V.O.I.C.E. COM II and Midland 75-822

[GBaker]

I have had some success.

The Midland 75-822 will work thru the VCII FRS/GRMS mic and spkr jacks, the bikes helmet head set, the BMW stock PTT, and the BMW stock antenna when powered by the hand helds battery pack. If powered by the bike via the Midland auto pack which is plugged into an outlet added for the cigarette plug and wired direct to the battery it will howl upon tx. (But there is a plan for that when I get more time.) It works this way with the radios rubber antenna but much better with an adaptor that lets me screw the bikes cb antenna into the top of the radio. (Do not have that part number handy but they are also at Radio Shack)

I used the connecting cords (diagram attached) with a Radio Shack 1:1 isolation transform (the little green ones cat# 273-1374) spliced into each cord, one on the spkr cord and one on the mic cord as shown on the Mike Weir diagram from earlier posts. Note the diagram shows all 2.5mm and 3.5mm plugs on both ends as 3 pole plugs (stereo). The ones that go into the 75-822 are two pole (mono). The stereo will work see plug diagram and that is what I am currently using. i may put Mono jacks on the radio end of a new set that I plan to make up.

I do have a problem with the 2.5mm speaker plug going into the VCII jack. It has to be positioned just right or I get static or no sound. I have the same issue with the Kenwood FRS/GMRS cable. I think those contacts inside the VCII are loose. On the Midland cable I have to pull the plug out slightly to make the contact. So I will try to remedy by connecting the spkr neg (-) wire to both the tip and middle pole. I am thinking of going to BMW re the VCII as it is still under warrantee.

My next attempt will be to get rid of the howl and use the bikes power. I have the 1K OHM Resistor (RS Cat# 271-1325) that I will put on the neg (-) mike wire of my cords and try that and if that does not work will try it on the the open pole both on the VCII end of the mic cord. This has been suggested as a cure. From previous attempts and when I installed the power plug it was suggested to attach a ground wire to the bikes radio chassis. I did this but have not yet grounded the other end as I really did not know where to ground it. Any one have any thoughts on this? This running of a ground wire to/from this point is shown on the older BMW COMM systems and the older BMW stock (J&M) cb install instructions.

If this works I will then move to connect the two cords from the top of the 75-822 to the pre-wired 6 pin din cb plug under the tupperware on the left of the stingray. I do not want to take all that tupperware off until I am fairly sure it will work.

The 2.5mm and 3.5mm plugs are not hard to deal with as the base screws off exposing the contacts for soldering. The six pin male din is similar as it comes apart and the pins pull out of the back for soldering and you stick them back thru the hole you want it in. Just be sure to have as much of the pins as needed exposed to go into the female plug on the bike.

Hope this is of help to others.

Any thoughts, hints, suggestions, or comments are most welcome.

Gene

[bruce2000ltc]

I have had some success.

My next attempt will be to get rid of the howl and use the bikes power. I have the 1K OHM Resistor (RS Cat# 271-1325) that I will put on the neg (-) mike wire of my cords and try that and if that does not work will try it on the the open pole both on the VCII end of the mic cord. This has been suggested as a cure. From previous attempts and when I installed the power plug it was suggested to attach a ground wire to the bikes radio chassis. I did this but have not yet grounded the other end as I really did not know where to ground it. Any one have any thoughts on this? This running of a ground wire to/from this point is shown on the older BMW COMM systems and the older BMW stock (J&M) cb install instructions.

Any thoughts, hints, suggestions, or comments are most welcome.

Gene
A friend of mine bought one of the first '05 LT's when they came out and installed the VOICE I and the CB on it. After he had problems with the VOICE I he bought the J&M BC3 but had to buy another CB because the CB for the VOICE I wasn't compatible with the new intercom. He gave me the CB to try on my '05 with the VOICE II. I installed it and the CB received great but had a howl when I tried to transmit. Like you, I'd read that the CB should be grounded to the back of the radio. I didn't want to remove the stingray and take the radio out to connect a ground wire so I stripped the cover off of the radio antenna coax cable and attached a wire to the braided shield (I figured the braided shield of the coax was a pretty good ground to the radio chassis). I did the same procedure to the CB antenna coax and attached the ground wire from the radio antenna coax. After doing this the transmit howl was gone and the CB works great.

I am now in the process of trying to get rid of the transmit howl on a friends LT with a Baehr intercom and a Midland 75-822.......wish me luck!

Bruce Hodges

[GBaker]

Thank you Bruce,

As the BMW install instructions show that ground coming from the antenna cable what you say does make sense. I will certainly add this to the list to try. Since I already had the sting ray apart I went ahead and attached the ground to the chassis. Some have reported taking a small sheet metal screw and puting it thru one of the vent holes but there is a small green screw on the underside of the chassis which I used.

I had thought to run that ground wire to the same place where the antenna grounds go under the seat. I may try that before cutting into antenna cable.

Here is some info I ran across on the "squeal" (see the attachment in the next post):

How To Cure The Squeal

Refer to Figure 3.

1. Open the mike and figure out which colored wire is the actual audio or Mike line. (See the previous discussion to determine this.)
2. After finding the audio line, cut it at a convenient spot and insert a 4700 (4.7K, YELLOW-VIOLET-RED), 1/2-watt or 1/4-watt resistor in series with the audio line. See the inset in Figure 3.
3. For extra filtering protection, also connect a .001µF or .01µF ceramic disc capacitor from either side of your resistor/audio line connections to the bare twisted shield (Ground) braid of the mike cable.

We are getting there just takes time and great sharing of what has worked for others here. It was thrilling to have it work thru the VCII, helmet set and the bikes antenna if only with the cb's batteries for power. I am guessing to have about $60.00 in wire, plugs, soldering iron etc and tons of time and effort but that still beats the $495.00 plus install on the BMW radio that can not be gotten due to at my last check some 26 on back order for several months...

It still erks me that a cb on a motorcycle should not be this difficult. It has out a damper on my otherwise good feelings for the ride overall.

Gene

Gene

[GBaker]

Here is the attachment

[the1mavin]

I am now in the process of trying to get rid of the transmit howl on a friends LT with a Baehr intercom and a Midland 75-822.......wish me luck!

Bruce Hodges

Bruce,
I am using a cheapo RS CB with my Baehr, but since it uses the attached antenna it is hanging out in the weather and it does not like the rain. ;) I was thinking about wiring up a Midland. Can you tell me if you got it to work and if so what cable did you use between the Midland and the Baehr?

Getting this out of the weather will be one of my winter projects - either that or how to waterproof the old radio shack one...

Thanks
Tim