XTL5000 w/ O3 Head Audio Options

[thisguyneedsabeer]

I recently swapped out my O5 head on an XTL5000 to an O3 control head and I was wondering if there is an option to have audio come out of the new O3 head instead of out of the rear accessory connector. I'd like to be able to make a portable "man-pack" out of this radio as it's been incredibly reliable, and I just had it tuned and serviced.

I had referenced: https://www.motorolasolutions.com/c...les/apx_mobile_o3_control_head_user_guide.pdf and what I want to do may not even be an option.

If it's not possible to direct the audio out of the O3 head, what are some options of a low profile speaker/audio solution that would be more "travel" friendly?

Edit: Could I purchase an ignition sense and splice in my own speaker with the connector kit?

2 Pairs Motorola Speaker Plug Connector Spectra Syntor XTL5000 XTL2500 XTL1500 | eBay
Motorola HLN6863B Mid Power Rear Ignition Cable for Motorola XTL5000 748091005961 | eBay

 

[thisguyneedsabeer]

Apparently I can no longer edit my original post,

I was also wondering about MOTOROLA XTL5000 W3 IGNITION Power Speaker Cable Remote Mount HEAD HMN4044 HHCH | eBay, and also splicing in my own speaker with the plug connector kit above. Ideally I'd like to be able to splice to a barrel jack so I can use headphones or quick swap to an external speaker.

 

[n3obl]

There is no speaker or audio in the head itself. You need to get it from the back connector or use the extension accy cable.

 

[thisguyneedsabeer]

There is no speaker or audio in the head itself. You need to get it from the back connector or use the extension accy cable.

Is there a preferred method for audio? Would splicing a barrel jack in even be possible? In my head it makes sense to just splice into the plastic connector and then I can plug in headphones or an external speaker with the male connector.

 

[Echo4Thirty]

Whatever you do with that audo, DO NOT ground either of the audio lines. EVER. Its balaced audio and grounding them will result in popping the audio amplifer IC. If you must feed it to something that is grounded, do it through a 1:1 audio isolation transformer.

 

[thisguyneedsabeer]

Whatever you do with that audo, DO NOT ground either of the audio lines. EVER. Its balaced audio and grounding them will result in popping the audio amplifer IC. If you must feed it to something that is grounded, do it through a 1:1 audio isolation transformer.

Thank you for this information, this is just something I'm doing some experimentation with making a hyper portable, mobile radio. So as long as I just cut clip into the existing ACCY connector off of the "trapezoid" connector I should be good as those pins will not be grounded, right?

 

[Echo4Thirty]

correct, you can either pull audio off the rear 26pin connector, or the DB25 on the TIB.

 

[thisguyneedsabeer]

correct, you can either pull audio off the rear 26pin connector, or the DB25 on the TIB.

The DB25 is probably the "cleanest way, I would think.

MOTOROLA XTL5000 W3 IGNITION Power Speaker Cable Remote Mount HEAD HMN4044 HHCH | eBay

Since the W3 does not use the rear J2 connector, you do not need a HLN6863 cable. This works on both high power 110 watt, and low power remote head TIB\'s with the dual DB25 connectors. With the setup, the ignition sense is used to turn on and off the radio, the power button on the remote W3...

www.ebay.com

I order this HMN4044, plug it in to the DB25 on the TIB, and cut the ACCY end off of it, and splice in something like this: https://a.co/d/iHOFb6Y.

In my head, it should be that simple, and I don't need to worry about inadvertently grounding the wrong pins.

 

[thisguyneedsabeer]

Issue resolved, and everything is working as I hoped it would. I spliced a barrel jack into the rear connector, and the audio comes through either my external speaker or my 1/8" headphones crystal clear. I also have the DB25 cable on order in case I want to relocate the mount point to the front.

I ended up going with the ArmoLoq system shown here: Armoloq TPA-MXTL and as it turns out, they are also working on an audio adapter to solve exactly the problem I was having- not wanting to lug around an external speaker.

The only issue I'm facing now is some of the buttons on the O3 head aren't as responsive as they could be, but I'm going to chalk that up to a used device (I'm certainly not paying the $1,400 price tag for a new one). If I have to press volume up or down twice to get it to register the press, so be it.

I appreciate all the advice and tips I got here, thank you to the RR community as always.