How doI set up a Heil PR-40 mic for my 8600? Bias on or off? Set comp? etc

Pote2004

:(

KD0RC

The PR 40 is a dynamic mic, so bias should be off.

Flex uses Controlled Envelope Single Sideband (CESSB), not audio compression, so you get a lot of punch without much distortion. If you turn on PROC and set it to DX+, you get a 2.8 dB increase in average power. That makes your 100 Watt rig as loud as a 200 Watt rig.

The most important thing to set correctly is the mic Level. Make sure that the peak indicator (the little square) does not go past 0 dB and turn red. You should adjust it to be somewhere around -5 dB on voice peaks. You may or may not need to enable the +20 dB button to get the level where you need it. On my Heil, HM-12 I need it, on my Yamaha CM-500 headset, I don't.

To make the mic level much easier to set, without having to transmit, enable Level Meter During Receive. Now you can speak into the mic at any time and the level will respond.

Finally, to get the most out of your mic, check out the YouTube videos by Ken, NM9P and Mike, VA3MW on using Full Duplex (FDX) to monitor your transmit signal as you set the TX Equalization. You can get the rig to sound the way you want it, not the way someone else might prefer it. You can even set up different mic profiles for different scenarios (DX - lots of highs, Ragchew - pleasant, natural sound, etc).

Mike-VA3MW

Nice write up Len.

Personally, I never ever remember what mic's take Bias and what don't. I just turn it on and off while watching the Mic level meter until I get Audio deflection. Then, move forward from there.

Lastly create your own Mic profile and delete all the ones you don't require.

KD0RC

Thanks Mike!