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This thread is exactly the reason I recommend never using “Technical Discussion:” Now it is a popularity contest rather than an intelligent chronological discussion of the issues!

As it was explained to me, "Talk Around" is to be used when the repeater temporarily unavailable or has dropped out for "whatever reason." Using Talk Around on the MXT400 continues to use the simplex channel and any tone set, the repeater would have output on so, your group can continue to communicate but, without the use of repeater. In essence, the radio just drops the input signal to the repeater when you select Talk Around. This way the group does not have to swap channels or tones in absence of the repeater.

I'll chime in on this too (thus turning it into an official ham rag chew, lol). I also went through this about seven years ago, full tear of the shoulder and a full and a partial for the wrist. The wrist still gives me the most grief. Physical therapy is key. It can be difficult but stick with it. Being carefull with it is a good call, I have found there are limits to what I can put the shoulder through and pushed it hard once last year and was sure I had F'd it up again, though it went back to it's new normal after a couple of weeks. I guess I'm not in my 20's anymore. Wishing you a good recovery. 73's

If you have the funds you could consider a second radio (you can never have too many, am I right) and maybe a switcher for the antenna cable. Just offering a different approach.

I'm going to say "Yes" but the splitter needs to be the type where all the oins go to the same place, as is pin 1 is the same on all 3 locations etc. Like I read in the comments there might be an impredence issue affecting the radio's modulation when keyed. You might want to think of some kind of bluetooth devise like the Uniden microphone, only problem there is they lack distance. 3's Greg

I knew that would cofuse you Boxcar..

Yeah, I'd like to get back to lifting weights, but I don't want anything like that to happen. I'm going to be careful with it for quite some time.

Jesus.. whats a real cheerleader

I know the Wouxun KG-1000G and Radioddity DB20-G calls for 11.7 - 15.8 volts. I couldn't find the specs for the Midland MXT500 but it's probably the same. Pretty much all transceivers call for 11.7-15.8 volts. Yes you will see a small drop in output power at the lowest allowed voltage compared to 13.8 volts or the max allowed voltage. But it is not enough to make a difference on signal strength or FARS. I haven't noticed any differences with my QRP HF radios that have internal batteries. They usually will put out 5 watts with the internal battery and 8-10 watts on an external power source, depending on the radio.

To answer the original question: I don't see a reason that wouldn't work. There's a couple of BTech radios that do this from the factory. They have RJ-45 connectors at the radio, and come with a splitter that has RJ-45 on 1 end, and a K1 connector on the other. In my case, I have one in my race car, with the K1 connector going to the wiring harness for my helmet mounted mic & ear buds, and steering wheel mounted PTT.

Yes you can have multiple microphones connected to one radio device and it is done all the time in the Aviation industry. It is not rocket science, it is basic electronics in matching levels with each microphone circuit with the radio device. Don't forget, if you're going to have separate microphones in separate locations, you will need to have separate speakers and you will need to factor in if you are going to have side tone without causing feedback (audio loop) or if you're going to automatically mute the receive audio circuit. It will be a little more involved than just coupling (doubling) two microphones to one radio. Also, fire apparatus have multi-comm systems similar to aircraft systems. And, Rugged Radios has on-board radio/Intercom systems for multiple users in one vehicle for off-road applications. You might want to checkout Racing Radios or Radio Electronics.

It's basically* ethernet in the same way that the 120v wiring in your house is basically ethernet. Ethernet is a network technology. There's no 'networking' going on between the mic and your radio. No addressing being shared. It's just using a common connector to pass the same type of signal (your audio, your PTT trigger, button pushes) that would come through any other kind of mic connector to the radio. It's an RJ-45 connector. It's nothing at all like an ethernet connection other than it shares a common connector type.

Two problems I see... 1st) If you are using a Y-cable/splitter I'd assume you are going to run into mic impedance issues. The radio is designed for a certain microphone impedance, adding another mic in parallel or trying to extend the cable by 30ft is probably gonna jack it up. 2nd) If you did run a 2nd hand mic somewhere - what about audio?

i said basicity. The MIC connection and cable is using the same physicial RJ45 connector and twisted pair wire found in ethernet systems but with different wiring pinout and for different purposes. Yes, it is a non ethernet connection, we all know ethernet needs to be a managed connections, hence the reason you use switches or routers in a eithernet environment which is more than likley lacking with his set up. I will say, if i wanted to, i could extend the mic on my repeater via Ethernet and a lot of other things.

No, although the same connector is used, none of the radio microphones for which I’ve seen schematics are Ethernet. The different wires carry analog audio, push to talk, and other analog connections which allow push buttons or LED lights on the microphone.

Some people do use an RJ45 manual switch to switch between two microphones, but in that case only one microphone is connected at a time. I don’t know how what you refer to as an RJ45 splitter is actually wired, but if the two microphones are connected in parallel I would not expect good results. Also, there’s the problem of having a long run for the microphone cable. You might find that it’s just too long and your audio signals are too weak.

it doesn't make sense. why would you want to split the mic? You can extend a mic using RJ45 extensions.. There are aslo some Bluetooth mic gizmos that you can add. The Mic connection is basicly an eithernet connection to the radio, generally, no you can not split an ethernet signal without feeding it through a switch or router..

I am working on setting up a base station and ideally would like the unit to live in the basement. Can I simply use an RJ,45 splitter and run a remote handmic elsewhere in the house? I haven't found any examples of this anywhere, but don't see why it wouldn't work. Thank you! -Adam

When you changed out the tuning rods and made them thinner by removing the threads instead of leaving a space in there maybe you could make the teflon (or plaster) insulator thicker so it is more snug on the smoothed out threaded screw. A thicker insulation would give you better protection. Good idea taking the receive insulators and use them on the transmit side. I think the 1st one burns out because it's 1st in line of the three, taking the brunt of the power.

Been there about 12 to 15 years back. Had a minor rotor cuff tear in the tendon. Got surgery to stitch up the tear, doc put in an anchor to reattach the torn section to the bone and clean off some bone spurs. I wrecked the shoulder at the gym while using the upright seated bench press machine. Yeah, it hurt like an SOB when it happened too. Then the shoulder “popped” just a fraction of a second after I felt the stretching sensation. When home offer that. Basically couldn’t lift my right arm. It took about 6 months of PT just to get back normal range of motion. Then another 6 months to a year building the strength back up.

Kudos to @dosw and @tweiss3 for understanding the question and providing good answers.

Actually, your local repeater coordination body (typically won't answer anything and are useless), have recommended tones (2-5 of them) for each region of the area which they coordinate. These are Ohio's recommendations, not requirements, but it keeps adjacent pairs from using the same tones.

While the choice of CTCSS tones is not entirely random, it may as well be. There are common conventions, like avoiding adjacent tones in a given overlapping area, avoiding tones that are harmonics of power lines, that sort of thing. I think in some cases it's more about "legacy conventional wisdom" than about "real world issues in 2025." But as far as repeaters following a pattern, what you might be seeing is either a freak coincidence, or regional conventions that may have some historical rationale. Not any broadly adopted pattern.

Your title says "offsets" but then, in the body of your message, you talk about CTCSS. Which one is it and what pattern do you think you are seeing?

No, I haven’t noticed.