New (cheap) Microphone for Yaesu and TYT TH-9800 Radios

On: By: K7DAA

MH-48 clone microphoneI found this inexpensive Chinese copy of the venerable Yaesu MH-48 mike on Amazon for $14.99.  At that price, even if the mike doesn’t sound as good as the original, you could open it up and pull out whatever replacement parts you need on your original mike, and throw the rest away!  Turns out that it actually sounds pretty good.  I bought one to try out on my TYT TH-9800 because I’m not too keen on the mike that ships with it.  Oh, it’s not horrible, but if you’re going to make a clone of a Yaesu radio, why not clone the mike as well?

That’s basically what this mike it–a true Chinese knockoff, right down to the “Yaesu Musen” small type and logo!  It pretty much feels like the MH-48 on your FT-1900, FT-2900, FT-8800, FT-8900 and etc.  The only difference I’ve found so far is that the PTT switch doesn’t have the nice tactile feel that the original does.  This one’s kinda squishy, but not horrible.

Anyway…if you’re going to try this out on your TYT radio, you’ll be disappointed to find that the PTT button doesn’t work.  Yaesu mikes run on 8 volts, and the TYT runs on 5v.  So, you have to open up the mike and parallel a 100 ohm resistor across another, then it works fine.

Click on the mike’s picture to go to its Amazon page.  For those with TYT radios that might want to try a “real” Yaesu mike, I’ve uploaded a pdf file containing the instructions for adding the resistor:

Yaesu MH-48 microphone with the TYT TH-9800

7 thoughts on “New (cheap) Microphone for Yaesu and TYT TH-9800 Radios”

  1. This is the replacement mic on my FT-8800 that you commented on the audio quality. It lacks the “warmth” of the original Yaesu microphone. And you have to back off it a little or it sounds over-driven. Also the LED back-light is about 5 times brighter than the original mic. But so far it has worked as intended.

  2. KA6YUG and I were talking about mobile radios (the kind to put in your vehicle), and I was wondering: is the TYT TH-9800 the mobile unit that can do 50 watts and also operate on 3 bands? 2 meters, 220, and 70 cm?

    KA6YUG mentioned this hypothetical mobile radio has some sort of audio problem, possibly in the mic. (Could that be solved by doing the mic swap in this post?)

  3. Worked perfectly… thanks guys (I chose a 100 ohm / .125 watt surface mount – a hood, a rework iron, and some tape to hold the resistor in place during soldering). Audio reports prefer the replacement mic –

    73’s Glenn (WA6BJQ)

  4. I ordered this mic and the number keys don’t register properly with the TYT 9800–for example, press “4” and radio hears “1”. Did I get a bum mic or is this mic not really compatible with the TYT 9800?

    Answered question on Amazon suggests mic won’t work with TYT 9800.

    1. I suppose my issue could be with the radio itself as it was purchased used. Willing to listen to opinions!

  6. Sorry I didn’t notice any of the comments, guys! I think one problem is that you need to have bought the exact model I did, rather than the one on eBay. If you click the picture of the mike, it will take you to the Amazon page where I bought mine. The seller’s brand is Zeadio, and it’s still the same price.

    I checked again just now, and my DTMF keypad works fine with the 100 ohm mod, but I managed to have an intermittent mike cable in the process, and I don’t know if I’m going to spend the time chasing it down. My mike audio also has a bit of a very low-level thrumming sound that people can hear when I transmit.

    It’s definitely not the same user experience as a real Yaesu FT-8800 or 8900, though. They are much more solid-operating radios than the TYT, and the combo of the TYT and the mike are not giving me any reason to do a happy dance. More like a “mehhh” kind of feeling. Sorry.

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