Batboard

Some friends and I are using MT1000s for 70cm HAM. Each MT1000
we bought was set for a Microphone Gain of 0 dB. With that gain, our
audio was so low compared to other HAMs it was a major issue.
Turning the Mic Gain up to +6dB helped a lot but the MT1000 audio is
still a little low.

Is this normal? Any suggestions to bring the audio (mic gain) a little
higher?

Thanks!
George
In sunny Arizona
W7SAZ

George,

Try checking and, if necessary adjusting/raising the deviation of the signal.
Find a balance between the audio level and the deviation and your signals
should all be excellent.

Those holes in the front cover where the mic. is get clogged, a toothbrush usually does the job. Also, audio levels on a lot of Ham units are so high that you can often hear a lot of backround noise. Commercial radios purposely don't have that sort of gain to keep backround to a minimum.

RadioSouth beat me to it.. Check the mic opening, and if you have one test it with a speaker mic and see if it's louder audio when using it.

I will also agree with his statement about the ham gear, most of it has such a high mic gain that you hear a lot of background noise while mobile. I think we then get used to that higher gain and ambient noise level so that eventually if ain't like that it ain't right!

Set it for a nice comfortable and readable audio level. If others complain tell them to turn up the volume on their end.. LOL

Many thanks for the quick responses.

Ahhh, YES... one of my MT1000s needs a toothbrush cleaning of the
mic slot!!! The other is clean as a whistle.

Agreed that some/many of the HAM mics are just too hot but when
working multiple HAMs at the same time it helps if everyone has the
same audio level.

Is the deviation adjustment done in on the hardware or through the
service software?

Regards,
George
In sunny Arizona
W7SAZ

Deviation is in the service menu, it's a softpot value just like the mic gain adjustment.

I've always close-talked my MT1000s. The "training" we get is to talk 2-3 inches away. Try close talking them. That also allows the mic gain and deviation to be set low enough to keep out the background noise.

Chris,

Thanks for your feedback!

Regards,
George
In sunny Arizona
W7SAZ