Hello,
I have a GM300 that I want to interface with a Rigblaster M8 to use as an Echolink node. The radio will xmit with audio whenever the hand mic is plugged into the mic jack. However, it will not xmit when I plug the RJ-45 connector from the Rigblaster to the mic connector on the front of the radio and execute an ID command from within the Echolink software.
The jumpers in the Rigblaster are set as follows:
1,2,3,7,8, and GND TIE are shunted.
Input Side:
4 = PTT GND
5 = MIC
6 = PTT
Output Side:
4 = PTT GND
5 = MIC
6 = PTT
The MIC GND pins are both open.
I tried to examine the logic board programming with
RSS version R05.00.00 but can't see any selection for
the 16 pin logic board. Is that unavailable?
The model # of my radio is M33GMC20D2AA.
Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Victor, KB5AKO
[email protected]
GM300 - Rigblaster M8 - Echolink Node
Moderator: Queue Moderator
The GM300 is close enough to a MaxTrac, especially the MIC connector. I definitely know that you can feed audio into the MIC input pin. There's one ground pin which is used for mike ground and PTT ground. I don't know if your RigBlaster has separate grounds for these two signals. If so, you'd need to connect them together so the audio can get into the radio.
The mike audio level would need to be around 1/4 to 1 volt RMS and there IS between 5 and 9 volts DC present on the mike input, so you should have a capacitor in series with the audio line feeding the mike pin. Many/most Motorola radios expect a preamp to be present in the microphone and supply voltage to it for that purpose. They also need a lot of audio to fully modulate the radio.
The MaxTrac section of the radio-specific area on BatLabs has the exact pinout for the MIC jack. I just don't remember it off the top of my head. Don't connect the unused pins to anything. Just wire up the mike audio, PTT, and ground pins. You can ground the Monitor/Hang-up line, but leave all the other pins in the MIC jack unconnected.
Bob M.
The mike audio level would need to be around 1/4 to 1 volt RMS and there IS between 5 and 9 volts DC present on the mike input, so you should have a capacitor in series with the audio line feeding the mike pin. Many/most Motorola radios expect a preamp to be present in the microphone and supply voltage to it for that purpose. They also need a lot of audio to fully modulate the radio.
The MaxTrac section of the radio-specific area on BatLabs has the exact pinout for the MIC jack. I just don't remember it off the top of my head. Don't connect the unused pins to anything. Just wire up the mike audio, PTT, and ground pins. You can ground the Monitor/Hang-up line, but leave all the other pins in the MIC jack unconnected.
Bob M.
The Rigblaster will use the CrissCross configuration:
INPUT SIDE
Pin 5 jumpered to MIC on OUTPUT SIDE
Pin 6 jumpered to PTT on OUTPUT SIDE
Pin 4 jumpered to PTT GND on INPUT SIDE
GNDTIE jumpered to GNDTIE on OUTPUT SIDE
OUTPUT SIDE
Pin 5 jumpered to MIC on INPUT SIDE
Pin 6 jumpered to PTT on INPUT SIDE
Pin 4 jumpered to PTT GND on OUTPUT SIDE
This will require 7 White Wire Jumpers. You can use Blue Shunt Jumpers on the unused pins using Blue Shunt Jumpers. This will require 4 Blue Shunt Jumpers. The Mic will plug into the rear of the RIGblaster and the 3 foot supplied Mic cable will go from the front of the RIGblaster to the Mic connector of the radio.
Victor, KB5AKO
INPUT SIDE
Pin 5 jumpered to MIC on OUTPUT SIDE
Pin 6 jumpered to PTT on OUTPUT SIDE
Pin 4 jumpered to PTT GND on INPUT SIDE
GNDTIE jumpered to GNDTIE on OUTPUT SIDE
OUTPUT SIDE
Pin 5 jumpered to MIC on INPUT SIDE
Pin 6 jumpered to PTT on INPUT SIDE
Pin 4 jumpered to PTT GND on OUTPUT SIDE
This will require 7 White Wire Jumpers. You can use Blue Shunt Jumpers on the unused pins using Blue Shunt Jumpers. This will require 4 Blue Shunt Jumpers. The Mic will plug into the rear of the RIGblaster and the 3 foot supplied Mic cable will go from the front of the RIGblaster to the Mic connector of the radio.
Victor, KB5AKO
Rigblaster M8 and SM50
A little late to be joining the chorus, but if anyone cares, I'll echo kcbooboo on this:
I knew I was on the right track with the jumpers, because the arrangement I came up with turned out to be identical to WY2MM's, shown here: http://www.w2ymm.net/hookup.html
To make the Rigblaster work with an SM50, I had to crank the sound card/software settings. The application is EchoStation, and I now have most of the audio control sliders set around 9/10. I also adjusted the trimmer on the back of the Rigblaster. (With my Vertex FM mobile, those same sliders were on 3/10 and the trimmer was way down.) It was counter-intuitive to crank the volume that high, but that's what it took.
By the way, I didn't have much luck pairing the Rigblaster with a newer-style mic, which I believe comes from a CDM radio (p/n AARMN4025B). It worked, but would not un-key. Two other mics that I tried, HMN1062 (quite old) and HMN3596A (newer) worked well. (I tried the CDM mike first because it has the nifty mic hook that doesn't require a wired ground to squelch.)
Also, like WY2MM, I am not using the cross-over jumper configuration that KB5AKO suggests: for space reasons at my operating station, I prefer to run the mic into the front of the Rigblaster, by using an RJ45 female-to-female adapter between the mic plug and the Rigblaster 8-pin-to-RJ45 "pigtail." This gives me a longer mic cable, and also makes it easier to run the Cat5 cable at the back of the Rigblaster directly into a metal conduit leading to the radio, positioned 10 feet away.
Anyway, hope this spares someone else my grief!
-T.
Having just spent a good few hours playing with a Rigblaster M8 and an SM50, I was baffled when everything worked -- mic and all -- *except* the Rigblaster didn't pass audio to the transceiver. It keyed, but no audio.Many/most Motorola radios expect a preamp to be present in the microphone and supply voltage to it for that purpose. They also need a lot of audio to fully modulate the radio.
I knew I was on the right track with the jumpers, because the arrangement I came up with turned out to be identical to WY2MM's, shown here: http://www.w2ymm.net/hookup.html
To make the Rigblaster work with an SM50, I had to crank the sound card/software settings. The application is EchoStation, and I now have most of the audio control sliders set around 9/10. I also adjusted the trimmer on the back of the Rigblaster. (With my Vertex FM mobile, those same sliders were on 3/10 and the trimmer was way down.) It was counter-intuitive to crank the volume that high, but that's what it took.
By the way, I didn't have much luck pairing the Rigblaster with a newer-style mic, which I believe comes from a CDM radio (p/n AARMN4025B). It worked, but would not un-key. Two other mics that I tried, HMN1062 (quite old) and HMN3596A (newer) worked well. (I tried the CDM mike first because it has the nifty mic hook that doesn't require a wired ground to squelch.)
Also, like WY2MM, I am not using the cross-over jumper configuration that KB5AKO suggests: for space reasons at my operating station, I prefer to run the mic into the front of the Rigblaster, by using an RJ45 female-to-female adapter between the mic plug and the Rigblaster 8-pin-to-RJ45 "pigtail." This gives me a longer mic cable, and also makes it easier to run the Cat5 cable at the back of the Rigblaster directly into a metal conduit leading to the radio, positioned 10 feet away.
Anyway, hope this spares someone else my grief!
-T.