900mhz MTS2000

[wb4bsd]

Looking to buy a 900 Mhz MTS2000 since they are pretty much dirt cheap on ebay. Anyone have any suggestions what firmware rev is easiest to convert and what flashcode if any it should have.

I am sure there is a post out there like this but i dont have time too look.

[MTS2000des]

MTS2000/MTX9000's on 900MHz ham: my advice (I own several) is find the newest ones you can, the later RF boards seem to spread a little bit better than the older ones, but no Jedi will do the entire band, and most won't lock below 926 on the high side, and some have problems with TX lock on talkaround (926-928). As far as the flashcode/firmware, really doesn't matter so long as the radio does conventional operation.
There is a little tweaking that can be done with LAB/DEPOT RSS to adjust the VCO crossover points, but beware the toolproofing issue on MTS2000's with firmware of 5.42 or greater, and some radios just plain aren't gonna lock or work well.

OF course with greedbay you may not have a return or exchange like some of the good people on batlabs (thehead7 comes to mind) so keep this in mind when bidding.

All of my MTS2000's average .3 to .45uV RX sensitivity and do rated power or better on the 902 TX, and around 2.5-2.8watts on talkaround, overall I am pretty happy and I own mostly Jedi radios so I have interchangeable accessories.

[kato56]

Is there another Motorola portable that has a little wider VCO range to cover the ham band? I've seen GTX's besides the MT/MTX radios.
Also, question applies to mobiles.
I'm not currently on 900, but have heard some talk about converting radios to work.

Thanks

[n_zero_ndp]

Is there another Motorola portable that has a little wider VCO range to cover the ham band? I've seen GTX's besides the MT/MTX radios.
Also, question applies to mobiles.
I'm not currently on 900, but have heard some talk about converting radios to work.

Thanks

No conversion is necessary for the GTX portables or mobiles, but software hacking is needed for ham freq entries... Maxtracs need VCO mods & filter swaps. Spectras need VCO mods (and filter swaps if you plan on using them on a 5khz repeater I believe - don't quote me there )

Quoting "r0f" with an excerpt from:
http://batboard.batlabs.com/viewtopic.php?t=21222

- GTX Portables -

Very reliable for the most part. Sensitivity is typically better than 0.25uV for 12dB SINAD. Most times around 0.20uV. I've had one so far out of 10, that is completely deaf. I suspect a hardware issue with this one, as they are all used/ebay radios. TX power is easily set up for 2.5-3.0W output for 927-928 MHz, and they also yield 2.0-3.0W in the 902-903 MHz repeater input area. (We use 927-928 MHz for talk-around, as the radios are COMPLETELY deaf in 902+ MHz Sensitivity picks up again (sharply) at 926 MHz, but it's not acceptable until about 927.4MHz) We were aiming for deviation of about 4.0 - 4.5 KHz through the 902-903 MHz spectrum, and 927-928 MHz. They aren't stable in this regard, and the best I've been able to do is 4.2-4.3 KHz deviation for 927-928, and 2.3-3.4 KHz in the 927-928. That's still not too bad. You can set them up for 4.5 KHz deviation in 902-903, but then it's either over deviated in the 927-928 MHz area (10KHz!!) or under deviated. (less than 1KHz)

- GTX Mobiles -

They are about the same as the portable. I've been able to get 11.2W - 13.0 W TXPO for 902-903 and 927-928. Deviation is slightly more stable (avg of 4KHz) and sensitivity is about 0.25uV for 12dB SINAD. Again, they are DEAF on 902-903 MHz, but it doesn't matter as this is repeater input spectrum.

- MTS2000 -

This portable has proven to be slightly more tricky to set up. They have issues (so far) with squelch hanging open, or being too high, regardless of what I do in the soft-pot menus. We use tone-squelch, so it's not that big of a problem. Deviation is low with the built-in mic, but is fine with a speaker-mic. It's almost as if the gain for the built-in mic is disabled. Yes, I've checked/played with the gain settings in the service menu. No go. TXPO is a healthy 2.9W, and sensitivity was 0.26uV for 12dB SINAD. "Stable" deviation (across the band) is about 3.4 KHz. Good enough - we can always turn it up later, and sacrifice talk-around once the repeater is up.