The link to the Astatic catalog that I posted should help you. Note that the nomenclature for the head and the stand are different.
73
-Jim
NU0C
On Fri, 23 Feb 2024 18:01:50 -0600
"Ed KG5UN" <maikranze@...> wrote:
Sorry if I am hijacking the thread, but I wanted to ask a question.
I have a model 10 Astatic mic with no data plate on it.
It has the MC-563 element in it.
Would that make it a 10C or a 10D?
I really dont care for the way it sounds, would the 470K ohm resistor help?
Thanks,
Ed
KG5UN
On Fri, Feb 23, 2024 at 5:52?PM Jim Shorney <jimNU0C@...> wrote:
I suppose you mean the D-104-C? In catalog 197 it is listed only 3 dB
lower than the crystal version. Interestingly they don't specifically say
which is in the T-UP9-D104 "Silver Eagle". That suggests to me that at some
point they did begin to quietly phase out the crystal and replace them with
ceramic. Who's going to know? You would have to open one up and few would
want to do that. I have a garage sale find Golden Eagle and two T-UG8
models all gelded with the 470K resistor mod. I used the Golden Eagle on my
TR7 for a while. I still plug it in now and then for fun. It looks like
hell, the lacquer coating on the stand neck is trashed. I also have a NOS
cartridge tucked away in a drawer but I'm not going to cut it open.
Maybe I'll replace those 470K resistors with low noise film resistors... :D
Admittedly it may be urban legend that the crystal cartridge was phased
out in later years but I have heard and read about it being so since
sometime in the late 70s. Another bit of lore is that you can "make it
sound better" by poking a pin hole in the diaphragm but I think all of us
here are smarter than that. Take it all for what it's worth.
Here's a reference that appears to be wrong based on catalog info:
Some nice pics on this page:
Does anyone remember seeing the D-104 on a short non-G stand (probably an
E-1 stand) used as a broadcast mic in the SciFi channel Battlestar
Galactica reboot?
73
-Jim
NU0C
On Fri, 23 Feb 2024 12:48:05 -0800
"Richard Knoppow" <1oldlens1@...> wrote:
Astatic made another model the C-104 with a ceramic element. Very
similar except the output is about 10db lower. This is for the element
alone. If there is an amplifier the output levels are probably the same.
I have not searched for a data sheet on the C-104.
Astatic made ceramic versions of many of their crystal mics and
crystal phono pickups. The ceramic has the advantage of not being
vulnerable to heat or moisture.
On 2/23/2024 8:51 AM, Jim Shorney wrote:
My "secret" is to do away with the amplifier and replace it with a
series 470K resistor. This is actually an old-timer's trick to mellow out
the frequency response of the D-104 head. The amplifier is enhanced
uselessness for our radios. It will happily drive just about any radio this
way and you get rid of a failure point (actually two if you consider
potential battery leakage). This works with any T-UGxx stand.
My understanding is that later D-104 heads used a ceramic cartridge.
The same fix applies. The D-104 head likes to see a high impedance load,
the higher the better.
I have three T-UGxx variants that I have done this to and tested on
the air with good reports. And they can be used with VOX.
73
-Jim
NU0C
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73
-Jim
NU0C
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73
-Jim
NU0C
Jim Shorney