185 it beggars belief. If Astatic were to re-introduce the Teardrop they could ask a decent price but it would probably be made in China and won't be the same quality / sound.
Just my tuppence worth.

Paul.

Hi Paul. The CR577 sounds great....its featured here (link below) along with other "nostalgic" microphones. If you click on one and then scroll down you can listen to the way they sound.

https://lx2smlx2ooo.wordpress.com/

What a wonderful blog, it was great to see all those old microphones, some of which I had owned and forgotten about if honest.
If you haven't taken a look at this site folks, I would highly recommend It!

I had one of those Astatic 1104 base mics brand new when they first came out ,I  brought from the shop I worked in on a Saturday plus we sold all the Astatic range we got told it was the base mic version of the 575-m6 Teardrop, ironically a few years later I swooped it for a Teardrop TBH I wish I didn't I liked that old base mic and now there very rare

I have used K PO NM 532 on my 6900 great mike