Ok- comms stuff completely confuses me and I need some help
I use a Motorola XTS series radio for work and want to be able to use a PTT and my ComTac II. When I bought the ComTacs they were plain Jane and didn't come with anything.  
What do I need to do this? This will be for work so air soft copies are a no go.
I know I need a 7pin PTT and a boom mic. What else do I need? What cables are needed and do you guys have any PTT recommendations? I've looked at the Peltor 7 pin and a u94 style. I prefer the compactness and ruggedness of the U94 but I need to keep costs down.

Thanks.

Check this out:

http://www.ar15.com/archive/topic.html?b=10&f=22&t=670858

I'd honest recommend trying to find some cheap Swattac or comtac with a boom mic, then throw on a PTT. The boom mic alone is like 140, the PTT is 260.

Wow. Looks like someone asked basically the exact same question a few years ago. Thanks for the search.
I may end up keeping these as is and simply getting a new pair for as much coin as I would to get the comtac IIs up to snuff.

What line of work are you in?

Do you run your radio on a headset all the time.

Reason I say this is that the comtacs I dealt with only had one speaker in each ear to handle everything..... This is a problem if your in any kind of confrontational job (Mil, LE).   When the radio keys up you now no longer have situational awareness or cant hear your team mates.

Ive since switched over to sordins or liberators and im much happier. The comms models have two speakers in each ear. One to handle the comms and one to handle situation awareness. LE here.

The other problem I ran into in my line of work was that I primarily run an speaker mic with an earpiece plugged into the side of the radio 99% of the time.

I had to go to a hirose quick disconnect speaker mic and a hirose quick disconnect ptt.  


For the comtacs though you would need to have the boom mic, y-cable and a ptt. Which gets very expensive

The parts are all in this link.

http://srstactical.com/all-products/headsets-and-hearing-protection/parts.html?p=2

Interesting to hear about the comtac shortcomings, I may have to go with the Sordins any recommendations for a single Comm set?

Im in LE.  I like the idea of the Hirose quick detach for the radio instead of having to detach the mount from the radio Everytime, especially when it needs to be done rapidly. Forgive me if this sounds silly, but what type of connection would plug into the Hirose? Is it a nato, Hirose to Hirose or some sort of jack? Again, as you can tell, I have no clue what I'm talking about here.

Would this be the route id take?
PTT- http://m.ebay.com/itm/Amplify-U94-A-HI-ROSE-Connector-Sordin-Comtac-MBITR-motorola-SABER-Grade-A-/171140329422?nav=SEARCH  
M3 Hirose adaptor (6pin) https://www.planetheadset.com/Connectors/M3.php

I'll give you an email later on tonight when I get back in.

Step 1: call TCI and buy a set of liberators + applicable PTT
Step 2: spend lots of moeny but you'll be taken care of and it will work without having to piece meal stuff togther.

I've been in contact with TEA, and Atlantic Signal. Unfortunately this is a personal purchase and money is tight. The supply SGT told me I could have a brand new throat mic if I wanted...

Thanks!

TEA is great -- I've spent millions with them.  Unfortunately yes -- it's all expensive.  Bottom line, if you need good, reliable headsets & PTTs, you're going to pay some money for it.

This !!
If you are LEO/Mil your comms are a zero failure system. Save money if you have to and do it right, it's a tax right off if for work so suck it up brother You can find some used stuff but you got to know what your doing with radio stuff or you can spend a lot of money and shit don't work. Bottom line is real radio stuff is expensive. PTT systems are commonly $200 to $400 on top of your headset cost. Way it is unless you are buying airsoft toys. Even used is 50% of new so it adds up.

A guy with rudimentary soldering skills can fab up a PTT switch and radio interface fairly inexpensively.

Yeah...  But no.  If you're a LEO or military who depends on these things for your life, you really ought to spend the money or at a bare minimum find someone who really understands how these things are built and can build them correctly so they don't fail on you.

I used to build antenna remoting kits, PTT kits, and other accessory kits for NSW guys, but my soldering skills are far beyond "rudimentary" and I've got years of experience building these things.

If you just want to build them for hobby purposes, rock on.

I hear ya, but if I was LEO/.mil and it was a life-safety question, my agency would likely foot the bill - if use of the item is even authorized. No?





 

Whether they would or not, I'd have the right gear...