foot switch on desk mike

[highwater88]

I was wondering if anyone has wired a foot switch up to a desk mike? I've tried a few things with a galaxy (sedelta) desk mike and a 2 wire foot switch with no avail. Any help, input, or ideas welcomed. Thanks

 

[WR0220]

Add a pigtail to your mic plug that has a 1/4" mono inline jack on the end of it. Wire the tip to the tx pin and the shell to ground. Do the same with a 1/4" mono plug on the foot switch and plug it in.

 

[highwater88]

Thank you Wro22o for your help.I hav'nt done it yet but plan on doing it tomorrow. Will let you know of the out come. I was close when I tried it before but was trying to tie it into the board of the mike. Thanks for taking the time to reply.

 

[wcsd106]

If your radio requires a wire to receive (like most cobra 4 pins do) then you may have to look into adding a relay to keep the receive pin pulled to ground until you key the foot switch.

I'd been toying with the idea of adding in a foot switch for a couple of radios of mine.. I had drawn up a quick schematic of what I was going to need. If I can find it and get my scanner to work, I'll post a pic for you.

 

[highwater88]

Pics would be helpful also.This new territory for me. Somewhat of learning experience.Thank you wcsd106 for your reply also.

 

[fnkycoldmedina]

check this replacement d104 board out .i used to have about 4 of them in use .see that black box?thats where you would hook in a wired key remote .the wired key could be any length.
this is a custom made board and works great .i dont know if the man is still making them .the boards were 40 bucks .they rock .i dont use the remote function but the board itself rocks .this board has a on board relay that does the switching that used to take place in the neck .its pretty trick .


this is what your trying to do .i have sold off 2 of these stands with this board in it recently .last time i tried contacting the builder i got no reply .
i have these a couple years now .

enjoy the pic .
if you want a board like this i can try him again .

By null, shot with KODAK C340 ZOOM DIGITAL CAMERA at 2008-07-24

 

[WR0220]

Here's a pic I did up awhile back for a friend showing a basic setup using rack gear. The PTT pigtail (top right of pic) is what I was talking about. The 'XLR' cable in the pic would be the original cord from the desk mic. A single conductor shielded cable works great*. On the Foster plug end the center conductor is connected to the TX pin and the shield to ground. The other end can be terminated however you like - a 1/4" inline jack, soldered directly to a NO momentary switch, etc. I like the 1/4" inline jack option because that way I can swap between a hand or foot switch by simply unplugging one and plugging the other in.

This will work on any radio - whether it requires the mic plugged in for receive or not. You are simply adding an 'extention' to the PTT circuit that will activate it with a hand/foot switch.

* You may need to enlarge the opening of the strain relief in order to make room for the added cable. A rat-tail file or a dremel tool works great for this.

 

[highwater88]

Well I've done the pig tail and I have tx. but I 'm not getting any audio.Any input guys? I have rec.And everything else works??? Probably something simple I've over looked.

 

[WR0220]

I have never run into that problem before. Both of my HF rigs are wired that way, and I wired Heil mics to my 2000gtl and CPI2000 the same way. If you're not getting an audio signal then you may need to use a relay as previously suggested.

 

[highwater88]

Thanks guys again for all your help. I have to say that I'm lost on this one. I have no experience with relays. Don't know where to even start.I will say that everything that you all have given me so far has been great stuff. So if you have anything else I'm open.And Fnkycoldmedina those boards are interesting I mite be interested one of those also (I have three d-104's).

 

[W5LZ]

The typical 'CB' mic button switches several things, not just the PTT change over relay. That's not how most 'ham' radios work, they do have just a simple PTT switching method. The switching between Xmt and Rcv are done -in- the radio, not in the mic as with CB radios. No idea why the CB radios do it that way, seems overly complicated to me.
How many contacts on the switch inside that mic? That's what you'd have to have in the foot switch.
- 'Doc

 

[highwater88]

Thank you W5Lz.Looks like I have a little more work ahead of me than what I had planned. Your reply answered many questions. Thanks again.

 

[Don_Q]

Bringing this back from the dead but wanted to see if anyone has tried this before I attempt it. I have a "Ham" linear with the "exciter" jack in the back to plug in something so I can key up. I was told use a foot switch with my radio. I was thinking of a two-channel switch like the Heil FS2. has anyone wired this setup for a regular 4 pin cobra (I will actually use a Stryker 955)? I would like to use the switch to be able to simultaneously use it as the PTT and talk into a desk mike at the same time - OR does someone have another work around to this?

 

[RatsoW8]

Don't use the "exciter jack" to key the amp and you'll be fine. Use the relay jack to key the amp. The Heil FS2 is fine for this. There is a delay between the amp and exciter being keyed what you depress the switch that prevents hot keying the amp (red cable with the rca male end to amp).

I still use the FS2 to key my radio but used to use it for exciter and amp before I made the interface cable that allows me to use the relay in the radio to key the amp.

 

[Beetle]

Several years ago I bought a Heil footswitch and a headset/mike. Told the order desk over the phone that my rig was an IC-238. About ten days later I got the stuff, all wired together. Connected the switch to the amplifier and rig, connected the mike and plugged in the headphones...

...and it worked perfectly. Timing on the footswitch enables the amplifier just before the transmitter keys. That was so much fun I almost swore off voice communication.

ALmost.