Copper Talk » Ask The Tech » General Technical Questions » Archived Messages » Help with Washington « Previous Next »

Author Message
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Salty_bones
New member
Username: Salty_bones

Post Number: 3
Registered: 5-2005
Posted on Friday, June 10, 2005 - 3:38 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post    Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I am getting a ASTATIC MOBILE MAX ECHO CHAMBER and I am thinking that it runs on 12 volts so I would like to wire this into my Washington base and would like to know if anyone knows where there are 12 volts inside on the transformer or the board so I can hook this up or if it would even work like that. I really don't know how many amps that it would draw from the radio. Any thoughts would be great. Thanks.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Patzerozero
Advanced Member
Username: Patzerozero

Post Number: 908
Registered: 7-2004
Posted on Friday, June 10, 2005 - 5:24 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post    Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

easiest place to find 12 volts is the 'on' side of the on-off switch. amp draw would be negligible. you'd use an unused mic pin, just remove wire from inside of mic & place it to battery '+' connection. on mic socket wire would go to 'on' side of switch. very easy & useful mod to do. JUST MAKE SURE IT IS WIRED CORRECTLY BEFORE TESTING IT!! & don't put mic on a radio with same pin count but different wiring scheme-12volts in the wrong place is not a good thing.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Sg569
Intermediate Member
Username: Sg569

Post Number: 136
Registered: 12-2004
Posted on Saturday, June 11, 2005 - 10:31 am:   Edit Post Delete Post    Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Hey Pat,
I'm thinking of trying to do something similar, but on my Xl, 2000gtl, a 2010 and 148gtl w/ a 9v pwr mic. I asked someone local about that last night, he said that he has tried; yet the radio squeals when keyed. The mic was wired correctly yet for some reason when he tried to pull 9v for mic it would feedback really bad.N-E ideas? Just thought that I'd ask. Thanks for the info.
sg569
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Salty_bones
New member
Username: Salty_bones

Post Number: 4
Registered: 5-2005
Posted on Saturday, June 11, 2005 - 2:18 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post    Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Thanks Patzerozero for the information. I understand the part about finding the 12 volt on the on side of the on/off switch. What I didn't understand is the use of the unused mic pin and taking wire from inside of mic & place it to battery '+' connection. on mic socket wire would go to 'on' side of switch. Sorry but just new to this but will try the mod when I get the Echo Chamber and understand a bit better.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Bigbob
Senior Member
Username: Bigbob

Post Number: 1972
Registered: 12-2001
Posted on Saturday, June 11, 2005 - 8:54 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post    Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I just use a homebrew supply with a 317t voltage regulator set for 80db ripple rejection and nobody can tell if I'm on battery or supply,the 317t is adjustable over a wide range,mine is set up with a vr so I can zero in on 9 volts,and it has been on constantly for four years and no probs.Bigbob
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Patzerozero
Advanced Member
Username: Patzerozero

Post Number: 914
Registered: 7-2004
Posted on Saturday, June 11, 2005 - 10:04 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post    Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Sg569, the ONLY reason it would squeal is that it either WAS wired incorrectly, or he wired it to 12 volts instead of 9. even that in itself wouldn't neccessarily cause a squeal, so i'd lean towards it being done wrong/shorted inside plug. that is the ONLY problem i've ever had doing it & that was because i was rushing. to find 9 volts in the radio, go to cb tricks & see if they have it posted, otherwise look carefully with voltmeter. or locate 12 to 9 volt regulator & wire it inline.

ok salty, hollowpoint445's post is more detailed then mine & yes is perfect & adds 'filtering' which i didn't mention as it may not be neccessary to get the mod to work, but is definitely helpful. to answer your question, in essence, you are taking the little plastic battery holder out of the mic & replacing the battery with 9-12 volts from the radio. 1 side of the plastic holder is positive, the other negative. you are putting to ground the black wire that had the battery holder connected to it. the red wire would now get connected to an UNUSED mic wire-after you remove the internal end from whatever it was attached to. the other unused end of it would get soldered to an unused mic pin in the plug & you would add a wire on the other side of the socket to go to 9-12 volts.
you do need a very very basic understanding of electronics, salty, & then it'll start to make sense. just think that the battery was really the 12 volts inside the radio-all you're doing is lengthening the battery wires to make them reach the 'new' battery. same principle if you moved the battery in your car from under the hood to inside the trunk, just lengthen the cables.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Salty_bones
New member
Username: Salty_bones

Post Number: 7
Registered: 5-2005
Posted on Sunday, June 12, 2005 - 1:42 am:   Edit Post Delete Post    Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Ok what I am trying to do is not power my mic but power the Echo Chamber. My mic will plug into my Echo Chamber witch will be a D104 but I guess it will all work out the same way.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Sg569
Intermediate Member
Username: Sg569

Post Number: 141
Registered: 12-2004
Posted on Sunday, June 12, 2005 - 11:46 am:   Edit Post Delete Post    Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Pat,
Thanks for the advice,I'm cheap too. I was thinking of tapping into the 'on' side of the pwr switch and running resistors to drop the pwr down to about 9-10v (however close I could get), I never thought about running a diode inline w/ it all. Great Idea. Besides, I have a buddy that burns that 9v batt. in 'bout a week, then we can't quite hear him.
I think that's the reason I started this "Quest" I just hate having to replace those dang batt.s every 2-4 months. Or the other side forgetting to replace them and haveing no audio.

I will probly have to go find 5 conductor mic wire now and re-wire about 3-4 mics. I sure wish that uniden had done something like that from the git-go.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Patzerozero
Advanced Member
Username: Patzerozero

Post Number: 920
Registered: 7-2004
Posted on Sunday, June 12, 2005 - 2:52 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post    Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

it would work the same way & you could change the electrolytic cap in PS section, which should be done for peaked AC powered radios anyway.

Add Your Message Here
Post:
Username: Posting Information:
This is a private posting area. Only registered users and moderators may post messages here.
Password:
Options: Enable HTML code in message
Automatically activate URLs in message
Action: