Microphone Model 215

Description

Ceramic type for hand held or desk top operation. Includes cable, PTT switch, and separate desk stand. Offers optimum articulation, free of power peaks, impervious to temperature and humidity changes.

Mods, Fixes, & Additional Info

Specifications

  • Element: Ceramic
  • Impedance: High
  • Response: 200 - 4000 Hz
  • Level: -50 dB level
  • PTT Switch: SPDT
  • Cable: 4', one conductor shielded, two conductors unshielded
  • Case: Die-cast Zinc and Cycolac®
  • Base: Die-cast Zinc
  • Color: Gray front, black back, gray stand
  • Height: 8.5" in base
  • Weight: Mic - 11 oz, base - 13 oz.

215P

  • In addition to above - 3-circuit (P)hone plug included.

215PC

  • In addition to above - 4' coiled (C)able, single conductor shielded, two conductors unshielded.

215, 215P, and 215PC Explained

By W8EK from the Ten-Tec Reflector, September 29, 1999:

When Al Kahn left Electrovoice and formed TenTec, he took with him the rights (and I think even the dies, etc.) for this mic. I don't remember the EV number, but the same mic was used by Drake with a number of their rigs. I do not recall Heath using it, but my memory may not be complete.

TenTec sold the mic a variety of ways. The 215 is the number for the plain mic and die cast base. The 215 P, had a 1/4 inch stereo plug on it (P for Plug), that was used with the Trition, Argonaut, Omni, etc. at the time. These all had a standard cord on them. Some time after the Triton series of rigs, TenTec came out with the 215 PC, which had a plug and a coiled cord on it. The coiled cord worked better with the Omni, but the Triton and Argonaut need a "non coiled" cord to reach the connector in the back.

In addition, there were 2 different color schemes. One was a gray color. Later models were more of a chocolate brown.

The mic could also be a 214 mic. The outside looks exactly the same as the 215, but inside is an electrolet condenser mic element. This mic element required a small (about 8 to 12 volts at less than 1 ma) polarizing voltage. In order to get this voltage, TenTec went to the 4 pin connector that was very common at the time. This worked fine, with a ground pin, mic audio, PTT, and the polarizing voltage. In some cases it was necessary to "find" a polarizing voltage. This was usually done with a 1 K resistor to the 12 V DC supply, with the resistor acting more as an isolation resistor than anything else. It was also for protection, in case someone connected the 12 V DC pin to something nasty (like the ground pin by mistake!).

To the best of my memory, all 214 mics had a coiled cord, and 4 pin plug, and were the chocolate brown color. The 214s would occasionally pick up RF, so a small RF choke was added inside the mic case. I do not remember any 215s having the RFI problem.

The freq response of both of these mics were great. TenTec furnished a sample of the curve with the instruction sheet of the mic.

73,

Ken, W8EK

Ken Simpson


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