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Reviews For: W4RT Electronics

Category: QRP Accessories

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Review Summary For : W4RT Electronics
Reviews: 41MSRP: 49.95
Description:
One BIG Punch (OBP) is a custom add-on accessory for the Yaesu MH-31 microphone commonly used with many Yaesu amateur radios such as the FT-817. The One BIG Punch is an AF-based speech compressor specifically configured to provide remarkable increase in talk power while maintaining good audio quality (articulation) for communication purposes. The unit can be mounted inside the MH-31, requires no additional electrical power, and can be turned on or off by using the MH-31's TONE switch. The One BIG Punch can also be install inside the FT- 817 and then no modification to the MH-31 is required.
Product is not in production
More Info: http://www.w4rt.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00413.8
WV4I Rating: 2009-01-12
OBP for FT-857D also!! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've just finished my second W4RT Electronics OBP mike mod for the MH-31 mike. The first one I did quite a while back, and it went very smoothly. Add a 2.3 filter to the radio and it really did wonders for the FT-857D audio, many unsolicited positive reports. No doubt does the same or better for the FT-817.

I just did another OBP mike mod to a MH-31 mike that became problematic. Could not get any audio out on reassembly, back apart, and after considerable troubleshooting, found that I apparently had shorted pad "G" to ground, I think. After removing the white mike wire fm pad "G", wicking all the solder off the pad, and minimal resolder, got all to work fine. The point of this story is that I would NOT do this mod again, nor should you, unless you enjoy working with 17X loupe magnifiers and very fine tip solder irons and ohmmeter probes. Let W4RT do it.

Recently had a thread on Yahoo Groups, FT-450, re the MH-31 mike. Well, I had to try the OBPed MH-31 mike on the FT-450. Just listening to the monitor function on Xmt, it is way too much punch/mike for the FT-450, except with the FT-450 on LOW mike gain, so what's the point? To me, the MH-31 sounds fine as is on the FT-450, on either normal or high mike gain. The MH-67 mike, even better.

Regardless, this truly is a must have mod for the FT-857D (and likely the FT-817, but don't own one), and is well worth the money and time.
AC8CD Rating: 2008-05-18
You need it. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Drove over to AES (I live near the Cleveland store) and bought OBP to go with my FT-817. One minor gripe: there is no instruction sheet included; you just get a little anti-static envelope with the board, the ferrite beads, and a little slip of paper that tells you to look up the installation instructions online! Not a major inconvenience, but come on! How hard would it be to give me 2 sheets of Xeroxed directions, rather than tell me, "go look it up for yourself?" They do, however, include a section of de-soldering braid, which is very thoughtful, so go figure.

Anyway, got it home, broke out the tools, and installed it. (I've built some kits and so forth, but never worked with SMT components) It's not hard, exactly, but definitely fiddly. If you do not have steady hands, good eyesight, and the proper tools (fine-tipped soldering iron, magnifier, forceps, needle-nose pliers, etc.), do yourself a huge favor and have W4RT intstall it. I got it all hooked up in less than an hour, and fortunately it worked on the first try. The fellow who suggested disconnecting the brown wire to free up the board is definitely right. Also, you might want to remove the row of 3 buttons (the up, down, fast buttons) at the top of the board. They are only attached by little rubber posts, and they are easy to knock off while handling the board, which I found distracting. Ditto for the PTT button, which easily pops off when the case is open.

Either way you go for installation, it is a fantastic product! I tested it into a dummy load on my 817, and the difference is amazing! You can see a vast difference just watching the MOD, ALC, and PWR meters while you switch the compressor on and off.

For the 100-watt radios, it'll undoubtedly help; for the FT-817, it's something you can't live without, especially if you have one of those flat voices that doesn't cut through, like I do. And it's only $50! It would be a bargain at twice the price.
G6HVY Rating: 2008-04-09
Spices things up Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Time for the spring refresh of the portable station: the HFPacker amp kit will have to wait for a bit more spare time, but the One BIG Punch looked as if it could be installed over two cups of coffee.

The OBP is a tiny audio compressor that fits inside the FT-817's standard microphone - there are options that also replace the microphone insert itself with Heil modules, but I thought I'd leave those until next spring.

The OPB comes on a tiny circuit board with four pre-cut and tinned wires that need to be soldered onto points on the microphone PCB. There's also one land on the PCB for the wire from the microphone inset; those five connections, plus the moving of one wire link within the mic, the stringing of six ferrite beads and the removal of one hapless electrolytic, are the entirety of the installation.

You'll need needle-nosed pliers, cross-head screwdriver, and fine-tipped soldering iron. An illuminated magnifier and a vice really help, depending on your personal degree of decrepitude.

The instructions are mostly clear - there's not a lot to get confused about - but still take a couple of reads. Lots of photographs, although not always quite in order, and one in particular could have been a lot clearer. (The power line needs to be soldered to a point where the socket at the base of the mike is mounted. It's a small PCB land and very close to others, but the photograph is blurred and indistinct. A circuit -- or even just a block -- diagram would have helped here.)

I deviated from the instructions early on; one of the first things they say to do, immediately after the back of the mic case is off, is to unsolder one of the mic insert leads. This isn't reattached until the end of the installation, and the other insert lead is left attached throughout: this leaves the mic PCB connected to the case and the insert, making it much harder to manipulate and increasing the chances of accidental damage.

I whipped both wires off, freeing the PCB and making life a lot easier.

Things progressed smoothly. It is challenging to correctly position and hold in place tiny teflon-sheathed wires, especially when they're inside a string of ferrite beads; things move about and you need the right amount of pressure, delicately applied.

Reassembly of the finished work went well - you do have to be careful to make sure those ferrite beads are in the right position for the case to close properly, and that's not mentioned in the instructions, but a little discovery is good for the soul.

Listening off-air on SSB leaves no doubt that the One BIG Punch is doing the business; it's not the most beautiful audio in the world, but it's far more effective than the unadorned mic. And while reports from other stations are useful, I found it very helpful to spend some time listening to my own signal into a dummy load with a local RX and headphones. Where you position the mic relative to your mouth makes a huge difference - and on the dummy load, you can go "Ooooo-la" with impunity.

You may want to. The One BIG Punch does give a serious edge to the little radio, and as the bands get livelier it's going to be tempting to play with the big boys.
N5EAT Rating: 2008-01-19
What a difference! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Three day turnaround for me. The mic produces astounding audio and always more than an S unit of power increase. I got the OBP with the Heil
#4 element. It's about perfect if you want to be heard in a crowd. It's a bit strident sounding, very crisp, and you may not want to rag chew with it. The heil 5 element can be substituted, or you can get the OBP and both heil elements (ragchew and dx/contest.

I also purchased their Z100 ultra (battery powered if needed) and I'm as happy as a hog in slop. These 2 items have completely transformed my little yaesu 817. No need to drag power with you rig for the tuner.

If you love your little 817 - give it a present or two from W4RT....
KG7RS Rating: 2007-10-12
New Life for the FT817 Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Hi Folks,
I completely concur with N8NQP's remarks about this product. I shipped my stock Yaesu microphone to W4RT and it was returned with the standard version of the One Big Punch installed within 6 days. One of those days was Columbus Day & no postal delivery! Oddly enough, it adds noticeable heft to the stock microphone that makes it feel much more pleasingly substantial. I noted a world of difference in the average transmitted power. While listening to the transmitted signal on a receiver, no distortion was noted. Most importantly, my success rate in SSB QSO's has markedly increased. I would even dare call CQ now. The 817 is an outstanding do-it-all transceiver. Now its as fun to use on phone as it is on CW & digi-modes. A modest investment for a big payback. Very pleased. Wish I would have bought one for my 857D, which also suffered from poor average transmitted power output, otherwise an excellent transceiver. 73, John, KG7RS
K6XR Rating: 2007-09-14
A Great addition Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I have the dual element with one big punch microphone from w4rt electronics. I purchased the microphone and not the kit. The unsolicited reports and comments on the air speak for the quality of the audio. I use it on both my 817 and 857 and it is indeed a big improvement in the audio especially when using the HC-5 element.
G8JNJ Rating: 2007-09-14
Works OK - but not for me Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
W4RT OBP Dual Element Module – OBP with Heil HC-4 & HC-5 mic capsules.

I bought this unit directly from W4RT (as the UK dealers were charging twice the US price). In order to try and improve the quality of audio, and boost the talk power of my FT-897D.

The unit arrived in good condition and I installed it without any problems into the Yaesu MH-31 (stock microphone with the FT-897). The unit has two Heil mic inserts the HC-5, for local contacts, and the HC-4 which provides a 2.5KHz boost for DX working. The modification to the microphone uses the existing ‘tone’ switch on the back of the microphone to switch between the HC-4 and HC-5 microphone inserts, but the OBP compressor is only used in the HC-4 position.

The module works well, but did not solve my problems. The muffled audio was still present (mainly in th HC-5 position)and the average output power didn’t increase significantly.

I investigated both these problems, and concluded that the muffled audio was actually due to the case design of the MH-31 microphone. This uses horizontal ‘vents’ which cover the holes in the front of the Heil elements as they don’t quite line up with the gaps correctly.

The very limited improvement in average audio level obtained when using the OBP compressor is due to the ALC action of the radio. If you increase the average audio level the ALC winds the output power down to compensate. You can read more about this issue at:- http://www.geocities.com/martin_ehrenfried/FTALC.pdf

My only minor criticism of the module, is that with my voice, there was a large difference in output level between the HC-5 and HC-4 with OBP and I had to change the mic gain each time I switched between the two.

I eventually solved my problems by using an electret mic and using the internal 'processor' option correctly.
N8NQP Rating: 2007-06-24
Must Have for Ft-817! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
First off let me say that the folks at W4RT are top notch! The turn around time for my 817 was 5 days! This combined with the SSB filter makes a
HUGE difference! This weekend was field day, and I really had a chance to test it out. I got 0 replies with the OBP turned off, and with it on, I managed to break a number of pileups! Sure there were stations that I couldn't work, but the ones that I did said the audio was excellent! (I also have the Heil HC-4 mic element)

Don't get rid of your 817, add this and the DSP and turn it into a fun rig to run around with!
HA5X Rating: 2006-08-21
what a DIFFERENCE Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I ordered (paid) the unit at HAM Radio in Friedrichshafen via Waters&Stanton. Unfortunately it was not on stock, so I had to wait a month and a half or so to get the unit by post. Maybe the timing was not perfect due to summer holidays...

The unit looks nice and professional. A friend of mine installed it in my MH-31, as he is more clever with his hands :) He says it was easy to install it.

Then came on-air experimentation with both my FT-817 and the FT-897. All people I interviewed saw or felt a significant improvement in SSB signal strength, reports were 1-3 S units in favour of the compressor. On FM a weebit of distortion was tangible with the compression on, but speaking softer it was gone. But who cares: the unit is not meant for local FM chatting, and can be turned off any moment.

I played around a bit with my FT-897. While venting a "mmmmmmmmmmm" at a constant level I switched the unit on and off. The external RF power meter showed an average of 5W, but when I switched the OBP on, the needle immediately jumped to almost 30 Watts! Wowww.

Certainly it will take some time to experiment with this gadget on air, but the first evening signal reports already showed an improvement I had not expected. It is now time to get a second one. Maybe that one should come with the Heil microphone? Can that option be of any further gain?
VA7CPC Rating: 2006-05-03
Cheaper than an amp! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I had W4RT install the One Big Punch on my new FT-817 -- "same-day" turnaround!

Every audio report I get confirms the superiority of the "compressor ON" setting. "Full, not thin", "went from 50% readable to 80% readable", "much more punch" are typical "off/on" comments.

It works as advertised.