Turner SSK no modulation

[Titan7stg]

Picked this up off eBay, cosmetics are great, wired it up but it’s not working. Suggestions for what to check, really hoping it’s something simple.

Thx

[51]

Try this:

TX - Black
RX - Red
AUDIO - White
Sheild - Braided

this comes from the turner mic wiring book

[Titan7stg]

Thanks, that’s how I already wired and tested it, but nothing, new battery also.

[51]

what functions are not working?
what is working? (tx rx,etc)

[Titan7stg]

Sorry, audio, it will key up but no modulation.

[51]

so tx and rx is fine, just no audio?

[jessejamesdallas]

Could be a broke or loose wire in the head connecting to the Mic element...To get to it all you have to do is remove the sticker on back of the mic head and there's a phillip screw under the sticker that you have to remove (long screw) Once you remove the screw, the head will come apart exposing the wires...If the head is a little loose from the neck, you will also see another small screw that you can tighten up to secure the head to the neck tighter if it needs it.

Just be careful taking the head apart because the two wires inside are small and can pull off the element, so have a good grip on the head once you remove the retaining screw behind that sticker.

[MDYoungblood]

Because of it's age and being used, probably has had it's share of soldering irons on it's cord as well as maybe being rewired inside. The original SSK was only a 4 wire cord and could only be used with a relay switching radio, they made a kit consisting of a set of contacts to rewire it for the newer electronic switching, the problem might be there. Check the contacts and make sure it is right, BTW, what radio are you wiring it for?

3's

Greg

[51]

Could be a broke or loose wire in the head connecting to the Mic element...To get to it all you have to do is remove the sticker on back of the mic head and there's a phillip screw under the sticker that you have to remove (long screw) Once you remove the screw, the head will come apart exposing the wires...If the head is a little loose from the neck, you will also see another small screw that you can tighten up to secure the head to the neck tighter if it needs it.

Just be careful taking the head apart because the two wires inside are small and can pull off the element, so have a good grip on the head once you remove the retaining screw behind that sticker.

exactly, just get out the old multimeter and signal trace the audio wire from the element to the plug. probably a break somewhere. if all checks out good, although rare, a frozen/stuck element cold be the cause as well. after all the mic is old.

[Titan7stg]

Thanks guys, the mic has the original 4 wire cord, I hooked it up to my SBE Console II. I have another working SSK, I picked this one up to use on my ICOM 7300 HF rig. So I checked continuity on the audio wire white and red both were giving about .26 ohms resistance. I opened the mic head and there is a yellow and black wire attached to the element. The yellow wire showing .023 ohms when tested with the white wire at the plug side, the black wire at the element showed “open” when I tested on the black wire at plug side, it was showing .53 ohms resistance when I clippped onto the red wire at the plug. So it appears to me there is no short in the element wires. How can I test the element?

[51]

Microphones always come with a certain impedance rating. The impedance values of microphones usually are between 1KΩ and 3KΩ. Check the datasheet of the microphone to know what impedance the microphone has. However, if you can't find this, just measure the microphone impedance across the terminals. If it falls within this impedance range, the microphone should be good.

When measuring the impedance of the microphone using a multimeter, place on probe on one terminal of the microphone and the other probe on the other terminal of the microphone. Because your measuring resistance, polarity doesn't matter, so it doesn't matter which probe is on which terminal. When measuring the resistance, a good microphone will have an impedance just around its impedance rating. Therefore, a 2.2KΩ microphone will have a resistance of having 2.2KΩ. It may be a little lower or a little higher, but if it's around this range, the microphone should be good and function properly. If this is the case, it's most likely something wrong with the circuit and not the microphone.

Reading Bad Impedance

When measuring microphone impedance, you may not read a value that the microphone is rated for. This means that the microphone is bad.

Low Impedance

If the microphone is measuring at a very low impedance, such as near 0Ω, the microphone is bad. It is reading a short across it. Likely something on the inside of the microphone broke and the positive and negative terminals are shorted together.

In a case like this, the defective microphone must be replaced by a good one.

High Impedance

If the microphone is measuring at a very high impedance, such as several MΩ, the microphone is definitely bad. It is reading a high impedance because there is a broken connection in it from the positive to negative terminal and the open path creates a very high resistance, since it's open.

In a case like this as well, the defective microphone must be replaced by a good one.

[Titan7stg]

Thanks, any tips of safely getting the element cartridge out of the chrome head?

[51]

just disassemble the mic slowly and carefully, it shouldn't be to hard to get at it

[Titan7stg]

Ok I will give it another shot, I did push on the back of the element but it did not budge, will look again,

Thx

[51]

you dont have to pop the element out, if you cant get to it just unsolder the two element wires where they connect to the ptt switch and measure it from there.

[arcone]

I would measure the voltage across the insert, preferably with it disconnected as some switching types short the mic line to ground. Put your multi meter in the AC voltage mode on a low range. I do not know what kind of cartridge this mic has, so if it is a digital multi meter the lowest range may be too low for ceramic cartridges and not register, I've seen these put out more than 2V! Make some noise into the insert and see if you get a reading. A comparison with the working mic would be good too. This is a good starting point, if the insert has a decent output, you can then trace to the board and so forth. It could be anything from wiring, faulty switch, bad electrolytic in the board, blown transistor, no power getting to the board. Next I would check that the wiring is all good and correct and that you have continuity in the switch, you have another working mic to compare. If it has a 9V battery snap, check that the wires aren't broken behind the terminals. To find out, see if there's a voltage at the board end. Another trick to see if the board is functioning, somewhat, is if it is drawing any current. Short of using an ammeter, put a volt meter across the battery and see if the voltage reduces slighty when you key the mic, a little dip is normal. I have even seen it drop to zero because there was a dead short (dodgy wiring or bad electrolytic on the DC line). Microphone repair is my specialty and I have seen some really unusual things over the years, let us know how you go if you're still interested, in finding the fault that is.
Jeremy.

[arcone]

I looked up your mic and recall working on one where the 4 pin IC had failed, I believe it was a two transistor integrated circuit amplifier that is now obsolete. I could not source one here in Australia, there were some on ebay, but they were counterfeits. So being a turner with a good ceramic cartridge, I thought it worthwhile to build a simple circuit from scratch based on the Astatic D104 M6 twin FET schematic (high impedance input). The microphone then worked again and exceptionally well, with a slightly lower output than the original.
Jeremy.

[kf4eyr]

nobody made mention but there is 2 pots on this mike one on top and one in the little hole on the bottom i would check and make sure the one on bottom is turned up,,, for my ssk to match to a first generation president washington i have radio at half way modulation the top control on mike at half way and the bottom control on mike barely open,,,,i have seen a lot of frustrated ops because they cant get ssk mike to match up to their setup because they do not know about the bottom control,,,,