I love the Internet. Heck, I make my living developing websites and producing content that appears on the Internet. And, it’s really a great source of information.
Unfortunately, it can also be a great source of misinformation. What prompts me to say this is a posting that I just ran across on eHow.Com. Titled, “How to Wire a Studio Microphone Cable for the Icom IC 735,” the article purports to tell you how to use a studio microphone with this HF transceiver.
Just about everything written is factually incorrect. For example, the author says:
The Icom IC 735 is a now discontinued HF transceiver designed for home-based radio frequency use. While using the transceiver, one can communicate with other individuals through an attached microphone. The microphone is XLR-based, allowing the user to run a microphone to the standalone receiver via a single XLR cable. To hear the communications, a pair of headphones is inserted into the microphone port on the front of the Icom IC 735.
He got the part about it being discontinued right, but everything else in that paragraph is wrong! I usually just blow off these nonsense postings, but in this case, I just couldn’t let this go.
Perhaps it’s because I have owned several IC-735s in the past and have recommended them to several of my friends, but also because I could imagine some new ham who just purchased an IC-735 at a hamfest somewhere trying to figure out how to connect his microphone to the rig. He reads this article, then goes to the nearest Radio Shack and buys an XLR connector, only to find out it’s not the one he needs. How frustrating!
Fortunately, eHow allows you to flag an article if it has incorrect information. I’ve done this, and I would encourage you to do something similar should you run into the same kind of misinformation on eHow or other websites.
Having said all that, and planting my tongue firmly in my cheek, let me assure you that anything you read here on KB6NU.Com is completely factually correct and you can trust it implicitly.
k8gu says
The author of the eHow article is not a ham, unless he has moved or changed his name since the article was posted. Radio Free Lansing?
Ken Coe says
Well stated, Dan. I also love the ending :)