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Maxtrac question
Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 8:20 am
by jhook
just wondering if there was a uhf version that was trunking only. the reason i ask is there's a guy selling one locally and the model number's missing he knows for sure it's uhf the reason i'm asking is there is a sticker that says joe blow's what ever trunking with a phone number! i just didn't want to buy a trunking only uhf thanks jhook
Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 9:50 am
by kb0nly
There was a trunked UHF version from what i have been told and what i have read on here, but i have yet to see one in person. But it can most likely be converted to a conventional with reprogramming and firmware replacement anyway depending on which logic board it uses.
The label might have just been do to the companies primary business being trunking, though they also do radio repair on others. The only way to know for sure is to power it up and try reading it with RSS and see what happens!
Check and see if it's a 16 pin accessory connector on the back of the radio, if it is then it should be easy to reconfigure as a conventional with new firmware and blanking. If that turns out to be the case drop me a line and i can offer help with converting it. If the radio is in good enough shape and affordable no reason to not buy it even if it needs conversion.
Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 10:01 am
by jhook
thanks i was hoping for a answer like that.what you say does make sence and it has the 16 pin accy connector on it. so even if it is trunking filmware in it that can be changed . thanks again for the quick reply Jhook
Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 7:50 pm
by PETNRDX
There were a few "after market" trunking radios that I am guessing were versions of the Scholer-Johnson (SP?) variety. Similar to what they did on 800.
Lots of cut traces and jumpers on the bottom of the logic board. Seems to me they used the 16 pin connector for something special. Might not be easy to convert back. I had a couple of the 800 ones awhile back and just used them for parts. Just a possibility...
Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 9:27 pm
by Will
Chexk on the frequency range.... Some on 403 to 433!
Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 10:48 pm
by jhook
i believe thats what it is 403-433 so will that be a trunking split?
Posted: Tue May 09, 2006 3:18 am
by AEC
If Circle-M did have a UHF trunked offering, it would probably be of the LTR variety, though I have never 'seen' a UHF trunked mobile from the bat, I know they are out here.
There are also options available to convert a conventional radio into an LTR trunked radio from a few manufacturers I can't recall off the top of my head, but they are logic boards that had to be installed in the radio, and a firmware swap was needed as well to make them compatible with the LTR format.
Since LTR was developed by E.F. Johnson, but used in one format or another by Icom, Kenwood and Yaesu to name a few, and I know Motorola also had offerings in the LTR market as well.
I had 'assumed' incorrectly that the LTS/LCS series were LTR, but they are not, as I just dug into my sales flyers of years ago and see they are not LTR format.
Posted: Tue May 09, 2006 3:28 am
by AEC
jhook wrote:i believe thats what it is 403-433 so will that be a trunking split?
The 403-433 Mhz. range is commonly referred to as the 'government split' and has nothing to do with trunking systems at all.
Most common UHF segment for LTR trunking is in the 450-458 Mhz. range, and then in the 463-470 range depending on geographical area.
We have both segments here using these bands in central AZ.
Posted: Tue May 09, 2006 12:19 pm
by jhook
thanks for the replys
Posted: Wed May 10, 2006 4:57 pm
by wx4cbh
How 'bout some deductive evidence? Several years back when I was an MSS manager, I never actually worked on the particular radios or checked the model numbers, but there were some low split UHF "government" Maxtracs in service with government facilities security personnel, and that system was definitely trunked. The button labels on the front were the same as the 800 trunking Maxtracs I did work on, they used the shorting plug to get to the test mode, and the "channel" labels on the laminated card taped to the top suggested very strongly that the system was trunked. Besides, when the techs who did work on 'em were testing them, they made all the same sounds as the 800 trunking units.
Posted: Wed May 10, 2006 5:43 pm
by xmo
The instruction manual for the Maxtrac Trunked mobile radio RSS [6880102W64] lists at least 23 UHF model numbers that are supported including Privacy Plus F2/F5/F6 models and Smartnet C3/C5/C6 models in various transmit powers for both 25 KHz and 12.5 KHz bandwidths.