How to box out (or bypass/eliminate) a very large obtrusive PTT button on a walkie talkie headset?

[jackiebean]

Hi. Lately i have been rethinking the way i arrange the wiring for this headset to be less obtrusive and less dangly, but the one thing that bothers me the most is the detachable Large PTT button. Granted it is detachable, but that leaves a 7pin mini din connector open to the elements (which is proprietary, i tried to find a match but no dice) and i would rather not leave it open. Since i don't care for the button anyway (it is redundant and a much smaller one is already there as well) can anyone give a few pointers on how i could eliminate or bypass the switch without closing the circuit or interfering with the operation of the second PTT button? i was thinking possibly i could just remove the switch and make both ends permanently blind then tape the whole bundle of wire into a smaller package, or cut the excess wire off and shorten the connections that normally lead to the oversized ptt housing and then blind the switch wires.

Edit:

Upon further inspection, i noticed that in order to disconnect the large PTT button i also have to remove the smaller more practical one so that wont do either. Basically if i wanted to retain the smaller one i would have to do some fancy soldering and modifying on very small wires to do it. It is possible but is it really worth the headache? Of course the board on the large PTT is clearly marked so it would be easy to assemble, but not sure about the small one which i believe is not as easy to disassemble. Swapping one for the other may not be possible. (or at least not for me)

I also found out these connectors are called the Yaesu VX-8DR Serial Interface which is hard to find replacements for. There are two of these connectors which make no sense since the large PTT acts as a splitter between the mic/headset and the smaller PTT. The problem i was having while biking is my pack straps would end up over the large PTT button and key it, transmitting unintentionally, but the smaller button i had mounted on the headset so that i had to deliberately reach up and press it. Anyway, i hope there is a solution to this besides trying to mess it up. Thoughts?

 

[davenn]

some photos of what you are talking about would help others to offer useful suggestions

 

[jackiebean]

Here is the headset in question and the huge PTT button housing (round one). This is a picture of a variant without the connectors to remove both PTT buttons but the best i could find since i cant figure out where my camera is.

The next picture shows a similar headset but it does have the connectors to remove both PTT buttons but will not allow any choice besides disassembly of the cables. a third connector would have been nice and a plain old splitter option too but oh well. Nobody offers anything like that.

This is a mock up of the board inside the large PTT housing showing the solder points and i assume that blinding the PTT and PTT ground would do the trick but the housing would still be obtrusive in and of itself. However the trade off is those wires are tiny and hard to solder/shrink tube.

and finally the pinout of the connectors used on this headset

Finding another set of connectors is not really cost effective since i can only find one end (male) with a USB on the other end (programming cable) so building a splitter is not really an option.