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Reviews For: Turner Plus 3

Category: Microphones for ham radio

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Review Summary For : Turner Plus 3
Reviews: 30MSRP: 75 in 1972
Description:
Amplified Desk Mic
Product is in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00304.9
K9FON Rating: 2008-11-09
Great! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have oneof these great old mic. In fact it is still hooked to my old 1980s era Cobra 142 GTL. (Yes i still have a CB to talk to my non ham buds.) The mic was made back in 1975 and still works like new. Its beat and scuffed but it works great. I also have a Turner plus 2 that is well over 30 years old and it even works like new. Its too bad they are not made anymore..
KC0GSB Rating: 2007-12-19
Excellent Communications Mic Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I believe that the Turner +3 is possibly the finest pure communications microphone ever made. It will drive any radio, has clear audio, and is loud. The only draw back is the battery and possible circuit problems. However, many of these are 30 plus years old and are still going strong. Also, it's not too difficult to keep spare batteries or just power it from the radio. This mic really fits the old saying that " They just don't make em' like they used to". It doesn't have the frequency response of the PR-40, or the great looks of the D-104, but it will talk rings around both of them. Put it to use during a pile-up and you'll see what I mean. For pure communicating, this mic is hard to beat. I own over fifty microphones. If I could only keep one for radio use, it would be the +3. No other mic I'm aware of will out-talk it.
DODGER1094 Rating: 2007-12-08
Ole Mic, best ever Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I need the internal wiring, I was changing the coil wire and didnt get it back together correctly, I need a photo of the wiring inside the base.
I have had it since 1973, and its been a loyal friend, I get great reports on audio quality even when I am not asking for it, standard is ( what mic are you useing ) it sounds good.
I hope it never dies. I have replaced the cartridge once, but it keeps on ticking
KD8EZU Rating: 2007-11-18
Can a 30 year old mike still amaze? Time Owned: N.A.
Use mine on my restored yaesu FT-101E. It has a crispness, clarity and power that helps me to be heard without using a amplifier.

Is it a super accurate , curl our toes, mid-bass enhancer mike?

Hell No!

What the Plus 3 ( and for that matter the SSK, +2, Expander 500 , etc) is , is a well made easy to key example of mid America ( Iowa ) craftmanship that has been replaced by Far East mass production.

It really modulates older rigs , be they tube or early transistor/Microprocessor.

If you can find one for under $70 I would buy it. Place a piece of tissue behind mike element to "tame" any excessive crispness, if you want to dampen it's tone.

Great old CB glory days mike with metal case and Chrome housing, plus a big old fat coiled cord.

Middle Class American craftwork that is now gone.

Buy one
VE3WMI Rating: 2007-10-10
I have two of them Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have two of them and I found them to be great, although I have been having problems it the mic to on the Icom 751, there peformance on the air is still good.


But I am in need of schematic diagram for the amplifier board in order to repair the second one. Does anyone have a copy that I could have???.

Ivan --- VE3WMI
DM7IC Rating: 2006-03-09
Strong and clear Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I had to put some Toilettepaper behind the Mic Capsula, to change the Audio charackteristic for SSB and till figuring that out the Audio didnt sound well on SSB. I used it with my Icom IC-765. My Friends said bombing Audio and very good to understand, always got good Audio Reports. Even when the Signals were very weak, people could read me in the noise. Best Mic for all uses I had untill now. None of any modern Mics come close to it!
W4HWD Rating: 2005-11-05
Great mic! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Used one on an old Cobra 85 23ch base CB back in 1983...put it on my Swan 270B when I got first licensed in 1989 (my 1st HF rig - a loaner from a local club), then my TS-130S then my TS-440S...tons of unsolicited compliments on my audio! If you can find one get it! A better mic than even the venerable D-104 in my opinion. Actually, the only desk mic that I have found that is as good as the +3 is the Kenwood MC-60A.
VK2YDD Rating: 2005-07-19
Great Mic Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Hi. Bought this Mic from a garage sale for $5.00. The body of the mic is in poor condition but the performance is great. It is a power mic so after i installed the 9v battery i connected to my Kenwood TS-440s and it worked a treat. Was getting good audio reports. The mic gain pot is sensetive and i found the 9 O'clock position was best.

If you see one cheap, get it..
KG6POG Rating: 2004-12-28
+3 & new HF rig Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought a Kenwood TS 480HX. The stock microphones doesn't sound bad, but I really wanted to see if the +3 would do it's magic on a new HF radio, the answer is yes.

I have been repeatedly been told the radio sounds great with the Turner on it. I have a Heil HM-5 that came with the radio coming in the mail and was going to replace the +3 with the Heil. Anyway I was telling someone that I expected to swap out the +3 when the Heil got here and I was told, "don't do it!" The person I was talking to really got a kick out of the idea I was running a 20 to 30 year old Turner +3 on a new Kenwood and the microphone sounding as good as it did. He said he would guarantee that the +3 would beat the sound of the Heil microphone.

Others have said the audio was excellent, clean, clear and loud without overdriving the radio. I haven’t had anyone say a bad word about the audio with the +3 in the month since I wired it to the Kenwood.

I can’t tell what it sounds like on the air, but when I record something on the digital recorder on the radio, the Turner is more articulate than the stock microphone by a considerable amount.

Naturally I will use the Heil, do some recordings and try to get side-by-side comparisons on the air. But for now the +3 is what I’m using.

Now I have to get a side by side with a Super Sidekick.

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Earlier 5-star review posted by KG6POG on 2004-11-23

I have a collection of mic's ranging from several flavors Astatic mic's, to several Turner Mic's. I had the Turner Super Sidekick wired to my RCI 2970DX and had better reports than I did with the Silver Eagle with the 10-Da head. I then put a +3B on the radio and was told it had more punch and had more clarity to it. I then plugged in a Turner +3 that is in near mint condition and I was told that the audio quality was better than the +3B. The 3B had slightly more punch to it, but the +3 was a much better sounding mic.
Now I have to find out how to wire it to the HF rig I have coming soon.
VE2AKV Rating: 2003-05-27
Very good mic! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The Turner plus 3 gived a lot of audio punch and a clear audio on ssb and am.
Construction is well made and very quality at all.
A vintage base station microphone made for old and new radio.

Normand Ve2akv mic. collector