Review on 🎙️ Top-Performing Noise Canceling Power Mic for CB/Ham Radio: Astatic RD104E-4B Road Devil (302-10036) by Girish Underwood

I had a Road Devil many years ago. It was a quality microphone that has given me years of trouble free performance. When I received this microphone I was dying to try it. When I opened it and took it in my hands, it felt much lighter and more delicate than what I had before. The two halves of the "cot" were also slightly different shades of red; another bad sign. Also, the rear half of the mic had what appeared to be a black grease stain, or possibly bad red pigmentation with a dark spot. Undaunted, I went ahead and installed the 9 volts. When I plugged it in, the audio was perky and loud (I could hear the modulation hum right through the wireless transformer - if you only KNOW it's loud!) and the noise-cancellation worked well for a day and a half. After a day of use, the key switch started to "scratch" and gradually and rapidly deteriorated until my audio stopped completely. The highest quality non-marking contact cleaner didn't help. After opening the mic to insert the battery and then again to clean the contacts, I saw that the plastic thread stands started spewing out plastic splinters. That's a very bad sign. I assume that after using the screws several times, the threads have completely torn off. The plastic is of the lowest quality which really confuses me. There is so much readily available cheap durable plastic these days that can withstand extreme and adverse conditions and yet this mic feels hopelessly fragile and delicate - especially the button, it's a moving part! Although I liked the style of the mic and the powerful sound, and even considered buying a replacement solder switch, I gave up; Basically I just can't invest another 30% of what I paid for the mic plus time to fix something brand new that should work trouble free for years. I wanted this to be my new microphone. and I gave him every chance but in the end I gave him back. If the key switch was the only problem I would optimistically roll the dice and buy another to replace it, but there are too many clear signs of poor quality to warrant trying again. Unfortunately,