I'm looking for the FCC IDs for the VHF Spectra mobiles, in order to be able to determine actual bandsplit without RSS. If anyone who owns a VHF Spectra and can verify (via RSS or module inspection) whether it's the 136-162 MHz or 146-174 MHz split could post the FCC ID of your unity here, it'd be m...

I bought a parts Saber I on eBay a while ago that says SUBMERSIBLE on the top deck where a secure Saber says Securenet. Was there such a thing, or is this the chassis from a Saber/R in a standard Saber case?

Surely any issues with lithium batteries have been resolved over the past 10 years? The issues aren't an issue of technological prowess, they're inherent to the chemistry. Li-ions react very poorly to overcharging and deep discharging, can't sink as much current as a NiMH or NiCd, and are much more...

Check that the mic doesn't have the cable from a public safety speakermic on it, the one with the nub that engages the RF switch in the accessory connector. Sounds like what would happen if the antenna got disconnected.

They look identical, and I haven't been able to determine if there's a difference in functionality.
Does anyone know the difference between these model numbers?

Why not just get a regular non-PSM speakermic, instead of mangling this one to remove the feature that's the only reason to use one?

Is it just me, or does it seem like eBay has a thinner stock of older Moto portables than they did just a six months or a year ago? Particularly Sabers and Saber accessories, but it seems like there aren't quite as many Jedis listed either.

900MHz UHF has terrible propagation qualities, especially in open terrain. It gets attenuated by foliage, it doesn't propagate over hills or around obstacles, and antennas get detuned much worse by body proximity than lower frequencies. The only thing 900MHz is good at is having a lot of available s...

I haven't dealt with a fresh-from-the-factory unit, but all the Jedi portables I've worked on have had their squelch levels set way high, like fifteen notches above quieting. Reduces falsing, I suppose, but at the cost of weak-signal ability.

What do you want your antenna to do that it doesn't currently?

"Wideband" and "high gain" are opposing concepts. To get more of one, you have to sacrifice the other.

P47r4ck, that's the exact same antenna as the one I got from lindawang. Looks like Moto is outsourcing, and that's why they haven't put the cramp on the so-called counterfeiters.

Also, most ham repeaters don't transmit PL tones, which means the squelch would never open when using a repeater.

That's why it should be turned into a wiki. Some of the info on Batlabs predates many current members' first ISP accounts!

escomm wrote:Enterprising companies offer proactive monitoring of your licenses for a fee, usually a couple thousand dollars a year

A couple kilobucks a year to check the FCC website for you?! I gotta get in on that racket.

Well, I got my lindawang wideband VHF duckie in, and while it is very obviously not a legit OEM antenna, it's built to the same level of quality, and it performs noticeably better than the /\/\ heliflex that came with my HT. So it's a fake, but a damned good one.

I'd like to get an older HT, an MT500 or maybe even an HT220, but the cost of having new crystals cut is daunting. I can find used ham radio frequency crystals fairly easily and at reasonable prices, but I need to know whether these radios use a crystal at the working frequency or whether they use a...

I would think aluminum would be too brittle to use in a cable that's going to see a lot of vibration/flexing. It's also not nearly as good a conductor as copper.

If you mainly need an audio link (not an actual control link), look into Echolink or IRLP.

One of my HT1000 batteries has a shorted cell (<6 volts, charger goes to trickle mode after about a minute) and I'd like to see about putting new cells in rather than recycling it. Anyone have any tips on cracking the pack open without destroying it?

Can someone post a link to the comparative antenna dissection that was mentioned? I'd be interested to compare. I just bought a wideband VHF whip from lindawang that claims to be OEM. After reading this thread I think I'm going to leave negative feedback based on false listing/counterfeit item. I go...

What's the point of using encryption if you publish the keys on the web?

What is the use case for an encrypted amateur repeater? We have cell phones that do that already, and do it better.

I have my first Moto (but, uh, definitely not my last) in the mail (a VHF HT1000), and I'm planning to set it up like so: 1: National 2m simplex 2-11: local repeaters 12: NOAA 162.40 RX only (KGG68, Tomball TX) 13: NOAA 162.55 RX only (KHB40, Galveston TX) 14: MURS Ch 4 15: MURS Ch 5 16: Marine Ch 1...