VIC to Cellphone Adapter and Military Radio Digital Modes Adapter

[jake-cutter]

Augi,

My goal is to attach two of your boxes to my VIC 3 lite. One into radio A for the phone and 1 into Radio B attached to a laptop. Is there a difference in how you will configure the boxes?

 

[Augi]

All,

Parts are starting to arrive and I'll begin assembly in a week or two. It will take me a couple of weeks to build the whole run in my spare time.

This first batch is 20 units. Originally I was going to do only 10, but with the strong response and better parts pricing in bulk I upped it to 20. I don't want to do more than that at once because of the time commitment involved. After the experiment is complete (all are built and sold) I will consider another run if I have time and there is sufficient demand.

Below is the list of people who have indicated they want a box ("Reserved" are for people local to me not on this forum). Once I am ready to ship, I will contact each of you in order and ask for payment if you are still interested. As you can see there are more people than boxes so unfortunately, unless people back out, all of you may not get one who want one.

1. Reserved
2. Reserved
3. Reserved
4. Reserved
5. Reserved
6. Reserved
7. jake-cutter
8. camoyj7
9. chickenbutt
10. juanprado
11. MidnightDuramax
12. fuzzytoaster
13. Jericho
14. Buffalobwana
15. tsstout
16. tsstout
17. M1097A2NUT
18. Valence
19. Mario0331
20. BLKHMMWV
21. ryanruck
22. ryanruck
23. jake-cutter

Augi

 

[Augi]

ryanruck told me about your plan and there are some jumpers I can install in the box for you so you can change the transformer taps around.

Augi

Augi,

My goal is to attach two of your boxes to my VIC 3 lite. One into radio A for the phone and 1 into Radio B attached to a laptop. Is there a difference in how you will configure the boxes?

 

[Buffalobwana]

Thanks for making these. I was driving my truck the other day and needed the cell phone adapter about 20 times. Just thinking "I can't wait for my box to arrive!" It will be like Christmas, or like phonebook arrival day in "The Jerk".

"The new VIC 3 adapter boxes are here! The new VIC 3 adapter boxes are here!"
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-7aIf1YnbbU

 

[Jericho]

Saw your list, thanks for publishing it, Iam a VIC 1 user. Andy ,"Jericho"

 

[BLK HMMWV]

lucky me #20

 

[camoyj7]

Sweet I'm number 8 on list. Been collecting Vic-3 stuff.

 

[86humv]

Sweet I'm number 8 on list. Been collecting Vic-3 stuff.

Man....you have 3 trucks worth there.
I'd give you 50 bucks for a one knob box...

 

[Wire Fox]

Man....you have 3 trucks worth there.
I'd give you 50 bucks for a one knob box...

You'd really hate me. I just got 4 of them for $12.50 each, but I've already traded two of them for about $200-350 worth of stuff, and the other two are spoken for. I'm not sure what truck these things fell off of, but a lot of people that don't know what these are found this crate of missing gear and they're slipping out in small batches for nothing. I'm personally trying to get a lead on some FFCS/L units and maybe FFCS/D and RAFT units to go with this system. VIC-3 is turning out to be a really exciting system... Just to have more versatility, I'd like trading one of my MCS/L units for a full size MCS, if anyone were interested in such a trade.

Once I've got this thing up and running, I'll be right after batch #2 of these adapters to add some civvy functionality in.

 

[BLK HMMWV]

I'm in need of at least 1 maybe 2 of the box's with the single volume knob if you ever come across any extras

 

[Augi]

There is a document from Cobham that describes about 10 different interface boxes that can be added into the system to do various things, however I don't think many of them exist in any quantity. The retrans box is kinda cool. It supposedly allows you to pick any two of the six connected radios to be connected as a retransmission system.

The Army TMs only show the FFCS, MOS and RIT, so I think those are the only ones that were purchased by us.

Augi

 

[Augi]

I've got the first unit built and ready for test. The remaining boards are waiting to be installed in the boxes.

I won't get to it this weekend though. Maybe some time next week.



Augi

 

[Valence]

I've got the first unit built and ready for test. The remaining boards are waiting to be installed in the boxes.

I won't get to it this weekend though. Maybe some time next week.

View attachment 683137

Augi

So no ESD controls & surfaces in your working environment?

Does your converter box have any mounting tabs or holes? How is it expected to be secured?

 

[Augi]

Hah, yeah there is an esd mat under the laptop...

Fortunately there are no active components here, so nothing too sensitive.

If you take the lid off of the box it gives access to four mounting holes. I just stuff it behind the radio myself.

Augi

 

[Buffalobwana]

I'm designing my radio mounting board now, it's an overhead console that has all my switches for lights etc. can we get outside measurements of the box please? I need to budget space for it.

Really looking forward to receiving it.

Thanks again for making these.

 

[ixpacman]

Hey Augi
Great product.I would like to get on the list for a vic 1 one on batch two if you do more.
Thanks Harry (ixpacman)

 

[Radiogeek99]

I would like to be on the list if there is a second batch also.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Augi]

Here is the drawing of the box. It is made of ABS.

Augi

View attachment 1554E.pdf

 

[camoyj7]

Looking good!

 

[Augi]

All,

The boxes are done! I will send out private messages to the list over the next few hours with instructions.

I have tested these with VIC-1 and VIC-3 systems and have some important notes:

VIC-3: Plug and play. Connect the phone box to one of the radio ports and you are done.

VIC-1: A bit more complicated unfortunately. Because of the way the VIC-1 is designed, if you want to make outgoing calls on the cellphone, the phone box must be connected to J501 (Radio A) and the crew box must be set to "ALL". This also means that DC power must be supplied at J508, and the "Installation" switch (which is set with a flat head screwdriver) must be set to "INT ONLY". The main power switch must also be set to "INT ONLY".

If you don't care about outgoing calls and only want to listen to music, GPS directions, etc (receive only), then you can connect the phone box to J503 (Radio C). The crew boxes must still be set to "ALL" to hear the audio from the phone. If you switch the crew box to "Radio C" you will be able to transmit out the phone, but you will not be able to hear the audio coming back.

The reason you can only hear audio in the "ALL" position is because at the "ALL" position, the line level audio from all connected radios is mixed and amplified by an internal amplifier within the AM-1780. In any of the individual "A", "B" or "C" positions, the audio supplied from the radio is expected to be amplified already and the phone output isn't powerful enough.



Augi