Can anyone identify this radio

slars55 · Post by **slars55** » Tue Mar 25, 2003 11:39 pm

Hi all,
I recently purchased a 10 channel motorola portable radio. This radio is the exact same one used in the old RESCUE series on tv. (squad 51 / rampart paramedics etc). The name plate states the following:
APCO Radio

Model # sp5841401.

It has 10 channels , a hanset , input for cardiac monitor.

I am trying to find any info about type of batteries , power supply that can be used , programming / crystals etc. Any help on this unit would be helpful. I am also going to be looking for odds and end parts for this unit. I intend to put it back into operation.

Thanks,
Slars55

Jim202 · Post by **Jim202** » Wed Mar 26, 2003 5:31 pm

That SP number is not the correct model number of the radio. If it is old, I would expect to see something that says HTxxx or maybe a P with a bunch of numbers and letters after it. The P number will only give you the main family. What you really want is the P number.

Jim

TomSlick · Post by **TomSlick** » Wed Mar 26, 2003 7:27 pm

The label should read "APCOR", which stands for Advanced Portable Coronary Observation Radio.

The units used on "Emergency!" were BioPhones, which were not 10 channel, didn't have the APCOR label, and weren't made by Motorola, but rather by a company called BioComm. Here's a link to a page with pictures of them:

http://modena.intergate.ca/personal/pl8s/E!MF43.htm

Later, Motorola came out with the red APCOR radio, which looks similar to the BioPhone. Here's a link to a page with an image of one:

http://www.1973oldscb.homestead.com/page2.html

I'd guess this is what you have.

I'm more familiar with the smaller white Motorola APCOR, which I used as a Medic. Here's a link to a page with both the original BioPhone and the later white APCOR:

http://users.aol.com/richpl/equip/hts.htm

Motorola also made a modified handheld APCOR, which was basically just an HT with an add-on module to attach the ECG leads to.

Not sure about parts, etc. I'd bet the batteries are pretty pricey, though.

mancow · Post by **mancow** » Wed Mar 26, 2003 7:36 pm

Good god! If you woke up in one of those station wagon ambulances you would think you were in a hearse!

Amazing how technology has advanced!

mancow

jcobb · Post by **jcobb** » Wed Mar 26, 2003 11:11 pm

Well, there is a reason why they were called "meat wagons" in the olden days. Converted station wagons to pick you up and haul you to the hospital. If you were lucky, you made it. A few had oxygen, most didn't. None had any life support systems. No training - just drive fast!

And most were operated by the funeral homes. Not much incentive to even drive fast.........

Jack

slars55 · Post by **slars55** » Thu Mar 27, 2003 12:09 am

Thanks Tomslick the one I have is the smaller white apcor. I am still trying to get more info. I have a couple of places for batteries at around 250 bucks each. I just need to keep looking for the power supply for charging and look into the freq issue.

kc7gr · Post by **kc7gr** » Thu Mar 27, 2003 10:28 pm

slars55 wrote:Thanks Tomslick the one I have is the smaller white apcor. I am still trying to get more info. I have a couple of places for batteries at around 250 bucks each. I just need to keep looking for the power supply for charging and look into the freq issue.

I used to service the Apcor series at the San Francisco Motorola COSS, back when the Comm Sector still had a field service division. We maintained a bunch of them for the SF Fire Dept's paramedics.

Apcors are, essentially, MX300 series VHF cores with extra circuitry to provide EKG telemetry via a patient cable and stick-on electrodes. The idea, just like in "Emergency!," was that you could send the patient's cardiac condition, in real time, to the hospital.

I don't see why it wouldn't be possible to convert an Apcor radio for ham use, though it would get pricey redoing all those channel elements. I also seem to recall that they had to be certified periodically, by an agency other than our shop, for accurate transmission of EKG data.

Good luck finding a service manual, BTW... Those units have been out of production for ages.

73 de KC7GR

wa2zdy · Post by **wa2zdy** » Sat Mar 29, 2003 5:50 am

I know I've seen them on ebay from time and time and wondered how practical they might be for ham use of some sort.

They weren't full duplex, right? I recall seeing one suggestion that they might be, but doesn't seem so to me.

Also, since they're so long out of production, what do paramedic units use now for that purpose?

Thanks,

kc7gr · Post by **kc7gr** » Sat Mar 29, 2003 2:53 pm

wa2zdy wrote:I know I've seen them on ebay from time and time and wondered how practical they might be for ham use of some sort.

They weren't full duplex, right? I recall seeing one suggestion that they might be, but doesn't seem so to me.

Actually, I recall that some were indeed capable of full-duplex, just like a wireline phone. I remember checking the function on at least one unit.

73 de KC7GR

JAYMZ · Post by **JAYMZ** » Sat Mar 29, 2003 4:11 pm

wa2zdy wrote:Also, since they're so long out of production, what do paramedic units use now for that purpose?

Thanks,

Chris,

I can't speak for most areas but in the Hudson Valley region in NY "telemetry" isn't used so much anymore. Most hospitals are equiped to receive it but most services don't have what is needed to transmit it. Locally the hospitals have HEAR(it's an acronym for something, that I knew when I was new to EMS) frequencies that EMTs and Paramedics can call in reports. Also with the advent of the cell phone they can give the reports over the phone enroute.

TomSlick · Post by **TomSlick** » Sat Mar 29, 2003 5:08 pm

wa2zdy wrote: Also, since they're so long out of production, what do paramedic units use now for that purpose?

Back when I was an active Medic (1980's), even though we had the white APCORS which operated through a mobile repeater in the rig, we almost never used them. Mostly we operated on pre-set protocols, and contacted the hospital by phone if we thought we needed advice or permission for a particular procedure, or if it was a situation not covered by the protocols.

We sometimes requested a med patch to the hospital when were were back in the rig, but that was fairly rare, too. The docs trusted us to interpret the ECGs, which can be pretty tough to do if you're not there watching the patient, since you can't tell if artifacts are due to patient movement or a real problem. In fact, I don't think I ever sent a strip back to the base over the air. Once I had a nurse ask me to send one over the phone (I think she was stalling while trying to get the Doc on the phone). That was done via the APCOR as well, with an acoustic coupler. What a hassle to set up!

I'd guess in most places Medics probably operate fairly autonomously these days, just as we did then.

BDB · Post by **BDB** » Sat Mar 29, 2003 7:12 pm

Back in the old days Paramedics operated under direct medical control (ala Emergency). Nowadays few EMS systems operate that way. I haven't seen medical telemetry sent via radio in my career. By the time you set up everything you could be half way to an ER here. All hospitals here have 800 portables and a designated talkgroup for each hospital. Generally the charge nurse is in possession of the radio and just records the info. If we need medical direction we have a designated medical director talkgroup and call up one of the directors (all are issued portables).

Brett

kc7gr · Post by **kc7gr** » Sun Mar 30, 2003 10:53 am

JAYMZ wrote:
wa2zdy wrote:Also, since they're so long out of production, what do paramedic units use now for that purpose?

Thanks,
<snip>

Most hospitals are equiped to receive it but most services don't have what is needed to transmit it. Locally the hospitals have HEAR(it's an acronym for something, that I knew when I was new to EMS)

HEAR = Hospital Emergency Administration Radio. I still remember the T-1600 remote consoles with that goofy phone dial installed.

Scary, heh?

73 de KC7GR

ASTROMODAT · Post by **ASTROMODAT** » Sat Aug 09, 2003 2:49 pm

Some APCOR facts:

1. Someone said the APCOR used "MX VHF cores." No. They used UHF MX radios that were on MED-1 thru MED-10 (UHF).

2. Someone mentioned sending EKG via acoustic coupling. No, the EKG duplex/multiplex telemetry was a separate and highly complex circuit with direct injection to the exciter from the lead circuitry, and there was no acoustic coupling through the handset.

3. "APCOR was simply a 2-way radio, with some add-on EKG capability." No, it was full duplex voice and full duplex EKG, with highly specialized filtering on the duplex/muliplex circuitry, even to the fine point that if the Medic wanted to talk full duplex SIMULTANEOUSLY while sending EKG telemetry, he could hit the PTT which created a temporary tight skirted custom notch in a very small portion of the voice passband for the EKG telemtry to pass unabated. Then, when the EKG was completed, he could talk without the notch filter so as to have maximum full duplex voice quality, all done automatically and real time by the APCOR.

4. As to the REPEATER function, the 1 watt APCOR had no such function. Only the 12 watt APCOR had a REPEAT function. It's easy to tell----the 1 watter is so short that the top cover approzimately lines up wit the back of the radio, when the top cover is open and rested back on top of the APCOR case in the full open position. On the 12 watt APCOR, the back of the radio extends past the opened top cover by about 5 inches. It's REALL Y obvious. The photo in this thread of the APCOR is the cheaper 1 watt, non-repeater APCOR.

There is a lot of other misinformation about the APCOR in this thread, but my fingers are too tired to go on.

Hope this helps!

richyradio · Post by **richyradio** » Mon Aug 11, 2003 8:52 am

I used to work on those things....generally, they were pieces of junk, super expensive for the owner...those pop rivet duplexers always got noisy, the chargers blew up alot, they were like homing pidgeons that always wanted to be in the shop...It used to be fun sitting at the other end in the emergency room (fixing that boob-tube chart recorder contraption with the cheap tape deck that had most of it's knobs cut off and a moto-logo plastered on it) ...most people that came in were construction accidents with hand/ finger problems....the rest were heart attacks...you knew they were in deep sh** when you heard that 1400hz tone start wobbling all over the place.....one time I had to show a new employee (at the big M shop where I worked) the system at a hosp. in nyc...a bum came in covering his eye, when the doctor pulled his hand away, his shrivelled up eyeball fell out and rolled across the floor...my new partner was out of service for the rest of the day...you have to have a cynical sense of humor to work in those places....man, this brings back memories...actually, spent most of my hospital trips fixing those damn Modax 500 paging terminals....ugh...now I remember why I got out of that business.....

TomSlick · Post by **TomSlick** » Mon Aug 11, 2003 9:10 am

ASTROMODAT wrote:2. Someone mentioned sending EKG via acoustic coupling. No, the EKG duplex/multiplex telemetry was a separate and highly complex circuit with direct injection to the exciter from the lead circuitry, and there was no acoustic coupling through the handset.

That was me, and I was referring to using the Apcor to send EKG over a land line, not by radio. At least, I think we had to do it using the Apcor. As I recall it had a flat acoustic coupler with a velcro strap to hold the handset. (I'm pretty sure it was an Apcor accessory - maybe it was part of the Lifepak and I'm remembering incorrectly.)

The capability was there in case you couldn't make radio contact.

richyradio · Post by **richyradio** » Mon Aug 11, 2003 9:38 am

I think tomslick is right... I seem to remember that being part of the apcor kit....

ASTROMODAT · Post by **ASTROMODAT** » Mon Aug 11, 2003 10:28 am

Sorry, I misunderstood you because you are absolutely correct in that the APCOR had a back-up way to send EKG telemetry over the landline, which utilized an acoustical coupler via the landline.

Larry

ExKa|iBuR · Post by **ExKa|iBuR** » Mon Aug 11, 2003 12:28 pm

It seems we had a similar system back in the Niagara Region.

Channel 4 is always refered to as the "Cardiac Channel"...asking around, one medic told me that back in the day, they had portables they could send an EKG back to the hospital. There were aparantly contacts on the radio they pushed against an EKG machine and it would transmit back to the hospital.

Anyone know what kind of system this would be?

Now, they just call the hospital on this channel and tell them the stats themselves.

-M

Can anyone identify this radio

Can anyone identify this radio

Re: Can anyone identify this radio