My scanner the MotoWhacker

[kf4lne]

I had this with me today while at Wal Mart and got the usual looks of WTF and is that a cop and such, the scanner was not visable inside my pocket but the extention speaker was. A fellow radio buddy of mine said i whacked out my scanner with that mic so I had to post it. here is the pro 83 with the Motorola shoulder mic that has been converted to a speaker. The PTT went bad and the cord was worn out enough that it wasnt worth repairing since these things are like $5 each at hamfests anyway. For those who are going to notice the strait keys in the background, one is a real Lionel J38 key and it is used and the other is the japanese knock-off ball bering J-38 key. it works and is kept as a stand by. not pictured is the J37 key pulled from its leg clamp of DOOM and mounted to a peice of wood. note the Bendix /King also sports a Motorola mic. the BK provides 7 volts on the mic+ line and powers the mic quite nicely without any modifications. The B/K hand mics are also amplified and rely on the mic+ power. the shoulder speaker has great audio quality compared to the built in speaker and compared to most commercially available portable scanner speakers. I have another one rewired for my TH77A and of course one for each of the SP50s

 

[landonjensen]

what is that L shaped thing that is as far as i can see motorola ?

 

[kf4lne]

what is that L shaped thing that is as far as i can see motorola ?

you mean the brown and light gray thing beside the scanner? Thats a typical Motorola desk mic, nothing special except it has been wired for the Bendix/King radio that i use for MURS. its a good mic considering its really old and was pretty nasty when i got it. It was a pull from a city garage and had about a half a quart of 15W40 on it!

 

[SLWilson]

Motorola Mike !

what is that L shaped thing that is as far as i can see motorola ?

We still use a mike just like that. The left paddle is the MONITOR or PL disable button for our base radio and the right paddle is the TRANSMIT button. Still works like brand new!!! Steve/Gallia 911

 

[Rayjk110]

I've got 3 of those "dispatch" mics in my setup. 1 is currently wired to a centracom "foot pedal" (great for multi-tasking !)

On that Microphone (looks like a HMN9030A), if you open it up, the cords are actually interchangable in the style of a miniature 3-pin plug. I've repaired a couple of the bad cord problem ones myself. I'm now stuck with a box of them that are RX only (bad TX like yours) that I may convert like that.

 

[kf4lne]

it is a 9030, and I figure the cost of parts to repair it actually exceeds the cost to replace it with a used one from the hamfest or a used dirty one from the motorola shop. I got all the speaker mics like those from the /\/\ shop for $5 each out of a box of mics with twisted cords, ones that were caked with dirt and grime and stuff like that, ones that nobody wanted to buy. That one still has concrete in the speaker grill, I am guessing it came from a construction crew or something like that. BTW, I love the desk mic too! it has great audio quality and gives my MURS signal that extra umph to make the 2 watts worth while, it makes it loud and clear enough to overcome the noise at the fringe areas. motorola makes a good quality mic and I use them anywhere I am able. I have one for teh Icom in the car, one for the B/K, one for each portable radio and one for the 2M shack radio.

 

[radio10-8]

Very cool, but bordering on Hamsexy.

 

[policeMonitor]

i want one of them wacker mics on my scanner

 

[scannerman5000]

Yeah me too. I wish Radio Shack hadn't stopped selling their speaker mics. I actually am looking for one for my scanners.

 

[kf4lne]

Very cool, but bordering on Hamsexy.

Bite me Its scannersexy! My TH77A with the MotoWhacker mic is Hamsexy!

As for anyone wanting a motowhacker speaker for their scanner, find them somewhere for like dirt freaking cheap, open it up and see what color wires are going to the speaker and replace the mic plug accordingly.

 

[emscapt9816]

Speakermics

Whacking aside, they come in real handy when you don't wanna hold the radio in your hand or use an earphone. I've built a couple of them myself.

 

[W4BOZ]

That's pretty cool.

I took apart one of those standard beige motorola mobile mics, made a new circuit board for it and took the PTT switch off the amplified board, glued a Heil HC-5 element in it and made it the mic for my CB in my car.

Is there a way to power the boards from those microphones without a radio that supplies voltage on the mic line...if that makes any sense...?

 

[w4rez]

We still use a mike just like that. The left paddle is the MONITOR or PL disable button for our base radio and the right paddle is the TRANSMIT button. Still works like brand new!!! Steve/Gallia 911

Those mics are awesome. I have one here that was wired to an Icom 2100H for awhile.