Guide to Microphone Wiring.

If you do not know what you are doing, microphone wiring can be a headache waiting to happen. In electrical wiring, there are usually a set of standard color coding so it is easy to decipher which wire goes where.

This is not the case with microphones. There are no standard color codes established for wiring of microphones which can make the process even more difficult.

There are two leads that are easy to identify in the process. The first lead that is easy to identify is the ground lead. This is the wire that contains the shield. The audio lead is the second easy to identify lead. The wire that has the shield wrapped around it is the audio lead. Many times the audio wire is white. However, it may also be yellow or red. Sometimes it can be other colors as well so use the color only for verification but it is the shield that is the key in that situation. Identifying the other microphone wiring gets a bit trickier. If you look at the switch on the inside of the microphone, you may be able to tell what wiring it is.

Another way to determine the type is to use ohm meter continuity tester. For microphone wiring that has four wires, check between the shield and between each unidentified wire to see which connects to the shield in receive and which connects in transmit with the PTT switch button pushed in. If you have a five wire microphone, experiment to see which wires connect for receive and which connect for transmit. The wire that connects to each of the other wires in receive and in transmit is the common wire and the other two are receive and transmit. A six wire microphone often has color coding. The white wire is typically the audio wire. The shield microphone wiring will be the ground wire. The blue wire is often the common wire, the red wire is usually the transmit wire and finally the black wire is usually the receive wire. There may also be a yellow wire attached but it is not generally used.

You can get microphone wiring diagrams any where CB radios are found and they are also downloadable on the Internet. These diagrams may be able to assist you in better understanding microphone wiring and the proper way to do it. Follow the instructions closely and use trial and error to ensure you have everything hooked up properly.
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