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APRS DIY help for a noob.

KM4DWS

Rank V
Launch Member

Advocate II

So I have an Icom 2730 and Mobilinkd 2.2 device being delivered sometime sooner or later (COVID19 willing). But I will need to make a cable to connect the devices together. Attached is a picture of the Icom Mic pinouts and the TNC instructions, it lists the pinouts for the TRRS output from the TNC.

I can wire an RJ45 if I know what to connect to which pin? Most of it is pretty clear to me but I am unclear on the grounds do I need to connect all the grounds to the same ground.

Ring 1 (TNC) to Pin 4 (RJ45)
Ring 2 (TNC) to Pin 6 (RJ45)
Sleeve (TNC GND) to Pins 5 & 7

Tip (TNC) to 3.5mm Ring 1 (Speaker)
Sleeve (TNC GND) to 3.5mm Sleeve (Speaker GND)

Icom Mic RJ45 Pinout.jpg
 

Attachments

Ubiety

Rank VI
Member

Explorer I

Suggest using a multimeter to check for connectivity, especially between the grounds on the radio.
I believe that MobilinkD sells a bunch of cables for different radios at reasonable prices.
 

KM4DWS

Rank V
Launch Member

Advocate II

Suggest using a multimeter to check for connectivity, especially between the grounds on the radio.
I believe that MobilinkD sells a bunch of cables for different radios at reasonable prices.
Checked with them and while they have something for Icom HTs, the 2730a (best I can tell) needs input to go through the RJ45 and output through the speaker, which Mobilinkd did not have a cable for. So will need to find another source or create my own.
 

Prerunner1982

Local Expert, Oklahoma USA
Launch Member
Member

Member III

I had to make my own cable as well for a Yaesu ft-3100 and grounded through the 3.5mm audio jack.
Mic input and PTT through RJ mic jack.
Audio out (radio)/ Audio In (Mobilinkd) and ground through 3.5 audio jack.

Excuse my phallic looking TRS plugs. :tearsofjoy:
APRS cable.jpgAPRS cable2.jpg
 
Last edited:

KM4DWS

Rank V
Launch Member

Advocate II

I had to make my own cable as well for a Yaesu ft-3100 and grounded through the 3.5mm audio jack.
Mic input and PTT through RJ mic jack.
Audio out (radio)/ Audio In (Mobilinkd) and ground through 3.5 audio jack.

Excuse my phallic looking TRS plugs. :tearsofjoy:
Thank you. I will try that idea first just ground to ground and let the Mic only use 2 pins.
 

M Rose

Local Expert
Mod Team
Member

Advocate III

Thank you for the verification. Should be easy enough!
It’s pretty straight forward... the hardest part is keeping all the wires organized so you don’t forget what you are soldering... I have a jig (piece of cardboard with holes in it) to keep the wires separate on both RJ45 cables and 4 pole 3.5mm audio jacks... this way I know which wire is which by what hole I put it through.
 

KM4DWS

Rank V
Launch Member

Advocate II

Antenna showed up in UPS truck today... But the radio and mobilinkd are still MIA :disappointed:.
 

KM4DWS

Rank V
Launch Member

Advocate II

It’s pretty straight forward... the hardest part is keeping all the wires organized so you don’t forget what you are soldering... I have a jig (piece of cardboard with holes in it) to keep the wires separate on both RJ45 cables and 4 pole 3.5mm audio jacks... this way I know which wire is which by what hole I put it through.
Always fun to deal with tiny cables and parts trying to achieve some precision with these oversized and clumsy clubs that I call hands and old warn out eyes.
 

Ubiety

Rank VI
Member

Explorer I

"these oversized and clumsy clubs that I call hands and old warn out eyes." + "short term memory loss" = my kind of people :)

Who are you and why are you calling me? :)
 

KM4DWS

Rank V
Launch Member

Advocate II

Built the cable yesterday... Have not had a chance to test it yet but was not as bad as I thought it would but I will need to get some good flexible clamp things I see all over. I did not the patience to solder the cables together so if it fails I will pull it back apart and try again (after a trip to Harbor China Freight).
 

Ubiety

Rank VI
Member

Explorer I

Built the cable yesterday... Have not had a chance to test it yet but was not as bad as I thought it would but I will need to get some good flexible clamp things I see all over. I did not the patience to solder the cables together so if it fails I will pull it back apart and try again (after a trip to Harbor China Freight).
Yeah, I need to drag the soldering iron out to the truck to finalize some connections. But they keep working... :)
glad you got your radio and have fun with the pi!
 
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