Since these tips seem to be pretty popular, here’s a little known tip for those with ClearCom RS-502 two-channel beltpacks.
As some of you may have discovered, default from the factory, these packs came set so you could only talk to one channel at a time; activitating the other channel deactivates the current one. Much to the frustration of many a user. What you may not know, however, is that a quick minute or two modification–that’s factory authorized and doesn’t even involve a soldering iron–can fix this and allow simultaneous use of both channels.
Open up the pack by removing the four screws in the corners of the end of the pack (the fifth screw can stay in). The end pieces gently pull apart JUST enough to get the two black side pieces out. Look out for the label, belt clip, and insulating sheet when they fall out. Trust me, they’ll fall out and if you’re not expecting them, you’ll lose the label and/or clip.
Then, look at the bottom end of the pack, where the soldered ribbon cables holding the end to the main circuit board are. Under that folded over ribbon, you’ll see a row of pairs of solder “jumper” points, labeled J1-J5. Some are pre-traced, others are open waiting for you to wire a jumper in. Find J4, and using a straight razor blade (knives or tiny screwdrivers can work, but if you have one, use the razor, you’re less likely to either stab yourself or slip and cut more than one trace), scratch the trace between the two points for that jumper open on the under side of the board. Plug the pack in, and test to make sure that you can now talk on both channels at once (trust me, much better to test before reassembling than to wrangle the clip and label an extra time when you find out you didn’t cut the trace all the way.
Re-assemble the thing, and you’re in business. Piece of cake. Now if only I could figure out why ClearCom thought that the other way made more sense as the default!
–A