Will there be a part 2? we’ll see.
At one time, I had several XTL-5000 radios in my truck – and accessories like VRS750s (vehicular repeater) and System 9000 PA (and siren, but i never programmed that part) are readily available… but there’s only ONE DB25 accessory port on an O5 XTL series radio.
So… did I have to pick one?
Well, not necessarily. Some folks figured out that the VRS-EP has room and connections for the siren box in it (or maybe the siren box fits the VRS board). That’s great, but the VRS-EP is not programmable, and I didn’t have one of those. I had 750s.
I did hear about a mystical splitter box – and it apparently was just a splitter – no active components. So I did some experimenting – I could get 25 pin ribbon and crimp on connectors cheap…. would a 25 pin male to dual 25 pin female cable work to plug multiple devices in and let them function?
well.. YES.
what more can I say about it?
The one down side is potential EMI issues, since this is a flat cable, and there is no shielding… in a previous post, i built a VRS750 cable, and put wire twist on all of the wire pairs. In this case, I think the cable was short enough to minimize issues- I wouldn’t make it much longer than about 6 inches.