I bought it to use my FT5D on Winlink FM.THE 4 ring multi-section does not always connect with the PTT on the HT.

I just returned this item as it does not output the sound using either a plain speaker with a plug nor a remote speaker mic with a kenwood style plug. The kenwood plug fits but no audio out nor ptt activation. I have seen reviews on this that it should not be advertised as a speaker mic out.

Wanted it for headphones at an INDY Car race or NASCAR races. Works perfectly. you can also add headphones with microphone. wish the plugs were split but other than that works as advertised.

I have had issues over the years with aftermarket headsets not completely plugging into the 3.5mm jack of the FT-50R HT or coming slightly unplugged, and putting the HT into transmit mode. It will go into transmit mode because when not fully seated, the second ring on the plug shorts across the shield and second ring contacts of the jack, grounding the second ring which is the mic/PTT contact that is activated by a resistance to ground of less than abut 3K ohms. The unseating is largely due to the rubber gasket that covers the jack itself (except for the 3.5mm hole in the gasket) and the shape of the standard 3.5mm plug. The standard shape has a shield (the S in TRRS) contact that is just a little shorter than needed to permit the plug to fully seat because of the HT gasket thickness, and many also have metal step at the base of the shield contact that is larger than what is molded into the HT's gasket shape.To address the above problem with standard 3.5mm TRRS plugs, some time back, I cut the center out of the rubber gasket on my FT-60R to match the diameter of the metal step on the standard TRRS plug. In addition, in some cases I also used an exacto knife to trim back the molded body of the plug. See the right plug in the attached photo. This permitted use of most standard aftermarket headsets and programming cables without the risk of the plug easily coming unseated, or never seating in the jack to begin with.I purchased the CT-44 recently to try to use it to adapt standard 2 pin headsets intended for ICOM or maybe Kennwood to the FT-60R (spoiler alert - they dont adapt with the CT-44). I found the TRRS plug that Yaesu uses for this HT is slightly different than the industry standard. It is shaped to fit into the HT jack with the the original rubber gasket on the HT more or less corrrectly (see the left plug in the photo) It uses a smaller, by maybe half diameter, metal step on the shield contact and longer, by perhaps half a millimeter, shield contact. The plug is longer overall by half a millimeter which allows the notch of the tip to better seat into the jack tip contact retaining spring. I say more or less because I think it is still possible that the smaller and thinner part of the rubber gasket around the 3.5mm pin hole could exert some outward pressure on the TRRS plug and help unseat it if the plug were jostled. It does stay pretty well seated in my limited experience, and having an enlarged hole in the gasket, while diminishing the HT water resistance slightly, takes all the possible unseating pressure from the plug itself.Now, on the subject of compatibility with other radio brand compatible HT.... The CT-44 provides a breakout of the TRRS signals as follows. 2.5mm jack: T - mic/PTT, R - Pgm, S - Mic Gnd. 3.5mm jack: T - Speaker +, S - Speaker Gnd (common with Mic Gnd). The 2 pins are on a 10.5mm center spacing. This arrangement and spacing is mechanically identical to the 2-pin plug found on ICOM S3 (I have also seen it called Airband in at least one place on the web). The electrical hookup is slightly different in that the ring of the ICOM 2.5mm plug is specified for +5V (to the headset - I presume for mic power) whereas on the Yaesu jack it is the programming input to the radio (from the outer ring of the TRRS plug), and the mic power is phantom power on the mic/PTT tip contact. As I dont yet own an ICOM S3 compatible headset, I dont know if the mic in any of these is wired to be able use the Yaesu phantom power or not. The CT-44 spacing is 1mm narrower than the Kenwood K1 spacing of 11.5mm, so that might prove to be a non-fit depending on how flexible the plugs rubber molded housing is, but the K1 wiring is completely different anyway.Of course Yaesu makes no claims whatsoever about the CT-44 working with anything other than their own listed accessories, but it should be possible to make up a pair of plugs for many aftermarket headsets, speakers, mics, or programming cables that would work thru the CT-44. Or for about the same effort you could modify the gasket on your HT and use your own standard 3.5mm TRRS plug (with perhaps a little trimming of the molded plug body) and go directly into the HT. I know Mouser sells 2 versions of the standard 4 contact 3.5mm plug that feature a step at the shield the same diameter as that used by Yaesu, though the plug overall is .5mm shorter. They also would require that you mold your own cable entry head. Mouser part number is 490-SP-3544. I also found the CUI part on Amazon - part SP-3544, but only available for purchase in large quanity.And finally, yes it is still a good idea to use a right angle TRRS plug and "broccoli band" around the radio to help keep it from coming unseated if the headset wire snagged on something. There is a reason why a number of higher end HT use a screw down on their plug.

I have a old MFJ-285 speaker mic that I have had for 17 years and this unit allowed me to still use it with my new Yaesu FT-60R radio. It is a cheap mic but I just wanted to still be able to use it for light duty at my desk. This thing is built like a tank and feels along with looks very high quality. I am very pleased.