FLYER Forums

The settings menu for my ICOM IC-220T radio offers the chance to set the mic gain for both headsets MIC1 GAIN and MIC2 GAIN between -10 and 10.

Great. So I've had them set at 0 because I know no better.

Trouble is I can't hear what I sound like at the receiving and so don't know if this middle of the road setting is optimum.

Any advice even if not specific to this model?

There is no simple answer.
What kind of headsets have you?
If for example you have Peltors some of them have adjustable gain and you have to set that also. I found the second lowest on the headset and about 2 seemed to work best for me. Mixing headset is also a bit tricky..
David Clarks are the simplest and easiest to set, you just start down low and work up until you find the best position.
I have found that the lowest setting you can get away with seems to be best, especially on the intercom side.

You should get an idea of what you sound like from the side tone. When I installed my Trig, it sounded like I was calling from inside a washing machine drum - distorted and echoey.

Look for sidetone level in the menu settings. Setting mic gain too high won't help as it will overmodulate the transmission and make it distorted.
Sidetone only affects what you hear in the phones, not what is transmitted.
file:///C:/Users/MarkAlbery/Downloads/A220-Instruction-Manual.pdf

CloudHound wrote:The settings menu for my ICOM IC-220T radio offers the chance to set the mic gain for both headsets MIC1 GAIN and MIC2 GAIN between -10 and 10.

Great. So I've had them set at 0 because I know no better.

Trouble is I can't hear what I sound like at the receiving and so don't know if this middle of the road setting is optimum.

Any advice even if not specific to this model?

If the volume from your speech when chatting to each other through the intercom sounds OK to the passenger then your mic gain is fine.

It's another issue if you can't hear yourself when you transmit. As mentioned above, you need to play with your side-tone settings.

Thanks for your replies. Not been here for a while so apologies for delay.

I'm beginning to realise how often, in my posts, I don't make my point clearly so some corrections/clarifications.

Headset = Transair Pilot TA-200 (passive)
Side Tone set OK = +2

...what I sound like at the receiving end and...

by that I meant in the Controller's ear.

Heard a lot of really clear (like conversation in a car) transmissions lately so wanted to do the best I can to make it easy for ATC to get what I say.

Mine is a noisy cockpit so I realise I won't sound like I'm in a Exec Jet but thanks anyway for to tips.

Out.