G5 muted audio in drop in charger

[N4VZB]

Hi all,

My G5 is muting all audio (shows a "C" icon next to the battery level when I place it in the drop in charger. This is the charger only, not the amplified one. Any way to change this behavior? I'm figuring I'm probably overlooking an option somewhere.

Can't believe the range and audio quality of this baby... Best radio I've seen in years

 

[911ert]

Maybe that is to show charging?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[N4VZB]

Yeah, I'm sure it's to indicate charging, or that it's in the drop in charger, just not sure why it's muting all audio when it's in the charger. It doesn't mute the audio when charging from a USB cable.

I figure there's probably an option in the software that I've overlooked...

 

[KJ4NFP]

Answer - perhaps...

I have been playing with my new g5 for a while and did get the drop in charger. What I have found is that the circuitry for the drop in charger and the amplified charger are similar. There is provision in this drop in charger for connections as well (to be added to a different model maybe?) The circuit board has antenna, audio and another port hole cut into the case under the label. The circuits are not complete for all of these. though.

When the charger cradle is powered and the g5 is inserted, voltage from one of the pins indicates to the g5 that it is in the charger and appears to redirect the audio to the pins as it would in an amplified charger. I was able to intercept this and solder in an audio connector on my charger. I was also able to intercept the external antenna as well.

In short I have been able to use the drop in charger for charging, external antenna, and audio out.

 

[rogress]

Out of curiosity, is that a speaker output or a line level output? Or in other words, what are you feeding your tapped audio into?

Thanks.

I have been playing with my new g5 for a while and did get the drop in charger. What I have found is that the circuitry for the drop in charger and the amplified charger are similar. There is provision in this drop in charger for connections as well (to be added to a different model maybe?) The circuit board has antenna, audio and another port hole cut into the case under the label. The circuits are not complete for all of these. though.

When the charger cradle is powered and the g5 is inserted, voltage from one of the pins indicates to the g5 that it is in the charger and appears to redirect the audio to the pins as it would in an amplified charger. I was able to intercept this and solder in an audio connector on my charger. I was also able to intercept the external antenna as well.

In short I have been able to use the drop in charger for charging, external antenna, and audio out.

 

[mswells]

any schematic's or diagrams of what you did to add the audio jack ?

 

[KJ4NFP]

Sorry for the delay...

Weather has been quite impacting and means that I work a lot!

I have not schematics. I confess I'm more of a "tweaker" (no puns please) than an engineer.

I obtained a pinout image from another thread here, confirmed it all to be accurate with a meter, and set forth on my adventure. The PCB inside the charger appears to be set for several models. Having looked around a little, I see the programming cradle for the G1 is identical, and the PCB (along with molded cutouts) confirms that. This is a common trend of manufacturers to save a little dough. Easy to replicate and only add the components needed for whatever model. That said, I did have to jump some traces out to get what I needed, but those were VERY obvious once opened up and checked with a meter.

The audio out is controlled by the volume knob, so I'm inclined to say it is not line level, but it is low and requires an amp to be most useful.