Batboard

I have come up with a radio made by Motorola and I have no idea what it is. It looks like a dash mount MCS2000 with a large 2 line display. In the top right corner it says "Southern Communications by Motorola" The radio came out of an old bucket truck that my friend purchased and he thinks it was an old Alabama electric company truck. It will power up and say Please wait and gives a software version number, R05.00.01 I think. After a little time it will display no service. I am thinking this was used on some type of state wide network in the 800Mhz band. It has a serial number but no model number. Also, I have not found any software or cables that I can read it with? Does anyone know anything about these units and if there is a use for it. I have a 800Mhz system local to me but it is a type 2 trunk system so I don't know if this could be used on it or not. Any info would be appreciated as I have no use for it but have never seen one either.

sounds like a SouthernLinc mobile. They are simular to Nextel system

it does sound like a southern link mobile. the southern company, which includes duke power, georgia power, alabama power and a few others had their own nextel like system. the utility companies used them and southern link at one time was better than nextel in the southeast. southern company basically set the network up for their own communications and when they realized they didnt need all the bandwidth they had they sold service on it.

OK, thanks for the info. Does anybody want it or can anybody use it? $10 and I will ship it to you.

Southern LINC is alive and well, the are even selling the I1 Android phone. I think they will still add those M370 radios to existing fleets for dispatch only operation. Don't think they support cross fleet operation.

I think they will still add those M370 radios to existing fleets for dispatch only operation. Don't think they support cross fleet operation.

The M370 definitely won't, but that's not what the OP has. The M370 used a telephone handset-style remote control head.

If you have any M370 handset/cradle/cable kits, plug the radio end into the bottom accessory connector of a model 3 MCS2000 with the control head removed and see what happens.

It's likely an LM3000E.
The radio is the same as the M100 or M370, just with an MCS2000 Model 3 style (different buttons) control head.

motorola_otaku wrote:

I think they will still add those M370 radios to existing fleets for dispatch only operation. Don't think they support cross fleet operation.

The M370 definitely won't, but that's not what the OP has. The M370 used a telephone handset-style remote control head.

If you have any M370 handset/cradle/cable kits, plug the radio end into the bottom accessory connector of a model 3 MCS2000 with the control head removed and see what happens.

Please elaborate...

It gives you about the same level of functionality as a W3 Astro head plugged into the mic jack: the display works and shows both lines of text, and PTT and TX audio work but the button assignments are so radically different that it's nigh useless past that. If there were a MCS version of LAB software floating around out there I'm sure the button assignments could be changed to make it usable.

Motorola Japan had a similar setup to this available for their 900MHz JSMR system, but the handsets only had 6 buttons below the display like a model 2 MTS.