Radio amateur, experimenter and evil genius.
Just a quick post about the stock microphone on the Icom IC-7200. If you have a “made in China” version of the HM-36 then you can make your audio a lot better.
Forget messing around with the mods listed over the internet and jump right in with a kit from AB5N. His microphone element along with the associated modifications will transform your HM-36 into a great sounding microphone.
I tried 4 different modifications and the AB5N came out on top. Highly recommended.
I’m a keen user of ALE on the HF bands and recently purchased an Icom IC-7200 to use as a dedicated ALE station. I picked the IC-7200 as I liked the form factor, the fact that is is a dedicated HF radio and that it has a built in USB interface. The only problem with using the IC-7200 for ALE use is that the TX bandpass filters are switched in and out using relays as the radio scans through the bands. This causes an annoying “click, click, click” sound when the radio is changing bands and, when scanning at 5 frequencies per second, can put considerable wear on the relays. Luckily, there is a fix for this problem…
