Speaker Mic screw-hole for Kenwood NX-3200-k2 portable radio.

[Ofdpt23]

Greetings.

I am looking for advice. I am using a Kenwood NX-3200-k2 portable radio for my Fire Department. I typically leave my radio attached to one of my two speaker-mics that is attached to my radio straps (I have one specifically for fire and ems, so as to not transfer carcinogens between the two jobs). I have, apparently, worn out the screw hole that holds the connector to the radio. Does anybody have any suggestions as to how I might proceed to fix this issue?

 

[mmckenna]

That threaded part where the speaker mic screws into is part of the chassis.
You'd have to replace the chassis to fix that.

Other option would be to try a Helicoil, but you'd probably want to disassemble the entire radio to drill out that section and it'd be a questionable repair if it was damaged once.

Do you remove/install the mic frequently?

 

[kd4efm]

Item #4, A1A-0106-10, chassis list $54.85, bench time, approx. 1.5 hours

 

[dryfb]

I heard from a dealer that they had a dept strip multiple chassis and they used helicoil, idk how well it worked tho

 

[mmckenna]

I heard from a dealer that they had a dept strip multiple chassis and they used helicoil, idk how well it worked tho

That would be my concern. Someone consistently over torquing the screw would probably continue to do that until the helicoil pulled out.

I'm glad most of my users don't use speaker mics.

 

[AM909]

Replacing a frame (especially on the higher-tier radios) is a real pain and ordering and actually getting all the right parts that are not easily transplanted at the same time can be challenging. It's going to be a $250-$300 bill. And beer.

How about going to a BT mic, since the radio does come with BT standard for voice?

 

[Ofdpt23]

That threaded part where the speaker mic screws into is part of the chassis.
You'd have to replace the chassis to fix that.

Other option would be to try a Helicoil, but you'd probably want to disassemble the entire radio to drill out that section and it'd be a questionable repair if it was damaged once.

Do you remove/install the mic frequently?

That's what I thought the answers might be. Thank you for replying. Yes, I do swap mics frequently.

 

[Ofdpt23]

Replacing a frame (especially on the higher-tier radios) is a real pain and ordering and actually getting all the right parts that are not easily transplanted at the same time can be challenging. It's going to be a $250-$300 bill. And beer.

How about going to a BT mic, since the radio does come with BT standard for voice?

Before I logged in this morning, I was actually considering the BT. Any recommendations to a good mic?

 

[buddrousa]

For almost 20 years I swapped between Speaker mic and Bone Mic mounted in my Fire Helmet Starting with my TK-280 and ending with my NX-5200. I swapped the screws on both with the Brass Screw used on the Kenwood Programming Cable and only used fingers to swap out between the 2 and never stripped the radios. Hand tight is fine.

 

[Ofdpt23]

For almost 20 years I swapped between Speaker mic and Bone Mic mounted in my Fire Helmet Starting with my TK-280 and ending with my NX-5200. I swapped the screws on both with the Brass Screw used on the Kenwood Programming Cable and only used fingers to swap out between the 2 and never stripped the radios. Hand tight is fine.

I, too, have been swapping my mic, for almost 20 years. I had my TK-2180 for 15 of those years. This NX-3200 is the first radio in which I have ever had this issue. I do go only finger tight. On my fire-mic I have swapped out the screw for the one used on the programming cable as well. The EMS-mic is the stock screw.

 

[buddrousa]

That Brass Programming screw is the way to go.