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I will admit up front, I know enough about alot of this stuff to be dangerous, nothing more.
I have an MTS2000 M2 that I know won't reband because it only has a 256K controller, and it's an old firmware revision.
Here's my query, I would guess that part of the reason the 256K controllers won't upgrade is because there isn't enough memory for the old channel numbering AND the new channel numbering system. Would it be possible to upgrade the 256K controllers with ONLY the new channel numbering system?
I'm sure there's more to the issue than not enough memory, anybody care to teach me a thing or two about it?
The big reason is that the older 256k units were not FLASHport upgradeable, only the newer 512k units were. Thus Motorola says it's not possible for the 256k models.
Todd
No trees were harmed in the posting of this message...however an extraordinarily large number of electrons were horribly inconvenienced.
After reading Motorola's way of determining channels, (base frequency is chan 1, .0125mhz up is chan 2, etc)if you could gain access to the base frequency that the radio uses to assign channel numbers in the codeplug or firmware, and if you could change that base frequency it therotically could work.
The radio in question is a late '93 model 2. It has the FLASHport logo, but it might be recased. What's the cutover of pre-FLASHport and FLASHport radios?
Goes back to an earlier question of mine, could the FLASHport be the difference between the 432ABC1234 and 466ABC1234 serial number ranges?
Radioman2002, that's an interesting idea...hmmmm, a little hex editing and away we go. Its also a 1.3x firmware, so I'm not worried about tool-proofing it.
This is more of an exercise in curiousity more than anything else.
Thanks for the chart. This radio is a TS, September 1993, but I've been told it won't be accepted for rebanding replacement because of the date code. I've also been told it has a 256k controller. I don't think its a hack job either since it came from another public safety agency.
There is a way. Now are you willing to fork out the dough is the question. The big M will upgrade your 1AN radio to a 1BN radio at which time you will also get the latest rebanded firmware and you'll be off to the races. Honestly the only thing you'd have to do is replace the controller board with a 6150 or if you'd like a 6153 will also do however the 1meg is a bit overkill and the hearclear would entirely be wasted but it's possible to do. (dispite what the books will say as I've done it)
Another thing, since your radio is so old it may have what is referd to as a flex board (refering to the jumper being just a piece of flex as opposed to the orange or black jumpers on the later versions) and will likely be completely replaced if you were to send the unit in for flat rate repair. So in essence you're looking at a flat rate repair + BN upgrade. I used to have those prices but have sense gotten rid of them as I'm not allowed to have them.
Thanks for the info, but that brings me to a few more questions. The model number, on the radio, shows it to be a 1BN, so that's an upgrade that wouldn't need to be done?
What part numbers should I look for? The PMCN6150B shows to be a 256K controller. I may start looking for a used one because I just can't see spending $300+ on this radio for a new controller.
I'm pretty well resigned to the fact this radio won't ever be upgraded, and that's ok, but I'm learning alot in the process. If nothing else, it's still a great conventional radio.
Well, that is a totally different ball game. You should be able to get that flashed to 8.70 or whatever the latest and greatest firmware is on that thing.
Far as the boards go the 6147 was a single flash chip 256k board while the 6150 is a 512k dual flash chip board and the 6153 is a single 1meg flash chip board with hearclear (good to know for those narrowband UHF users who want to use hearclear).
I think I explained in a different thread what the 432 vs the 466 stood for and there really is no difference in the radio itself, I used to upgrade 432's to smartzone trunking all the time.
If you were to look at the motorola online website they list the 6150 as a 2x256k board, which means there are 2 256k chips on it.
Would you by chance be able to put the radio into test mode and type in all the info that comes up, mostly I'm after the internal model number and the firmware version of the radio.
And just incase you don't know how to put it in test mode just hit the button over the ptt 5 times and watch the display. When the radio beeps read real fast as it goes rather quickly.
That is a very odd firmware, quite old. The old Masked ROM chips that are in the MTX's came in 1.37 and 1.53 version firmwares so I'd say your radio was made about the time the first MTX's came off the line. If that unit does have a 6150 controller or the previous version of that controller you'll have the 2 flash chips and should be able to contact motorola about having it flashed to the "latest and greatest" firmware for a nominal fee. However, if you are going to heavily rely on this radio I'd still suggest sending it in for the standard flat rate repair, that is if it hasn't been "modified" in any way. Course I remember letting quite a bit of that slide, that asside I don't know how they will deal with that down in Juarez.
How do I disassemble the radio to find out what the controller is? I've taken the cover off, I'm just not sure what to take apart and what not to touch. Now I'm really curious what's in it.
Jedi's are some of the easiest to disassemble. Once you get the cover off all you need to do is carefully remove the cover flex, and control flex from the controller board. (I'm not gentle but I've been doing it for 7 years now) Then simple use a small screwdriver to pop the 3 to 4 clips loose from the sides allowing the chasis shield to come up. If the control head gives you any problems just pry it up with your screw driver and you'll have the radio all disassembled. There are some pages out there than give you some pretty pictures to look at and what not but that's pretty much it in a nutshell.
