Microphone Extension

[WSCF738]

I'm probably going to be getting a base station, Btech GMRS 50V2 or Wouxum KG1000G Plus (any suggestions), but I have a question about extending the microphone.

It is hard for my wife to get up and down all the time so I want to put the microphone next to her recliner.

I don't want to run it straight from the radio to the recliner because it'd have to be in the middle of the room and too easy to trip on. So I'd want to run it up against the wall and to her recliner which is about 30 feet. I'd use a RJ45 cable, I have plenty of them, and an inline coupler to connect the cable to the microphone.

So my question is: will 30 feet of RJ45 work?

I believe it should work because RJ45, i.e. Ethernet cable, is good for transmitting data.

Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Thanks

[Guest]

Those are 2 totally different radios as far as price and quality.   The btech will work just fine and works for many people I know.  Some will say it’s junk but if you dont abuse it it will be fine and do the job.    But the kg1000 is a great radio.  If you can afford the 1000 buy it.  If not or you have other places you want to spend money buy the btech.  But first make sure you spend the money on the best cable you can can afford and the shortest routing you can do and the best antenna you can afford and get it up as high as possible.  That’s much more important than what radio you run.   With good cable and antenna I do 200miles with a $130 20w radio. 
 

as for the other question? I don’t know. Never had the need. 

[WSAM454]

I would suggest a shielded cable, as short as possible, since it will be carrying audio, (possibility of getting hum)  and may be susceptible to picking up RF in the shack, especially if the radio is running at full power output. 

Some thoughts:

Any way to re-locate the radio closer to her and keep the mic cable the original length?  While 30 feet of extra antenna cable will introduce some loss, it may be acceptable and not impact noticeably on signal strengths. (transmit or receive)

The Wouxum's head can be remoted, and comes with a 10 foot extension cable to run from the head to the main unit.   Since the mic connects to the head, the mic lead does not have to be changed.   While more expensive than the other radio, this might be a consideration.   I assume the cable they use is shielded, although it it NOT a straight-through cable, and a regular Ethernet cable CANNOT  be directly substituted.  (see the thread here:   

https://forums.mygmrs.com/topic/7247-wouxan-kg-1000g-plus-faceplate-data-cable/#comment-77387

 

[WSCF738]

I can make my own RJ45 cable and I know how to swap the connections so it won't be a problem. Moving the head on the Wouxum will be able to cut down the distance. I MIGHT me able to move the radio a little closer but still have about 12' from the wall to the recliner, which would also save me money on the LMR400 cable. I want to keep the cost down but don't want to "Cheap" out. I haven't purchased anything yet. I'm just doing research to see what my options are. I'll go check out the link you gave.

[WSCF738]

It looks like I might be able to move the location of where the antenna cable comes into the house. I already had a place where all my security cameras cables came into the house so I was thinking about using it. Didn't consider the cross talk that might happen between the cables. That was why I was going to have the 1000G Plus over there and need to have 30' of microphone cable. As I was considering this conversation I found a place where the antenna can come into my house and closer to the recliners AND it would shorten my antenna cable by about 8 feet (save some $$$). Now I can put the 1000G Plus next to the recliners and not need to extend the microphone cable. So I'd like to thank those who responded and kept me from making a terrible mistake.

[tweiss3]

Check the pin layout and give it a try. It is likely to work with an extended cable, but you can't know until you try.