Spectra and MCS200 programming

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Cory
Posts: 9
Joined: Tue Aug 13, 2002 6:36 am

Spectra and MCS200 programming

Post by Cory »

Can anyone recommend someone who programs the Spectra and MCS200 in the Minneapolis MN area? Looking for a Ham friendly tech or shop that works at a reasonable rate.

Thank you!
Jim202
Posts: 3609
Joined: Sun Sep 09, 2001 4:00 pm

Re: Spectra and MCS200 programming

Post by Jim202 »

Cory wrote:Can anyone recommend someone who programs the Spectra and MCS200 in the Minneapolis MN area? Looking for a Ham friendly tech or shop that works at a reasonable rate.

Thank you!


You might want to locate one of the local ham clubs in your area and ask the question there.

The Spectra comes in a number of different power levels and mounting configurations. There is low power, mid power and high power TX levels. You can find the Spectra in both dash mount and trunk mount configurations. The high power radios do not come in a dash mount.

Programming these radios requires a computer running pure DOS. You will also need some sort of a RIB (Radio Interface Box) to translate the computer serial voltage to what the radio is looking for. Lastly you will need a programming cable to go from the RIB to the radio. Naturally you will need the radio programming software.

As these radios are long out of Motorola support, the software is no longer available from the company. But if you look around the Internet, you should be able to find both programs.

I use a number of the Spectra radios on both the VHF and UHF ham bands. They do support a number of different control heads.

There is a wealth of information available on the Internet on several sites about programming these radios and doing software hacks to make the radios do different features.

Some homework on the internet will produce all sorts of information on the Spectra radios. The MCS2000 is not as notable, but you should be able to find information on it.

Once you have done your homework, come back and ask some questions if you still need help.

Jim
Cory
Posts: 9
Joined: Tue Aug 13, 2002 6:36 am

Re: Spectra and MCS200 programming

Post by Cory »

Hi Jim, thanks for the info. I am running Spectra hi powers and just needed someone who has a computer running dos as mine crapped out. I still have my Motorola RIB, cables and of course the genuine Spectra software I purchased from the big M years back.
Jim202
Posts: 3609
Joined: Sun Sep 09, 2001 4:00 pm

Re: Spectra and MCS200 programming

Post by Jim202 »

Cory wrote:Hi Jim, thanks for the info. I am running Spectra hi powers and just needed someone who has a computer running dos as mine crapped out. I still have my Motorola RIB, cables and of course the genuine Spectra software I purchased from the big M years back.


You need to do what I do. Go visit the computer repair shops and see what they might be throwing out. Most of the stores i stop by are more than willing to free up the storage space these older computers are using.

You might need to put in a hard drive and load up the DOS software to get them running again. Just remember that the hard drive needs to be formatted in a FAT32 format to be able to store files that the DOS software can use. The max hard drive size that can be used in this application is an 80 GB drive.

I load Windows 98 in about an 60 GB partition and use the remaining area as the partition for DOS use. This allows you to be able to use a network connection under the Windows 98 for moving files to other computers. then load the Motorola software in the DOS partition and your good to go.
Cory
Posts: 9
Joined: Tue Aug 13, 2002 6:36 am

Re: Spectra and MCS200 programming

Post by Cory »

Excellent idea! I will give that a try. Thanks!
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