If you have been reading this forum and my various Tales recently you would know that I have a lot of scanners in my shack at any given time. I have used a couple different mixers for audio consolidation and recently have been able so source the rare and elusive NCS3230 Multi-RX mixer.
I have seriously considered the Zetron Model 27 as several people here have them and really enjoy them. The main reason I hesitated on the Model 27 was that it didn’t have a headphone jack. That was important to me as I shared my home with my son and daughter in law for the last two years. Now that they have moved to their new house this is no longer an issue for me.
Last month I was able to obtain my NCS-3230, something that I have pined over for decades. It is spotless, looks brand new, and works great. The main issues I have with it is that I use 8 scanners and it works with only (?) 6 and that I need amplified speakers as it just doesn’t punch out enough volume for my old ears.
I have a Behringer Model 1602 mixer in the garage as well, I bought it to replace my larger Model X2222. I didn’t need all the fancy sound tailoring capabilities of the X2222 and the 8u of rack space it demanded. The 1602 did everything I need but at only 1u of space.
Well then, my solution until yesterday was to use the NCS-3230, with a lesser amount of channels but built specifically for what I wanted or the 1602 with the proper channel amount but not as radio-sexy as the NCS-3230. Now the decision gets more confusing!
Yesterday at the local hamfest I found not one but TWO Zetron Model 27’s receiver panels at $10 each. They (according to the seller anyway) supposedly worked and included the rear panel terminal connectors (more on that later!) They looked on decent condition and seemed to be recent pulls from service, with 25-pair phone cables cut about a foot back.
I snapped them up quickly and just handed over my money, not even trying to bargain with the seller. I figured if I could get one to work I could keep the other for parts. If I got both to work I could sell one or give it to a friend. When I got home I set up in the garage and got to work.
The first thing I did was to remove the 12-pin terminal connectors and remove the wires from them. Zetron helpfully has the wiring diagram right on the back of the unit so all I needed to do was to connect to the terminal strips a power source (I used a PowerPole stub I had available) and a couple Mini-plug jumpers for audio inputs.
After connection I grabbed the first handy scanner (my trusty 325) and powered up. All the Mute buttons lit up as I pressed them, a good sign! Both of the audio channels worked fine (Wow, the audio is LOUD!). I then wired up all 8 channels with mini-plug jumpers and the first one worked just fine. The only problem was the right volume knob, it just spun and spun. I popped off the cap and the nut had worked loose, so I reseated it and tightened it down and all was good.
I then tested all 8 channels and unit #1 worked perfectly. I was a happy boy!) I then connected it to the second unit and it worked fine too. I then made a second cable harness and that is where I ran into a snag. Each of the channels except Right C worked fine with the second wiring harness on both units. When connect to the radio the Call Light for that channel come on steady but no audio was passed. I tested the continuity of the connection, double checked that I had the proper pins connected and then swapped the connecters back to the first unit. I was getting stumped.
I then started to compare the harnesses to each other and eventually discovered the issue. The J2 terminal connecter provided was 14 pins, not 12. I was connecting the C-Audio to the wrong pins. I assume that someplace along the way in its service life they lost or damaged the original 12-pin connector and replaced it with a 14-pin one, accounting for the extra pins, something I hadn’t done as I didn’t notice it.
Once I figured that out, I rewired the audio to the proper pins and was then sure to align the connector so that the unused pins were off to the left. Everything worked fine!
I made the harnesses basically plug and play. They have audio cables labeled “L1”, “L2” etc. to plug into radios and a PowerPole connector for the power. This will make it easier to install and use than the NCS-3230.
Now I had 2 working Model 27’s. I called my friend Will, and he asked if he could have one as it would work out perfectly in his shack. He has 4 scanners and several other radios going so this will work out nicely for him. The other one I am going to keep for now and I am considering adding it to my shack at some point, replacing the NCS-3230 (at least for a while).
If I do install it, I have to figure out how. Do I pull the power supply and dual bander out as well as the shelf unit and tuner for the IC7100 and relocate that, get a new, larger cabinet pr perhaps a second cabinet to place on top of the existing one? I can use this as an excuse to tear apart my shack and rebuild it yet again!
I am sort of leaning toward making the 10u cabinet a “Scanner Only” one, with the 8 current scanners, a multicoupler, the Model 27 and a smaller power supply to handle the 8 radios, MC and 27. I could then put the 50A supply and Icom stuff and Anytone to the side. The biggest reason against this idea is that I just spent almost $200 making the custom rack panel for the current configuration. Decisions, decisions!
I have seriously considered the Zetron Model 27 as several people here have them and really enjoy them. The main reason I hesitated on the Model 27 was that it didn’t have a headphone jack. That was important to me as I shared my home with my son and daughter in law for the last two years. Now that they have moved to their new house this is no longer an issue for me.
Last month I was able to obtain my NCS-3230, something that I have pined over for decades. It is spotless, looks brand new, and works great. The main issues I have with it is that I use 8 scanners and it works with only (?) 6 and that I need amplified speakers as it just doesn’t punch out enough volume for my old ears.
I have a Behringer Model 1602 mixer in the garage as well, I bought it to replace my larger Model X2222. I didn’t need all the fancy sound tailoring capabilities of the X2222 and the 8u of rack space it demanded. The 1602 did everything I need but at only 1u of space.
Well then, my solution until yesterday was to use the NCS-3230, with a lesser amount of channels but built specifically for what I wanted or the 1602 with the proper channel amount but not as radio-sexy as the NCS-3230. Now the decision gets more confusing!
Yesterday at the local hamfest I found not one but TWO Zetron Model 27’s receiver panels at $10 each. They (according to the seller anyway) supposedly worked and included the rear panel terminal connectors (more on that later!) They looked on decent condition and seemed to be recent pulls from service, with 25-pair phone cables cut about a foot back.
I snapped them up quickly and just handed over my money, not even trying to bargain with the seller. I figured if I could get one to work I could keep the other for parts. If I got both to work I could sell one or give it to a friend. When I got home I set up in the garage and got to work.
The first thing I did was to remove the 12-pin terminal connectors and remove the wires from them. Zetron helpfully has the wiring diagram right on the back of the unit so all I needed to do was to connect to the terminal strips a power source (I used a PowerPole stub I had available) and a couple Mini-plug jumpers for audio inputs.
After connection I grabbed the first handy scanner (my trusty 325) and powered up. All the Mute buttons lit up as I pressed them, a good sign! Both of the audio channels worked fine (Wow, the audio is LOUD!). I then wired up all 8 channels with mini-plug jumpers and the first one worked just fine. The only problem was the right volume knob, it just spun and spun. I popped off the cap and the nut had worked loose, so I reseated it and tightened it down and all was good.
I then tested all 8 channels and unit #1 worked perfectly. I was a happy boy!) I then connected it to the second unit and it worked fine too. I then made a second cable harness and that is where I ran into a snag. Each of the channels except Right C worked fine with the second wiring harness on both units. When connect to the radio the Call Light for that channel come on steady but no audio was passed. I tested the continuity of the connection, double checked that I had the proper pins connected and then swapped the connecters back to the first unit. I was getting stumped.
I then started to compare the harnesses to each other and eventually discovered the issue. The J2 terminal connecter provided was 14 pins, not 12. I was connecting the C-Audio to the wrong pins. I assume that someplace along the way in its service life they lost or damaged the original 12-pin connector and replaced it with a 14-pin one, accounting for the extra pins, something I hadn’t done as I didn’t notice it.
Once I figured that out, I rewired the audio to the proper pins and was then sure to align the connector so that the unused pins were off to the left. Everything worked fine!
I made the harnesses basically plug and play. They have audio cables labeled “L1”, “L2” etc. to plug into radios and a PowerPole connector for the power. This will make it easier to install and use than the NCS-3230.
Now I had 2 working Model 27’s. I called my friend Will, and he asked if he could have one as it would work out perfectly in his shack. He has 4 scanners and several other radios going so this will work out nicely for him. The other one I am going to keep for now and I am considering adding it to my shack at some point, replacing the NCS-3230 (at least for a while).
If I do install it, I have to figure out how. Do I pull the power supply and dual bander out as well as the shelf unit and tuner for the IC7100 and relocate that, get a new, larger cabinet pr perhaps a second cabinet to place on top of the existing one? I can use this as an excuse to tear apart my shack and rebuild it yet again!
I am sort of leaning toward making the 10u cabinet a “Scanner Only” one, with the 8 current scanners, a multicoupler, the Model 27 and a smaller power supply to handle the 8 radios, MC and 27. I could then put the 50A supply and Icom stuff and Anytone to the side. The biggest reason against this idea is that I just spent almost $200 making the custom rack panel for the current configuration. Decisions, decisions!
