Acoustics

[K6DNO]

I am setting up a two way ham radio station in an old closet. It is four feet deep five feet wide and eight feet high. There are no doors on it. The cabinet that is holding the radio equipment is 46in wide, 43in high, 16in deep. The closet in in a room that is next to the living room. Sound transfer through the wall is not a problem but I want to keep my voice from reverberating back out of the closet. I have purchased 48 sq feet of 2in. studio wedge and 3 feet of 2 1/2 corner blocks. I was thinking of placing indoor outdoor carpet, not the plastic grassy stuff on the the entire surface of the walls and 12in square ceiling tiles but wasn't sure about where to put the studio wedge. I also will be running about 6 cables through the wall and want to minimize sound transfer through the wall at that spot.

Any input would be helpful. Thanks
Dino (k6dno)

[N3ZKP]

Unless you plan to be screaming at the top of your lungs into the microphone, I think you have a solution in search of a problem.

Use a headset with a boom mike and you probably will never be heard coming out of the closet (no pun intended!) Not only will this keep your voice down, the receive audio will not be heard, either.

I use a Heil headset both at home and with my portable rig and work in the same room as other people without bothering any of them.

I hope you have the air conditioning fed into that closet. If not you are going to get very hot in there.

Lon

[K6DNO]

I use headphones on my Yaesu 920 for recieve and then a desk microphone for transmit.  When I stand in the closet it sounds like a tin can.  I tried it out with my XYL in the other room and she could hear me in the other room due to the echos. My voice has a tendancy to carry, probably the teacher in me.  She is understanding and just doesn't want to silence me as she has her ticket as well, but doesn't want my voice echoing down the hall to the bedroom late at night. :-)

Thanks for the input, I am looking into a good headset for future use.

Dino

[N3ZKP]

<< When I stand in the closet it sounds like a tin can. >>

Of course it does; you are essentially talking in a rectangular barrel. Proper miking for amateur use is the mike no more than 2" from the lips. A couple of feet away is asking for trouble.

<< from I tried it out with my XYL in the other room and she could hear me in the other room due to the echos. My voice has a tendancy to carry, probably the teacher in me. She is understanding and just doesn't want to silence me as she has her ticket as well, but doesn't want my voice echoing down the hall to the bedroom late at night. :-) >>

That's why the headset and boom mike. Forget the classroom voice and learn to speak in a conversational voice as if the person is sitting right next to you.

There is an excellent article on this subject by WB2WIK/6 if you check the previous articles listing. Well work the time to read it.

Good luck,

Lon