[PVRCNC] Orion II and Yaesu mic connections

[Jim K4QPL]

A couple tips that might save some repairs for members who might be 
upgrading to Orion II or newer Yaesu radios, and especially those using MFJ 
contest voice keyers.

The Orion II mic plug is now on the 8 pin "Yaesu" standard instead of the 
old Ten-Tec 4 pin connector on the original Orion. That's the good news.

The problem is that there is an "old" Yaesu and a "new" Yaesu standard. The 
difference is that in the "old" standard Yaesu had pins 5 AND 2 tied 
together and grounded.  The "new" standard puts a voltage on pin 2 to power 
an electret microphone. Orion II follows this standard as do newer Yaesu's.

So, if you're upgrading make sure that anything that you plug into your new 
Yaesu or your Orion II does not tie pins 2 and 5 together or you will be 
shorting to ground the voltage supplied by the radio for an electret, and 
that's something that most power supplies aren't very happy about.

A bigger problem is if you're using an MFJ 434 or 434A voice keyer. (I 
believe the instructions and header layout are different on the 434B.) If 
you've had an old Yaesu, or are upgrading from Icom or Kenwood and just 
switch the jumpers wholesale from the Icom or Kenwood jumper blocks to the 
Yaesu block, and, put the jumper on the special Yaesu mini-header, you'll 
short pins 2 and 5 together even if they aren't shorted on your mic 
connector. With the 434A instructions there was an addendum which explained 
this, but if it wasn't inserted in your book, or if you belong to the school 
that believes instruction manuals are for use only if all else fails, you 
could be unpleasantly surprised.

The fix is to use the Icom-Kenwood position on the small Yaesu header 
(remove the jumper), and remove the jumpers from positions 2 and 8 on the 
Yaesu header. These should be moved to position 2 on the Icom header and 3 
on the Kenwood header. (This is from the MFJ addendum)

I realize this is fairly detailed and probably not of interest to 95% of 
you, but if it can save one radio from unnecessary repairs, I hope it's 
worth the bandwidth. If you have specific questions, just send me an email 
off-reflector.

73,

Jim, K4QPL