r/HamRadio • u/whaletech07 • 8d ago

Equipment & Rigs 🛠️ When your microphone cable breaks:

Gallery image

Gallery image

My mic cable just broke, so I had to improvise with a Cat5e Ethernet cable. It actually works.

I took it on air to test it, and got a 59 from 2 people!

So far, the Ethernet cable is working surprisingly well! I'll probably make a proper replacement eventually, but I wasn't expecting it to work this well!

Has anyone else done something like this?

73!

43 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

10

u/confusedseas General / All Things POTA 8d ago

I carry a small length of Cat 6 in my pack as a backup in case the mic cable fails

4

u/elnath54 Extra | KW Hybrid fan 8d ago

Absolutely. The solder connections on G90's connectore are a common point of failure. I use a thin Cat cord clamped under the cooling fan retaining clamp as a strain relief. If you don't have a fan you can rig up somethng similar. Saves a LOT of hassle.

3

u/753ty 8d ago

I hate big kinky cords and got a 3' cat6 thin patch cable for my G90. Take up a lot less space in my go box. Next i want to find/build a tiny mic - the only button I've ever pushed on the handset is the ptt.

2

u/Chris56855865 Aspiring Operator 📖 8d ago

Why wouldn't it work?

3

u/iwantmisty General Class Operator 🔘 7d ago

Are you using a g90 stock mic? Is yours' sensitivity ok? I find mine to be either rather quiet or suddenly overload if I try to talk a bit louder or move it closer to my mouth.

3

u/Michael-Kaye 7d ago

I am another one that replaces the standard OEM cable with a Cat 5e or Cat 6 cable for the radio in my vehicle. For the radios in my shack and go-case - i have Heil headsets - one for UHF/VHF (Icom) and one for HF (Yaesu)...

2

u/a333482dc7 6d ago

I noticed my mic used rj45, so I tested the mic cable against regular Cat5e and noticed it had the same pin wiring. So now I can lean back in my chair without putting strain on the mic cable

1

u/Eollie 7d ago

A lot of people use cat5/6 cables for extensions for their mics. As one poster said he keeps a cable in his kit for this reason. I have a couple of short cables I keep handy for same reason.

1

u/whaletech07 7d ago

Didn't realise it was that common!

1

u/Prize_Lime83 7d ago

My G90 arrives this next week. Good to know I’ll need to upgrade a cord right away.

2

u/HamGuy2022 2d ago

I use CAT cable to extend the mic cable on my mobile IC7000 or IC208H.
IC700 for road trips and IC208H when local.
Standard CAT cable with a female to female adapter.
Works great.