How to use your radio microphone

Imagine you’ve just joined an organization that uses radios on a regular basis. You’re given a brand new radio, and a little bit of training on how to use a radio microphone. When you go into the field, however, you find that people are having trouble understanding you.

Although this can sometimes be due to a poor quality product, more often than not it occurs because people don’t always use the radio microphone properly. Today we’re sharing a video from the Tait Radio Academy, titled “Microphone Manners – How to Use your Radio Microphone.” In the video, you’ll learn six simple ways you can improve your radio operation etiquette to increase the quality of your audio and ensure others can hear you clearly.

Below is a summary of the 6 tips for using your radio microphone, but you can go deeper by checking out the full How to Use your Radio Microphone lesson on the Tait Radio Academy.

1) Push and hold the PTT button throughout your transmission.
2) You should hold the microphone between 1-2 inches (2-5 cm) away from your mouth.
3) You should talk past the microphone instead of directly into it.
4) Don’t rattle or shake the microphone while talking.
5) When possible, avoid noise around the microphone.
6) Speak clearly and in your normal voice.


This lesson and many more like it can be found on the Tait Radio Academy, an online school providing free, informative content to radio users around the world.

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