Batboard

Hi All,

For whatever reason I collect the old MX series radios, used to work on them at a Motorola MSS and I've always liked them. Over the years I've picked up a few that had the front and back covers factory painted black with the MX360/350 lettering highlighted in white.

Just curious if anyone knew the history or background of these type of MX radios or was it just a blacked out style you could order from M?

Thanks,

-Steve WA6OXN

I used to own one of those in the late '80's. 2 stories on them. They were for narc detectives to carry, & the dark fronts didn't reflect light like the normal shiny fronts. They were used for marine use, & the dark cover was less prone to rust. No actual facts proving this, just stories I heard over the years. Those were great radios, built like tanks. I still have a MX 360 prom radio that looks new. GARY N4KVE

Steve,

I think there were two series of MX300s that had a very dark front and back. One was more of a bronze and the other was really black which was the government model. I used to see tons of the latter units at hamfests, sometimes sold by the box, but I haven't seen any in the past several years. I have several sets of catalog and spec sheets for the MXs that prove only that the radio was made in a huge variety of sizes and capabilities and maybe had more factory SP variations than anything else Motorola ever made. I have a few parts I'd be glad to send you, including some fronts, if you could use them, as well as some knobs, escutcheons, etc.

Regards,

Are you sure you're not thinking of the MX300R? They are ALL rubberized black with white lettering. We used them on the rescue squad for the boats, and I can't imagine a detective wanting to carry such a beast. You'd be better off spray painting a regular MX300.

Nope, not the MX300R, I have a number of those also.

These were actual MX350/360 series that had a flat black/charcoal color. All of the ones I have usually have multi-PL, multi-toneburst, encryption and so on.

So maybe they were for the more advanced multi-system applications back in the day.

I have a number of catalog sheets around and also Moto catalogs from back in the day and just have never seen them in those publications.

-Steve WA6OXN

I had a MX360 with the black front when I worked for the BATF. It was some sort of plating, not paint.

I would certainly like to see such a "subdued MX360S" in my collection.