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Post by BBB on Dec 26, 2013 10:44:03 GMT -5
Santa brought some new radios to the shack and one of them was a Uniden 980 SSB mobile radio with matching BC906W wireless speaker mic that's got a 100 meter range. The radio is rock solid on SSB and tuned up well on AM.  The cool thing with this set up is the optional wireless speaker mic that uses DECT 6.0 or Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (Digital European Cordless Telecommunications) at 1.9 GHz frequency. This is not Blue tooth. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Enhanced_Cordless_TelecommunicationsI can have the Uniden 980 SSB on in the shack and walk all around the house (or outside) monitoring and transmitting if desired. The speaker mic got decent audio reports and has PTT, volume up/ down and "sync" buttons. www.uniden.com/cb-radios/wireless-dect-60-noise-canceling-cb-radio-microphone/invt/bc906wgwww.uniden.com/cb-radios/bearcat-cb-radio-with-7-color-display/invt/bearcat980gThere are some limitations with this set up. There won't be any extra channels or open clarifirer on this rig until someone cracks the software. One mod I'm going to perform is to lift a SMD resistor to lower the radio's "beep" noise when ever you manipulate it. You can not change the channel with the wireless speaker mic, but you can set the radio to squelched standard scan or memory scan and the wireless mic will monitor. If you key when it's scanning it will stay on that channel. Memory Scan doesn't recall the mode, so it will scan in the mode (AM, LSB,USB) currently selected. There is a wired mic cradle that goes where the normal 8 pin mic would go on the radio. It does not charge the mic's NiMH battery, hence a cigarette lighter charger is furnished. So far, this speaker mic will only work on any of Uniden's new SMD board radios. Interestingly, I can hear a relay click in the "cradle" unit when the PTT button on the mic is pressed. The Uniden Bearcat 980 SSB is feature rich, has pretty Christmas lights and is a pleasure to use. I was surprised that it was almost a full sized chassis. This setup was a blast talking DX with Doc Hammer sitting in front of the fireplace whilst in the comfort of our living room  |
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Post by KneeBiter on Dec 26, 2013 11:26:23 GMT -5
I had that radio for a couple of months and it was a great sounding radio. Then the finals popped. I had great SWr and it still happened. I was lucky that Amazon gave me a full refund.
The final is a mosfet and is a cheap priced replacement. I could have replaced it but I decided not to.
I did keep the mic and wired it for use with all my radios using adapters I made up.
The cordless mic is what I use 99% of the time. I changed the element in it with a better one. I drilled out the tiny hole in the front so more of my voice could get to the element. I get great reports with it.
The only thing I noticed is anyone close to you will hear a slight hum type sound if you dead key. The same type sound that you get from a cordless phone. Not a bad ground hum but a digital type sound. Not a big deal as your voice will go right over it when you talk.
It is not as good sounding as a quality wired mic but being able to move around the house is great. I am on SSB and set the squelch just above the noise. My mic is always on. I use my cell phone charger to charge it at night when I sleep. Good to go the next morning. I can get a solid 10 hours out of it on the weekends before it needs a recharge.
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Post by MonkeyMan on Dec 26, 2013 13:59:41 GMT -5
I wanted this exact set-up badly, but was saddened at the surface mount componentry and lack of mods so I went with the Cobra 29LX.
The thought of using the wireless mic with other radios never crossed my mind though. Hmm...
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Post by BBB on Dec 26, 2013 16:27:12 GMT -5
I had that radio for a couple of months and it was a great sounding radio. Then the finals popped. I had great SWr and it still happened. I was lucky that Amazon gave me a full refund. The final is a mosfet and is a cheap priced replacement. I could have replaced it but I decided not to. I did keep the mic and wired it for use with all my radios using adapters I made up. The cordless mic is what I use 99% of the time. I changed the element in it with a better one. I drilled out the tiny hole in the front so more of my voice could get to the element. I get great reports with it. The only thing I noticed is anyone close to you will hear a slight hum type sound if you dead key. The same type sound that you get from a cordless phone. Not a bad ground hum but a digital type sound. Not a big deal as your voice will go right over it when you talk. It is not as good sounding as a quality wired mic but being able to move around the house is great. I am on SSB and set the squelch just above the noise. My mic is always on. I use my cell phone charger to charge it at night when I sleep. Good to go the next morning. I can get a solid 10 hours out of it on the weekends before it needs a recharge. Do you happen to recall what the pin outs are at the connector end of the cordless speaker mic so I could wire up a 4 pin Cobra adapter for my other radios? There are claims that others got the clarifier unlocked but I've yet to see it documented so I still doubt it. I'd like to add an 1/8" headphone/speaker jack to the unit that disconnects the mic's internal speaker and powered the jack. I'm definitely going to order some of those RD16HHF1 Mitsubishi Mosfets. All I did inside was turn up the AM Modulation, adjust the SSB ALC and turn down the AM carrier to 2.5 watts. Hopefully the final will last... www.mitsubishielectric-mesh.com/products/pdf/rd16hhf1.pdfwww.rfparts.com/rftransistors/transistor-rd/rd16hhf1.html |
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Post by KneeBiter on Dec 26, 2013 18:34:04 GMT -5
Pin 1 - Modulation
Pin 2 - Rx
Pin 3 - Tx
Pin 4 - Audio from the receive
Pin 5 - Common
Pin 6 - 8 volts
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Post by BBB on Dec 26, 2013 19:13:57 GMT -5
Thanks for the mic connector pin out. I think my Cobra 150 has those same MosFets.
What element did you put in the speaker mic? Was there any issue with the noise cancelling circuity?
I also wonder if they left any room for any other additional future functions to be wirelessly transmitted to the "cradle" like channel up/down. That would be cool. Spitfire mentioned that since it runs on 1.9 GHz and if the Base unit "cradle" has a wire or board trace antenna, you could possibly wire up a replacement directional antenna to it like a Pringles cantenna.
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Post by KneeBiter on Dec 26, 2013 19:22:32 GMT -5
I used the W2ENY element. I tried the radio Shack one and while it was better than stock the W2ENY gives more modulation with less voice volume. The hole in the front of the mic tapers to a tiny hole and if you do not touch it against your lip while speaking you tend to drop off. I drilled out the hole from the inside out and it made a big difference. There is plenty of room inside to play. I cant imagine needing any more range than what this mic does but if you want more this one has a magnetic mount antenna for it. www.wirelesscorpltd.com/solutions/wireless-pacific/x10dr |
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Post by KneeBiter on Dec 26, 2013 19:29:08 GMT -5
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Post by BBB on Dec 31, 2013 9:26:08 GMT -5
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Post by BBB on Jan 7, 2014 10:27:40 GMT -5
That Uniden remote speaker mic comes in handy when the shack is below 40 and I move inside. Only problem with it is that I get distracted or the wife complains even more about the noise. Here's some pics of the cradle (base) unit that plugs into the mic jack on the radio.  Again I see a spot mentioning US/ EU below along with two zig/zag traces labeled ANT 0 and ANT 1. VLSI chip is under the metal cover...   |
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Post by BBB on Jan 7, 2014 10:41:07 GMT -5
Pin 1 - Modulation Pin 2 - Rx Pin 3 - Tx Pin 4 - Audio from the receive Pin 5 - Common Pin 6 - 8 volts What did you do to power the 8 VDC Cradle (base unit) when you used this on another radio? Did you install a power jack for use with with a wall wart or just use a 9 volt battery? Since this unit needs audio for the speaker in the wireless mic unit on receive, will this unit only work with non-relay radios that have an RX lead to the radios mic jack? Meaning can the cradle get it's required receive audio from the RX pin 4 or from the external speaker jack on a lets say Cobra 29 LTD radio? Is this correct? Uniden cradle plug to Cobra 29 LTD Radio: Pin 1 - Modulation - to Cobra pin 2 (Audio) Pin 2 - Rx - to Cobra pin 4 (Receive/RX) Pin 3 - Tx - to Cobra pin 3 (Transmit/PTT) Pin 4 - Audio from the receive - to Cobra external speaker jack positive Pin 5 - Common - to Cobra pin 1 (GND) Pin 6 - 8 volts - must supply from external source (unless using other radio that has a specific pin with 8 VDC on it already) |
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Sandbagger
Administrator/The Boss 
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Post by Sandbagger on Jan 7, 2014 13:17:43 GMT -5
Pin 1 - Modulation Pin 2 - Rx Pin 3 - Tx Pin 4 - Audio from the receive Pin 5 - Common Pin 6 - 8 volts What did you do to power the 8 VDC Cradle (base unit) when you used this on another radio? Did you install a power jack for use with with a wall wart or just use a 9 volt battery? Since this unit needs audio for the speaker in the wireless mic unit on receive, will this unit only work with non-relay radios that have an RX lead to the radios mic jack? Meaning can the cradle get it's required receive audio from the RX pin 4 or from the external speaker jack on a lets say Cobra 29 LTD radio? Is this correct? Uniden cradle plug to Cobra 29 LTD Radio: Pin 1 - Modulation - to Cobra pin 2 (Audio) Pin 2 - Rx - to Cobra pin 4 (Receive/RX) Pin 3 - Tx - to Cobra pin 3 (Transmit/PTT) Pin 4 - Audio from the receive - to Cobra external speaker jack positive Pin 5 - Common - to Cobra pin 1 (GND) Pin 6 - 8 volts - must supply from external source (unless using other radio that has a specific pin with 8 VDC on it already) I don't think that will work as the TX/RX is alternately connected to ground to activate. In other words, the RX pin is grounded in the receive mod, so no audio will be present. |
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Post by KneeBiter on Jan 10, 2014 14:19:47 GMT -5
As far as power. I left the factory plug alone. I made a through line adapter so you plug the factory jack into my adapter. It has a 9v wall wart connected to it. And a mini plug with shielded wire going to the receive audio pin. The other end has a 6 pin Rci wired plug. I then made adapters. That go Rci to all different plugs for all my radios. This is for the base. As far as Mobil I used an 8 volt regulator mounted to the chassis of my Grant and put a plug on the rear of the radio. I added the regulator so not to tax the factory one.
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Post by KneeBiter on Jan 10, 2014 15:00:11 GMT -5
You can get the receive audio from the extension speaker jack just turn the volume up slow and when it sounds good stop. or tap a new jack at the line level off the volume pot. I did this on a few of my radios and used a .01 mf disc cap out of a junk radio for the center audio lead.
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Post by BBB on Jan 10, 2014 17:54:22 GMT -5
Much thanks for the clarity on the circuitry Knee Biter. 441 mentioned to check out Down East Microwave for possible accessories. www.downeastmicrowave.com/cat-frame.htm I saw some stuff in the "Non Ham Band" section that covered the operating frequencies. Been thoroughly enjoying this newfangled DEE-vise. For a 2" speaker and wireless, the audio quality is decent enough that it's hard to forget it doesn't have a wire attached to it. It's almost like...remember having a cellular "bag" phone tethered to the car and then the feeling you got when you got your first hand held portable cell phone? |
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Post by KneeBiter on Jan 11, 2014 17:00:15 GMT -5
Here is the adapter I made for use with my Uniden grant. The mini jack used shielded cable and goes to ground and recieve audio pins. The rca jack goes to the ground and 8 volt input jack. You could make the same adapter and just put a different plug for the 8 volt and use it with any 7-12 volt DC wall wart  |
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Post by BBB on Jan 12, 2014 19:18:53 GMT -5
Cool beans. Gonna try and make a similar adapter.
I wasn't happy with the cheap plastic "creaking" sound the mic PTT button made when keyed and un-keyed, so I installed some adhesive felt pads around the inside of the mic where the button hits the casing frame on release. Then replaced the sticky silicone rubber stop the PTT hits when pushed in with some felt. Also added some silicone grease to the pivot points and now the PTT button is nice and silent. Surely an overlooked design/cost savings/QC issue on a lot of mics.
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Post by KneeBiter on Feb 26, 2014 19:37:57 GMT -5
 Well I purchased the ZOXN Z-777 from China via Ebay. It arrived today. It has an 8 pin rj45 plug on the base and it comes wwith a cable of choice, Icom , Yaesu , Motorola , Kenwood. Mine came with the Motorola as I did not care because I was planning on putting on my own plug. I opened the receiver and figured out the pins where the rj plug is connected to the board. I wired a mic cord to it red to transmit, White to audio , Sheild to ground and put a 4 pin on the end so I can use adapters for all my radios. Ran a red and black out for the power. It has a regulator in it so I ran it to 12v even though it calls for 8v. It has a mini jack on the receiver and you run a cable to your extension speaker jack for the receive Let me tell you. I have been using my Uniden mic for a year now. I am hooked on the wireless. But this mic blows the Uniden out of the water as far as distance and transmit audio. The uniden needs you to talk loud and into the mic as it is noise canceling. This mic is like a power mic. Plenty of drive. It goes 5 times further than the Uniden. I went to my buddys house 2 blocks away and was talking on my station from his living room. If anyone picks one up and needs to know the spots on the board let me know and I will help you out. |
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Post by BBB on Mar 2, 2014 15:21:53 GMT -5
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Post by KneeBiter on Mar 2, 2014 17:54:36 GMT -5
Yes, I Ordered it from ebay right from China. Figured it was a big gamble which I do not do but it turned out to be a good mic. I went to my friends house 1/4 of a mile away yesterday and was talking skip from his living roon using my mic and my base. He is a ham and was impressed
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Post by KneeBiter on Mar 4, 2014 20:25:24 GMT -5
Forgot to mention, The ZOXN has jacks in the side for external ear piece and mic.
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Cozy
Mudduck
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Post by Cozy on Mar 20, 2014 11:11:11 GMT -5
KneeBiter, you have a PM
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