Dick,
It rather depends on what you intend to use it for. Hand held mics need a durable element because they are subject to hard knocks, like being dropped. If used in a mobile situation, they must be able to withstand wide temperature and humidity variations. These requirements can be met with a dynamic element, like the one your mic had originally. Mobile mics can also benefit from a noise-cancelling design, or at least should be close-talked.
If, in your shack, you simply prefer to use a hand held mic, your choice of elements are a bit broader but they should still be able to withstand an accidental drop or two.
A dynamic or electret condenser element would be a good choice, the latter being small, inexpensive, and having a good frequency response. The electret condenser requires a small DC voltage that would need to be provided either by the radio or a battery. If that interests you, a good place to start would be here:
http://www.w1aex.com/mic/mic.htmlI built one following those plans and it worked just fine. In fact, I still use the pre-emphasis network that Rob W1AEX describes on that page, but I mounted it inside of a Marshall MXL-770 condenser mic. If you've heard me on-air recently, that's what you were listening to (with a bit of processing after it).
Don
