computer headset for K2/K3 SSB

[Chris Kantarjiev K6DBG]

I was inspired to try to adapt the headset I use for VOIP to the K2, since I
wanted to play with SSB a little. I got the idea from something that W2ENY is
selling on ebay :-) I'm writing this up so it's in the archives in case someone
else has the idea (and remembers to look).

How hard could this be, I figured? Well ... read on.

Finding the 8 pin part was easy at Radio Shack. I looked up the pinouts, hooked
up PTT to a mono 1/8" jack and AF to another 1/8" jack. I plugged everything in,
but got no audio response. That was just weird.

I fiddled around with plumbing for a while - I plugged the mic into my laptop
and the laptop audio out to the adapter, and that worked. After an hour of
pulling out my hair, I realize that the microphone is a noise-cancelling mic,
and thus it must get power from somewhere.

A bunch of web searching led me to

http://www.epanorama.net/documents/pc/multimedia_microphones.html

which tells me that the PC standard is to supply +5 on the ring of the connector.

I also found

http://marc.info/?l=elecraft&m=109408122407776&w=2

in the Elecraft archives! I should have looked there first. It reminded me that
there was +5V on pin 6. So I set about to put a 2.2K resistor in the 8-pin shell
and use a stereo jack for the mic.

That didn't work, either. Huh? Oh. There's no voltage on pin 6. It turns out
that when I installed the KSB2, I didn't strap all the pins in the mic
configuration header, just 1/2/7/8. Easy to fix.

Hey! That was ... better. But intermittent. I couldn't figure out why. It took
another hour or so to discover that I had slightly melted the insulation on the
PTT lead in the 1/8" jack and it could short to ground! Also a straightforward
fix, once I found it.

I'm trying to use this with VOX. I'm not sure I'm going to be happy with the
results, though ... we'll see.

Mostly, though, I think I prefer CW!

73 de chris K6DBG


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[Julian, G4ILO]

On Nov 16, 2007 6:49 AM, Christopher A. Kantarjiev <[hidden email]> wrote:
> I was inspired to try to adapt the headset I use for VOIP to the K2, since I
> wanted to play with SSB a little. I got the idea from something that W2ENY is
> selling on ebay :-) I'm writing this up so it's in the archives in case someone
> else has the idea (and remembers to look).
>
> How hard could this be, I figured? Well ... read on.

You might have saved a bit of time if you had found this page:
http://www.g4ilo.com/k2_headset.html , Chris. Mine works fine with
VOX, though I'm not a big fan of phone either.

--
Julian, G4ILO K2 s/n: 392  K3 s/n: ???
G4ILO's Shack: www.g4ilo.com
Zerobeat Ham Forums: www.zerobeat.net/smf
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[Tom Hammond-2]

Hi Julian:

>You might have saved a bit of time if you had found this page:
>http://www.g4ilo.com/k2_headset.html , Chris. Mine works fine with
>VOX, though I'm not a big fan of phone either.

Once you get your K3, and try to silky-smooth VOX _it_ offers, you
might change your mind.

I'm (still) not a 'fan' of phone either, but I must admit (grudgingly)
that the K3 has taken a LOT of my dislikes away...

Did I just day that...?  Jeri, quick... come wash my mouth out with soap!!!

73,

Tom   N0SS

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[Julian, G4ILO]

On Nov 16, 2007 2:52 PM, Tom Hammond <[hidden email]> wrote:
> Hi Julian:
>
> Once you get your K3, and try to silky-smooth VOX _it_ offers, you
> might change your mind.
>
> I'm (still) not a 'fan' of phone either, but I must admit (grudgingly)
> that the K3 has taken a LOT of my dislikes away...
>
> Did I just day that...?  Jeri, quick... come wash my mouth out with soap!!!

I never thought I'd see you say that, Tom!

Actually, the headset I used has enough gain to work well even with
the K2's VOX. But about the only use for VOX I can see is working in
contests, and I can think of few things more mind-numbingly tedious
than shouting my call over and over again into the bedlam that is an
SSB contest.

--
Julian, G4ILO K2 s/n: 392  K3 s/n: ???
G4ILO's Shack: www.g4ilo.com
Zerobeat Ham Forums: www.zerobeat.net/smf
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[M0XDF]

Right now, with my level of Morse, CW is more bedlam!


On 16/11/07 16:31, "Julian G4ILO" <[hidden email]> sent:
>and I can think of few things more mind-numbingly tedious
> than shouting my call over and over again into the bedlam that is an
> SSB contest.

--
Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the
same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice
as fast as that! -Lewis Carroll, mathematician and writer (1832-1898)


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[David Pratt-2]

In a recent message, "David Ferrington, M0XDF" <[hidden email]>
wrote ...
>Right now, with my level of Morse, CW is more bedlam!

Keep practising, David ;-)  Get yourself proficient in readiness for
your K3 to arrive. With perseverance it won't take long.

73
--
David G4DMP
Leeds, England, UK
------


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[M0XDF]

And the K3 will help in reading CW - I must try not to let it become a
crutch


On 16/11/07 17:24, "David Pratt" <[hidden email]> sent:

> In a recent message, "David Ferrington, M0XDF" <[hidden email]>
> wrote ...
>> Right now, with my level of Morse, CW is more bedlam!
>
> Keep practising, David ;-)  Get yourself proficient in readiness for
> your K3 to arrive. With perseverance it won't take long.
>
> 73

--
Since we are destined to live out our lives in the prison of our minds, our
one duty is to furnish it well.
-Peter Ustinov, actor, writer and director (1921-2004)


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[Doug Faunt N6TQS [phone]]

Walking with a crutch is better than not walking at all!!!

73, doug

   Date: Fri, 16 Nov 2007 17:35:54 +0000
   From: "David Ferrington, M0XDF" <[hidden email]>
   Thread-Topic: [Elecraft] computer headset for K2/K3 SSB
   Thread-Index: AcgodyNjYiI3eJRqEdyKZAAwZcawbA==

   And the K3 will help in reading CW - I must try not to let it become a
   crutch


   On 16/11/07 17:24, "David Pratt" <[hidden email]> sent:

   > In a recent message, "David Ferrington, M0XDF" <[hidden email]>
   > wrote ...
   >> Right now, with my level of Morse, CW is more bedlam!
   >
   > Keep practising, David ;-)  Get yourself proficient in readiness for
   > your K3 to arrive. With perseverance it won't take long.
   >
   > 73

   --
   Since we are destined to live out our lives in the prison of our minds, our
   one duty is to furnish it well.
   -Peter Ustinov, actor, writer and director (1921-2004)


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[David Woolley (E.L)]

Julian G4ILO wrote:
>
> You might have saved a bit of time if you had found this page:
> http://www.g4ilo.com/k2_headset.html , Chris. Mine works fine with

It's better to connect the power feed to the ring on the jack as the
arrangement on PC microphones seems to be that electret microphones have
ring and tip connected and dynamic ones use mono jacks.  That means the
power feed is shorted out, rather than loading the microphone, if you
use a dynamic microphone.  I posted a longer article some weeks ago.

> VOX, though I'm not a big fan of phone either.
>


--
David Woolley
Emails are not formal business letters, whatever businesses may want.
RFC1855 says there should be an address here, but, in a world of spam,
that is no longer good advice, as archive address hiding may not work.
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