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Widget Of The Week

Eagle Prop80 Paging Microphone, 1989?

Leave one of these sitting around and as sure as eggs are eggs, someone will go up to it and utter the immortal words ‘Kevin, clean up aisle five’, or, ‘The 1155 to Basildon has been delayed by leaves on the line’, or if they’re of a certain age, ‘Come in number nine, your time is up’. Admit it, you would… The Eagle Prop80 Paging Microphone is not exactly exciting, rare or, in this case, especially valuable, but that’s not say it doesn’t deserve it’s three and a half minutes in the dustygizmos spotlight.

 

The Prop80 and its many cousins are the behind the scenes heroes of the public address (PA) biz. They are so much more than simple microphones; they’re the primary interface between humans with something important to say and all the electronic gubbins and loud speakers that deliver those vital announcements.

 

To be perfectly honest it mostly is just a microphone; a Dynamic Unidirectional type to be precise – we’ll come back to that shortly – but it’s the bits and bobs it’s attached to that makes it somewhat different from your everyday mikes. In this case it’s a flexible gooseneck stalk, mounted on a heavy metal base, with a switch that the operator presses when they want to say their piece. Inside the base there’s another minor oddity and that’s a small transformer. This delivers what’s known as a balanced output, which means the microphone can be connected to an amplifier by a long cable, without the signal significantly degrading.

 

Back to the Dynamic tag and essentially means it’s a speaker in reverse. The cylindrical capsule has a thin plastic diaphragm facing towards the user, which vibrates in sympathy with their voice. The diaphragm is attached to a small coil that moves around (or inside) a small permanent magnet. Occasionally it’s the other way around with the diaphragm attached to the magnet. Either way the movement of the coil (or magnet) in relation to the magnet (or coil) generates a tiny voltage that eventually ends going to the amplifier’s input socket. Fancier Eagle models based on this design have featured lockable talk switches and indicator lamps to show the mike is ‘open’ and there’s space for more switches for routing the output signal to more sophisticated PA amps with multiple speaker networks. Unidirectional simply means the microphone is most sensitive to sounds in front of it, which helps to cut down interference in noisy environments.

 

This particular model has been around for a very long time. It’s difficult to say exactly how long and the manufacturing date is a bit of a guess. Suffice it to say the design has changed remarkably little over the years and they were still being made until comparatively recently, suggesting Eagle got it right pretty much from the get-go. That’s not to say it is perfect, it’s not. Build quality is, well, somewhat casual. The balancing transformer’s is, not to put too fine a point on it, a lash up. It’s wired into the mike’s output cable, and flops around inside the case. The only thing stopping the connections coming into contact with the metal case is a layer of sticky tape. Speaking of which, the case is an alloy moulding, and quite a rough one at that, or maybe this particular specimen missed its appointment with the finishing sander, as the surface is quite bumpy. Overall, though it feels quite sturdy, the switch is still positive, the gooseneck hasn’t gone floppy and with little else to go wrong it should be good to go for another few decades.

 

In case you are wondering this one was the only highlight at an otherwise disappointing car boot sale in Kent a few years ago. It was priced at £10, quickly haggled down to a fiver. Due to it being borderline vintage at the time it ended up in the ‘give it a while box’, to allow it time to mature and increase in value. I’m still waiting… 

 

What Happened To It?

Part of the problem with nailing down the Prop80’s date of manufacture is Eagle International’s annoyingly low profile. They have been around for ages, since the early 1960, when they became moderately well known as distributors of Japanese made electronics products. The story actually began a decade earlier with electronics engineer Gerry Adler designing and building test equipment for valves. That came to a grinding halt when he learned that Japanese companies were making them for around half the price he was charging. This prompted him to commission a Japanese company to build some of his designs, which he sold in the UK, and later, around the world, under the Eagle brand. Gerry made frequent visits to Japan, learning the language and immersing himself in the social and business culture.

 

Over the years the Eagle name appeared on an extraordinarily wide range of electronic products, from audio and PA to test equipment, intercoms and amateur radio, earning the company a generally good reputation for value for money and performance. Eagle International, as was, seems to have all but disappeared off the map in the last 10 years, along with any substantial record of Gerry Adler and the company’s more recent history so any clarifications and corrections are very welcome via the usual email address (mail@dustygizmos). As for PA and paging microphones, comparatively little has changed and there are scores of models on the market, the majority broadly similar to the Prop80. Changes in the workspace over the past 20 years and a variety of more recent messaging technologies have, however resulted in it becoming an increasingly niche market. There are undoubtedly bargains to be had so now might be a great time to get in on the ground floor and start a collection.

 

Dusty Data

First Seen:                       1989?

Original Price:                  £20 – 30?

Value Today:                    £10.00: now discontinued but NOS models currently selling for £50 - £60 (1122)

Features:                          Dynamic uni-directional microphone, press to talk switch. balanced audio output, flexible gooseneck stalk, heavy metal base with non-slip feet

Power req.                        n/a

Dimensions:                      255 x 110 x 160mm

Weight:                             1kg

Made (assembled) in:      Japan

Hen's Teeth (10 rarest)       8



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