What kind of microphone do you use?

[AF6LJ]

I use cheap Chickenband set mics found at the swapmeet. Any old mic will do. Although Bob Heil's mics are the preferred ones, I am only interested in getting somewhat intelligible audio through a pileup. I don't care if the person on the other end thinks my voice sounds distorted or has the right highs and lows. The ONLY and I mean ONLY important thing is that he understand the letters of my callsign (and the 6 too). He only needs to know I am saying "W A 6 M H Z". Anything else I say is irrellavant to Ham radio!

That works...
It's all about getting the message from point A to point B...
Stock Hand mike here on the Icoms.
Chickenband mike on the Tempo and Kenwood.
I have a D-104 that needs a little TLC I may use in the future....

[WG8Z]

Shure sm-58 on the Boom, Shure 522 for the Desk, Shure wh-20 for the Headset.
If their good enough for Rock/n/Roll they should do fine for Amateur Radio.

[KA9MOT]

Cheap MXL 990 with a home brew (not by me) 48V phantom power supply. It has replaced my $1 computer mic. Both mics got great audio reports.

[N8DRC]

Heil ICM on a boom, Heil Foot Switch on a Icom-746

[AD4DQ]

I use Turner desk mic's with Ceramic elements. One has the factory element. The others had bad elements so I replaced them.
I also have 1 Shure 444 which is pretty nice too.

[J85K]

What kind of microphone do you use on HF and why?

I use a Shure SM 2 (Stereo) broadcast headset microphone.

Initially, I was loaned a single-sided Shure SM 12A (designed for drummers / guitarist etc) which fit into the ear canal; and it is a 'love or hate' decision. It allowed me to listen at extremely low volumes for long periods, while keeping the microphone optimally positioned to my mouth. Two hands on the key board (via foot-switch) is a big plus, plus!
One day I got up from the operating position and snagged the line. SM 12A is no longer manufactured, and I was obliged to convert to SM2. Same microphone element.

I do plan to try the Sennheiser HMD 26-600S single-sided headphone in the future......

[K3ROJ]

I used the SM20 desk mic for my ICOM 756 PRO which is great. However, with my recent purchase of a Flex 5000A, we use the Heil PRO40 boom mounted since the Flex radio has balanced Mic input.

[WA6MHZ]

I would sure LOVE to have a Heil mike!!! But at HRO they are towards $200!!! HOLY MACKERAL!!!

[WA7PRC]

I would sure LOVE to have a Heil mike!!! But at HRO they are towards $200!!! HOLY MACKERAL!!!

There's a reason they're not giving them away. They're not junque though they're priced high. 99% of the time, I use a Heil ProSet Plus headset with their FS2 footswitch. For ragchewing, I use the HC-5 mic element. For DX-ing and contesting, I use the HC-4 element. In either case, the microphone is always in the right spot. The phase reversal switch for the earphones sometimes makes the difference when trying to pull a weak station out of the QRN/QRM.

Once in a blue moon, I'll use an inexpensive unidirectional dynamic RS microphone (#33-3038, $20) that has a pretty doggone flat response. I'm often told "it sounds like a Heil". I spent more on the Hercules MS-540B low-rise long-reach boomstand ($50). It's mounted to the shelf above my operating table.

Headset or not, I don't have a bulky microphone stand base in my way right in front of me.

[W6UV]

Heil headset.