Silly Maxtrac questions

[W2IRT]

Hi,

I'd like to ask a couple of questions to the Maxtrac gurus on this forum:

What does the SELECT button do on a 32-channel conventional Maxtrac and how is it enabled in software?

Is it possible to enable scanning with the mic off-hook? I don't have a grounded mic clip handy and would like scan to work regardless of the hang-up status of the mic. I'd ideally like to have a non-priority radio-wide scan set up, but it looks like that's not possible.

I need to be able to generate single-tone alert tones with this radio, and I'll be darned if I can figure out how I could go about doing it. Unlike my wonderful littel HT-1000, I don't think the RSS can support this feature, so I'd likely be looking for a third party solution (Com-Spec has a board that I like the looks of). The big question, though, would be how to enable it? Maybe I could use the SELECT button for that function <grin>?

Any way to disable that annoying BEEP on changing channels? Drives me nuts.

[jackhackett]

which type of mic are you using? the standard maxtrac type mics (such as hmn1056d) don't need to be grounded for hang up, the hang up button forms a set of contacts, it just need to be in a metal clip to complete the connection. You can tell just by looking at the button, it's got a couple of spring contacts around it. The hang up buttons will go bad though.. little springs inside pop out.. so even if you have this type of mic it might not work.

I'd have to look at the software to see if you can scan off hook.. not an option that's often used, so I don't remember if the maxtracs do it or not.. I would guess they do, but like I said... anyway, I'm sure someone else will answer that before I can..

[Jim202]

I use a number of 800 Maxtrac radios as scanners. I don't even have a mic on them. Yes you can make them scan without a hangup wired in.

On my 800 Maxtrac radios, the select button puts the radio into scan. On a UHF Maxtrac radio I have, I think that button location is labled scan.

Jim

[Max-trac]

Here are my instructions for scanning on the Maxtrac;
http://batboard.batlabs.com/viewtopic.p ... highlight=

[W2IRT]

Here are my instructions for scanning on the Maxtrac;
http://batboard.batlabs.com/viewtopic.p ... highlight=

Thanks for that link - I finally understand it now.

Now to the single-tone question - any thoughts on how to do this, folks?

[kcbooboo]

I routinely remove the mike/volume board from the front panel and solder a piece of wire across the mike jack from pin 3 to pin 4. This shorts out the MONITOR switch circuit so the radio thinks the mike is always hung up. If I want to hear something, I push the monitor button. This way it doesn't depend on the mike or whether you have it in a hang-up bracket or not. Later versions of MaxTracs and RSS give you an option that tells the radio whether you have a hang-up box or not, effectively making the radio ignore the hang-up status, but jumpering the two mike pins is a more permanent and general solution as it works for ALL radios and ALL mikes.

As for the annoying beep, you could go into the radio and make a circuit modification to eliminate ALL beeps from getting through the audio circuit, something you may not want to do. I don't believe you can selectively disable some while leaving others.

As for scan/select, I could refer to a MaxTrac manual and quote you the instructions they give. The books are at home - I'm not at the moment. If you want them, let me know here and I'll do some typing - it's only a couple of paragraphs.

Bob M.

[Elighting]

I routinely remove the mike/volume board from the front panel and solder a piece of wire across the mike jack from pin 3 to pin 4. This shorts out the MONITOR switch circuit so the radio thinks the mike is always hung up. If I want to hear something, I push the monitor button. This way it doesn't depend on the mike or whether you have it in a hang-up bracket or not. Later versions of MaxTracs and RSS give you an option that tells the radio whether you have a hang-up box or not, effectively making the radio ignore the hang-up status, but jumpering the two mike pins is a more permanent and general solution as it works for ALL radios and ALL mikes.

As for the annoying beep, you could go into the radio and make a circuit modification to eliminate ALL beeps from getting through the audio circuit, something you may not want to do. I don't believe you can selectively disable some while leaving others.

As for scan/select, I could refer to a MaxTrac manual and quote you the instructions they give. The books are at home - I'm not at the moment. If you want them, let me know here and I'll do some typing - it's only a couple of paragraphs.

Bob M.

What if you don't have a pin 3?I'm looking at mine and it is a 13 wire plug,with pin 3 being skippied.I would love to do this though.

Jordan,TFD,TCFD,VFD

[kcbooboo]

The pin3 and pin4 references are on the 8-pin MIC jack on the board that it's soldered onto.

The equivalent pins on the 13-pin connector that comes from the front panel and plugs into the logic board are 10 and 13.

Bob M.

[Elighting]

The pin3 and pin4 references are on the 8-pin MIC jack on the board that it's soldered onto.

The equivalent pins on the 13-pin connector that comes from the front panel and plugs into the logic board are 10 and 13.

Bob M.

So just put a wire between pin 10 and pin 13 and it will make the radio think the mic is on the hook at all times,correct?Just making sure I'm understanding this correctly.Thank you.

Jordan,TFD,TCFD,VFD

[kcbooboo]

Yup, that should do it.

Bob M.

[Elighting]

Yup, that should do it.

Bob M.

It did it.I did that to one of the radios and it works just like that.I just put a bead of solder between the 2 pins.Now to do 3 more radios like this.Thank you very much.

Jordan,TFD,TCFD,VFD

[kc8owl]

Another trick to get it to scan when not in a mic hook is to stretch a paper clip onto the mic's mic clip. I do this because I do not have a mic hook in my vehicle (the mic goes into a cup holder when I'm not using it).

It's also easy to remove if you want to

[MikeOxlong]

I use to jam a penny behind the mic clip.