Syntor X low band HHCH conversion
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Syntor X low band HHCH conversion
Hopefully, some of the more knowledgeable MOTO people can answer this question. I have a low band Syntor X that has been programmed with the little add-on memory card (Priess or something like that) in place of the factory memory module. The radio has the old push button type of control head. I have access to a HHCH assembly from a VHF high Syntor X and wanted to know if it would work on the low band radio drawer by just swithing the cables around or is it more involved than that. I don't want to damage my 6 meter radio, but thought that using the HHCH would be cool. Thanks.
Check out this page too see if you can identify the type of HHCH on your VHF Syntor X radio.
http://www.open.org/~blenderm/hhch.html
There is a version that has a circuit board that installs inside the radio drawer and mounts over the personality board (it has a cutout for the orange label memory module). If you have this version try installing the Piexx memory module in the VHF radio. This should tell you if you will run into any physical size problems with it. The other Syntor X HHCH versions are all external to the Syntor X radio drawer.
If your VHF Syntor X HHCH is working, put the Piexx module in it and try programming it first. This will tell you if there are any problems with using it in a HHCH radio before you go through the entire conversion.
The Personality Board model can play a big role for different HHCH setups.
http://www.open.org/~blenderm/syntorx/p ... ml#top_per
If you are thinking of swapping personality boards between the low band and VHF be aware the low band should have a HLN4915A, HLN4760B or HLN4760C Personality Board that is jumpered for low band. The other Personality Boards do not have a jumper to bypass the CPU Vcc inductor (you could solder in a custom jumper). The HLN4915A is only for the low band radio since its missing the Vcc inductor.
http://www.open.org/~blenderm/syntorx/j ... l#top_jump
The HHCH in the jumper table is only for the internal HHCH version that mounts above the Personality Board.
There are different HHCH manuals, but they can be hard to find.
http://www.open.org/~blenderm/syntorx/m ... l#hhch_man
Success depends allot on your skill level with working on radios.
http://www.open.org/~blenderm/hhch.html
There is a version that has a circuit board that installs inside the radio drawer and mounts over the personality board (it has a cutout for the orange label memory module). If you have this version try installing the Piexx memory module in the VHF radio. This should tell you if you will run into any physical size problems with it. The other Syntor X HHCH versions are all external to the Syntor X radio drawer.
If your VHF Syntor X HHCH is working, put the Piexx module in it and try programming it first. This will tell you if there are any problems with using it in a HHCH radio before you go through the entire conversion.
The Personality Board model can play a big role for different HHCH setups.
http://www.open.org/~blenderm/syntorx/p ... ml#top_per
If you are thinking of swapping personality boards between the low band and VHF be aware the low band should have a HLN4915A, HLN4760B or HLN4760C Personality Board that is jumpered for low band. The other Personality Boards do not have a jumper to bypass the CPU Vcc inductor (you could solder in a custom jumper). The HLN4915A is only for the low band radio since its missing the Vcc inductor.
http://www.open.org/~blenderm/syntorx/j ... l#top_jump
The HHCH in the jumper table is only for the internal HHCH version that mounts above the Personality Board.
There are different HHCH manuals, but they can be hard to find.
http://www.open.org/~blenderm/syntorx/m ... l#hhch_man
Success depends allot on your skill level with working on radios.
Mike's response is a lot more detailed than mine, but the basic answer appears to be "no," unless you are a real glutton for punishment.
First, the hand-held head (HHCH) is not a plug-and-play swap for the standard head. The radio is different and as I recall there should be an interface box between the radio drawer and the HHCH cable assembly.
In the radio itself, there are a bunch of jumpers which have to be set to allow use of the HHCH, and the HHCH radio has several of the plug-in IC's on the personality board missing, as well as one of the jumpers for power over on the edge. In my experience I have never found an HHCH configured radio with other than a standard personality board inside, it just had jumper and part changes. Thus it is easily converted back to conventional by reinstalling the missing IC's, pulling out the HHCH option board, and re-doing the necessary jumpers. You could reverse this process to create an HHCH radio from a conventional, but you would need the HHCH option board.
A couple of years ago I obtained an HHCH type Syntor X "VXJ" series radio without any accessories and converted it to conventional. I replaced the missing IC's and re-did about 6 or 8 jumpers on the personality board, and removed the extra board for the HHCH (mounted upside down over the personality board) altogether. Then, a few months ago, all the missing HHCH accessories for it turned up and I wished I hadn't done all that conversion!
The cheapest PieXX conversion just replaces the memory module with an easier to program version, and there is another which I understand allows programming "on the fly." Neither would seem to have any direct bearing on using the HHCH, except it appears that any code plug has to be programmed for HHCH in ways somewhat different than it does for a conventional radio. I am not sure about this aspect.
Most of the HHCH radios went to the FBI and DOJ and smaller numbers were sold to police departments for use in unmarked detective cars. For some reason, as Mike says, the documentation is really hard to get and everything is NLA at what remains of Motorola.
To add problems, there were yet other models which combined two radio drawers to one HHCH, and Syntor X9000 versions, which are totally different, and Specta Versions, yet different again. The HHCH's all look the same until you compare part numbers, except that the early versions (X) used DB style plugs instead of the round ones. Because of this, most of us have thrown in the towel and made them into conventional radios.
First, the hand-held head (HHCH) is not a plug-and-play swap for the standard head. The radio is different and as I recall there should be an interface box between the radio drawer and the HHCH cable assembly.
In the radio itself, there are a bunch of jumpers which have to be set to allow use of the HHCH, and the HHCH radio has several of the plug-in IC's on the personality board missing, as well as one of the jumpers for power over on the edge. In my experience I have never found an HHCH configured radio with other than a standard personality board inside, it just had jumper and part changes. Thus it is easily converted back to conventional by reinstalling the missing IC's, pulling out the HHCH option board, and re-doing the necessary jumpers. You could reverse this process to create an HHCH radio from a conventional, but you would need the HHCH option board.
A couple of years ago I obtained an HHCH type Syntor X "VXJ" series radio without any accessories and converted it to conventional. I replaced the missing IC's and re-did about 6 or 8 jumpers on the personality board, and removed the extra board for the HHCH (mounted upside down over the personality board) altogether. Then, a few months ago, all the missing HHCH accessories for it turned up and I wished I hadn't done all that conversion!
The cheapest PieXX conversion just replaces the memory module with an easier to program version, and there is another which I understand allows programming "on the fly." Neither would seem to have any direct bearing on using the HHCH, except it appears that any code plug has to be programmed for HHCH in ways somewhat different than it does for a conventional radio. I am not sure about this aspect.
Most of the HHCH radios went to the FBI and DOJ and smaller numbers were sold to police departments for use in unmarked detective cars. For some reason, as Mike says, the documentation is really hard to get and everything is NLA at what remains of Motorola.
To add problems, there were yet other models which combined two radio drawers to one HHCH, and Syntor X9000 versions, which are totally different, and Specta Versions, yet different again. The HHCH's all look the same until you compare part numbers, except that the early versions (X) used DB style plugs instead of the round ones. Because of this, most of us have thrown in the towel and made them into conventional radios.