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PRR Headset Conversion


Vindicare

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http://royalmarines.mine.nu/engineer_files/prr.php

 

I'm quite interested in performing this conversion for a PRR headset to fit a Motorolla T series, exactly like they did. My question is how hard will it be? I have limited electrical skills myself, however I know some people who are reasonably proficient.

 

Has anyone tried it? Or is there anything I should know before I attempt this?

 

Thanks guys.

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In the past day I have converted a Bowman PRR headset to work with a Clansman PTT and in turn connect to an Alan 456R radio. The radio uses a double mono plug arrangement, 2.5mm for mic and 3.5mm for h/phone.

The principle is exactly the same as for the Motorola. I do suggest that you get a multimeter so you can test for a circuit and connect the right wire to the right terminal or, at the very least, an LED and low voltage battery.

 

Just to clear up the website diagram the green/white wires are for the mic and the blue/yellow are for the headphone. Ignore the black and red wire as they are not required.

 

Here are some pics:

In this pic I chopped off the original Clansman plug(now attached to the headset lead) and soldered the 2.5 and 3.5mm mono plugs in place. You will notice I also soldered some tinned brass strip to a side of each plug to spread any stress through the casing when I cast it on. I will be using 'Plastic Padding'(body filler) to make the casing but you could use 'Araldite' or similar. The black cotton thread on the wire is just to reinforce the brass tabs that are superglued to the black cable insulation.

post-578-1109273985_thumb.jpg

 

Pic showing radio plug and Clansman PTT.

post-578-1109274081_thumb.jpg

 

This pic shows the Clansman plug after removing and attaching to the Bowman headset lead.

post-578-1109274142_thumb.jpg

 

If you have any questions at all don't hesitate to ask.

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  • 1 year later...
Just to clear up the website diagram the green/white wires are for the mic and the blue/yellow are for the headphone. Ignore the black and red wire as they are not required.

 

Have you seen my detailed instructions around the place. One location is here about 2/3 of the way down:

http://wannabe.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=3546&st=60

 

Copy & paste this one:

www.airsoftcommunity.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=51995

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Lazy ;)

 

Right, first thing to do is remove the original plug from the Bowman headset. Just unscrew the main body from the plug part with a pair of pliers, if need be, and de-solder the wire from it. You can discard all plug parts as they are not needed. (It is probably worth cutting the wires back to before the cable grip as it may have damaged the wires.)

 

Then take your Clansman PTT and remove the plug from the end of its wire. The best way to do this is to actually connect it to the socket on the PTT, for leverage, then, if your able use your fingers otherwise some large pliers unscrew the middle portion between the fastening collar and the rubber cable support. Pull it down the wire so that you have access to the wires and yank the wires from the back end of the pins with some small nose pliers. Remove all plug parts from cable.

There should be a nylon cord and metal pin these can be cut back and discarded respectively.

 

You now need to connect the Clansman plug to the Bowman but make sure you put the parts on the wire (i.e. rubber cable relief, metal body, cable grip, plastic barrel, rubber pin divider) before you start soldering or you’ll be peeved – TAKE NOTE OF ORDER & ORIENTATION THAT THEY COME OFF. Connect the Bowman wire in accordance with the wiring table and as for the red/black, can’t remember if there are both or just one, just cut them back as they are not needed. Once soldered, screw the body to the collar/plug section and you are done.

 

Of course you should ideally have a multimeter and test all conductivity of the Bowman/Clansman wires especially those in the table because if it doesn’t work first time it will drive you mad trying to work out where the fault is.

The tables should be accurate but I can’t guarantee it.

Best to do the checking first before you cut and solder because if a wire does not work which I have prescribed then you’ll have to cut the wires back again to use another and you’ll be losing cable.

 

Right, now for the plug that connects to your radio. You will need (that’s if your radio uses this plug assembly) 1x 2.5mm mono and 1x 3.5mm mono mini plugs. You can get these from Maplins, Tandy etc. Get rid of the plastic insulation and grind flats on one side of each plug. I then soldered brass legs to these flats to add extra rigidity.

If you look at this link:

 

http://www.arniesairsoft.co.uk/forums/inde...10541&hl=bowman

(fourth post down)

 

it shows the assembly before I put the casing on it and I think a picture says a thousand words. I soldered the wires first then superglued the legs to the wire insulation and in turn bound it with cotton thread and soaked it, again, with superglue.

I then made a simple mould out of the plasticard stuff like you get in the packaging of Plastic Death accessories i.e. mag boxes and cast the plug in ‘Plastic Padding’ body filler.

Note: you have to have the headphone wire connected as shown because it is polarity sensitive the mic is not but best to do as seen here. 

 

Other details:

I personally found that the rubber relief thingy was too long so I cut it down by about half and ground the rubber down so that it appears like in the photos. Also I removed the original clip from the Clansman PTT and replaced it with a clip from a tape measure because the original caused the PTT to stick out from my webbing to much in an awkward manner. To do this you have to undo the nut at the base of the PTT socket then the PTT casing can be separated giving access to the small nut holding the clip in place. The tape measure clip is perfect for MOLLE

 

That’s it. Most important of all is thorough testing of the circuitry and a multimeter really saves the day. Any questions just ask. Best of luck.

 

Here are the tables and finalised pics:

bowmanwiringtable.jpg

 

ptt.jpg

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  • 4 months later...
  • 5 years later...

I know this is an old topic but need some help. I too have been converting the clansman ptt pressel switch for use with a bowman headset and a binatone action 950 radio (2.5mm stereo input)

 

I have used the tables as supplied by Tommygunn, the ptt switch doesnt actually do anything though, as in it doesnt activate transmitting on the radio. I can transmit by also holding the radio ptt button but this is not what i want.

 

When i do transmit using the radio ptt, the mic volume receiving on the other end is extremely quiet

 

Any ideas why this is happening?

 

Thanks for any help that you can offer

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Els,

The first thing you need to check is that all wires and connections are good. Get a Volt meter and check all wires and contacts from one end to the other for conductivity, section by section and then as a whole.

The switch itself should just be a simple contact switch and nothing else so as long as it is working it should work within the system perfectly.

 

You say you are using a radio with a 2.5mm socket which I'm guessing uses four segments on the plug?

 

Since a setup like this is quite different from mine you will pretty much have to start from scratch to figure out what segment on the plug does and work your way up the com line.

 

Tom.

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