MKE 300 Problems

[Jonathan W. Hickman]

I've used an MKE 300 for a few years as a backup mic. Frankly, I've rarely used it, but the other day, I wanted to use it and I replaced the battery with a Duracell SR44 (they came in a 3 pack). And... NOTHING! The mic does not work.

I tried all 3 batteries in the pack and nothing.

Should I try a different battery pack? The ones I bought were expensive, but maybe they are dead. Has anyone experienced problems with this mic and the SR44 batteries? Any suggestions?

[John Willett]

Did you put the battery in the right way round?

The +ve cap is towards the switches - see Owners Manual HERE.

Did you get the same battery as the original?

Did you check the battery was making proper contact and that the contact springs are not tarnished?

Did you switch it on? The light will flash brightly once as you turn it on to show that the battery is good.

If you had left it for a long while not used and switched on, the battery would have become flat and possibly leaked and tarnished the contacts - but these can be easily cleaned normally.

[Annie Haycock]

Mine also died an unexpected death last winter. Have tried several batteries, but the light does not come on and nothing is recorded.

[Colin McDonald]

Are you sure it wasn't just hibernating, Annie?
:-)

[Annie Haycock]

Or perhaps it took offence that I'd bought a Rode NTG3 . . . . . .

[Jonathan W. Hickman]

I missed a follow up on this. Thanks for the comments. I've tried everything logically. Nothing is working. I've just stuck it in a drawer.

On the whole audio issue, I'm cutting my best of films 2010 episode for my little local cable show right now and I used my Zoom outside for a little piece I did and the on board mic on my latest little gadget cam (the Sony 50U). The on board mic on the Sony isn't much good for my show, I'm going to have to start using the Zoom and just sync stuff. Fellow videographers and filmmakers will notice the difference right away when they watch the show. Audio is a real pain especially when you shoot yourself like I do when I can get my wife behind the camera.

Sure wish Sony would have added some more audio control on this camera. If I get more than 3 feet from the shotgun on the camera, the sound is very hollow pretty much anywhere I shoot.

But for a concert or my daughter's Christmas thing recently at her school recently, it was just right.

Finally, I'm manually sync the Zoom to the Camera video. I will to finally buy Plural Eyes next month. Again thanks for the thoughts on the MKE 300.

[Sam Mallery]

You stated that you purchased "SR44" batteries, but the specs on the MKE 300 state that it runs on "LR44" batteries. Perhaps it's worth risking another $1.49 to see if an LR44 will revive it:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/19194-REG/General_Brand_LR44_A76_LR44_1_5v_Alkaline.html

[Battle Vaughan]

The SR44 is the silver version of the alkaline LR44. Silver batteries keep their voltage more constant until they die sort of suddenly, so maybe the batteries are duds. And you did observe the polarity on them, right?

[Steve House]

Originally Posted by Jonathan W. Hickman

I...Sure wish Sony would have added some more audio control on this camera. If I get more than 3 feet from the shotgun on the camera, the sound is very hollow pretty much anywhere I shoot.

...

24 to 30 inches is the nominal working distance for a short shotgun so what you are getting with the on-camera shotgun sounding decent out to 3 feet is actually pretty good. Additional camera controls wouldn't change that as the hollow sound is due to the laws of acoustics and the fundamental nature of interference-tube mics themselves.