Cycle25.ca YouTube: Bob Heil - "The Science of Audio"

Every time Bob opens his mouth, someone learns something. We're lucky to have him in the ham community.

 

Probably not too many compliments either, though. I've been surprised these last few days - I bought an FT-991A new a few weeks ago and operated it with the supplied stock mic for a while. Then I found a Heil HM10 Dual that I've had unused for a few years and swapped the plug for an RJ45 with Yaesu wiring - multiple people remarked on how good the audio is. I also tried it into a nearby WebSDR and was impressed myself. My voice is quite bass and does not carry well in DX situations - I typically try to address this with the equaliser in the radio, but it is difficult to get it sounding natural and also carrying well. The Heil elements seem to get it right with the equaliser set completely flat...

Martin (G8FXC)

 

It's a balance, if you pardon the pun. I don't seek audio reports, but most people report it's 'good' or 'fine'. At £15, that's good for me. Then again, the last time I used SSB was down at the beach with 5W to VK, using what is probably a £2 stock mic on a FT818.

Horses for courses, is what we can agree on, I guess.

 

Great presentation and history presented here. BUT... the obvious question is - Why does this 'Science of Audio' video have such poor quality audio?! A bit ironic.

 

Bob is one COOL Cat .

 

What an absolutely amazing story! I can really relate being a ham radio operator as well as guitarist /keyboardist in a rock n' roll band. Been playing music nearly 50 years now and on the air about 26. I get where he's coming from with loudness and the articulation of music / sound. That 2.5 k is a BIG deal and even more so when your near 60 yrs old and your hearing is going bad from LOUD SOUND, LOL! AND...I've always adjusted 100 hz because it is so critical of either being mud or clear. With all of that, I love Mr. Heil's story because these are stories of pure legend, the REAL DEAL! Thank you sir for taking the time to make this video, it means a lot. Everyone have a very blessed and most excellent day!

 

I wanted to add that in the mid 1970's all this PA thing was still sort of new. To be a kid in a rock band meant you needed a PA. We were impressed with the giant speakers we saw on stages and TV. Of course being 15 years old you don't have a lot of money and so you had to get creative just to get your vocals out there. Sometimes it was an extra guitar IF...you were so lucky to have such a thing just sitting about. Some small bands were still using the little 25 watt PA's from days of old which was nothing more than a small amplifier with a speaker or two in a box and a couple of inputs for mics and most of the time high impedance. I mean it was just whatever you get your hands on for a PA. Things were changing though and small pro PA's were coming out, NOT Cheap! My first PA was a thing I saw in a Montgomery Ward catalog that had two columns with 4 10" speakers each, a 75 watt mono amp and a 6 channel mixer. Each channel had volume, tone and reverb and that was it. The main section had volume, treble, bass and reverb controls. That was a huge step up. Next it was the PA wars with every growing numbers of channels, speakers and power. The point of all this is Thanks to guys like Mr. Heil. The fact the BIG stuff was out there got us thinking about what we could do to sound better even on the small stage. And yeah, by the time I was 15 I was the only kid around that'd studied up on how to hook up a PA system. By the time we got to the 12 channel Yamaha boards with monitor send and big JBL's with 18" woofer cabinet and the mid-high cab that set on top I knew how to hook this up. Not only that but I used the old smaller PA for a monitor system.