Batboard

Hi Guys
Just picked up a mcx1000 128 mode vhf and was told it was working, i want to use it in the ham band.
The radio on power up gives error FL 09/90 and now for the tech stuff, the radio is about 2 inches longer then a standard mcx and looks to have a extension added between main board and font head with two sets of pin marked P6002 and P6003 and a 5 pin side conn through the case but not conn to anything inside. The new board has # VLN4755A on it and is not in any other radio that i've seen.
What do i have to do to get this radio to work for normal voice, prg. is not a problem the local dealer is a ham as well but has no one that knows anything about mod. radio of this age.

Thanks Derek VE3DXT

email @ [email protected]

sounds like the secure version of the mcx . and my be missing the secure module/board .

It shouldn't be a problem to reprogram the radio for normal operation, just disable encryption in the RSS and program as a normal radio.
If you need further help just drop me a line at chris(at)ke7dzz.us . I am rather familiar with the MCX1000 line.

You can also just remove the extension frame, and shorten the radio back to the normal length.
Its pretty likely the error is from something wrong in the DES or DVP extenstion stuff.
You would need to either get new "covers" or cut and tweak the old ones.
If memory serves me, the MCX90 and MCX100 covers are the same.
So, since those radios are real cheap, you can often get a set of covers off one of them cheap.

Once you do get the FL error dealt with, keep in mind that putting those radios on the 2m band is seldom a case of simply programming for it. There's a good chance that you will need to do some retuning of the receiver's preselector, especially if it has a dual front end.

Doing so requires a service monitor, or similar FM signal generator, programming of two test frequencies into the radio's channel spread (the RSS will tell you what they need to be), and some delicate tweaking. Failure to do this will likely result in rotten sensitivity, receive-wise (2uV or worse?)

If you run out of patience with the unit, I can do the conversion and tuning for you at my normal rates. Drop me a PM if you feel the need.

Happy tweaking.