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Reviews For: Yaesu mh-36e8j

Category: Microphones for ham radio

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Review Summary For : Yaesu mh-36e8j
Reviews: 6MSRP: 55
Description:
DTMF microphone
Product is in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0063.5
W8GTX Rating: 2022-01-08
Nice replacement to the MH-31 used on the FT-991A Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
The mic that came with the FT-991A (MH-31 dynamic) is very muddy sounding in FM/Fusion-Digital mode, which is where I use this particular radio mostly. This mic improved FM/Digital sound quality quite a bit. You can change the fidelity on SSB with the EQ, but, there is no EQ for FM on this radio so mic choice is important. The MH-36e8j is a condenser element vs the dynamic element used in the stock mic, something to note. Several others with the 991A have noted the same improvement. BTW, the first mic I received, was bad. I had to crank the audio level up almost to 90% to be properly heard, plus, the fidelity was way off. Sounded pinched. HRO exchanged it right away
KG5PTE Rating: 2021-11-21
FT-991a Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Hi this mic is horrible with the FT-991a.
K7LZR Rating: 2014-10-21
Works well & sounds okay Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This really isn't a bad mic. The advantage over the stock mic for the FT-817 is DTMF encoding. This mic also has a condenser element rather than the stock mic with its dynamic element.

I don't see what the fuss is about. I haven't had any problems with this mic. It works fine and I've switched between it and the stock mic mid QSO without telling anybody and honestly they can't tell the difference and really neither can I.

I don't care for the top placement of the up/down buttons and I keep the button lock turned on at all times so as not to accidentally change frequencies. No big deal to me because I nearly never use the up/down buttons on any mic and find them to be more annoying than useful.

DTMF encoding on this mic works well, and I haven't had any problems with using DTMF commands on several repeater & echolink systems. Backlighting of the keypad is soft red and looks nice.

One wish is for an RJ45 jack on the mic itself as is done with the stock MH-31 mic because then one more easily switch between microphones if needed.

All-in-all this isn't a bad mic if you want DTMF for your Yaesu FT-8xx.

W9MT Rating: 2014-10-18
Certainly NOT plug-and-play Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Bought one of these for my FT-817 at HRO.

1. The price was great. HRO undercuts many other sources at $55.95 for this mike. Others may be pennies cheaper, but don't have the units in-stock like HRO does. (No, I don't work for or have any financial stake in HRO.)

2. I had to open up my mike because the up/down buttons didn't seem to have any "click-detent" action. The lightest touch on either button with the mike right out of the box made the frequencies change and the up or down scanning start. Fiddling around with the mike housing's front and back while tightening the screw in the hang-up button (once I found the "sweet spot") cured the problem. I was then able to tighten the bottom 2 screws without losing the "click action" of the top buttons. Now the mike (at least physically) "feels" like the e6j versions I have on my FT-90R and FT-2600 radios. I wonder if this is because these mikes are now sourced from Taiwan instead of Japan?

3. This mike provides DTMF encode during VHF/UHF repeater use.

It will NOT do direct frequency entry into the FT-817/857/897 series radios.

In fact while there are other mikes from Yaesu that WILL do this function with the 857/897 series radios, you need one of those funky aftermarket keypads to do this with the '817.

No mike available will do direct frequency with an '817. That's kind of sad, as the 6 pin versions of this microphone do that function on the FT-90R and FT-2600.

4. I agree with the other reviewer who said that the MH-36e8j needs to have its audio gain turned down on VHF/UHF. It really sounds tinny in a direct comparison to the stock MH-31 on 2m while listening to the audio on a talkie. So, to use this mike requires a menu adjustment...and then back again if returning to the stock mike.

So, while I like having it for the DTMF encode function, it's kind of "stunted" compared to it's look-alike 6 pin cousins used with Yaesu's VHF/UHF FM radios.
KA3RCS Rating: 2014-01-03
Excellent except for RFI susceptibility Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have two of these mics which I got for use with the FT-817. Unlike the stock MH-31A8J with its abysmally muddy dynamic element, this mic has a proper condenser element which generates very good audio.

Unfortunately, this mic (like its remote control brother, the MH-59A8J) has a serious RFI susceptibility problem. It took years until I finally realized that this mic was the reason why I had to add copious ferrite cores to every cable in my FT-817 portable outfit to be able to transmit without horrible noise or even no discernible transmit audio at all. I've tried adding bypass caps and small ferrite cores inside the mic, and have thus far not managed to cure the RFI. I plan to investigate the issue further and see if I can come up with a fix, as I have a significant investment in three similar mics.

One other point is that the cord on my oldest MH-36E8J (about 12 years old) has begun to deteriorate. It has been subjected to no abuse at all, so it must be a matter of the materials used.

In summary, if this mic is used far away from the antenna and with sufficiently low power, it works and sounds great. However, it is a poor choice for FT-817 portable use without additional RFI mitigation. The MH-67A8J (the stock mic for various Vertex commercial radios as well as the original FT-450) offers similarly great condenser element audio with no RFI problems, though it does not offer DTMF capability. There are similar commercial mics which offer 12-key and 16-key DTMF pads which might be a good match for the FT-817; I need to research them.
F4EPP Rating: 2006-04-26
Good but... Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Actually it's a good microphone but it isn't ok in all the ft-817 can do.
I mean it's excellent in HF ssb mode (important point in qrp isn't it ?) compared to the original mic, radio is much stronger and the impression to speak inside a box (as I call it)disapears.But things are different in VHF.
In the VHF FM I need to decrease the mic gain down to 35 percent because the radio becomes strident. In VHF SSB mode the radio is completly different than in HF and you'll need to settle the mic gain as well to avoid too highpitched voice like in FM.
Uhf is easier to settle and I would say radio is better than VHF modes.
A local station who has the same rig and mic doesn't have this problem at all and he could connect and speak instantly with a clear audio even with more than 50 percent mic gain ! I can't explain it but his rig and mic are older than mine( I bought them in 2005/2006). Versions problem ?...
However one thing is sure, DTMF works very good everytime...
I hope my review will help you if you have the same phenomenon.

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