Feelings on HT750
Moderator: Queue Moderator
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FF CARTER 4687
- Posts: 15
- Joined: Fri Dec 28, 2001 4:00 pm
They are good radios, I have had two before, one vhf and one uhf, they have some nice options like the quick call 2!! Just be careful buying one of the first run HT750's from about the first year run, they had various gremlins in the early production run, at least I remeber seeing a lot of service repair bullitens from M about various problems.
10-95
10-95
Hi,
I currently maintain 9 HT750 uhf portables at work,
they are good units but as is stated before beware of the older units ( programmed w/ v01.00.00 software) and the old firmware,
they tend to have the most problems.
if the radio is a keypad version the keypad board assy tends to go bad Mot part #0104007J99 they are twenty sum odd bucks ea.
but they are easy to work on and cheap to refurb. compaired to some other mot products
I currently maintain 9 HT750 uhf portables at work,
they are good units but as is stated before beware of the older units ( programmed w/ v01.00.00 software) and the old firmware,
they tend to have the most problems.
if the radio is a keypad version the keypad board assy tends to go bad Mot part #0104007J99 they are twenty sum odd bucks ea.
but they are easy to work on and cheap to refurb. compaired to some other mot products
Not a bad radio! Did you ever get your JT1000? EdOn 2002-01-18 23:23, FF CARTER 4687 wrote:
i am currently demoing a friends HT750 and i like the set up and operation. i was wondering about anyone elses opinion on the radio. if you own one and would like to give your 2 cents worth it would be much appreciated thanks! carter
I would echo most of the comments above. They are OK for light to moderate use, but seems to have notably less sensitivity in marginal areas than some of the higher end radios.
If your seriously looking at this series, I would suggest that you price the HT1250 as well. This seems to be one case where the jump in features is actually greater than the jump in price.
If your seriously looking at this series, I would suggest that you price the HT1250 as well. This seems to be one case where the jump in features is actually greater than the jump in price.
I agree with most of the above comments, but for the average public saftey user who wants durability I cannot recommend the HT1250. That display is just begging to be cracked, and the keypad is cheap. As for features for a price, the 1250 is a better choice than the 750, but then you could say the same for the HT1550 - XLS over the HT1250. But considering the product lineup these days we are somewhat limited. I would tell you to go with Vertex for maximum durability and battery life. The lowband and UHF 750's seem to do pretty well performance wise in well designed systems. Portable to portable stinks compared with the Gemini series and Jedi series of radios.
Our FD keeps a fleet of about 20 of them. Not a single problem reported. They are all modern firmware however. Not one has been sent out for service and they work well at firegrounds. I know some have had problems w/ durability, but some of them have been through as much as 5 or so bad fires & no problems. Good Solid Radio.
Owner: HT1250, CDM1550, SP50 (2), SM120 (2) VHF, GP300 UHF, Minitor III,
"The only difference between morons & geniuses, geniuses have their limits"
"The only difference between morons & geniuses, geniuses have their limits"
Out of curiosity, how many people have actually destroyed a HT1250 display?
Everyone seems to think that they are just asking for destruction, but in 3+ years of managing 50+ units, under fairly rugged daily use, I just lost the first display two weeks ago.
The repair cost was actually fairly reasonable ($55 plus an hour of labor).
I have actually had almost no repairs (other than broken belt clips, and the regular firmware upgrade issues) on these radios. Our most common problem has actually been the "wall wart" transformers on the chargers going bad.
P.S. You should see what we used to to do VISARs. My credibility has almost recovered from recommending the adoption of those way back when
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: HumHead on 2002-01-19 12:40 ]</font>
Everyone seems to think that they are just asking for destruction, but in 3+ years of managing 50+ units, under fairly rugged daily use, I just lost the first display two weeks ago.
The repair cost was actually fairly reasonable ($55 plus an hour of labor).
I have actually had almost no repairs (other than broken belt clips, and the regular firmware upgrade issues) on these radios. Our most common problem has actually been the "wall wart" transformers on the chargers going bad.
P.S. You should see what we used to to do VISARs. My credibility has almost recovered from recommending the adoption of those way back when
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: HumHead on 2002-01-19 12:40 ]</font>
II still have yet to see a HT1250 with a broken display, we also run 7 of them in vhf,
the units are in use 24/7/365 using NIMH HNN9008AR and the batteries hold up between 16 to 24 hours depending on useage.
the newest unit was purchased in 1999,
I have had a unit returned for repair because the displat goes blank on its own.
have yet to open the unit to track down the issue
the units are in use 24/7/365 using NIMH HNN9008AR and the batteries hold up between 16 to 24 hours depending on useage.
the newest unit was purchased in 1999,
I have had a unit returned for repair because the displat goes blank on its own.
have yet to open the unit to track down the issue
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MT2000 man
- Posts: 1307
- Joined: Tue Sep 04, 2001 4:00 pm
- What radios do you own?: XTS5000R, Astro Saber III, I
I agree with most people. The ht750/1250 are great radios (heck, the 1250 even tells you the time! ) but they just are not "public safety" material. True, they are SOMEWHAT rugged, but, as mentioned, not like the MT2000, ht1000, or saber series of radio. But for light-semi heavy use, I would recommend the 750/1250 .
Any more comments?
Any more comments?
We have sold many HT1250s, no broken displays yet. Reliability has been very good so far. I've seen a few 750/1250s in both UHF/VHF have power amplifier troubles. Unless you have a Chipmaster or equivalent, there isn't much you can do with them.
We haven't had any major issues with the radios, firmware or otherwise, with the exception of one customer. Our competition (who don't do flashing, by the way) tried to make us look bad by telling him he "needed" to have his radios upgraded, even though they were working perfectly for him. But, once someone hears "upgrade" or "latest version", they tend to want it regardless of the need for it.
We only flash the firmware on an "as needed" basis, which is the way it's supposed to be. It would be rare to "need" a specific radio flashed more than once, assuming the flash version actually addressed it's specific problem(s). To bring a radio in to flash simply because there's a new one available can be a waste of both yours & the customer's time. There can be a need for it obviously, or the process wouldn't exist, but every three months? I doubt it. My two cents worth.
Todd
We haven't had any major issues with the radios, firmware or otherwise, with the exception of one customer. Our competition (who don't do flashing, by the way) tried to make us look bad by telling him he "needed" to have his radios upgraded, even though they were working perfectly for him. But, once someone hears "upgrade" or "latest version", they tend to want it regardless of the need for it.
We only flash the firmware on an "as needed" basis, which is the way it's supposed to be. It would be rare to "need" a specific radio flashed more than once, assuming the flash version actually addressed it's specific problem(s). To bring a radio in to flash simply because there's a new one available can be a waste of both yours & the customer's time. There can be a need for it obviously, or the process wouldn't exist, but every three months? I doubt it. My two cents worth.
Todd
We had a fleet of about 100 1250's in VHF that we ended up having to replace with HT1000's because // couldnt get more than about 2 watts out of the PA. They were the 1st run. Displays were dying like crazy, just going out on there own..They were junk in the beginning (early/mid 99)
Long live HT1000!! ill certainly be sad to see them go.
Not sure about them now.
Long live HT1000!! ill certainly be sad to see them go.
Not sure about them now.
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wazzzzzzzzup
- Batboard $upporter
- Posts: 751
- Joined: Thu Oct 04, 2001 4:00 pm
- What radios do you own?: XTS3000/astro spectra/
i have had an ht1250ls for about a year, i use it for municipal government/LTR/ham radio
it gets alot of use/government abuse and still holds up physically. i have dropped it a number of times waist high and once from on top of a utility truck (10 foot to asphalt),some of you have mentioned about the display being a weak spot to crack, well mine has been smacked into walls/truck body/cement/steel/asphalt(sometimes i have to crawl under a truck so the radio gets dragged on the ground), and thats only at work, when i take it away from work, it gets hours more transmitter time on the ham bands rag chewing, i love to talk!. i have the ultra high cap battery wich lasts all day but as i do lots of talking on it at night will usually drain the batt completely by bedtime.
(i am thinking of buying another ultra high batt and setting the rapid charger up in the car with a 12 v power cord)
one thing i wish the pro series had is a transmit total timer (kinda like cell phones do) that would be cool to display. i would be up in the hundreds of hours i bet! ANYWAZ, my one large complaint!!!!...the LTR data deviation calibration gets un called after alot of use and needs to be sent in to be re call'd (recent problem) it is my understanding that will be a lifetime problem of needing LTR data re cal from time to time. another co-worker has complained of a wierd problem with his 1250ls, when he turns it on in the morning, his will beep continously until he presses any front button, then it is ok. he also has a problem that his clock dissapears from time to time, and his batt indicator is rarely on the screen, mabe once a week! 2 other co-workers have had no unusual problems with thier 1250ls. theres my addl .02
it gets alot of use/government abuse and still holds up physically. i have dropped it a number of times waist high and once from on top of a utility truck (10 foot to asphalt),some of you have mentioned about the display being a weak spot to crack, well mine has been smacked into walls/truck body/cement/steel/asphalt(sometimes i have to crawl under a truck so the radio gets dragged on the ground), and thats only at work, when i take it away from work, it gets hours more transmitter time on the ham bands rag chewing, i love to talk!. i have the ultra high cap battery wich lasts all day but as i do lots of talking on it at night will usually drain the batt completely by bedtime.
(i am thinking of buying another ultra high batt and setting the rapid charger up in the car with a 12 v power cord)
one thing i wish the pro series had is a transmit total timer (kinda like cell phones do) that would be cool to display. i would be up in the hundreds of hours i bet! ANYWAZ, my one large complaint!!!!...the LTR data deviation calibration gets un called after alot of use and needs to be sent in to be re call'd (recent problem) it is my understanding that will be a lifetime problem of needing LTR data re cal from time to time. another co-worker has complained of a wierd problem with his 1250ls, when he turns it on in the morning, his will beep continously until he presses any front button, then it is ok. he also has a problem that his clock dissapears from time to time, and his batt indicator is rarely on the screen, mabe once a week! 2 other co-workers have had no unusual problems with thier 1250ls. theres my addl .02
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Astrosaber
- Posts: 30
- Joined: Sat Sep 22, 2001 4:00 pm
Well, I've had a HT1250 for a day now. I picked up a used one from a friend with a speaker mic and ribless cable for $400. My thoughts on this series of radio so far:
* The CPS sucks. I miss RSS! I've had two codeplugs in work save to disc just fine, then blow up on reopening. In one case, I lost about two hours of casual work. And yes, I was saving every ten minutes or so and using the error find function.
* Moto really needs to rethink some of the button assignment choices. Why in hell can't the P1 and P3 keys be set up as zone up/down buttons? Isn't that why they're arrow shaped? Doh.
* The radio feels good in the hand.
* Battery life has been good so far - it was on for ten hours yesterday, including about half an hour of TX. The battery still had two bars of life.
* The display is great!
* The ribless cable is the cat's ass.
YMMV, of course. I think a HT750 would be very satisfying, but it didn't have the capabilities I needed.
* The CPS sucks. I miss RSS! I've had two codeplugs in work save to disc just fine, then blow up on reopening. In one case, I lost about two hours of casual work. And yes, I was saving every ten minutes or so and using the error find function.
* Moto really needs to rethink some of the button assignment choices. Why in hell can't the P1 and P3 keys be set up as zone up/down buttons? Isn't that why they're arrow shaped? Doh.
* The radio feels good in the hand.
* Battery life has been good so far - it was on for ten hours yesterday, including about half an hour of TX. The battery still had two bars of life.
* The display is great!
* The ribless cable is the cat's ass.
YMMV, of course. I think a HT750 would be very satisfying, but it didn't have the capabilities I needed.