Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes

Reviews For: Heil HC 5.1 Retro Element kit

Category: Microphones for ham radio

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.
Review Summary For : Heil HC 5.1 Retro Element kit
Reviews: 15MSRP: 59.00
Description:
New life for the old Astatic D-104 or any vintage microphone with our conversion kit which includes our low impedance 600 ohm HC 5.1 dynamic element, with great speech articulation. It works great straight into Elecraft, Kenwood, Yaesu and most later ICOM rigs. Icom usage requires the supplied decoupling capacitor on the audio line (phantom powered 8 volts). http://www.heilsound.com/amateur/harmonics.htm#DC

For the high impedance vintage rigs, the kit includes one of our XT -1 high impedance transformers. A mounting ring and cover foam is included to mount the HC 5 element.

NOTE for ICOM USERS: Be certain to decouple the ICOM 8 volts! A 1 mfd. non polar capacitor with instructions is included for use with ICOM radios.

This is a great way to get all of your vintage microphones back on the air!

Product is in production
More Info: http://www.heilsound.com/amateur/hcelements.htm
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
14154.3
K1VCT Rating: 2023-01-08
Good but not "excellent" Time Owned: more than 12 months.
(update, forgot to include....)
Heil ships the element and "kit" with a impedance matching transformer. For use on my IC-7300, the transformer is a must do. Not doing so will give very poor results. However, with the transformer, you get as good as almost every other dynamic mic. Each has its own response, of course. For _my_ voice, I run "+3" on bass and "0" on treble. To avoid proximity effect its best to keep the "4 finger" distance between the element and mouth while speaking.

(original review....)

I've had one for a long while, several years. Installed in a D104 that I got with great exterior, but nasty element.

I've used it with an IC-7200 and IC-7300. In both instances the radios had to have mic gain turned up a bit - not 100 percent though. Maybe 75 percent or so.

Heil states that the mic should be close talked. When close talked, things get much better, mic gain down to 50 percent, but a bit of proximity bass effect. The proximity effect is not as severe as some mics.

The element itself has a fairly flat response when used at 4 inches or so.

Since D104 elements are not available, this is one way to give life to a classic.
KX2T Rating: 2022-02-08
Not for Icom's But everything else is Fine Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This kit will work really well for Yaesu and Kenwoods but the mic pre amp in the Icom radio's just do not have enough gain in there mic pre amp stages for these mic's element to work and for that mater almost all of Heils mic's unless they are electret condenser types in which 8v powers that type of mic element. Even if you install the blocking cap on the mic line you have to run your mic gain at full just to get some output.
Icom's have been design around electret condenser mics for some time now. Same thing on the head set boom types there Pro IC works fantastic on Icom but doesn't match well with the other brands that are designed around dynamic mic's.
VA7UO Rating: 2019-02-21
Save your money Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Bought one of these, bad move. You have to run full compression/audio to get anything out of this. Might be good for Kenwood but sucks on Icom.
WB3IOA Rating: 2018-10-25
Great upgrade element Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have a beautiful classic Astatic T-3 microphone on a D-104 grip stand. But the original crystal high impedance element was not compatible with my Kenwood TS-440S transceiver. I saw the Heil HC 5 retro kit on DX Engineering's web site and ordered it. I get very good audio reports consistently. On air comparisons against my Kenwood mic vs. the retro kit always give Heil retro kit the preference. Very nice kit, installed easily with a bit of custom fitting. I've been using it over a year now and simply love it. Thank you, Heil, for letting me enjoy my T-3 classic!
W8KMA Rating: 2018-06-06
Must have missed something Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Tried this Retro Element with a D104 G stand to use on a Icom 746. After the conversion, the old hand mic was still much better than the D104 with the 5.1 element. Even tried the head on a amplified stand just for laughs.. It was much better, but nothing compared to the original element. I just can't believe how little output this 5.1 element has. If anyone wants to try it, I'm done with it... Very disappointing. Maybe I got a dud element...
N5TEH Rating: 2015-10-24
Excellent Product! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I purchased this conversion kit from DX Engineering about a year ago and I think they still sell them. The conversion was simple. I also replaced the cable and connector with Heil microphone cable and connector. My D-104 was given to me many years ago by an Elmer and was in storage for a number of years. I didn't want this unique, classic microphone to go to waste and the Heil conversion kit brought this classic new life. I use it with my standby rig, a Kenwood TS-480 SAT, and I have received very good audio reports with this microphone
WA4FOM Rating: 2015-10-24
Bob really should bring this one back! Time Owned: more than 12 months.

I had a battle-scarred D-104 I purchased on eBay a while back. Its cable was dry-rotted, and the base, not much more than cardboard, was badly warped. I gutted the mic, and said "what the Heil? Let's do this right". I bought one of the D-104 conversion kits, along with a roll of HeilWire and one of his easy-to-manipulate mic connectors.

After performing the conversion, I replaced the old rotted cable with the Heilwire, then took some 1/8" hobby plywood and cut a new base and fitted it with some stick-on rubber feet.

My last step was to get my hands on a can of Brasso (brass cleaning polish) and some old (but clean!) undershirts for buffing. After the gentle application of some elbow grease, the mic shines like a chrome lollipop.

Now that I've dished up a big plate of self-serving tripe, on to the real review. I'll keep it short, unlike the rest of this dissertation.

Needless to say, the microphone sounds better than new. I'd buy at least three more of these kits if I could find them.
VA3PUX Rating: 2014-03-02
Great product Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I ordered the Heil Retrofit kit with the 5.1 element from DX Engineering last week.
It arrived in a few days and was very easy to install in a TUG-8 D104.

I removed the amplifier from the base and wired the microphone to my Flex 3000.
The default transmit profile did not sound very good but PowerSDR ships with a
Heil 4/5 profile and it sounds fantastic. Nice to see the D104 back in service
with a modern radio.

Be aware that the element has a polarity to it and needs to be wired as such.

Great product and a quick call to Heil answered all my questions.

I would buy this product again without question.
K9RJ Rating: 2011-05-07
Excellent upgrade Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I updated my D-104 that I have been using on my Collins KWM-380. Sounds great. I can also add the transformer and use it on the KWM-2A. D-104 looks like a real mic.
Harris K9RJ
W4RKS Rating: 2011-05-07
Works as expected. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Easy to install in my old D-104 head. Looks like a D-104, works like a Heil HC5. Good reports on my low impedance K3.