Strange/One off Syntor/Spectra Mic?

[akardam]

With one of my Syntors I got a strange mic. It looks like a normal mic, but with a dual ptt switch/rocker. The connector is a standard Syntor/Spectra plug. The model number on the back is YMN1007A. The top of the ptt is labeled "D", and does nothing as far as I can tell. The bottom is labeled "R", and keys up the radio as normal. The closest match I can find part number wise is a YMN1005A for a dual Syntor drawer setup. It almost looks like the old Micor dual ptt mic that the CHP used to use.

Anybody have any ideas?

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Further info: After pulling it apart, it appears the R pin shorts to the green PTT line, and the D pin shorts out to the yellow switched B+ line. Can't think what it would be used for, though.

[apco25]

Most likely a CHP lowband micor mic, Jimmy should be able to confirm.

The d button was used to access the direct freq and the R button was for the lowband repeater pair without playing with the channel selector.

Quite a classic mic.

I think they did the same thing with the GE RANGR mobiles later.

[akardam]

Yeah, that's what I thought too, except it's got the Syntor/Spectra style connector on it, not the Micor connector, and it doesn't look like a hack job. Also, to my knowledge, CHP never used Syntors. The radio it came with came from the eastern US.

[kc7gr]

With one of my Syntors I got a strange mic. It looks like a normal mic, but with a dual ptt switch/rocker. The connector is a standard Syntor/Spectra plug. The model number on the back is YMN1007A. The top of the ptt is labeled "D", and does nothing as far as I can tell. The bottom is labeled "R", and keys up the radio as normal. The closest match I can find part number wise is a YMN1005A for a dual Syntor drawer setup. It almost looks like the old Micor dual ptt mic that the CHP used to use.

Anybody have any ideas?

----

Further info: After pulling it apart, it appears the R pin shorts to the green PTT line, and the D pin shorts out to the yellow switched B+ line. Can't think what it would be used for, though.

This sounds an awful lot like the dual-key mics that Motorola put together for us (WA State Patrol). The 'D' side is likely short for 'Direct' and the 'R' side for 'Repeater.'

The way it works in our cars is that they have a Syntor X9000 (SP06) for the main radio, and a separate Spectra receive-only box called an 'Area Receiver.' The area RX, as its name implies, is programmed for receive-only on whatever area dispatch frequency is primary for the specific trooper.

This way, the trooper can leave their main radio set to their car-to-car frequency, but they'll always have a quick line to dispatch. When they hit the 'D' side (or 'S' in our system, for 'Selected'), they're transmitting on whatever frequency is selected on the X9000 head.

When they hit the 'R' (in our case, 'A' for area) side, they're transmitting on the area repeater or dispatch frequency. All this without ever having to touch the control head.

Doing this PTT trickery required SP radios, control heads, and firmware. As one might imagine, X9000's are getting harder to support, thanks to Motorola's planned obsolescence mode of operation. Our new mobiles are going to be MA/COM M7100's, also in a dual configuration, also with a dual-key mic, so that the area receiver/main transceiver scheme can be duplicated.

Considering that your mic has a 'Y' as the beginning character of the part number, it is almost certainly an 'SP' item itself. It can, however, be modified to be a normal mic with a little rewiring.

Hope that helps.

[akardam]

Bruce,

Yeah, pretty much what I figured. I've a guess that the D/R stands for Direct/Repeater, or some such. Too bad it would probably require lots of hackery, because it would be cool to have a mic that you could go into talkaround with without having to key the radio into T/A.

Thanks for the info. Nice Car, by the way :)

[007]

If your mic had the Micor/Syntor (not sys 9000) plug on it, there is a 99% chance it would be a CHP Micor mic. If that was the case, I'd be buying it from you for my lowband Micors...too bad!

Bruce nailed it, though. WASP has quite the wierd setup going...A firmware nightmare

So M/A-Com is going to piggy back 2 M7100's in each car to get the same effect?? That's a lot of radio to be tied up as a 2nd receiver....damn!

[kc7gr]

If your mic had the Micor/Syntor (not sys 9000) plug on it, there is a 99% chance it would be a CHP Micor mic. If that was the case, I'd be buying it from you for my lowband Micors...too bad!

Bruce nailed it, though. WASP has quite the wierd setup going...A firmware nightmare

So M/A-Com is going to piggy back 2 M7100's in each car to get the same effect?? That's a lot of radio to be tied up as a 2nd receiver....damn!

Pretty much. Part of the attraction of the idea is that one has a backup transceiver available if one should die. The troop wouldn't even have to come into the garage right away -- a quick button sequence on the control head, and s/he's switched over to the backup radio.

Keep the peace(es).

[twowaytekk]

For photographs on the equipment.....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... %3AIT&rd=1

[kc7gr]

For photographs on the equipment.....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... %3AIT&rd=1

Yep, that's our stuff all right. Note the backside of the Spectras shown in the photos -- That's what you'll see if it's WSP surplus. Another of the photos clearly shows the aux antenna output for the area receiver.

[Spiffy50]

Old threat but relavent to my question. I have one of these Spectra dual-rocker mics. Is there some way to modify it to allow me to use one side of the rocker for one radio, the other side for another radio? I realize I would have to chop off the factory connector and splice in two (one for each radio). I guess the big question, is there any harm in splitting the mic audio and feeding both radios at the same time, just selecting the PTT per radio?

[Bill_G]

If you chop off the cord connector, you will get to experience working with tinselated wire. Good times!

Leave the connector on, and build an adapter box. I don't honestly know how the mic will sound double terminated. It may sound just fine, or it may sound mushy and boomy.

[Spiffy50]

Yuck I hate that stuff. Reminds me of my days working on audio equipment. One manufacturer who supplied RadioShack with XLR cables decided it wise to use it. When you say adaptor I assume you mean to plug the mic directly into? Has Motorola ever made a stand-alone Spectra mic receptacle? I guess I could always replace the entire cord with the DB9 style for the motorcycle or an RJ45.

[Will]

The GM300 mic cord for the black mic will work on the Spectra mic. I am not sure that the extra wire needed for the dual PTT is there.

You can use the mic jack from a bad A4, A5, or A7 control head. We have a Astro Spectra W9 in a rack mount configuration with a front mounted Spectra mic jack on the panel. The jack was from a bad control head board. The cutout was from the A5 control head face plate.

[motorola_otaku]

Has Motorola ever made a stand-alone Spectra mic receptacle?

IIRC the remote Spectra mic kit terminated in a female RJ45 and used a Maxtrac-style mic, but I could be mistaken.

If you go that route, extension cables for old car/bag phone handsets work great.

[com501]

I always built a 4P relay panel to use one common mike with several radios...