Mic cable for FT-857D and Signalink SL-1 (not plus)

A local ham is letting me borrow his Signalink SL-1 (non-plus) for a short while to see if I'd like to buy it from him. The cable he included, though, is for a Kenwood radio; I own a Yaesu FT-857D.

While I know that I have to change the internal jumpers for my radio, I'm a bit stumped on how to actually get the SL-1 connected to the radio, since the cable is wrong.

Can I simply use a length of CAT-5 network cable to do the job? If so, do I wire the jumpers like an FT-817, and in that case find power from some other means?

In essence, I need advice on how to connect this thing up temporarily, without buying a cable, and without blowing some circuit in the SL-1!

Any suggestions? I'm most appreciative.

--Carl
AC8HF

 

Take a look for the SL-1+ on the Tigertronics page:

http://www.tigertronics.com/

Yes, the one you have is not the '+', but the connections should be the same. Then find the tech support page - it has the connection diagrams and jumper settings. I think you should use the 5-pin packet connector diagram. Toward the top of the page is the RJ-45 pin assignments. If you use a Ethernet cable and a PC mouse extension cord you should be able to make one that works - even just twisting the wires together and taping them up.

I recommend the packet connector because it has all the connections you need generally, while the output level audio from the radio does not change with the volume control setting on the radio.

 

That's pretty much what I ended up doing (well, no packet connector). Turns out that I was in fact getting out--I thought I wasn't--at least according to the map at pskreporter.info. I had one person in Spain respond to my CQ, but I had stepped away from the desk and missed him.

This experiment taught me that I don't think the SL-1 is the way I want to go. Too many wires to have to deal with! Plus, I forgot to unplug the speaker/mic cables from the computer, and when my wife sat down to use it, she was irritated that there was no sound... That's reason enough to go with the Signalink USB instead, I should think!