Microphone build guide.

This guide will explain how to build an excellent multipattern tube microphone.
All components are of the highest quality: Styroflex, Wima and Panasonic capacitors,
1% metal film resistors, a special quality EF806S tube, selected for noise and most
important of all, a high quality microphone capsule.

But first a word of warning:

Do not touch anything inside the microphone when the power supply is
connected. The microphone works with high voltages, that in some situations
can be lethal. When you work on the microphone, ALWAYS disconnect the
power supply. Even when the power supply is switched off, the capacitors
inside the power supply will keep a high voltage for a long time.

As long as you keep this in mind, there isn’t very much that can go wrong.
It might be a good idea to read through this information before you effectively start
assembling the microphone, so you will have an idea about the steps that will follow.

The microphone electronics are build on 3 small round printed circuit boards (PCB’s).
We will assemble the separate boards one by one and build them later together.

The three circuit boards are marked: ‘Tube’, ‘Power’ and ‘Transformer’.
We start with the ‘Tube’ printed circuit board.

Usually you will start with the smallest components first and the bigger components
later.
But in this case a different order is advisable, with a reason.
First we place the 9 pin tube socket on the PCB and make sure that it is pushed in as
far as possible and is flat on the board.
Maybe it is necessary to bend the pins of the tube socket a little.
Take care that pin 9 of the tube socket doesn’t touch the PCB.

When this is the case, solder the 8 pins of the tube socket.
Next we prepare a 1 G.ohm resistor and solder it to the PCB at one side.
(The color codes for the resistor can be found in the bag with the resistors.)
Prepare the end of the resistor that is not yet soldered in such a way that it touches
pin 9 of the tube socket.
Cut the end of the resistor wire at the other side of the PCB after soldering flush with
the PCB.

Next step is to push in the teflon feedthrough pin. It should be a tight fit, so that it
doesn’t fall out.

Now prepare a 1000 pF (1 nF) styroflex capacitor.

This capacitor should be soldered between the teflon feedthrough pin, and pin 9 of
the tube socket, where the 1 G.ohm resistor already is. If everything fits right, solder
the capacitor to the teflon feedthrough pin and pin 9 of the tube socket.
Take care not to overheat the styroflex capacitor, because a too high temperature
will cause damage!

Now mount another 1 G.ohm resistor on the other side of the PCB..
One side is again soldered to the PCB, the other end to the teflon feedthrough pin.

If you have finished this, the most critical part of this circuit is done.
Now place and solder the two 100 M.ohm resistors. Values are indicated on the PCB.
Finally place and solder the two (red) 10 nF (0.01uF) capacitors, the 1 K.ohm Rc*
(Cathode) resistor and the 47 uF electrolytic capacitor.
The 1 K.ohm (Rc*) resistor sets the tube bias.
The electrolytic capacitor is a polarized component, so take care that the polarity is
correct!

After this step, the tube PCB is finished for the moment.

Next we prepare the Power PCB:

First put in and solder the two 2.2 M.ohm or 2.0 M.ohm resistors.
(2.2 M marked on the silkscreen of the PCB.)
The absolute value is not critical, as long as the two values are the same. The value
of these resistors doesn’t by any means influence the performance of the
microphone, they are only used as a voltage divider.

Next add and solder the 10 K.ohm resistor and the 100 K.ohm resistor.
Values are marked on the silkscreen.
Finally put in and solder the two yellow polypropylene 1uF capacitors.
These capacitors are not polarized, so it doesn’t matter how they are inserted.

After this step, the Power PCB is also finished.

Next we prepare the transformer PCB.

Stretch the 1 mm thick tinned copper wire and cut it in two pieces.
Now first test if the transformer fits in the hole of the transformer PCB.
If necessary, use a file to carefully make the hole in the PCB a little bit wider, so that
the transformer fits in the PCB without applying any force.
Now bend the two 1 mm. tinned copper wire pieces in an ‘U’-shape.
You can bend the wires around the transformer, to get the correct shape.
Insert the transformer as shown and slide the two ‘U’ wires over it.
Solder the wires to the PCB in such a way that the transformer can’t move.
Cut the excess length of the 1 mm. wires after soldering.
Now shorten and strip the transformer wires and tin the ends.
Push the wire ends in the corresponding holes of the PCB.
The connection points are marked with the color of the corresponding wire:
Blue, Purple, Brown and Red.
You can use the (gray) pieces of silicon tubing to hold the wire pairs together, of
simply twist the wire pairs together.
Solder a blue and a purple wire to the open spots of the transformer PCB.
The holes in the PCB are very close together:

Putting it all together

Now all three PCBs are assembled, the moment has come to build everything
together.
First we take the piece of 0.6 mm (thin) tinned copper wire and cut 3 pieces of
approximaly 5 centimeter (2 inches).
Wind the wire pieces 1 turn around a 3 mm. (1/8”) drillbit, or a small screwdriver.
This ‘curl’ will absorb any tension on the solder joints, if the wire between the two
PCBs expands or shrinks, because of temperature differences.
Now solder the three pieces of wire on the PCB, with the ‘curl’ about 1 cm. above the
PCB surface. Use the holes marked: Gnd, Vp and A.
Now connect wires to a couple of spots on the PCB:
A green wire to ‘Output’.
Two black wires to ‘Gnd’.
A red wire to ‘+’
Use a short piece of shrinktube to hold the wires together and lead them all through
one hole in the PCB.
 Now temporarily screw the PCB between two distance bolts on both sides:

Put on the Tube PCB and connect the wires we have just added to the Power PCB to
the corresponding points (‘A’, ‘Gnd’ and ‘Vp’)
This is easier if the three wires have different lengths.

Solder the wires and cut off the excess length. Now we solder a couple of wires to
the other spots on the Tube PCB: a yellow wire to ‘f’ and an orange wire to ‘Pat.’.
Lead the wires through the hole in the PCB.
The whole construction should now look something like this:

Next, with a 3.2 or 3.5 mm. Drillbit, drill out the thread of one ‘leg’ of the four “L”
brackets.
Mount two of the “L” brackets under the ‘Power’ PCB.
To keep the wiring together, you can put a piece of shrink tube over the wires and the
long distance bolt and heat the shrinktube.

Now we secure the transformer PCB on the bottom of the construction.

Here we add two “L” brackets and a solder lug for the ground connection, like this:
Take care that the “L” brackets don’t damage the winding of the transformer!
(If needed, use a file to reduce the length of the leg of the “L” bracket a little that
touches the transformer.)
Connect one of the black wires (= brown wire from the transformer) and the green
wire (=red wire from the transformer) to the transformer PCB.
The black wire is also connected to the solder lug and grounds the microphone
enclosure. This is very important to prevent any hum in the finished microphone!

Lead all the remaining wires through the hole in the transformer PCB.
These wires will be connected to the connector in the bottom of the microphone.

Now you can insert the EF806S tube in the tube socket.
If it is difficult to insert the tube (don’t apply too much force!), it might help to insert
the end of a straightened paperclip in all the socket pins first, to expand the contacts
a little.
If everything is done as it should, the whole construction should now look like this:

Now connect the wires from the microphone to the connector part that goes into the
bottom of the microphone body.
Don’t forget to slide the locking nut over the wires first!
Connect the wires to the following pins of the connector:

Pin 1 : Red (+120 V.)

Pin 2 : Yellow (+6.3 V)
Pin 3 : Orange (Pattern, 0...+120 V)
Pin 4 : Black (Ground)
Pin 5 : Purple (Audio)
Pin 6: Blue (Audio)
Pin 7 : Not connected inside the microphone

You can use short pieces of shrink tube, to cover the solder connections of the
connector.
Put the connector in place in the bottom of the microphone. It might be easier if you
temporarily unscrew the three rails. Make sure the connector in the bottom is
properly secured. You could use a drop of glue or nailpolish to prevent the nut of the
connector from coming loose.
If you unscrewed the three rails, mount them again.
Insert the assembly of the 3 PCBs between the rails of the microphone body in such
a way that the threaded holes in the “L” brackets match the openings in the rails.
If the tube PCB touches the rails, you can use a file to flatten the sides of the PCB a
little, so that the PCB doesn’t touch the rails anymore.
Fasten the PCB assembly to the rails with 4 screws.
You may want to shorten the screws in the ‘top’ “L” brackets a little, if they touch the
distance bolts when they are completely screwed in.

Now you can put the microphone capsule in place.

Do not touch the membranes of the capsule with your fingers!
Lead the 3 wires (2 from the membranes, 1 from the backplate) through the holes in
the mounting plate on top of the microphone construction.

Now connect the wires of the capsule to the tube PCB.

The backplate wire connects to the teflon feedthrough pin.
(Do not leave the backplate wire longer than needed, because this will add extra
capacity that causes signal loss. The wires from the membranes are less critical.)
The front membrane (the one pointing to the middle rail) connects to a point marked
“F”. The rear membrane connects to a point marked “R”.

Like this:

The last thing to do is to make the microphone cable.

Use 7-wire screened cable for this.
Connect the 7 pin XLR connector and the miniature microphone connector 1:1, so
that pin1 of the XLR connects to pin 1 of the microphone connector, pin 2 of the XLR
to pin 2 of the microphone connector etc.
Pin 4 and 7 of the XLR connector are connected together, and the screen of the
cable is also connected here. The colors of the wires in the cable do not really
matter, but if your cable has two wires that are thicker than the other wires in the
cable, use those for pin 2 (filament of the tube) and pin 4 (Ground).
Now you can connect the microphone to the power supply and test it.
Be sure to have a ‘closed’ microphone body before you start testing.
(Headbasket placed and at least one screw secured, to ground the whole
microphone body.) The microphone should work now and the patterns should match
the position of the switch on the power supply.
If everything works: congratulations!
You now have built your own high quality condenser microphone that will serve you
for many years!

If not:

Troubleshooting:

No sound at all.
Check if you see the filament in the tube glowing. This is best done in a dark room,
because there is not very much light inside the tube.
Carefully measure between the metalwork of the microphone (-) and the yellow wire
of the tube PCB (+). You should measure +6 to +6.5 V. (DC) here.
Do not touch anything when the power supply is connected!
If the filament voltage is present and the tube is glowing, measure the +120 V. Inside
the microphone between ground (-, metal of the microphone), and the red wire
connected to the power PCB (+). You should measure +120 V. Here.
Be careful not to touch parts when the power supply is connected!

Front and back are reversed.

Swap the (yellow) wires coming from the membranes of the microphone capsule on
the PCB. (NEVER disconnect the wires on the capsule itself!)
You probably connected them the wrong way.

Only the back side of the microphone is working in omni or figure-8.

Check if the wire from the front membrane is connected to the correct spot on the
PCB.

Microphone is out of phase with other microphones.

The microphone is according to European standards when assembled as described.
To change the polarity, swap the blue and purple wire on the transformer PCB.
(So now the blue wire to the connector is connected to the purple wire of the
transformer and vice versa.)

Version 1.0 – July 2018 / RvS.