Adding Variable Mic Gain to Voyage VR9000 Radio

[wcsd106]

The Voyage VR9000, for those who aren't familiar with it, is a EPT360014B based radio similar in design, features, and appearance to the Galaxy DX88.

The main differences are the Voyage only has 6 selectable bands compared to the Galaxy's 8 bands.

The voyage also has variable RF output power and an SWR metering circuit. The SWR Cal knob was added in place of the variable microphone gain.

This past afternoon I decided to convert the SWR Cal knob into a variable microphone gain. I am posting pictures of my work as well as instructions as a reference to all who may need to perform this modification in the future.

Step 1: Remove the wires from the SWR cal potentiometer. There are 3 black wires connected together, solder them together and then tape the ends off. Do the same with the other two wires connected to the SWR Cal pot.

Step 2: Cut or remove the yellow MIC OUT wire from the echo board. If cutting the wire, cut it close to the board so that the remaining wire that connects to a jumper on the main PC board will reach the SWR Cal pot

Step 3: Connect the yellow wire running from the main pc board to the left side of the SWR Cal pot.

Step 4: Connect the right side of the SWR Cal pot to PC Board Ground. I used a short length of #22 solid wire and brought it to the solder side of the pc board to connect it to a ground trace.

Step 5: Splice a wire onto the MIC Out of the Echo board and run this to the center tab of the SWR Cal pot.

Modification is now complete. Of course you will have now lost the SWR Cal function on your radio, but if you're like me and prefer to use an external SWR meter as opposed to the radio's internal metering circuit, this is a small price to pay for variable microphone gain.

 

[TonyV225]

This is a great useful and handy mod this also works for a variable power aswell. I had done this on some of the older Realistic SSB radios

 

[WR0220]

Nice mod. A little constructive critisism:

Instead of cutting the (yellow) wire and splicing another wire to it remove the wire from the PCB and solder it to the center leg of the pot.

Run a new single piece of wire from the PCB (where yellow wire was removed) to the left leg of the pot.

If you are going to splice wires, shrink tube is your friend.

Less heat - that way the insulation on the wires won't melt.

Less solder - you only need enough to bond the pieces together. There's also less chance of a cold solder joint.

Whenever possible route your wiring along the same path as an existing harness.