Batboard

Hello,

I'm looking for information about an old Motorola base radio for use in a railroad museum. We don't have any photos close enough to read the model number, if in fact it's even available on the front of the case. Here is a photo of the radio in its natural environment:



I would like to find the model number, to facilitate further searching, or maybe even someone here can help us find one. It would not need to be in working condition, but if it were that would be great.

We have need of a second radio, that by reading on this board I've identified as a T1604. The red and white kind. Any information about those radios would be appreciated, but if necessary I'll post our need of one in the "for sale" forum.

I really appreciate any help or information that comes our way. I'm hoping I've come to the right place to solve this little puzzle.

Looks like a Mocom 70 consolette.
mod

The T1604 is a Tone Remote Console.

The unit pictured looks like a "consolette" base station but hard to tell what model.

I am the radio maintainer for 2 RR museums. If you send me a PM with details of what your organization is attempting to do I may be able to help.

Thanks for the replies. Even knowing an approximate model name is going to be a big help.

2khz, I've sent you a PM with more information. Of course, anyone who is interested in our museum can PM me an I'll send you links to our site. I'd just prefer to keep the discussion here directly related to the radios.

n5tbu wrote:Looks like a Mocom 70 consolette.
mod

At least a Consolette. There is a four pos switch in the lower left that could be a four freq/channel switch.

The Consolettes came with Motrac, Mocom 70, Syntor, or Mitrek radios inside.

If you have an idea of the date, that would be helpfull in which radio is inside.

I have a lowband super consolutte I could donate if you pay shipping,not rail road but the look is the same,
mod

n5tbu wrote:I have a lowband super consolutte I could donate if you pay shipping,not rail road but the look is the same,
mod

That may be what he needs. I had an off-line discussion with him and they are looking for items to restore an abandoned signal tower as it was in the photo when it was taken out of service.

If anybody has a T1604 or similar T160X series remote that is cosmetically complete but does not need to be working that would take care of his other need. I suggested he watch eBay and also try the equipment wanted forum on here.

I have been involved with a similar project and I have some old remotes but not the type he needs to be authentic.

Will wrote:

n5tbu wrote:Looks like a Mocom 70 consolette.
mod

At least a Consolette. There is a four pos switch in the lower left that could be a four freq/channel switch.

The Consolettes came with Motrac, Mocom 70, Syntor, or Mitrek radios inside.

If you have an idea of the date, that would be helpfull in which radio is inside.

The switch on the front was indeed a frequency selector. The operator could jump between the four channels the L&N used in the area.

The date of the picture is about 1986, and the tower was still in full service at the time. I would suspect that the radio was installed when the L&N took over the railroad in the early 70s, but that's just an educated guess.

n5tbu wrote:I have a lowband super consolutte I could donate if you pay shipping,not rail road but the look is the same,
mod

As long as the appearance is fairly close, we would love to have it and be very grateful. The actual band function is not important. Even if we were to have a railroad-capable transmitter, it would need to be disabled or locked in some way to prevent unauthorized transmission.

Does the unit you have function? If it does not, we might consider removing some of the heavier innards to save on shipping. One of our ideas was that if we had an empty case, we'd hide the scanner inside it and wire the power and speaker to the console's controls. However, I'd be hesitant to gut a working radio.

I will send you a PM shortly with my personal information so we can make payment and shipping arrangements.

Thank you very much for the response.

k2hz wrote:If anybody has a T1604 or similar T160X series remote that is cosmetically complete but does not need to be working that would take care of his other need. I suggested he watch eBay and also try the equipment wanted forum on here.

Yes, if someone has information or leads on one of those radios as well, we also need one. You can see the radio in question behind the operator's back in this picture:



k2hz is correct, the radios we need don't necessarily need to function. They simply need to be reasonably close in outward appearance. When we moved the tower from its original location, we got virtually everything. The only items the railroad took were the radios and the telephone links.

The large tan console on the desk was the L&N Radio, and the red and white one was the Conrail radio.

I am extremely grateful for all the help, information, and replies.

sataraid1 wrote:[snip>>>
Does the unit you have function? If it does not, we might consider removing some of the heavier innards to save on shipping. One of our ideas was that if we had an empty case, we'd hide the scanner inside it and wire the power and speaker to the console's controls. However, I'd be hesitant to gut a working radio..

Great idea, as the radio chassis AND the power supply chassis are easally removed saving more then three fouths of the weight.

I may be interested in the lowband chassis depending on the freq range.

I will look tomorrow at work, we had a stack of nice condition t-1600 series remotes, I will take a look tomorrow and let you know if you are interested. I would send it to you for just the shipping costs.

Batwings21 wrote:I will look tomorrow at work, we had a stack of nice condition t-1600 series remotes, I will take a look tomorrow and let you know if you are interested. I would send it to you for just the shipping costs.

That would be outstanding. Just let me know what you find.

If you have microphones that match the ones in the pictures, we would need two of those as well.

I am really grateful for all the responses to this thread and my inquiry. Thanks to everyone.

If "batwings21" cannot find a T16XX for you please let me know. I have about 10 or so that will be turned in.

Hello everyone,

I just wanted to post a quick update and let everyone know where things stand. Mod has provided us with a T1600 and two microphones, for the cost of shipping only. I want to thank him very much and express my gratitude to everyone who's PMed and emailed me.

We are still going to be looking for what's been identified as some flavor of a Mocom 70 console. If anyone following this thread has one that matches the unit in the photos above (working or not) or a lead on where we might find one, please let me know here or via PM. If nothing further turns up here, I will post a more general message in the "for sale or trade" section.

Thanks for everything, guys.

dang, i wish i you had posted this a few months back, we jsut threw away several old consolettes.

TRW Swapmeet is tomorrow, and I will look for a Consolette.

I did not find any Consolettes with the beigh face like in your photo at today's swapmeet.

Just 30+ Spectra Consolettes that look like a DeskTrac.

Will wrote:Just 30+ Spectra Consolettes that look like a DeskTrac.

And a pallet of 900MHz Spectras for $20/ea

escomm wrote:

Will wrote:Just 30+ Spectra Consolettes that look like a DeskTrac.

And a pallet of 900MHz Spectras for $20/ea

They have radios at the TRW swapmeet? Last I heard, all the computer geeks had taken over and ruined it.

VHF railroad Consolette model number would be something like L43BBB-1900 for carrier squelch, -3900 for PL in 30 watts, 4 freq. L53BBB would be 60 W, and even a few L73BBB were built in 100 watt. Even earlier version had a MOTRAC in a similar housing.

smokeybehr wrote:They have radios at the TRW swapmeet? Last I heard, all the computer geeks had taken over and ruined it.

I'd say it's about 60/40 between useless computer crap and useless radio crap.

There are still some good deals to be had, I have not left empty-handed in the last three trips.

[quote="escomm
I have not left TRW empty-handed in the last three trips.[/quote]

Yes you have, you missed lunch..........

Hello everyone,

I wanted to post a long-overdue update on the railroad museum radio project.

Over the holiday weekend I tackled the first half of the project with a T1604 kindly donated by board member n5tbu (aka mod). I was able to take the audio from a scanner and route it into the T1604, keeping the power switch and volume knob in line and functioning. The result exceeded my expectations, and was very well received by the other members of the museum staff. As an added bonus, the large speaker in the T1604 case is much louder and much clearer at high volume than the original built-in speaker on the scanner.

Seeing how well this turned out has renewed my drive to find the Mocom 70 Consolette we also need. I thought it would be worth another inquiry to see if anyone knows of one that's available, and if not what the best recommendations are for finding one. I've been to several large ham swap meets, been keeping an eye out on eBay, and inquired with some old-school Motorola techs in the local ham club, but thus far have had no luck.

As a reminder, the console does not have to be functional, but it needs to be externally complete and match the configuration of the example on the desk in the picture at the top of this thread.

As always, thanks in advance for any help, information, or advice. Best wishes.

Give Bob a call...
http://www.barnettelec.com/
mod

Here's a posting from yahoo if anyone is interested..

Message 4886/4942 Mik... <[email protected]> Sep 17, 2007 06:39:36 pm -0700
X-Sender: [email protected]
To: [email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected], [email protected]
Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2007 18:39:36 -0700
Subject: [Motorola-Metrum-Motrac-Motran-Mocom] Any micor fans in the Los Angeles
area?

I have a dozen mobile Micors, Mitreks and Motracs, plus
three tabletop base stations available for haul away.
The stack includes a 12f 75w wide-spaced UHF with
12 PL tone encode, a 6m 71LHT 4f PL with Extender,
and a lot more jewels.

My house is in escrow, and I have to be out of it in 6 days.
An e-waste hauler is arriving at 1pm Wednesday.

Location is Arcadia, just east of Pasadena.

Email me and we can coordinate a time for you to pick up.

There is an older Consolette station in that batch of radios but it is in sad looking condition. Most of the other radios are g0ne..

Give Mike a call and see if you want the Cons station. : [email protected]
(posted with Mike's permission)

Hello folks,

I wanted to let everyone know that I have been following up on the leads posted here. In both cases, I'd been in contact with them only a few days beforehand.

I wrote Bob Barnett, and he did get back to me, but has no consolettes.

And ironically, I'd already spoken to the fellow in Pasadena on a completely unrelated topic, and mentioned looking for a consolette in passing. He mentioned the one he has, but also stipulated that with his other headaches at the moment, he would not likely have time to mess with getting it ready to ship. It wasn't an exact match for what we needed, and as such I wasn't willing to pay as much as it would cost to ship the thing from California intact.

Will, I got your email this morning and have responded.

Thanks to all who have helped keep an eye out for me. At this point, the search is still on.

The consoletes in So. Cal. are the same exterier as in your photo.

Most all of the other "stuff" is G0ne....

I just want to point out that you could get a WORKING Mocom 70 consolette set up to receive up to 4 frequencies of your choice,
without channel elements in the transmitter so it can't transmit, for very little money...maybe even none. IF you can find someone with
the right frequency receiver channel elements and the radio is tuned for them. This would lend a lot of authenticity to your display
while still having no transmit capability.

I say, go as authentic as is practical on a museum type display. That's how I'd do it.


Elroy

Elroy Jetson wrote:I just want to point out that you could get a WORKING Mocom 70 consolette set up to receive up to 4 frequencies of your choice,
without channel elements in the transmitter so it can't transmit, for very little money...maybe even none. IF you can find someone with the right frequency receiver channel elements and the radio is tuned for them. This would lend a lot of authenticity to your display
while still having no transmit capability.

I say, go as authentic as is practical on a museum type display. That's how I'd do it.


Elroy

I am involved in a similar museum project and I think his idea for a Consolette cabinet, minus the radio and power supply is the best solution for available resources. While full authenticity is nice, museums generally have very limited funds usually meaning the volunteers buy stuff out of their own pocket.

The bottom line is that he has been unable to find a suitable Consolette for any band and the cost of shipping a full working unit is prohibitive.

The other issue is that channel elements are $50 each from ICM. I recently posted on here and several other boards looking for some RR radio shop that had kept their old elements when the Micors were retired and I got no viable responses. I used to be able to get elements for $25 from CEH but they are out of business. Finding elements for a RR frequency for a Mocom 70 would be even more difficult since most RR radios were Motrans and Micors.

Then, there is the cost of having a VHF Mocom retuned for 161 Mhz.

In my case, I want to set up a locomotive Micor as an active display so I need to get the RX elements. I also need elements for an existing exhibit where I have Wester Electric speakers for the block line circuits on the operators desk connected to receivers in the back room on local dispatcher channels to simulate block line chatter. CSX changed dispatcher frequencies and I am upgrading my old Motrac base receivers to SpectraTacs. My museum is licensed for 2 RR channels for operations so a scanner gets overloaded and I need good base receivers for the monitors.

If sataraid1 could get someone to donate a working VHF consolette delivered, it would be great but I think his present plan is more realistic.

k2hz wrote:If sataraid1 could get someone to donate a working VHF consolette delivered, it would be great but I think his present plan is more realistic.

Make no mistake, I would certainly take great steps to obtain a working unit that could actually be used to receive on the railroad bands. If I could pick it up in person, or afford to get it shipped here, I know some old-school Motorola techs who might be able to help with tuning.

But in the meantime, getting a dead unit or a UHF unit stripped and shipped remains the most likely answer. If I'm on the same page, I believe Will has nabbed the consolette from Mike in Pasadena, and is going to do the surgery before shipping. (That was a UHF unit as well.)

Even though I may end up with a suitable replica on the desk, I will always keep an eye out for a working unit. You never know what's going to turn up at a swap meet or a ham radio tailgate party.

As always, thanks to everyone for the help and feedback.

Why buy the whole channel element when you can just buy the crystal and put it in? Yes, I know you aren't getting all the temperature compensation you might by buying a pre-compensated element, but at least for the receiver it doesn't matter, would save money, and I have never had any problem doing so.

WB6NVH wrote:Why buy the whole channel element when you can just buy the crystal and put it in?

I have done that with GEs and some of the older Motorola elements and it works as you say.

When I could get a channel element from CEH for $25 vs $20 for a good crystal from ICM it made sense to get the element and be sure it was right.

While a receiver is not as critical as as transmitter, is is a trade-off between "plug and play" and the hassle of getting the element apart and back together without wrecking it and getting a crystal that is properly made for the element. A proper crystal is not an issue with ICM but I have had bad luck with the cheaper vendors. Sometimes, I had to send crystals back twice before they got it right and other times it was ok when installed but I had a service call several months later when the radio had drifted way off frequency and you could not bring it back with the trimmer.

It is a case of you get what you pay for and I lean toward pay to get it done right.

Hello
I have read all the posts regarding your museum base station requirement. I noted your description of a beige front base station. It is possible that the unit is an older Motrac. I have some Motorola consolettes in the 162-174 mHz range. Both Mocom 70 and Motrac. I will check some of our old stock for a 150.8-162 mHz., front end. The Motrac front end can be replaced very easy. Chances are the 162-174 F/E would tune down to the 161 range with little effort. The Mocom 70 stations are also in the 162-174 range. I also have a quantity of OEM Motorola railroad channel elements. We have alot of the older stuff in the warehouse, probably a candidate for its own museum! Regards