KMC-9 with a foot pedal?

[ncarpenter]

Calling all technical minds! I'm a full-time dispatcher, and I love having a foot pedal for my radio at work. I'd like to have a foot pedal for my Kenwood desktop radio as well. Can anyone think of a way I can wire a foot pedal up to a KMC-9C mic? It doesn't have to look professional, I basically want to move the paddle switch from the mic to my foot...I hope this makes sense, I'm fighting a cold and the medication may be hindering my logic!

Thanks guys.

 

[n5ims]

The circuit diagram for the KMC-9 microphone is on page 3 of this link --> http://www.radiopics.com/1. Manuals/- Accessories/Kenwood_KMC-9 Microphone (Manual).pdf

Is shows that the switch in the mic not only switches the PTT (transmit/receive transfer), but the mic audio as well. This would prevent a easy/clean external switch replacement using the mic.

You could probably get an external mic (standard 600 ohm unbalanced) and attach it to pins 4 (ground) and 5 (hot) of the modular plug and a standard NO (normally open) footswitch to pins 2 and 3 of the modular plug. If you have a foot switch at work, you probably use an external mic there as well so this is most likely the preferred way to do this. If you need to use the KMC-9, you would need to open the mic and wire a DPDT momentary switch up to replace (or duplicate) the functionality of S2A and S2B in that diagram.

 

[ncarpenter]

Yea, I just took the mic apart after posting, and didn't find what I was looking for. But now I'm thinking I may just go 'ghetto' and separate the upper mic housing from the bottom switch unit, extend the wires from the switch unit to the mic, and use the switch unit as my foot pedal. Unfortunately I would lose the use of my hand paddle, but that's not a huge deal. And, this will mean a simple modification that can be returned to normal state. Any reasons that can be thought of why I can't extend that 3-pin connector from the switch to the mic?

Thanks for the reply n5ims!

 

[ramal121]

Is the KMC-9 the only mic or PTT source to the radio? If so, you could solder a jumper across the mic switch to keep it hot all the time ( palm mics are this way, the mic is never switched off). You could then tack on a couple of wires to the PTT switch and run it down to the foot pedal. This would give you PTT from either finger or foot.

 

[ncarpenter]

I like it!

 

[radiofan1]

What kind of radio is it? It is cleaner to take the PTT and ground for the foot pedal to the accessory jack on the back of the radio if it has one, and most of them do. Might need programming though. Still have to add the mic hi jumper in the -9.

 

[ramal121]

What kind of radio is it? It is cleaner to take the PTT and ground for the foot pedal to the accessory jack on the back of the radio if it has one, and most of them do. Might need programming though. Still have to add the mic hi jumper in the -9.

True. But if it's a newer radio, say TK-8180, you would have to pay attention to TX audio audio steering in the FPU to use the acc jack PTT, not to mention programming an I/O for PTT.

 

[ncarpenter]

It's a TK-860...definitely not one of the newer models Kenwood is offering, lol!

 

[N2ZPY]

Why not just use a DPDT relay hidden inside the mic housing and switch that with a foot switch? Use one set of contacts for your PTT and one for the MIC.