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Reviews For: Radio Shack condensor mic element Cat# 2700092

Category: Microphones for ham radio

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Review Summary For : Radio Shack condensor mic element Cat# 2700092
Reviews: 4MSRP: 5.00
Description:
Three wire, wide response, sensitive mic element. Great for replacements, two-way radio, and headset boom mic, or anything where wide audio response is desired.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.radioshack.com/products/electret-microphone-element-with-leads
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0045
N0TLD Rating: 2021-01-09
Fantastic, reliable Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I am very glad N2MDV created this product thread. It's one of those radio gadgets I've used forever that are so ubiquitous I tend to forget them.

And N2MDV is right on the money -- for the price, this element is by far the best-sounding element I've ever used.

But even more than 'by the price', this mic really DOES sound as good as numerous other commercially made mics I've used over the years.

Odds are excellent that you use at least one or two electret elements every day, from phones to computer/laptop mics to Bluetooth and even digital recorders, and many more gadgets. Of course, if you're a ham, you've likely used at least one today -- the stock hand and desk mics made by Icom, for instance, use electret mic elements. Yaesu and Kenwood use it all the time, if not in all their mics, then at least for stock handmics.

And any talking head news people your hear on radio or view on TV, all the news channels, talk shows, and so on, use electret mics in their little wireless lapel mics. They likely use this very element in many cases, but certainly, the elements used in such items are in fact the very same kind of electret elements you can buy for a few bucks at RS or similar.

I've made mic headsets with this element to use with PTT or a footswitch, some for myself and quite a few for others. I've therefore *heard* my friends using my own homebrew mics using this element over the air, and can tell you, this is by far one of the best sounding elements you have ever heard. Odds are you've heard at least one or two on the air over the years, and didn't know the operator *wasn't* using the matching hand mic or a commercial boom mic or headset.

Anytime I inform anyone of the cheap little mic element they tend not to believe it at first. I'm not even joking about that.

At one time I had a Heil ProSet Plus headset, with one of Heil's beautiful elements (they do make good gear), and during a regular ragchew roundtable one night I decided to change from that set to a homebrew set I'd recently made with the RS element, in between TXs.

Most of the other ops didn't mention or notice any difference, but after a while a few of them asked if I'd changed the tx EQ, because it sounded BETTER than it had before.

These used to be just a few bucks, and now are around $6. For that price, just experimenting is worth the effort. You can't lose -- either it's at least as good other mics you've used, or it's even better; hell, even if it's average, you have a fine mic that cost you almost nothing.

Once again, I'm glad N2MDV started this one. This little element deserves some praise and respect.
W1GFH Rating: 2020-12-03
Best kept secret Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I use the RadioShack Cat# 270-090 PC-Mount version (same thing, but without lead extensions). I wired it directly into my Icom 756 PRO mic input (no decoupling capacitor needed with an electret) and it sounds great. The + lead goes to pin 1 and the - lead goes to pin 7. The Icom provides +8 VDC on pin 1, and that powers the element perfectly.
K8JHR Rating: 2020-08-24
Super Good Microphone Element Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have used this electret condenser microphone capsule in multiple projects and for direct replacement repairs, and it sounds great every time. Accurate, uncolored pickup across a wide spectrum. While it is good for music, it is exceptionally good for capturing human speech. Not the cheapest electret capsule, but surely worth the cost. You can sometimes find them new on eBay. K8JHR
N2MDV Rating: 2018-02-12
Best condensor mic out there, period! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Radio Shack has had some great products out there, and this mic is one of them. For about 30 years, I've been making my own headset boom mics with these. That third, RED positive, wire is actually a neat idea to help keep RF and AC hum out of the mic itself. A 9VDC battery, with an ON/OFF switch, will last for a couple of years with that 1mA current drain. A good windscreen needs to be used with this mic, but knowing this is not a problem. Perfect for DIY mic kit making. I use this element for on-air radio productions, and seemed even good enough for me to do commercial voiceovers. Great for AM amateur radio ragchews as well. What can you use it for? Whatever you image for application. After 30-some years, I'm glad that I can still buy this element. Sure, there are smaller, cheaper, versions, but this element sounds the best, in my opinion.