Hi all,
 
Thanks for all of the comments.  Always nice to know who knows what on the AMSAT BB.
 
I have done a bit of research in looking at what is available on eBay.  Everyone needs to be aware that there are different versions of the MH-36 microphone.
 
What I am seeing on eBay are the 6 conductor cables used for the MH-36B6J, MH-36A6J, and MH-36B6JS.
 
The MH-36 I have is the MH-36D8; uses a 7 conductor cable, 8 pin Foster connector at the radio end, and a 7 pin female plug (maybe a Molex connector) at the microphone end.  The MH-31 that I also have uses an RJ-45 at the mic end, 8 pin Foster connector at the radio end, and an 8 conductor cable.
 
That got me to thinking more; what exactly is going on with the two microphones since they both work with the 847.  So I opened up the Foster plugs to see what is what.  It turns out the MH-36D8 is using 7 conductor cable but at the radio end plug, pins 5 and 7 are jumpered together.  Pin 5 is ground and Pin 7 is mic ground.  The MH-31 carries all 8 wires from the radio end plug to the RJ-45 plug at the microphone end.
 
I am seeing on eBay a few cables listed that can be used for the MD-200, MD-100, M-100, YM-48, MH31, MH-31B8, and MH-36D8 that are 8 conductor cables with the mic plug at one end and an RJ-45 connector at the other end.  I now believe the easiest thing to do is put together a small circuit board to act as the interface between the existing wires inside the mic, buy the 8 conductor cable, cut off the RJ-45, connect the new cable to the circuit board, jumper together the wires from 5 and 7 on the circuit board; and use double-sided tape to hold it place.  The other tricky part is to put together some sort of strain relief at the mic end.  I'm still working on that one.
 
Once again, thank you all for your thoughts and comments.
 
73,
Charlie Sufana AJ9N

In a message dated 2022-07-29 18:12:07 Eastern Standard Time, amsat-bb@amsat.org writes:
 
Alan is right.  I bought the MH-36 for the DTMF right after I got the radio with the original MH-31 a zillion years ago.
 
73,
Charlie

In a message dated 2022-07-29 16:36:59 Eastern Standard Time, wa4sca@gmail.com writes:
 

Hi John,

 

The MH-31 is the supplied microphone, but the manual mentions the MH-36 as an optional replacement if you need DTMF.

 

73,

 

Alan

WA4SCA

 

 

From: John
Sent: Friday, July 29, 2022 15:29
To: aj9n@aol.com; amsat-bb@amsat.org
Subject: [AMSAT-BB] Re: Question for other Yaesu FT-847 MH-36 microphone users

 

Hi Charlie,

 

It’s a known issue, and happens a lot. The cables don’t age well, and the jacket degrades on them.

 

Are you sure the MH-36 is designed for your FT-847 though? That looks like the wrong microphone (it looks like a mobile microphone for the VHF/UHF mobile radios).

 

The MH-31 is the recommended hand microphone for the FT-847, I believe. It has a detachable cable, with an RJ45 socket on the microphone end. The other end can either be an RJ45 (for radios like the FT817/857/897) or an 8 pin round Foster connection (for radios like the FT-847). The same cable (RJ45 on one end, Foster on the other) should still be available for multiple Yaesu desk microphones (from the MD-100 onwards, at the very least).

 

From a quick look on eBay, the cables available for the MH-36 are all 6-pin RJ12 connections on the radio end (which confirms my theory that this microphone is designed for the mobile rigs), so you’re likely looking at buying one of those, cutting the end off and soldering a Foster plug on it, though with it being an electret microphone (if memory serves me), you’ll need to figure out how to get some bias voltage across the element.

 

I’m fairly certain you’d have a lot more luck with an MH-31 with the appropriate cable, or possibly the MH-59 DTMF microphone from the FT817/857/897. However…

 

A quick google also revealed this: https://k8daa.groups.io/g/k8daa/topic/yaesu_ft847_dtmf_mic/78966465

 

This details the mod required to make your own cable for the MH-36D. It might help you out a bit.

 

73,

John (M5ET)

 

From: Charlie Sufana via AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb@amsat.org>
Sent: 29 July 2022 21:06
To: amsat-bb@amsat.org
Subject: [AMSAT-BB] Question for other Yaesu FT-847 MH-36 microphone users

 

Hi all,

 

I know that there are few Yaesu FT-847 owners out there, so these questions are for you.  One of the microphones I have for the radio, the Yaesu MH-36, is literally having the coiled microphone cable's rubber jacket disintegrating.  The replacement microphone coiled cable is no longer available from Yaesu.  Has anyone else experienced this problem?  If so I would be interested in finding out what you did.

 

I am pretty sure I can locate 7 conductor coiled microphone cable and I already have spare microphone plugs but I don't know anything about the 7 pin plug that is on the inside of the microphone housing.  If push comes to shove, I could probably build up a cable if I knew who the female plug manufacturer and model number is or maybe use a small circuit board to develop an interface between the existing wiring and anything new.

 

Any suggestions or help would be most appreciated.  Thanks in advance.

 

73,

Charlie Sufana AJ9N

One of the ARISS mentors

 


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