Maxtrac Repeater Question

thgiz · Post by **thgiz** » Mon Jan 14, 2002 8:29 pm

looking at making a repeater from 2 16pin maxtracs. i saw a guy selling a cable on e-bay that he said you could connect between the 2 16pin connectors...is this possible? if it is, anyone know how its done? here on batlabs they have one with the mic connectors on the front, but it requires opening the radio and i would rather not do that.

Monty · Post by **Monty** » Mon Jan 14, 2002 8:40 pm

Hi:

If you have the Mobiles that have the 16 pin
Connectors, you can properly set them up using a R*I*C*K. or a Clone.

The R*I*C*K's run around 200.00 and up, and have ALL the features if you need them such as Audio Processing, Transmitt Delay Drop Out, Time Out Timer ( In the event the Tx gets locked on ) and a host of other features too. You can also tie in a Auto-Patch...

A fellow here on Batlabs named " Will " makes
a suitable subsitute for around 100.00 ( I think ) and does not require anything other
than for you to plug it into the back of the
radio. No Mods required....

Pretty simple 16 Pin Cable dongle with a few
extras that is not supplied on the batlab model.

Either choice is probably OK depending on your application....I have the Factory Motorola R*I*C*K's or you can contact Will
here on Batlabs for a simpler version...

Monty

jim · Post by **jim** » Mon Jan 14, 2002 9:05 pm

Contact "Will." He makes an inexpensive repeater cable that attaches to the 5 or 16 pin radios.

jim · Post by **jim** » Mon Jan 14, 2002 9:05 pm

Contact "Will." He makes an inexpensive repeater cable that attaches to the 5 or 16 pin radios.

Will · Post by **Will** » Tue Jan 15, 2002 12:10 am

My repeater module has a drop-out delay timer and audio processing PLUS other circuitry that elimates the lock up or blown fuse in a radio if should the other radio fail or is turned off. The timeout timmer is in the transmitter radio. It is about 3" x 2" and 1" thick and can be put right on the side of one of the radios with good old double sided tape.

CATAWBA911 · Post by **CATAWBA911** » Tue Jan 15, 2002 5:30 am

I REALLY LIKE THE LOOKS OF THE RICK BUT I HAVE ONE QUESTION....DO YOU NEED SOME TYPE OF MOTOROLA SOFTWARE TO MAKE CHANGES IN THE RICK OR CAN YOU DO IT ALL FROM THE RICK ITSELF. THANKS

njc · Post by **njc** » Tue Jan 15, 2002 6:54 am

What about a 2-way repeater, that is, say a crossband that goes both ways (UHF <-> VHF).

That has been my project. You can program the i/o pins to active high or low on rx, mic ptt, etc. So when one radio rx, it can toggle an i/o line which can be directly fed to the other radio (set debounce ON), etc.. The problem I ran into was with the rx audio. I only found the raw, unsquelched audio. So when no transmission was being received, there was white noise on the aud line, which is OK, but, what happened with my prototype was that for about 1 sec or so after the Rx stopped, the Tx radio transmitted that white noise (no good). My next plan is to do some audio switching with some low-loss/low-impedance Maxim IC's. Anyone have any other ideas.... (they are both 16-pin MaxTracs).

Thanks
NJC

njc · Post by **njc** » Tue Jan 15, 2002 7:37 am

I found information elsewhere on the message boards about JU551. I think that will solve my problem. If anyone has any other suggestions, by all means...

Thanks
NJC

radiofreak · Post by **radiofreak** » Tue Jan 15, 2002 3:57 pm

thgiz,I have built the cable that you had seen on eBay. It will work short term but sounds terrible. I think the problem is that the disc. audio is over driving the mic input. Probably about a 180-600ohm resister in series might work but I have not tried any values. The cable is very simple, connect the rx disc. output pin 11 to the tx mic. input pin 2, ground pin 7 to pin 7, connect the rx cos output pin 8 to the tx ptt input pin 3. This will get you started but you may want to experiment with a resister between pin 11 and 2 to get the audio level desired. Remember, this is no substitute for a RICK. I have many units using RICKs and if you can swing the money buy one or atleast give Will a chance.
Thanks

Will · Post by **Will** » Wed Jan 16, 2002 12:25 am

Guys, this is exactly why I started making my own repeater interface modules. The Motorola RICK cost a LOT more and has quite a few problems mine does not.
Yeah you can do it with hard wiring but you WILL have problems.
Dont forget "plug and play"!!!!

Nand · Post by **Nand** » Wed Jan 16, 2002 1:29 am

Nand · Post by **Nand** » Wed Jan 16, 2002 1:33 am

Monty · Post by **Monty** » Wed Jan 16, 2002 3:00 am

Hi:

If you are the Experimenter type, I say go
for it.

If you are on a small budget and desire something that is a little better than Most
you should consider " Wills" Cable set up.

Not sales hype, just positive feedback from
others.

If you are into Commerical Service and desire
a R*I*C*K which has some additional features
such as direct Auto-Patch Set-ups, selectable
( internal ) Delay Drop out timers, and internal Time out timers for the transmitter,
and is very well built and comes with all the
Cables and instructions, I do have a few @ 250.00 and they are New in the Box.

Other than that, again, Will has a more enhance cable set up, and its truly worth
considering.

If he sends me a photo, I will upload it to
my website.

MS

Will · Post by **Will** » Wed Jan 16, 2002 11:42 pm

Well, you see that there are problems with the Motorola RICK and the wired connectors Nand described.
With thirty years experiance with all types of repeaters, links and interfaced base stations/repeaters to microwave systems and their problems, these problems are elimiated through carefull engineering.
My modules also have RF filtering so stray RF will not affect the operation.

wazzzzzzzzup · Post by **wazzzzzzzzup** » Thu Jan 17, 2002 2:46 am

i have been thinking of buying several UHF maxtracs, and using a rick or after market repeater connector setup, i am wondering...if i get 2 radios on a 5 meg split in the ham band 444/449 area, using separate antennas for each radio, will that work acceptable, or would i be required to run them thru a duplexer? if no duplexer is needed, and the quality stil works good then i am happy! any help would be appreciated.