Desktrac or Maxtrac??? HELP!!

[WB5ITT]

Ok, I hate Mother M's RSS more and more

I picked up a couple of Desktracs......Some V and some U....trying to put them on ham band....RSS version I have for Desktrac is R3......I DONT have Maxtrac RSS so am I screwed??? I tried hacking the HEX code of the RSS I have and manually entered a 444 freq on xmit....it took it in the file...but then running the program causes it to lock up and freqs show 0.000 on both RCV and XMIT!!! SOOOO back to the original files....and everything is back to ......normal....which doesnt help me a bit! I have the GM300 RSS as well...is that the same as the Maxtrac????? What can I do to put these boxes down into the ham band?? The VHF is not a problem (right now) as they will go into 146......but if I want to program a 145 rptr pair, Im sunk......

HELP!!!!

Thanks in advance...(Damn, this made me think in DOS again!! I had to dig out my old PFM program which I got 20+ years ago....nice hex reader in it! BTW I did notice in one file, and I cant recall which one, there was a listing for LOW 1, 2, 3 VHF 1 2 and UHF 1 2...I assume setting the band limits....however only the last TWO HEX Pairs were different....this doesnt make sense as R1 is 449-470 and R2 is 470-512 right?? OR am I reading that wrong??? IF ANYONE can help it would be greatly appreciated....I knew I should have stuck with the Midland STIIs

Chris

[Will]

DeskTrac stations have Maxtracs in them. The DeskTrac RSS is a kludge, better to use the Maxtrac RSS to program the Maxtracs in the DeskTrac stations.

You CAN use Radius 16 pin radios in the DeskTrac.

The Maxtrac will NOT go below 449 without work. You have to have Maxtrac RSS late version to do the alignment required to have the Maxtrac work properly below 449.000 MHz.

VHF Maxtrac... They do not do well below 146 because the set points are not there in the micro processor. I have successfully changed 146-174 Maxtracs with Monty's 'tricks' to cover 144 thru 162.6 MHZ and they work well in the ham bands.

Of course all of this requires test equipment to be able to align them correctly.

[d119]

And yes you can use regular MaxTrac software to program Desktrac base stations and repeaters, you just have to fiddle with the selector switch under the front hole cover to make sure you're pointed at the right radio.