Your signal might get worse with it out if you're not driving the radio hard 
enough with it out. With the preamp on, it will make you louder, so that 
will drive the radio more and on SSB, make your signal better, unless you 
take it too far but with the newer radios it's almost impossible to over 
drive. You can do it, but it's not easy. with the preamp out, you can turn 
up the mic gain and your signal may go up too to a point. Usually, if that 
EQ in the radio is like most of the newer Kenwood radios, usually you'd set 
that to conventional, base boost is way way too much base, high cut, is 
almost painful to listen to, flat is way too flat, conventional sounds good, 
and I think you need software for the other setting. That's if it's the same 
as most Kenwood radios, I don't know about the 480 not having one, but that 
may help. In fact I'd say it will if it's the same. Me personally, I've 
never sounded all that great with the MC-60A, good enough, but not like I 
want except on the TS-440. I never hooked the W2IHY box and a better mic to 
that one so I have no clue what that would have lead to.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "T Behler" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, October 18, 2008 9:05 PM
Subject: status update on MC60 problem with TS480


> Hi, all.
>
> Well, this evening, I made the ground connection that has been discussed 
> as
> a way to solve the RFI problem with the MC60 mic, when used with the 
> TS480.
> I screwed one end of a 14-gauge piece of wire to the base of the mic, and
> the other to the ground screw on the TS480 using spade lugs.
>
> I did a test on 75 meters, which seemed to be the band where the problem 
> had
> been most apparent, and it looks like I might have solved the problem.
>
> However, the people I talked to said my audio needed more base, so I may
> still have to work with the TX equalization settings on the 480 to see 
> which
> setting might sound best.  Right now, I have the TX equalization set to
> "off".
>
> I did notice one interesting thing, though.
>
> Even with the new ground connection, my audio gets much worse when I 
> switch
> the pre-amp to "out".  If it is "in", I get good audio reports.  Wouldn't
> the "in" setting mean the pre-amp is in the circuit?  Why would my signal
> get worse with the pre-amp "out"?
>
> Still learning here, obviously.
>
> 73 from Tom Behler:  KB8TYJ