Page 1 of 1

BIRD LAUNCHER PROJECT PLANS

Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2009 7:48 am
by cheetome
Has anyone tried the project plans posted on the home page? I have put all the components together but I can't get the actuatur arm to activate? I think it must me the radio plug, I bought a mono plug but no matter what I can't get it to go. I also asked the bone head at radio shack about the motorola type plugs and he had no clue so I think he gave me the wrong plug. I stripped back the coating and inside I have a green a red and a copper wire. I tried all sorts of combinations with no success. I am assuming since I have two holes one mic. and one headphone that I should be using the headphone jack not the mic.. Also I am hitting the page button for activation is this wrong? Do I use another button to activate. I am useing GE two way radios does that matter? Any help to get this thing going would be great.

Thank You

Re: BIRD LAUNCHER PROJECT PLANS

Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2009 9:26 pm
by cheetome
Has nobody on this site tried this?

Re: BIRD LAUNCHER PROJECT PLANS

Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2009 10:18 pm
by ezzy333
Ayres wwho is one of the mods was the one that designed it if I remember corredtly. He was on yesterday but they just had a baby so he hasn't been on a lot. PM him and see if he can't help you.

Ezzy

Re: BIRD LAUNCHER PROJECT PLANS

Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2009 7:03 am
by Mike50
First off I can't find the plans your talking about. I would try keying the mike to talk though.
It might require a stronger and longer signal to complete the action. The page is a short burst. Just a thought.

Re: BIRD LAUNCHER PROJECT PLANS

Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 12:26 pm
by Ayres
The theory behind it is that you send a talk signal from your "transmitter" radio to be received by the "receiver" radio. You need to come out of the headphone (listening) jack of the receiving radio and into the low-voltage trigger. The very low voltage (what would be going to headphones if the wire hadn't been cut and sent to the trigger instead) will cause the trigger to trip, thus allowing the power from the battery to go through and hit the actuator arm.

To troubleshoot, first try hooking the battery directly to the actuator arm. If the arm doesn't trip, then you have either a bad battery or a bad arm. If it does, then try hooking the battery to the arm, through the low-voltage trigger. Then apply a low-voltage audio signal to the trigger to cause it to trip. If the arm doesn't trip, and you have applied a measurable low-voltage signal (test with a multimeter), then you may have a bad trigger.

Re: BIRD LAUNCHER PROJECT PLANS

Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 12:28 pm
by Ayres

Re: BIRD LAUNCHER PROJECT PLANS

Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 12:41 pm
by Coveyrise64
Finding and adapting the proper plug is a pain in the rear. I have made about ten of these things and found the Midland Radios to be the easiest to adapt. I think the last pair I used was LXT320 for $20.00, just make sure the radio has a seperate jack for the mic and headset. Then you will need a Radio Shack cable, part no. 42-2420 works fine and only fits one of the radio's jacks. Same type plug on both ends, cut in half, strip the wires and you have two ready, one for each launchers. You still need the multimeter to verify polarity of the output before wiring to the trigger. Below is more discussion on the problem.

http://www.gundogforum.com/forum/viewto ... 69&t=11987


Here is a member that uses a different setup for the transmitter/reciever. You can contact him for more detail.

http://www.gundogforum.com/forum/member ... file&u=616

Coveyrise64

Re: BIRD LAUNCHER PROJECT PLANS

Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 1:57 pm
by phermes1
I built 3 of these launchers and the headset adaptor was by far the biggest pain in the butt, I would look at that connection before anything else. It was pretty hard getting the wires stripped and soldered together correctly.
Motorola radios are NOT good for this use, either. I bought a nice set for mine and they simply didn't work right. I combed through all of my connections trying to figure out where I went wrong - I then tried the setup with a friend's Cobra radios, and everything worked perfectly. One has since stopped working on me, but I'm sure it's because of a bad soldering job on my part on the headset adaptor.

Once it's done and operating, the setup does work pretty well, though.

Re: BIRD LAUNCHER PROJECT PLANS

Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2013 7:00 pm
by momen80
my problem is i dont know how to activated from the other radio!! it dosnt even give me a chance! i hocked every thing like the pic but when i hocked it to the radio Jack the arm goes off with out doing any thing !!!!! im getting mad. please help i have the angle Jack Motorola radios? can you guys explain to me what should i hit in the other radio to make it goes off after you explain to me why it goes off with out doing any thing when i hock it to the Jack. THANKS A LOT