Batboard

I want to wire in a speaker switch which will allow me to switch from the speaker inside the car to a weatherproof speaker under the hood of the car, and I really don't want to cut the speaker wire and solder in a switch. What is the connector for the speaker?

Go over to Waltel.com and order a matched pair, male and female, for $2.00 and your set. Of course you would actually need two pairs, male to connect to the radio cable and a female for each speaker from the switch.

http://shop.waltel.com/catalog/product_ ... cts_id/464

Be careful that external speaker doesn't take one side of the audio circuit to ground... take either side of a Spectra audio amp to ground and the magic smoke will leak out.

Go by a lawnmower repair shop, and see if they have a few old Briggs & Stratton engines with a full alternator ring that they will let you rob the plugs off of, and of course the matching plug from the lawnmower. Yes, it actually is the same thing. The only thing to watch out for is the diode in line with the battery charging side of the plug on the engine.

That sounds like lots of work... the connectors are simple Amps... Digikey and Mouser both sell them (we buy the bodies and the pins in quantity and build up what we need - also, the pins are the same as typical strobe connectors).

Do you have a part number for them from Digi-Key and Mouser?? I tried to find them searching the latest Mouser catalog CD and came up blank.

I just order them in pairs from Waltel, no offense to him, but i have orders going out almost every month to Mouser anyway so it would be nice to order a quantity and have them on hand.

MP 6.7 wrote:I want to wire in a speaker switch which will allow me to switch from the speaker inside the car to a weatherproof speaker under the hood of the car, and I really don't want to cut the speaker wire and solder in a switch. What is the connector for the speaker?

Keep in mind that, unless your outside speaker is REALLY efficient and has great acoustics, you may still have problems hearing your radio outside the vehicle, especially if you've got noise from other vehicles or people around you.

Something you may wish to consider is adding a proper PA amp to your radio. The HLN1185 series, plus the appropriate cable and a standard siren speaker, will get you all the volume you could possibly want in 'ExRad' mode.

Outside of that, happy tweaking.

Great info, thanks. Hey Bruce, it's for the Spectra you fixed for me Small world, eh?

Anyways, I picked up a pack of 2 sets of connectors at a local industrial electronic supply shop for about $2, so for the price of one from Waltel (not including the cost of shipping and wait times), I got two sets. I also got a speaker from the Mike & Key ARC swap meet at the Puyallup fair yesterday for $4...quite a steal when you consider it was brand new and cost upwards of $15-20 most likely. It's a small 10W PA paging speaker. The horn makes them quite a bit more efficient than the regular Motorola speakers. I hooked it up and it was pretty darn loud at volume level 8, so I think it will work. But I'll keep your recommendation in mind if I do need some extra level outside. Do you have any recommendations for a small inexpensive <10W amplifier that runs on 12V?

MP 6.7 wrote:Great info, thanks. Hey Bruce, it's for the Spectra you fixed for me Small world, eh?

<bigsnip>

I think it will work. But I'll keep your recommendation in mind if I do need some extra level outside. Do you have any recommendations for a small inexpensive <10W amplifier that runs on 12V?

Yes, most definitely, and getting smaller each day it seems. Glad to hear things are working out for you.

Anyway... No real recommendation on amps. I'm probably not the best person to ask about that, as it's not something I deal with on a regular basis.

Happy hunting.