Soldering

I don't understand what this mini DIN connectpr is that just has straight pens on both sides. Any chance you can post a picture of it? Or maybe a link to a catalog page that shows it.

Some basic soldering tips I find helpful.
For ***Anyone** including those new to the art.....

First off "Tin" the end of each wire, by dipping it in Flux and then putting hot solder on each wire, you will find this helps, just enough to get into the wire and not start to melt the plastic. If it is multi-strand wire, make sure its "tidy" as well...
This is invaluable, getting solder on the wire before you start that holds the strands together, it has already got good connections inside the wire bundle, and now you are just melting that solder and not having to wait for the wire to heat up when you make the connection...
Trust me on this, this saves soooooo much time when your not frustrated by waiting for the wire to heat up from now on in?..

When you do the soldering, the solder wire must touch the tip of the iron and allow it to then flow onto the part. touching the iron onto the part and the solder a millimetre away from the iron on the part will not work.... but you know this already (I hope)

I have found in the past that a small bath of solder (like an old spoon held securely in a vice over a flame) on multiple ends saves a lot of time....
***Caution hot lead is painful***
Especially when they are small wires that are fiddly to hold... separate them as much as you can and dip the whole lot in one go, presuming you have already dipped them in flux, its a doddle, and you wonder why you never tried that before.


The do the same for each pin you wish to connect to, but no so much as it fills any tube designed to hold the wire, you only need a little dot on each
Also patience, wait for each pin to cool before you start the next, on both this part and the attaching the wire part, otherwise you risk melting the plastic?..

When you have done that, a paint brush dipped in flux helps, paint a little flux on each (By now cold) joint of wire, and a little dab on each pin...
If you have been lucky, you have enough solder on the wire to just "touch" with a hot iron and the solder will just melt now into place, bubbling away the flux on the pin.
Use low melting point solder for this, as its a low volt joint I suspect, so it wont matter that much.
If the solder is not self fluxing, dip the solder in flux before you heat it up.

Have patience.
Let each joint cool before you start the next one if it starts getting warm in there.

A Good iron not too hot and a clean tip are invaluable.
If the tip gets dirty, have either a solder sponge or a wad of damp tissue to clean it off?..
And then wait for it to heat back up again.
The choice of solder is important as well, make sure its self-fluxing, you shouldnt use the same stuff you use for say Plumbing work and large electrical items of 240v for small delicate work like this.

Pins on the plug, a small needle file "roughing up" the surface can help if the bloody gits at the factory have "varnished" the pins in some sort of wax.....

I know I have mentioned flux a couple of times, here is another one...
When I clean my tips on the iron, I often dip the tip in Flux very quickly just after that to help solder start flowing again... you can be too clean on the tip.

Lastly, Vice grips, "third hand", something to hold the part in place.

I don't think you would have a problem with not enough room in the RJ-45 connector. If anything, the wires in the PS2 extension may be too thin to crimp properly.

Have you checked to see if someone doesn't offer a premade cable for your radio? That may be the way to go if they do. No point in reinventing the wheel if you don't have to.

What model radio are your trying to connect to what kind of interface?

This is a cable to connect a Yaesu FT-897 to a SignaLink USB to do digital radio. The problem with using the pre-made cable is that my SignaLink is configured to work with my Kenwood TS-940S, so I need to change the wiring of the cable to match the different pin-out.

Hopefully that will solve your problem.

I like the TS-940S. It reminds me a little of my Icom IC-745, which unfortunately has died
I've been using a Kenwood TS-570S for HF. Don't really like it as much as my old Icom. Too many buttons and not enough knobs. I know it's a better radio, but it just doesn't have the "feel."
For 2m/70cm, I have a Yaesu FT-8900R. It's a real pain to configure if you don't connect it to a computer. I had it in my Jeep but gave up and just use it as a base. If I need to take a radio for a ride, I just grab an HT.

our department electronics guy is also a HAM operator. sometimes I wonder if he does it more for the communicating or for the tinkering.

i'm probably in it more for the tinkering than anything else. I especially like playing around with some of the older technology. Something that weighs 50 pounds, and that's just the power supply. Although I do enjoy a long rag chew with someone I just met on the air. What I don't like are all the contests. I consider HAM radio a hobby, not a sport.

And as far as the newer equipment , menus are for restaurants, not radios.

our radios have a full page chart of the channels and banks they are programmed with. besides our dispatch channel and 5 working channels, we really only use two other channels - but so far my request to get a note in large print saying "DBFD working channel is bank x channel x/Nestucca working channel is bank x channel x" hasn't come through.