The mic was initially offered by Dave M0JKS as a kit but they now are sold completely built.
I ordered one the next day.
Dave's mic is about 1/3rd the price of the Elecraft MH3 and is much smaller. Cost of the mic and shipping to my US address from the UK was $35. The mic comes with a TRRS cable, mesh storage bag and a paper with a link to recommended set-up parameters for the KX radio (bias, gain, compression settings, etc).
My communication with Dave was via email and PayPal but I have since learned that he sells his mics on eBay and Etsy.
As can be seen in the video below, I'm quite happy with the mic. To see just the SSB portion of the activation, skip ahead to 11:25.
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Great video Alex; thank you. The KX2/KX3 microphones are available on eBay and etsy, but cost to the US and Canada via these services is as much as the microphone itself. As Alex mentioned above, if you contact me direct @ "peglred@gmail.com" (or look me up on qrz.com), shipping is significantly cheaper. The cost for one microphone is $35, two is $55. 73 Dave (M0JKS)
ReplyDeleteHi Dave, (I'm John!) - I really enjoyed the mic, as you can tell from the video. I did lower the compression off-camera, it is now set to 20 and reports are all very favorable from the home QTH. I did have road and airboat QRM from the portable operation so not the best location from which to tweak mic settings. All well now though.
Delete73,
John
Hi John thank you for the feedback. Not sure where Alex came from! Hopefully the guide I've made available helped with tweak the radio to suite your personal perference. It's available here if anyone would like to take a look:
ReplyDeletehttps://github.com/m0jks/KX2_lightweight_microphone/blob/main/M0JKS_Lightweight_KX2_Microphone_Setup_and_Tweaking_quide.pdf
A small correction on the e-mail it's "peglerd@gmail.com" or again look me up on qrz.com.
73 Dave (M0JKS)
Real glad you got hold one the mic and enjoyed it John. It's a great find huh?
ReplyDelete73, Tom, M7MCQ
www.m7mcq.com
Yep, a very great find. I like the small size and the low cost. For what little I operate phone, I didn't want to pay $93 for a mic. Then again, the KX2 has a built-in mic. Handy in an emergency but it's not very convenient for casual operation. M0JKS checks all the boxes - thanks for the heads-up!
Delete73,
John
Another great video and more good info from you.
ReplyDeleteThat new drone looks pretty neat and I'm sure we'll get more footage from it in the future. I'm still contemplating a mini 4 pro though after seeing some of the great videos you've posted.
My big question that I'm left wondering though is about the change of bike. Not only did you get a different one, but you switched brands! I'm hoping there will be a post about this coming soon.
I can't recommend the Mini 4 Pro highly enough - by far the best drone I've ever had. Small, quiet and super-fast GPS lock gets it in the air quickly. Here is my drone YT channel:
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/@VillageAerial/videos
Regarding the bike:
I want to be able to go on rougher (and dirt) roads that the BMW was not suited for. I've got Alaska and the NW Territories on my mind...
Also, the left turn signal switch failed on the BMW. The replacement (since the bike was 22 years old) had to come from Munich at a cost of $545 before shipping! I saw the writing on the wall.
Also, I have to go almost 80 miles to get any work done on the Beemer. The many Japanese and Harley dealers around here won't touch it - won't even put tires on it. This is true in other parts of the country as well and reduces the ability to get the bike serviced while on the road should the need arise.
I can get the Suzuki serviced anywhere and parts are available locally. It also has cruise control that the BMW lacked.
I do miss the BMW - it was the most sure-footed bike I've ever owned. Fast around the curves and rock-solid stable. If $$$ was no object, I'd buy a new version of the same model but they're $30k. That'll buy a lot of road-tripping with the Suzuki!
73,
John