Orbitsonic 200; Microphone Wiring Question

[Beloved Leader]

My city is halfway through its annual special pickup. On Saturday
afternoon, I found a 40-channel Orbitsonic 200 mobile transceiver. It
had obviously been left in a basement for quite some time. I opened it
up and blew out the dust with compressed air. Then I hooked it up to a
motorcycle battery, and the display lights came on. There was no
microphone with it, so I can't determine whether it receives or
transmits.

There aren't exactly a whole bunch of hits at Google for "orbitsonic,
" but it has that circa 1977 look to it. My guess is that it was made
by a contract manufacturer and sold at truck stops or at mom-and-pop
CB stores. A plate on the back identifies the importer or distributor
as the Samn (or SAMN; it's upper case) Electronics Corporation of
San
Francisco. One of the switches on the front panel is for delta tune,
and another is for "ANL." There is no FCC ID code that I can look up.

The microphone plug on the front is a 5-pin DIN-type connection. I've
seen some CB microphone wiring diagrams on the 'Net, but before I go
connecting pins at random, I'd like to hear from anyone who is
familiar with this radio. I've got some other 40-channel CBs, so I
will be able to hear any transmissions it makes. I see Radio Shack
sells, or used to sell, a microphone that fits this connector, and I
intend to go to a Radio Shack store to see what the pin-out is for
their plug.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

My city is halfway through its annual special pickup. On Saturday
afternoon, I found a 40-channel Orbitsonic 200 mobile transceiver. It
had obviously been left in a basement for quite some time. I opened it
up and blew out the dust with compressed air. Then I hooked it up to a
motorcycle battery, and the display lights came on. There was no
microphone with it, so I can't determine whether it receives or
transmits.

There aren't exactly a whole bunch of hits at Google for "orbitsonic,
" but it has that circa 1977 look to it. My guess is that it was made
by a contract manufacturer and sold at truck stops or at mom-and-pop
CB stores. A plate on the back identifies the importer or distributor
as the Samn (or SAMN; it's upper case) Electronics Corporation of
San
Francisco. One of the switches on the front panel is for delta tune,
and another is for "ANL." There is no FCC ID code that I can look up.

The microphone plug on the front is a 5-pin DIN-type connection. I've
seen some CB microphone wiring diagrams on the 'Net, but before I go
connecting pins at random, I'd like to hear from anyone who is
familiar with this radio. I've got some other 40-channel CBs, so I
will be able to hear any transmissions it makes. I see Radio Shack
sells, or used to sell, a microphone that fits this connector, and I
intend to go to a Radio Shack store to see what the pin-out is for
their plug.

Thanks in advance.

FCC ID?


--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

 

[Radiosrfun]

FCC ID?


--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

Mike I'm not sure if I'm understanding you correctly - if you're asking him
if he could provide an FCC ID - which he said he couldn't find - OR - if
you wondered what he was refering to. MOST CBs (supposed to be all) - should
have an FCC ID Number on it - showing it is type certified. IF he could have
found that - he could have went to the FCC Database and looked up that
number and got "some" info - maybe even a schematic.

The OP "could" try Rec.Radio.CB - but good luck - all I've seen there when I
last looked - was arguing and name calling. Not worth my time to read it. IF
you could take a pic of the circuit board - top and bottom - someone "might"
be able to look at it and cross it to a manufacturer. Radio Shack AND Cobra
make 5 pin din plug mics - and not always compatible wiring. You could try
to wire a mic yourself if you have basic knowledge of electronics. You can
use a VOM - one lead to the chassis of the set - and ohm out the mic pins.
The "GROUND" and "mic shield" will/should show dead short. The "mic" shield
might be a hair above ground. But - the relay/PTT line and mic hot pins can
be found fairly easy too. IF you turn the set on - you can try using a
shielded/insulated probe wire and touch each pin - the other side to chassis
ground. Whichever pin you hit and keys up the set - that is the PTT line.
Its a sure bet that particular radio uses an audio return line through the
microphone to allow the receive audio to be heard. That means a mic matching
that radio HAS to be plugged in for you to hear anything - not that the set
has any defect "necessarily". So of the 5 wires, 2 grounds/shield - plus te
PTT line can be found rather quick - leaving 2 pins left to play with.

Uniden made LOTS of boards for people before their own sets were being made.
There are other companies too. As I said, a picture of the top of the PC
board and bottom - might help reveal the manufacturer. Also - the front of
the unit, back may be of help also. Anyplace there is a control, input,
output. Some "feature" to be compared.

 

[Beloved Leader]

.....


MOST CBs (supposed to be all) - should
have an FCC ID Number on it - showing it is type certified.

Not this one, at least not one that looks like an FCC ID number. For
example, a Uniden Sportcat 180 I have has the FCC ID number AMWUB268A,
which I can take to the FCC website and look up. The builder's plate
on the back of the Orbitsonic CB says:

40 CH CB TRANSCEIVER
FCC DATA: 200
SAMN ELECTRONICS CORPORATION
871 Folsom Street San Francisco,
California 94107, U.S.A.
S/NO. 04011648

There's a paper label on the back that says:

CODE NO.
006619
IGB

It's made in Japan.

The OP "could" try Rec.Radio.CB - but good luck - all I've seen there when I
last looked - was arguing and name calling. Not worth my time to read it.

I did try RRC first, and I someone suggested that I send an email to
the FCC.

you could take a pic of the circuit board - top and bottom - someone "might"
be able to look at it and cross it to a manufacturer.

I'm going to take a closer look at the circuit board tomorrow.

Radio Shack AND Cobra
make 5 pin din plug mics - and not always compatible wiring.

I went to the local RS tonight. It had no CB-type PTT mikes in stock.
There is a replacement mike show on page 96 of the 2002 (final dead
tree) catalog, RS stock number 21-1172. The description says "Ideal
replacement for many CBs."

I've got some microphone pinout pages bookmarked. They give the
details, as did you, on trying each pin one at a time.

Whichever pin you hit and keys up the set - that is the PTT line.

I'll give that a go. I can set up a known working CB a few feet away
and set both radios on the same channel.

Uniden made LOTS of boards for people before their own sets were being made.
There are other companies too. As I said, a picture of the top of the PC
board and bottom - might help reveal the manufacturer.

This radio would look right at home in a room with a burnt orange and
yellow shag carpet, with a Donna Summer album on the turntable.

Thanks to everyone for writing. We'll get this figured out.

 

[Radiosrfun]

Not this one, at least not one that looks like an FCC ID number. For
example, a Uniden Sportcat 180 I have has the FCC ID number AMWUB268A,
which I can take to the FCC website and look up. The builder's plate
on the back of the Orbitsonic CB says:

40 CH CB TRANSCEIVER
FCC DATA: 200
SAMN ELECTRONICS CORPORATION
871 Folsom Street San Francisco,
California 94107, U.S.A.
S/NO. 04011648

There's a paper label on the back that says:

CODE NO.
006619
IGB

It's made in Japan.



I did try RRC first, and I someone suggested that I send an email to
the FCC.


I'm going to take a closer look at the circuit board tomorrow.


I went to the local RS tonight. It had no CB-type PTT mikes in stock.
There is a replacement mike show on page 96 of the 2002 (final dead
tree) catalog, RS stock number 21-1172. The description says "Ideal
replacement for many CBs."

I've got some microphone pinout pages bookmarked. They give the
details, as did you, on trying each pin one at a time.


I'll give that a go. I can set up a known working CB a few feet away
and set both radios on the same channel.


This radio would look right at home in a room with a burnt orange and
yellow shag carpet, with a Donna Summer album on the turntable.

Thanks to everyone for writing. We'll get this figured out.

If ya need any more help - give me a yell, I'll do my best.

 

[Beloved Leader]

If ya need any more help - give me a yell, I'll do my best.

Thanks. I appreciate the help.

I intend to follow the extremely clear procedures at
http://www.cbcintl.com/docs/mikewire.htm

It looks pretty straightforward.

 

[Beloved Leader]

Beloved Leader wrote:
[snip]

Update: There is no marking anywhere inside the radio to indicate who
made it. Now, I'm sure an experienced technician could tell, by
looking at the way the components were laid out on the board, who made
it, but I do not have that ability.

The only markings are on the builder's plate on the back, and on a
piece of aluminum sheet metal on the front. Replace those, and you can
label this CB for any store you want.

The mike connector is the 5-pin DIN connector seen at
http://www.cbcintl.com/docs/mikewire.htm

When I ground pin 3, the RX-TX relay actuates, making a distinct
click. The CB then generates a carrier signal that stops the scanning
on a RS PRO-2066 scanner, one of the rare ones that scans CB
frequencies. This works on at least a few channels; I did not try to
see if I get a carrier on all 40 channels. I have not tried to
determine if I can modulate that carrier.

The radio receives as well. Typical of relay-actuated CBs, it receives
without a mike in place. A couple of the local ratchetjaws were going
at it. I had forgotten just how X-rated the jabber was on the CB band.
Now I remember why I took the CB radio out of my car. The absolute
waste of the valuable resource that CB radio could be is truly a
disgrace.

Thanks again for the help.