EF Johnson

northstarfire0693 · Post by **northstarfire0693** » Sun Jun 25, 2006 1:35 pm

Our County is switching to p25 trunck system. The radios we been handed out are EF Johnson with Motorola parts...??? I was wanting to know if anyone knowes anything on these radios and how they would handle use in Fire and EMS I am not sure what kind of radio it is I think its a 5100 the model number is 242-5112-610-6B1

If anyone has any info please let me know

WPA6MDuplexer · Post by **WPA6MDuplexer** » Sun Jun 25, 2006 3:57 pm

EFJ utlized their (Moto's) RF board through 2004 and these were then were 'phased out' in favor of an in-house designed RF/xcvr board sometime after that.

Source: 2005 SEC 10-K filing, excperpted below

http://excite.brand.edgar-online.com/EF ... ID=3704889

Through 2004, Motorola supplied the modules for radio frequency, or RF, used in our digital radios pursuant to a supply agreement that expired in August 2004. Since then, no further RF modules have been provided by Motorola. Although we substantially completed development of a replacement RF module, virtually all of our 2004 digital subscriber unit sales involved radios built with Motorola?s RF modules. Sales of digital subscriber units in 2005 are being predominantly built with the newly-developed RF module and manufactured by a third-party supplier.

Couple of design articles on the 5100:

http://www.hlb.com/casestudies/industrial/efj.html

http://pd.pennnet.com/Articles/Article_ ... 1&cat=Feat

Posting any more than this and I/we should be over on the EF Johnson discussion board!

wazzzzzzzzup · Post by **wazzzzzzzzup** » Sun Jun 25, 2006 7:06 pm

when the price gets more affordable, i'd really like to get one of these in VHF Flavor. the software Key configured DES is really a bonus, no Need for KVL3K if you dont have one!

Jim202 · Post by **Jim202** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 10:16 am

The 5100 portable and 5300 mobile units seem to be a decent radio. One point to mention is that one software package does both radios. You can also read one radio, go into the software and tell it that you have another flavor and proceed to dump the codeplug into the radio. In other words, if you read a portable, you can then use that code plug to dump to the mobile radio by just telling the software you have a mobile.

The software seems somewhat easier to use than the Motorola RSS. You can get around fairly fast. Only problem I have found so far is if you need to add a channel into the middle of what you already have. It doesn't lend itself to doing that. Same thing if you try deleating a channel.

Jim

northstarfire0693 wrote:Our County is switching to p25 trunck system. The radios we been handed out are EF Johnson with Motorola parts...??? I was wanting to know if anyone knowes anything on these radios and how they would handle use in Fire and EMS I am not sure what kind of radio it is I think its a 5100 the model number is 242-5112-610-6B1

If anyone has any info please let me know

WPA6MDuplexer · Post by **WPA6MDuplexer** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 8:10 pm

Jim202 wrote:One point to mention is that one software package does both radios.

They both run VxWorks RTOS on Freescale MPC850 32-bit micro 'hardware'; plenty of horsepower there for a portable or mobile radio!

It should be added, too, that the portable 5100 and mobile 5300 series both use the same RF transceiver board, with addition of an RF power amplifier in the mobile.

These radios, like a lot of the Moto product, can be 'flash' upgraded from the side port too (although it may take 10 to fifteeen minutes to do that!)

John · Post by **John** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 2:13 am

I find the rigid zone layout limiting. You are stuck with Zones of 16 channels each with no option for more or less (you can always just not program some channels in a zone though). This limits usefulness if you need say 14 repeaters and 4 simplex channels. You have to split them between 2 zones. Changing zones is not something a casual user always understands. Especially on the mobile..... Also, the display can be hard to read if viewed from a side angle.

John

kj7xe · Post by **kj7xe** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 11:00 am

Here in the shop I originally thought the 5300 mobile would be a great radio based on the great features, flexibility, etc. but we have had nothing but trouble with them. The 5100s we have seem to work well and have had few complaints.

We are responsible for about 50 5300 mobiles in our part of the region. During the acceptance test we found that 7 of them were bad out of the box straight from the factory. Then we found that the software and firmware were not working correctly, which required updated software and a FW upgrade for ALL of the radios. Then after we got that one straightened out and some radios actually put into service we found that most of the radios froze up. Had to send ALL of the radios back to the factory to have certain boards and cables replaced (at no cost to us), which really threw a wrench in things.

We've our had issues with /\/\ equipment too, but not nearly as bad as this. It was a nightmare but we got em all back and they seem to be working, despite the users complaining about the backlit LCD display being hard to see in vehicles where multiple users are using one vehicle, and the dials being too easy to bump and screw up. I really hope other folks aren't having as much trouble as we are...

Jim202 · Post by **Jim202** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 4:41 am

For what it is worth, you can change the view angle of the front panel display. It is done right from the front panel. If you go read the operators manual, it will explain how holding one button and then pressing another and then rotating the right knob to the desired angle, it will be much better to view.

Jim

kj7xe wrote:
It was a nightmare but we got em all back and they seem to be working, despite the users complaining about the backlit LCD display being hard to see in vehicles where multiple users are using one vehicle, and the dials being too easy to bump and screw up. I really hope other folks aren't having as much trouble as we are...

kj7xe · Post by **kj7xe** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 6:15 am

Yeah, it's in each user's 'cheat sheet', but only a couple guys actually cared enough to figure out. We've given the biggest complainers an XTL with an O5 head (with an anti-glare sticker over the display) and they've been really happy.

Jim202 wrote:For what it is worth, you can change the view angle of the front panel display. It is done right from the front panel. If you go read the operators manual, it will explain how holding one button and then pressing another and then rotating the right knob to the desired angle, it will be much better to view.

Will · Post by **Will** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 7:27 pm

kj7xe wrote: (with an anti-glare sticker over the display) and they've been really happy.

]

Hey, would that work on a Spectra? And where do you get them?

kj7xe · Post by **kj7xe** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 7:06 am

Yes it will work over any display. They can be ordered from photodon.com, click on 'LCD protective film'. You get a free cleaning kit if your order is more than $150.

This film has made quite a few users (that originally didn't like the O5 head because of the glare) MUCH happier.

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