Author: jbeckwit

New MARC member James – N4VZE – posted the following website – https://blog.motorcycle-volunteers.org/ – He’s in the SE part of the US and is working on setting up a way for motorcycle hams to get involved in community events. Check it out and sign up on his website. John, N6JCB, Westchester CA

I have been a Motorcycle Marshal for the Houston MS-150 for four years now. And one of the requirements to accomplish this mission is to become a Licensed HAM Radio Operator and carry a HAM Radio with you during the rides.

As I saw during my training rides several Marshals struggling with their portable rig, and following the example of several other Marshals, I decided to install an ICOM IC-2730A on my bike at that time, a Yamaha FZ1, allowing me to have 50 Watts on transmission and an always visible (and of decent size) radio dashboard.

But because of the limited place I had on the bike (compared to a Gold Wing), I wanted to have the radio connected wirelessly to my SENA S20, so I bought a SENA SR-10, which is exactly made for that use.

That’s where my “problems” started. I then realized that, because the connection on the 2730 are made through a RJ45 socket there is no “cable” that would allow the connection between the Radio and the SR-10.

Since I did a little bit of “electronics”, as a hobby, when I was a kid (read I can make a decent soldering job between two wires), I decided to create my own connection box. And after several tries and mistakes, including destroying the circuitry of a SR-10, I came with that (monster) box, with cables connected together with zip-ties and shrinkable wrap to try to get them together despite vibrations…

That solution proved to be unreliable most of the time with bad connections or not working at all…

I tried other solutions, including the add-on of the UT-133 Bluetooth card in the ICOM, but that came with other issues. Most importantly the fact that once the Radio was turned on, the SENA S20 would become dedicated to that input only (no more Music, intercom, GPS instructions, …)

So, I continued my search for the “grail”, a cable that would allow the connection between the two units, without success, until I stumbled on the write-up of our own MARC’s John Kristian “Install: Icom IC-2730 on a Victory Vegas”. John had exactly the same equipment I own and was able to achieve the goal I was going for in a very elegant homemade solution (see his write up here: https://marc-hq.org/2018/03/27/install-icom-ic-2730-on-a-victory-vegas/). (Ed. – Here’s the schematic.)

I let it sink in as I was still looking, in parallel, to a more “manufactured” solution, even if it would come at the cost of changing my equipment all together.

Fast forward until couple of weeks ago, I finally decided to let go the FZ1 and bought a friend’s Kawasaki Concours to give me more “room to breathe” with it comes to equipment and things to be carried on during the MS Rides.

As I needed to transfer everything from one bike to another, I decided that, this time, it would be setup exactly the way I wanted it to work, and remembering John’s solution, I decided to contact him and ask if he would build another adapter for me to resolve my on-going issue. He gladly accepted and I’d like to thank him, again, for helping me with this project.

I received the adapter on Friday, installed it and “hallelujah”… Everything works exactly has I expected! Thanks again John!

Should you have any question about my installation, please feel free to contact me @ KG5GIV@gmail.com.

 Should you have any question about my installation, please feel free to contact me @ KG5GIV@gmail.com.