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Step 3Two-cent poor man's switch.
I know I'll get booos for this one. But I used the 2-penny switch for a reason, and not just because it only costs 2 cents.
It's hard to find a switch as thin and with as little action as the 2-penny switch, which is perfect to slip between the headset and the earflap. It has a very large area which responds to a very small force, meaning you can slap at your earflap with your glove and it will come on. It also means there are no external parts to get snow in or look ugly.
If you find a thin switch that you can activate with gloves on then by all means, use that instead. Or mount another switch on the outside if you find a nice looking one.
Anyways, image 1 shows preheating the penny. It's damn hard to solder to a penny, so use a big iron and try to balance the penny somewhere it won't conduct all the heat away. Once solder starts to stick to the penny, you can solder the wire to it. Do this twice, once for each side.
Now it should look like image 2. Let it cool, and then build a thin spacer on half of one of the pennies with tape. Can you see the tape in the pic? Build it thick enough that it will not touch unless you were to press on it.
Then wrap the whole thing up in tape like image 3. Note the gap between the pennies. Test it well with your walkie-talkie. Most important - it must not get stuck on! It should require a light press, but not too light.
It's hard to find a switch as thin and with as little action as the 2-penny switch, which is perfect to slip between the headset and the earflap. It has a very large area which responds to a very small force, meaning you can slap at your earflap with your glove and it will come on. It also means there are no external parts to get snow in or look ugly.
If you find a thin switch that you can activate with gloves on then by all means, use that instead. Or mount another switch on the outside if you find a nice looking one.
Anyways, image 1 shows preheating the penny. It's damn hard to solder to a penny, so use a big iron and try to balance the penny somewhere it won't conduct all the heat away. Once solder starts to stick to the penny, you can solder the wire to it. Do this twice, once for each side.
Now it should look like image 2. Let it cool, and then build a thin spacer on half of one of the pennies with tape. Can you see the tape in the pic? Build it thick enough that it will not touch unless you were to press on it.
Then wrap the whole thing up in tape like image 3. Note the gap between the pennies. Test it well with your walkie-talkie. Most important - it must not get stuck on! It should require a light press, but not too light.
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