1978 MerControl/Shifting help

[murrayfish]

This is the control and its paired with a 1973 Mercury 1150.

For reasons I can not explain I can't shift into reverse and it will not shift forward until its way to hi in RPM.

In this photo the yellow is connected to the mail throttle lever and the red is connected to the small lever on the outboard side of the control.
Is there a chance that I have just switched the 2? I'm just clueless on how the control is supposed to work.

 

[Chris1956]

Well, the control cables attach to the large main handle only. The small handle is for cold start. It advances the throttle.

It sounds like you have switched the cables on the motor. When you move the throttle handle from neutral to forward, the shift (lower) cable should move first.

 

[murrayfish]

After my coffee this morning, switching the ends will be the first thing I do.

 

[murrayfish]

So.... I switched the motor ends of the cables and guess what happened? It worked! All is well in the world. Thank you Chris.