Posted: 6/19/2026 11:38:55 AM EDT
|
Does anyone have any experience with this radio and an external speaker/mic? Obviously the single external mic PTT button will only work with one of the programmed (assumed to be primary) channels at a time. However, will the PTT buttons on the side of the radio continue to work with the external mic connected so it's possible to instantly transmit on either the primary or secondary channels? Please note that I'm already aware of the two major issues with this configuration, which are "you can damage the radio if you don't use a Radtel accessory" and "transmit audio is poor and the radio internal mic does not turn off". The first issue is because Radtel used a bridge-tied audio amplifier on the speaker output and this could be damaged if either speaker output pin is grounded on the accessory connector. This is a non-issue with Radtel speaker/mic's and usually an easy modification for third party accessories. I.e. the two speaker pins should only be connected by a speaker voice coil, nothing else, and definitely not ground. The second issue is because most external accessories are not supporting the "accessory detect" signal on pin 10. Even the Radtel mic's don't, which is a crazy oversight. However, Radtel recently released a new mic that properly supports that pin and solves the bad TX audio problem. |
"Cogito, ergo armatum sum."
|
The first set of mics I got from radtel were junk. Microphone in the hand mic was garbage, and left the mic on in the radio. Useless. After weeks of going back and forth with Radtel, they finally agreed to rip me off a little bit and send me two new mics for $12. They work. But, there's a noise in the audio coming from the mic that's not there with the internal mic. So, another problem, but it's kinda like static'ish, and the audio is still clear enough to be fully copyable. I really don't like the pogo pin mic connector, would have liked to just stick with the standard Kenwood style that's worked well for decades. ETA: Don't buy directly from Radtel, buy from some other vendor you can send stuff back that doesn't work. |
Award: 24/365 Most likely to be an appendix.
"Dealing with Congress is like trying to have an adult conversation about the credit card with your alcoholic bi-polar Ukranian import wife."
"Dealing with Congress is like trying to have an adult conversation about the credit card with your alcoholic bi-polar Ukranian import wife."