Posted: 2/19/2008 8:12:15 PM EDT
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Speaker-mike or headset? Ass-you-me'ing that you were just getting one? Or is there a compelling reason to get both? And which, of both, is best--I may add a poll on this one, depending on response. ETA: Title changed to reflect broader application. Thanks! |
Get both, or it depends.....  I can see valid reasons for both, depending on what you use the radio for. Working a parade, in a shelter, or inside an EOC might be a good reason for a headset. A speakermic is less cumbersome to wear, and with an earpiece does a good job on=f a headset for some users. |
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Hard to beat OEM for any speakermics, hard to pay the price somedays, but anything like MFJ is priced that way for a reason. Bye quality, but it once. Headsets are an unknown besides heil as far as amateur brand stuff goes. You could get sexy and buy a david clark, but that would double the price of the HT Would this be for stationary use or walking/hiking? High noise environment or mobile/hamfest type of noise levels? |
Used Dave Clarks in the Army, overrated,IMHO.
Yes...  Or no. Whatever. Which is why I'm willing to at least consider both, but if |
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I've got the OEM speaker mic and it works well. I use it most of the time but there are cases (as already mentioned) where it's nice to be able to isolate the audio. I picked up a cheap ($25) MFJ headset (not sure of the model # off the top of my head) at the last hamfest just because I didn't feel like dropping the jack on the Heil. It worked well enough during last Sunday's marathon. Another reason I held out on the Heil is that I'm hoping they'll finally come out with an adapter for the 8800. I'd really like a headset for it. Reeeeeeeeeeeeeally. |
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Speaker mics and headsets are good for close range tactical or for areas where you are close to the repeater. You will find that the WT range is severly reduced by having it next to your body on your belt or harness. I would like to buy a couple of headsets, but for now the speaker mic with an earbud will have to do. RS |
But you can only TX with the PTT on the adapter, so don't walk too far away Still looks neat, but it would cost 200% more than what the HT1000 cost  VOX on the Johnsons FTW! |
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The nice thing about a head set is operational security. Say your working comms for some emergency, while nothing that goes over the HAM bands is encrypted, or even a real "secret", there's lots of stuff people don't need to hear in an emergency, ESPECIALLY MESSAGE FRAGMENTS. With a headset, you can copy your traffic, and direct it to the receiving party and they can distribute the info per their operational requirements. |
| Personally a headset is more for noise mgmt than anything else. When I'm operating in an emergency or special event scenario there is typically a wealth of radio traffic creating a cacophony of noise. The headset lets me focus on what I need to be hearing without having to strain to pull it out of the surrounding noise. |