Batboard

Hello,

so, there is a guy that is offering me a GM1200 VHF radio very cheap, something like 18 USD. The radio is reportedly faulty, to be exact he says that the radio works perfectly and can be read in the RSS, but won't store the new frequencies when programming. I don't know if he used the correct software, or maybe a too fast computer, or if it has been flashed to MC2100 or whatever. There's also a possibility that he doesn't realize that the channels are trunked.

The thing is that I am concerned it may be a hardware EEPROM fault, for me it wouldn't even be a problem to replace the chips but I can't seem to find the service manual for GM1200. I just found the service manual for GM1200E, which is as I am aware of not the same series of radio as GM1200 so I don't know if the chips are the same. If somebody has or can find a GM1200 service manual, I would really appreciate it.

The bottom line question is - should I buy the radio?

I wouldn't take a free GM1200 that was fully functional, but that's just me. They're like the mentally handicapped cousin of the MCS2000 with their buggy European firmware and tempermental programming software (there is a Windows package but I was only able to make it work once on my otherwise-solid programming laptop.) They also don't go through the same QC as their US market counterparts and can be prone to things like broken solder joints.