Batboard

If someone was looking for a 800 MHZ MTS2000 that was rebanding capable & walking around a hamfest, how could one identify the radio that has the newer controller board that can be reflashed for rebanding?. Now I assume if the firmware in the radio was 8.73 then it's good to go. But how can someone identify a radio that has the newer controller board without opening the radio, & no computer available. I don't know of a seller that will allow someone to rip open their radio, or plug in a computer before shelling out the $. Would the 3 letters in the ser# indicating the build month indicate anything? Was there a specific date when the newer controller board that can be flashed for rebanding went into production? Just wondering. GARY N4KVE

There is a PDF on the Motorola rebanding website that shows how to determine based on the serial number (and thus the date of manufacture) whether a MTS2000 has a 512k (rebandable) controller or not.

Having said that, there's nothing to say that a radio you find at a hamfest will have matching tags, etc. Putting the radio into service mode and seeing what firmware revision is installed would be your starting point. I want to say that the lowest firmware revision I ever saw in a rebandable radio was somewhere around R01.12. I think it's safe to say if you see one in the R05.xx range that it is definitely able to be flashed with rebanding firmware.

OK so I guess I should have searched a little more. It appears that MTS 2000's built starting somewhere in June '93 should be good to go, of course as long as the guts haven't been swapped out. So figure July, '93 to be safe. That would make the 3 letters in the ser# ATM or above. I didn't realize the improved controller board was introduced so early into the run. Thanks for all the help. GARY N4KVE