LS-671 speaker with VRC-12 system

[Aswayze]

I have an RT-246 mounted in my M35A2 and I have always wanted to use an LS-671 speaker with it. I have a friend who runs an LS-671 with an RT-524 in his M35A2 so I know it CAN be done yet for some reason, every time I try to do so it never works out.

The appeal to a deuce owner is obvious. The speaker itself is surely useless, you’ll never hear that thing over the roar of the Deuce engine but as an aux plug with a separate volume control, it would make a just spiffy headset jack. Changing volume on a VRC-12 mounted under the passenger seat of a deuce while moving is nothing short of suicidal and you can forget being able to try to explain to your hapless passenger how to do it. Stop and adjust it, obviously, but then of course you are adjusting the volume when the truck is stopped and doesn’t sound like the opening gates of ****. If I have a nice little LS-671 sitting there with my headset plugged into it, I can easily adjust the volume and heck, I might even be able to use it as a speaker if I’m out offroading or otherwise driving slow.

Anyhow, on to what I have got so far:

The first fail seemed obvious to me. I was attempting to use a CX-4723 intercom cable. No sound, no nothing, not responsive. That didn’t’ work…

Second fail was this last weekend. I was reconfiguring things a bit, adding a MX-7777 and ditching the bench seat in favor of a driver’s side box seat which I modified to still allow the radio to mount under it. Sure of success, I mounted the speaker above the back window on my new hard top and routed my correct CX-13292 speaker cable all nice and neat. Once I got everything all set up, I hit the main power on the MX-7777 and the RT-246 (which inevitably gets a button pushed when handled) started flipping channels like a bored teenager while keying up and just broadcasting away. I am glad it was still set to a dummy load or I am sure I would have annoyed most of the low VHF spectrum with that one. Anyhow, it stayed keyed up even after I unplugged the speaker and after switching it off and unplugging the cable it went back to it’s normal self.

I supposed that I may have had a bad cable so I switched it with still another CX-13292 cable and fired it back up. This time it at least did not run keyed up the entire time but neither did it behave itself. PTT would make “something” happen on the radio but it didn’t actually transmit. Side tone was just screechy and obviously not right, no audio out of the speaker itself.

I tried a second LS-671 with much the same result.

I have a VIC system sitting here that "works" but I am not excited about dealing with the morass of wires and extra boxes taking up ever more space in the cab not to mention the additional layers of potential failure points. Speaker alone would work just lovely...


Anyone have any input or suggestions?

 

[wsucougarx]

When all else fails, use the correct loudspeaker for the VRC-12 system....LS-454. I agree with you, the LS-671 looks much better than the 454. I've got my radios going through a dash mounted LS-454 and it's going through the VIC-1 system as well. LS are good when the truck is idling but forget it while on the road.

 

[Aswayze]

Well sure, if I want a loud speaker, I would just use a 454 but I actually do not want a loud speaker at all, I want a place to plug in my head set that also has a volume control. Adding an LS-454 only takes up one of my audio outputs and just adds to the general fracas in the cab without giving me anything that I really need.

As I understand it, I can also accomplish this with a 2299 box plugged straight into the MT-1029 via a 4723 Vic cable but those are also notoriously unreliable little fellows.

 

[wsucougarx]

I am unaware of any other interfaces you can attach to the radio other than a VIC-1 system.

 

[papakb]

I've used a 2299 retrans box on the dash of my 151 for years to act as a connect point for the handset and an amplified speaker. It also allows me to switch between the VRC-12 and a mounted PRC-660 UHF radio. The system works fine. I don't know why your 671 shouldn't work in the same manner but have never tried it.

Kurt Lesser

 

[Aswayze]

Kurt, when you set that up do you set the jumper in the Mt-1029 mount to the same setting you would have if you had a 1780 or just like you have with just the radio alone?

I have boxes upon boxes of everything but 2299 boxes of course so I'll need to track one of those down if I go this route.

Bugger of this is I KNOW the silly LS-671 will do this, Stagg's came set up like this from the Iowa National Guard... I may just need to send Stagg off to go get some ice cream from Sonic and rip his truck apart while he's gone to see what's different.

 

[Aswayze]

Ah ha!

Got it licked.

Here's the run down:

Set your MT-1029 jumper to the non-intercom jumper (if you have no intercom and your radio already works then you're already set to the non-intercom setting)

Install the CX-13292 cable BACKWARDS with the end that has the bend to it attached to the mount instead of the speaker (where it's supposed to go)

Ta-da works like a charm.

Remote keys, adjusts volume, and (obviously) is a speaker.

 

[fuzzytoaster]

Not to hi-jack here but how does an LS-454 compare vs an LS-671? I'm interested in using it as a loud speaker outside the cab if possible.

 

[Aswayze]

I've not got mine installed inside a deuce just but I doubt it's going to be useful for on the road use at least.

The big advantage this one has over the LS-454 is it's not reliant on the audio amplifier in the radio hence you can have this one cranked up to 11 (think this is Spinal Tap) while still having your handset volume from the radio turned down.

 

[CanonNinja]

LS--671 Installation/Operation.

 

[Aswayze]

I thought I ought to post up a few pics from the overall project here.

The "manage attachments" system makes it tough to really put together a good photo tutorial so I'll just explain what the overall scheme was up front and you guys can puzzle your way through the pics.

Basically, I was wanting to go to double driver seats in my deuce (spring ride drivers seat, box for the passenger) while at the same time adding a new hard top, adding an MX-7777 suppressor, adding an LS-671 and switching from an RT-524 radio over to an RT-246.

The MT-1029 mount fit just slick as snot under the box seat after I did some modifications to it and once I got everything where I wanted I stuck it all in place and found that with the bottom of the box seat set in the best place to protect the radio, the seat was slid full forward even though the back was actually even with the back of the cab. In other words, the seat was no longer going to adjust. In order to get good access to the space behind the seat, I just modified the seat to hinge forward which works just lovely.

Anyhow, on to the pics:

 

[AN/ARC186]

Nice! I like what you did with the box seat for access.

 

[Over]

Ah ha!

Got it licked.

Here's the run down:

Set your MT-1029 jumper to the non-intercom jumper (if you have no intercom and your radio already works then you're already set to the non-intercom setting)

Install the CX-13292 cable BACKWARDS with the end that has the bend to it attached to the mount instead of the speaker (where it's supposed to go)

Ta-da works like a charm.

Remote keys, adjusts volume, and (obviously) is a speaker.

Any way it will work with LS-671 hooked to my AM-1780 or crew boxes(C-2238, C-2298, C-10456 or C-2297)? Or is it possible?

 

[wsucougarx]

I've got my LS-671 coming off a C-10456

 

[Jayrassic]

I've got my LS-671 coming off a C-10456

Do you know what cable you are using to connect the two?