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Kenwood FRS radio test?

2K views 8 replies 6 participants last post by  BEhrler 
#1 ·
I posted this in the Intercomm forum:

"I have the BMW (J&M) headsets with the PPT button I got from my dealer. I have it attached to a brand new Midland GXT600 unit. Of course the Midland has the mic and speaker backwards from J&M (3/8" and 1/4" swapped - The rest of the world uses 1/4" for headphones except BMW) but a couple of converters solved that.

I receive signals in the speakers in the helmet, but the PPT and mic do not work with the Midland. Is my PPT button not working? ARe the compatable? I put in the cheapo headset and mic that came with the midland and it works just fine. I see the TX light come on when I push the button on those. But nothing when I hook up the BMW PPT button.

Anyone ever try to integrate these two brands? Am I stuck going with a kenwood to get this to work?"

Anyone in Central CT have a kenwood I can test my BMW setup with to make sure its working before I try and take it back to the dealer?

Thanks Brian
 
#4 ·
fitsman,

I believe your GXT600 Midland radio has an internal VOX (voice activation) setting that is used to transmit with an external mic and headset without pressing the radio's PTT. If so, I think you can get the radio to work through your system by switching the GXT600 to the VOX setting. Now, when connected to your PTT switch you are able to use the radio's VOX by opening the transmit circuit with the PTT which allows you to transmit using the internal VOX. I could be wrong here, but I think the problem is that your PTT switch doesn't work the same way that the one that comes with the radio does. My neighbor has his GXT FRS/GMRS set up through his Baehr system and that's what we had to do to get it to work. The only downside is that when you release the PTT the VOX takes a couple of seconds to terminate. As a result, your riding partner will have to wait for the termination of VOX before he/she begins to transmit, or the first part of that transmission will be lost. My neighbor/riding partner and I have had great success with this arrangement.

Bill Edwards
 
#5 ·
1jusbill1 said:
fitsman,

I believe your GXT600 Midland radio has an internal VOX (voice activation) setting that is used to transmit with an external mic and headset without pressing the radio's PTT. If so, I think you can get the radio to work through your system by switching the GXT600 to the VOX setting. Now, when connected to your PTT switch you are able to use the radio's VOX by opening the transmit circuit with the PTT which allows you to transmit using the internal VOX. I could be wrong here, but I think the problem is that your PTT switch doesn't work the same way that the one that comes with the radio does. My neighbor has his GXT FRS/GMRS set up through his Baehr system and that's what we had to do to get it to work. The only downside is that when you release the PTT the VOX takes a couple of seconds to terminate. As a result, your riding partner will have to wait for the termination of VOX before he/she begins to transmit, or the first part of that transmission will be lost. My neighbor/riding partner and I have had great success with this arrangement.

Bill Edwards
I beileve I tried the VOX setting and it did not work. I will try that again and post the results. Thanks.
 
#6 ·
&@*%(*$# thing...!

I have the J&M headset, the VoiceII, the BMW PTT swich, the BMW/Kenwood cable AND the Kenwood radios. I can hear but when I PTT, all I get is 'broken squelch' and no audio! So getting the Kenwood radios doesn't solve everyone's problem! I've given up, going to take the whole mess into the dealer and tell them it's a warranty issue (after all, the instructions with the PTT and/or BMW cable specify a Kenwood) and to do whatever is necessary to fix it.

fitsman said:
I posted this in the Intercomm forum:

"I have the BMW (J&M) headsets with the PPT button I got from my dealer. I have it attached to a brand new Midland GXT600 unit. Of course the Midland has the mic and speaker backwards from J&M (3/8" and 1/4" swapped - The rest of the world uses 1/4" for headphones except BMW) but a couple of converters solved that.

I receive signals in the speakers in the helmet, but the PPT and mic do not work with the Midland. Is my PPT button not working? ARe the compatable? I put in the cheapo headset and mic that came with the midland and it works just fine. I see the TX light come on when I push the button on those. But nothing when I hook up the BMW PPT button.

Anyone ever try to integrate these two brands? Am I stuck going with a kenwood to get this to work?"

Anyone in Central CT have a kenwood I can test my BMW setup with to make sure its working before I try and take it back to the dealer?

Thanks Brian
 
#7 ·
Ok, did some checking. Checked the PPT button that came on the cheapo headset and mic that came with the Midland. I Ohm'd out the 3/32" plug and when I push the button the circuit does close (on the tip), like it should. On the BMW unit while doing the same with the 1/8" plug (both the tip and lower band) when I push the button the circuit is open, never closes..which is why it does not work.

Can someone else with the BMW FreeTalk Harness (the 6 pin version that plugs into the BMW Headset) verify that mine is messed up. Like I said in my first post, the 3/32" plug is wired to the speakers in the headset, but the radio's output is 1/8" (like everything else in the world). I cannot verify that the mic is even wired right to the 1/8" plug as it does not ohm out correctly. I think My wiring harness was made wrong at the factory. Can anyone else out there verify this for me?
 
#8 ·
I picked up the cable and ptt button from dealer yesterday (the dealer installed the ptt for free while I was drinking a coffee) plugged the freetalk 3131 into the Voice II and gave the parts counter guy the extra Motorola talkabout I had brought to test. I could hear him crystal clear but he could only hear me keying no audio. I came home and checked my mike boom on the BMW/J&M headseat, the mike was facing away from my mouth. retested with the mike facing me and works great. I put a couple small drops of red paint on the mike boom to indicate direction ( with the foam rubber on both flat surfaces feel the same) as my boom will move around and turn when putting on and taking off ect.
 
#9 ·
The BMW push-to-talk button has four wiring terminals on the switch. two terminals are for momentary on and two are for momentary off. I think the momentary off side has a red dot between them. You can check this with a continuity meter. Make sure that the terminals that you hook your radio to are the momentary on side of the switch.
 
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