Print PDF
Favorite
Email
Step 3Install the mic
You will need to install the condenser microphone element so that it can rest on top of the turntable while also oriented to the side (rather than facing straight up). I chose to accomplish this task by installing the mic element on top of a lightweight plastic bottle of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap. You will need to cut the bottom of the bottle off. It is helpful for the bottle to have a screw on cap as it gives a place for the mic to rest, wires to pass through into the bottle, and can also be used to break apart the mic housing, should you need to make any repairs.
First, I glued the microphone element's rubber holder to the top of the bottle cap. My condenser element came with wires already attached, so I ran those through the hole in the cap. If your condenser element does not have wires installed you will need to solder them yourself. The condenser element has a positive and a negative terminal on its back side and you can tell which terminal is negative by looking to see which one has a more "pointy" shaped pattern as opposed to a semicircle. When you solder the wires to the terminals be very careful to not leave the soldering iron on the connection for too long or too frequent as you will destroy the condenser element by overheating it this way.
Once the element is installed and glued to the bottle cap you will need to add a 1000pF capacitor across the two wires as shown in the diagram for the microphone on:
http://www.prosoundweb.com/recording/tapeop/buildmic/buildmic_16_1.shtml
We are still simply working with just the plastic bottle cap, mic element, and capacitor. Don't solder them to the the female TRS base, yet! Next, you will need to attach the wires with their capacitor (w/ two lead wires) to another set of wires to extend down to the female TRS base. Allow these wires to give some slack in case you need to twist off the cap to do repairs.
After you have the mic element with capacitor and slack wires attached you are ready to screw on the plastic bottle cap to the bottle. After you have screwed on the cap you can now solder the wires to the appropriate Ring and Tip connections as shown in the schematic. Make sure you leave the Sleeve unconnected (not connected to the Ring as is common in unbalanced cables utilizing balanced TRS or XLR connectors) as it will eventually connect with the common ground. You are now ready to test out your mic with the finished powering circuit to make sure that it works. If you are not having any luck getting the mic to work, double check your work and the schematics for the powering circuit and the mic circuit. Make sure that the mic and its input and output all share a common ground.
If the microphone is working you can now install the mic to the turntable (mounting the female TRS connector) and glue the plastic bottle to the turntable for extra support. Now your mic and turntable are complete!
First, I glued the microphone element's rubber holder to the top of the bottle cap. My condenser element came with wires already attached, so I ran those through the hole in the cap. If your condenser element does not have wires installed you will need to solder them yourself. The condenser element has a positive and a negative terminal on its back side and you can tell which terminal is negative by looking to see which one has a more "pointy" shaped pattern as opposed to a semicircle. When you solder the wires to the terminals be very careful to not leave the soldering iron on the connection for too long or too frequent as you will destroy the condenser element by overheating it this way.
Once the element is installed and glued to the bottle cap you will need to add a 1000pF capacitor across the two wires as shown in the diagram for the microphone on:
http://www.prosoundweb.com/recording/tapeop/buildmic/buildmic_16_1.shtml
We are still simply working with just the plastic bottle cap, mic element, and capacitor. Don't solder them to the the female TRS base, yet! Next, you will need to attach the wires with their capacitor (w/ two lead wires) to another set of wires to extend down to the female TRS base. Allow these wires to give some slack in case you need to twist off the cap to do repairs.
After you have the mic element with capacitor and slack wires attached you are ready to screw on the plastic bottle cap to the bottle. After you have screwed on the cap you can now solder the wires to the appropriate Ring and Tip connections as shown in the schematic. Make sure you leave the Sleeve unconnected (not connected to the Ring as is common in unbalanced cables utilizing balanced TRS or XLR connectors) as it will eventually connect with the common ground. You are now ready to test out your mic with the finished powering circuit to make sure that it works. If you are not having any luck getting the mic to work, double check your work and the schematics for the powering circuit and the mic circuit. Make sure that the mic and its input and output all share a common ground.
If the microphone is working you can now install the mic to the turntable (mounting the female TRS connector) and glue the plastic bottle to the turntable for extra support. Now your mic and turntable are complete!
| « Previous Step | Download PDFView All Steps | Next Step » |
 |
Add Comment
|
