Has anyone tried the new enhanced version of the talking house? Is it worth upgrading to? Its on sale for $195,thats $200 off!
I don't see anything representing an 'enhanced' version on either the Radio Systems or IAM sites. What leads you think there is any difference to the current v.5 unit?
I have two of the latest ones (that I know of). One is great, been using it 24/7 for more than a year, the other (same model) doesn't sound quite as good. I attribute that to manufacturing with whatever parts are cheap and available... thus different mfr'g runs produce some differences in sound quality.
To be honest, I, for one, am more interested in Phil's latest kit entry, the new AMT5000, when it becomes available. That's the one I want to try with a 12" dia. cage monopole.
The refresh button may be your enemy,its on the iAM website and has been for a while. Expand your horizons,probie! There was a thread discussing the enhanced units but just want to confirm is it that much better before taking the plunge. I have two of the $99 version 5's and looking for something better...
Both units were okay for almost a year then they both went downhill.
First thing i noticed was range went from 1/2 mile to barely 1000 feet and FM'ing. I sent one to a friend who is a real engineer and (as opposed to me, a shadetree engineer lol) he didn't have any luck either.While i do understand some members have had good luck out of TH units I chose to just stay away from those products altogether.
I am looking for someone who has bought and used the ENHANCED TH5 released since iAM took over,we all have and know all about the old junk,I wanna know if the ENHANCED version is worth the extra bucks! ! ! Thanks!
i.A.M. is a division of Radio Systems, Inc. i.A.M. has been selling the same unit for years, and yes, it is a better one than the previous versions ... but it isn't really something 'new'.
You didn't include a website, so which one are you referring to:
http://sales.talkinghouse.com/shop/item.aspx?itemid=30
(the only one I saw with any reference to the word 'enhanced')
http://www.iamradio.net/
http://www.talkinghouse.com/transmitterspecs.php
http://www.talkinghouse.com/
??
I'm totally convinced it is advertising hype ... IOW, it's the same thing ... I believe the latest version, the one I have (well actually I have two) IS, the 'enhanced' version. It's just that they have had to try and overcome poor reputation of the previous versions. BTW, I have one of those, too, and it's not nearly as good, doesn't even make a good paperweight, and certainly not a boat anchor, so I'm not sure why I still have it. I think I'll rip out the the tuner and see if it's worth playing with.
The $99.95 one is either a promo sale or a lesser version. In any case, I found both of mine on eBay for about $50.
Having said that, others have also reported various quality issues from unit to unit of the same model. With the digital effects, multi-band compression, and limiting I put on the signal before sending it through D/A conversion, on a good day without much atmospheric RFI during the day, it sounds just fine (albeit not stereo), often better than the FM pirate station when it was on the air around here.
It was the first one you listed,enhanced how? Notice there are no reviews!!!! I believe you are right,its hype sales. I was hoping they really made improvements,alas I must save my pennies for a Rangemaster I guess. I get 2 to 4 miles but it sounds like crap,I do love the autotuner though....
You love the autotuner so you're not using the external antenna connector.
I've been using the Talking House (old version II) for a few years now, it sounds ok. The bass is lacking a bit but some EQ'ing brings it back.
It and all the others I've purchased (I have 6) suffered from the "warbling" but I found that installing a trimmer cap on the PLL oscillator to "Net" the frequency seems to have eliminated that problem. I can zero it on my frequency (1500kHz)and if it drifts off more than a hundred Hertz I just bump it and it zeros back in.
The warble was only noticable under very weak signal conditions.
The only other problem was the autotuner needed some work as the mechanism would stall due to friction. I reamed out the piece that runs on the rails and that took care of that.
I do use the external ATU antenna option.
Could you provide details of your trimmer mod,what value cap and where it goes??? I read somewhere that someone had reworked theirs by changing a bunch of caps improving stability,warble and audio response.Anyone know more about this??? I have two and will dive into one very soon...
Mine is a TH II.
Near the front, middle of the main board is the PLL crystal. There are two through holes already in the board and I believe they are marked for a capacitor if I remember correctly though there was none installed.
I used a PC board mount air variable trimmer cap. The value was 10 to 160 pF.
My frequency was high and the trimmer brought it down. Once in a while the frequency increases slightly and I just bump the chassi and it generally comes right back where I want it. Obviously something must move slightly when I do that.
This mod only corrected the off frequency situation which got rid of the warble. If your frequency is already low this probably won't work.
And thats why I love my SSTran...
But hey, if this Talking House is worth fiddling with and I can get it cheap enough I might consider messing with one 😉