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Reviews For: Astatic D104M6

Category: Microphones for ham radio

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Review Summary For : Astatic D104M6
Reviews: 19MSRP: 54.99
Description:
Handheld version of the famous D104 desk mic.
Product is in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00194.8
IZ0FYS Rating: 2007-09-15
EXCELLENT Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have a D104 desktop model and I'm very satisfied about it. Now I got a D104M6.....this is the right choice to make a poor FT817 alive !!!
Test an FT817 with its original dynamic mike and later plug in a D104M6....LISTEN TO THE DIFFERENCE !!!
incredible.....
the modulation becomes clear and with punch !
seems like to have the proc in.
Now I use it for my base FT897 also.
BUY THIS MICROPHONE !!
KC2RGW Rating: 2007-08-05
Much improved over stock Yaesu on FT-857D Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've always had muddy audio reports, particularly on FM with my Yaesu FT-857D. There's little one can do to EQ the FM transmit audio with this rig.

I dug my D104M6 out of a pile of old mics I had and gave it a whirl.

Fantastic audio reports right off the bat. I did several comparisons with a group of people testing several gain settings and going from this mic to the stock and back again.

The settings I wound up using were '2' on the mic itself and 25 for FM mic gain in the rig.

Was told it sounded like a whole new radio with my voice.

I've had one of these on and off for years back to my 11m days and have put probably over a thousand hours on them with no problems.
N5MDM Rating: 2007-01-19
Decent Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Decent hand amplified mic, will wire to many radios. Can be a little too hot for some rigs, you should not use radio processing unless you turn the mic gain on the mic almost off. With my radio processing is just to much. Some have an issue with the push button sticking. I have several of these, overall a good mic. May be more compatable with some radios than others. David N5MDM
W4TOO Rating: 2005-12-21
Great Mic D104 M6B moble to a Kenwood 480hx. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This mic has been around for many years,I used it back in my CB days.It was lost in all my junk boxes.Glad I found it.I made a small mod.to the mic.and put a set of up&down switches in the top of mic and soldiered them to the circuit board this allowed me to change freg.with a push of the button.Get the little red&black momentary switches from radio shack.drilltwo small holes in the top of mic.(remove board before drilling holes)screw on the switch nuts and run short jumpers to the up&down wire on the board.add a new battery and away you go.Maybe Astatic should make this a mod.to the mike.It works great.Ray w4too
N4RAP Rating: 2005-08-01
Great Mic Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've been using one of these since my CB days, when I was 12 years old. They have changed only a little bit because you can't improve on what ain't broke. The switch from an odd 7 Volt Mercury battery to a common 9 Volt battery was a good move. It also makes replacement of the battery way less difficult. But in my opinion the 7 Volt models(the older ones) have the best tonality, but I don't know why. The printed schematics are identical, but the sound from a 7 Volt to a 9 Volt is noticable. With all that being said, they are attractive, rugged and easy to use, fit in your hand well and sound good for years and years. They are also quite easy to adjust and will make your hf radio sound like a more expensive piece of gear. I started CBing when I was 12 years old in 1972. I still have my first Astatic hand held power mic. It was an Astatic TMD107E...the predesessor to the D104M6. I gave it to a friend and he recently found it in a closet. He shipped it back to me. It still has the original Mallory 175 & Volt Mercury battery in it and IT STILL WORKS!!!! They don't make 'em like that anymore! This mic is now back in my shack and has been used by a number of people and used on a number of CB rigs and ham rigs such as Icom, Yaesu and Kenwood and sounds great on ALL of them. I now use it to run a net on 80 meters on my Kenwood TS 830S. If you can find one at a ham fest...buy it.

W5ZZQ Rating: 2004-06-19
Best hand mic out there Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Put this mic on my Kenwood. WOW what a difference it made. I highly recommend this mic. It works great on AM/FM/SSB - all.
DG7JX Rating: 2003-12-21
Best Microphone ever! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Finally, I found the best Microphone for my IC-718! The Astatic D104M6 beats my IC-SM6, several Peikers, dynamic pre-amplifier mikes and the turner +3. It's also better than the Astatic Road Devil. The modulation is strong and clear, with the right DX-punch, when the compressor is on at the TRX. A few minutes ago I managed to break the pile-up for a CP6 station with the new Astatic and a mobile whip antenna! Maybe luck, but this microphone is the best I ever had so far!
VE3TMT Rating: 2002-04-03
Pileup Buster! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
After having used it for about 4 months now, all I can say is wow! With my Titan 10m rig in the car I am constantly getting unsolicited reports on the great audio. Always get through the pileups on the first or second call. Only downside to the mic is its' weight. And the PTT button could stand some rounded corners. But all in all a great microphone. I would recommend it to any mobile operator.
KC2IGY Rating: 2001-09-25
Great Mic....But Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I would have given this mic a 5 since it's the best HH mic I've used. But, my first one just died after only a couple of months use. With that being said, I went out and bought a new one since
it's still the best sounding HH mic I've owned.