Hello,
I wonder what connectors are being used to get discriminator audio out of the radio?
What if you want to get multiple signals out of the radio?
In the past I have put a MAX233 chip connected to the internal slicer inside a Pro90 and used a 3/32" audio jack for the RS-232 out. I have modified a BC780 to put the slicer output on pin 9 of the RS-232 port and used a special serial cable. I tend to like things inside and may do this again. I find sometimes the 3/32" audio plugs can get bent up. If a stereo jack is used then care is needed in the design so inserting and removing the plug will not destroy anything due to cross-circuiting.
I noticed that Uniden is using the Mini-B USB connector for the serial port on the handhelds. It seems like a good form factor for multiple connections on a portable although it may still be flimsy. I may have problems soldering to the connector.
I thought of the 4 pin telephone plug (the one usually on the headset cable) but realized that a Mini-Din is about the same size. Size is not an issue on the mobile/base radios. I could use a 8 pin Mini-Din and wire it in a similar manner as the one on my AOR 8600. I could put the slicer outputs on the now unused tape recorder switch outputs and maybe even provide a current limited +5 volts, low-level audio and slicer outputs in addition to the discriminator out. To bad the Mini-Din will not fit on the handhelds. The advantage of doing this is then I can build stuff that will work across multiple units.
73 Eric
I wonder what connectors are being used to get discriminator audio out of the radio?
What if you want to get multiple signals out of the radio?
In the past I have put a MAX233 chip connected to the internal slicer inside a Pro90 and used a 3/32" audio jack for the RS-232 out. I have modified a BC780 to put the slicer output on pin 9 of the RS-232 port and used a special serial cable. I tend to like things inside and may do this again. I find sometimes the 3/32" audio plugs can get bent up. If a stereo jack is used then care is needed in the design so inserting and removing the plug will not destroy anything due to cross-circuiting.
I noticed that Uniden is using the Mini-B USB connector for the serial port on the handhelds. It seems like a good form factor for multiple connections on a portable although it may still be flimsy. I may have problems soldering to the connector.
I thought of the 4 pin telephone plug (the one usually on the headset cable) but realized that a Mini-Din is about the same size. Size is not an issue on the mobile/base radios. I could use a 8 pin Mini-Din and wire it in a similar manner as the one on my AOR 8600. I could put the slicer outputs on the now unused tape recorder switch outputs and maybe even provide a current limited +5 volts, low-level audio and slicer outputs in addition to the discriminator out. To bad the Mini-Din will not fit on the handhelds. The advantage of doing this is then I can build stuff that will work across multiple units.
73 Eric
I installed a mini-DIN on the side of a Pro-95 in which I had installed a slicer about the size of a postage stamp. I looked far and wide for a mini-DIN connector without the large wing-type flanges, but in the end, I settled for one that did have the flanges. Aside from being butt-ugly and sticking out like a sore thumb, they are the strongest and most versatile connector I have ever used since I can run both the slicer output and the plain discriminator signal out using a single cable. 
