Batboard

mastr

From the serial number, I am sure it was purchased new by KYEM for the old system, before they got Quantars. Those were used with 100w Mastr 2 stations, I know the guy that designed the GE system. They might be "rated" for more, but 100w is about all you want to put into a set unless the d...

mastr

The "nose" of a BF10A is virtually the same cut as a Delta key. If you insert the BF10A in part-way, it will work 99 percent of the time...

mastr

I have seen Motorola's instructors recommend the same method for reducing radiated power, except the radio in question was the (then brand new) XTS3000.

mastr

I have a VHF Mocom 35 (a 70's vintage front mount for the younger guys) that was keyed for about 6 hours when the mic was stuck in between the seat and truck door. The entire radio case was unbearable to touch, but it was (and is) still working.

mastr

I know this horse has been beaten several times...why is it that the experts advise against P25 for fireground communications?... Basically, because P25 offers no clear benefits over "plain vanilla" FM simplex in a fireground scenario, while exhibiting several odd (dangerous) failure mode...

mastr

If you are using an RF link for tone control(I have Micor RF Tone control..?), and have noise only on the "base" remote, look at the RF link first. A bad antenna/line/fitting on one end or the other of the link would be my first guess.

mastr

Is that 2000 to 0500 schedule correct? How long would it be before one could expect to see daylight?

mastr

We had the duplexer issue pretty well covered anyway.

mastr

Sounds like you have a good case for high gain antennas. What kind of shape are those antennas in after 3 years? I took down a DB420 last year that was easily 20 years old, it looked as if it was put up last year except for sun fading on the label- we are 400 miles from the nearest salt water.

mastr

Bruce1807 wrote ..."I must of wasted my money buying 6dB antennas, Thanks for the advice next time I'll buy 3dB as coverage will be just the same. I can save our Public Safety System a fortune every three years when I replace 30 odd antennas." Depending on the terrain, your coverage may improve with...

mastr

I've a few clients like that. Most have only portable radios now. The line down center roof layout is hard to beat.

mastr

You want 5 radios, but "Going down the center in a straight line is not an option here", and you won't use a triplexer. And "I dont want to look like a porcipine". You have imposed too many limitations for a practical install, unless you buy some high dollar covert antennas. Hitch your pants up, act...

mastr

Saying, "I am looking to get as much out of my antenna system as possible" and at the same time "a very large antenna is out of the question", is like saying "I want to have my cake and eat it too." It is going to be difficult to find a high performance antenna that isn't of substantial size. such a...

mastr

LOL, all the way to the bank.......

mastr

escomm wrote:...And it looks like the radio tech starts at a higher wage than the police officer?...

As it should be.

mastr

It sounds as if you are describing a DB420 to me.

mastr

WTF is a DB412? I have used 404, 408, 411, 413 and 420 models, but never a 412.

mastr

2 strings of 6 cells each would be 5AH if 2500mah cells were used. 2500mah AA cells are available at nearly any Wal-mart. Ok I'm missing soemthing here but why a different one for the HT1000 vs the MT2000 (A7)? How does the front display matter? And I like how he says 5Ah for the AA pack. Never saw ...

mastr

Will the last one out please shut off the lights...

mastr

Enable mixed mode RX on the subscriber units and dispatch in analog. When all of your old analog only stuff is gone, then go to Astro for console TX. I cannot think of any reason I would want to do Astro & analog TX from dispatch on a single frequency, it just creates a potential for confusion.

mastr

Some people just aren't good losers. Grow up already.

mastr

I believe that Motorola is determined to push all radio users in to a subscription-based system. They are already doing this with RSS/CPS, in that you must "subscribe" to the software package or lose the ability to program your radio once it goes to the depot and gets hit with the latest RSS/CPS rev...

mastr

Placing a 1004hz tone at about +3 db on the suspect pair will usually result in a response if the circuit is in use. This too is considered "bad form" in some circles....

mastr

Follow the path of least resistance, just leave it alone for now. Mark them on your inventory as "unknown" and fill in the particulars when some failure or change requires work on the circuit.

mastr

I still have one of three that I bought new in the early 80's. They were produced by the consumer electronics side of Motorola, not the land mobile people. I used a desk mic from a Mostar on mine (with appropriate connector change) it worked really well. Mine came with a detailed sheet of what "not"...

mastr

Can anyone recommend a good leather holder/holster for the XTX3000/xts5000?

mastr

I have only used a few old models ht200, ht220, mx340, all were better than the GE PE which is of comparable vintage.

The XTS3000, XTS5000 are the only new ones I have used very much, RX (or TX) audio is no where near as good as that of a GE MPA unit.

mastr

All i can say is they better make them sirens damn loud to get peoples attention.....The newer vehicles have such effective soundproofing, especially the luxury class vehicles, that you hardly hear another driver blasting his horn. A FMVSS standard to limit "soundproofing" to a reasonable degree wo...

mastr

That is Kentucky state law: you must be OFF the roadway. Wrong, but it would be nice.... (1) Upon the approach of an emergency vehicle equipped with, and operating, one (1) or more flashing, rotating, or oscillating red or blue lights, visible under normal conditions from a distance of five hundred...

mastr

The best advice I can give is get used to it. A minor squelch "crash" in CSQ is one of the drawbacks of CSQ operation.

mastr

What if the s/n on the MTX9000 was listed as stolen - does this now give them grounds to take the radio, even though it's legit?

Probably-any stolen component would subject the whole device to retention for further inspection in most jurisdictions. "Legit" radios don't contain stolen parts.

mastr

An important part of the "IS" rating is Factory Mutual approval/certification/tracking. If the radio is opened by a person/company that is not FM approved (i.e. you), the "IS" rating technically goes away, even if the "correct" parts are installed.

mastr

Implemented for Stste of Kentucky back in 1999..... It's the same concept as your design, but covering the entire state, not just a linear service area. It works as designed. The KSP system is for all practical purposes 16 discrete systems. Each offers regional coverage to mobiles within a given ar...

mastr

Ditto on the concerns with CML. They aren't exactly quick to respond to "after the sale" issues, and often don't seem to take ownership of the problem. My experience has been that they just do the bare minimum required to get you "off their back" so to speak. It took us over six months to get a new ...

mastr

Give it to one on my units to use for about a day. He/she will come walking in and say "they just fell off." Beats me how a knob so difficult to remove can "just fall off"....

mastr

IMHO, the "simplex repeater" is at best a novelty that is useful once in a while as a temporary solution. If I interpret your situation correctly, the LB portables can hear the base unit, but the base can't hear the portable TX in response. A remote RX (you can vote the main and remote RX sites if y...

mastr

... but it would look stupid on the side of my car. I'm mainly on 17 and 20 meters.... A "rule of thumb" for frequencies lower than about 50 mhz-- antennas that look good are usually only good for looks, even if great pains are taken with their installation. You are going to need an "ugly" antenna ...

mastr

kc7gr wrote; I beg to differ on the last statement. WSP has been using Kenwood TK290's and 790's for years with excellent results I see your point, and am quite sure that the Kenwood's are doing a good job for WSP. Unfortunately, they are not suited to my own agency's application. Kenwood has a good...

mastr

Not much you can do except what you already mentioned--quit buying radios from makers who fail to offer software on reasonable terms. If Motorola made cars, you would need a "subscription" to make the steering wheel useable. Too bad there isn't a viable competitor to "M" any longer. RIP, General Ele...

mastr

MASTR: Glad we're not alone. Did your transfer switch get repaired or replaced so that wouldn't happen again, or is there very little you can do about it short of redesigning it to monitor all possible voltages and phases? The switch in our case was an Onan branded unit, I don't know who the OEM re...

mastr

Many if not most of the 120 / 208 systems that people lable 3 phase have a high voltage on one leg to neutral. A 120/208 WYE service is 120 v to ground from all three phases. There is no "wild leg" like that seen in a typical 120/240 delta service where there is 208v from one phase to ground and 12...

mastr

All of our installations have independent level controls on the headset jack box for radio and phone headset audio. We have never had to adjust the CIE levels.

mastr

Is the cable plant capable of doing a "return" to the headend?

mastr

there needs to be legislation preventing any public funds being spent on non-interoperable communications systems.

Analog FM is already interoperable. P25 and "interoperability" are not related in any way except Motorola's use of the two terms in a sales pitch.....

mastr

It is my understanding that vote scan stops on the first channel that has acceptable RSSI, and remains there until the signal ends or degrades below the set level. Since all freqs in a given vote scan list should carry the same traffic, there is no provision for a priority channel.

mastr

kmoose wrote---"....Exactly...........they have not been through Motorola's Quality Control processes." That line nearly killed me. The QC department at Motorola has been asleep at the switch for years now. When we installed new equipment several years ago, there were several "DOA" pieces (including...

mastr

I can not post any more info or links as they are still "under investigation" We adopted a no tolerance policy to the dammed FRSers on GMRS freqs, and hi power operation on MURS freqs. One of the biggest violators? .... BearComm, that figures. "We adopted a no tolerance policy".....am I correctly d...

mastr

BTW, On the Astro system, we hide the individual channel names on RX from our end users, and the mobiles are set to automatically scan. From the user standpoint, it appears as a single channel. You can do the same. On 440, we have 3 satellite repeaters linked to a hub. The hub has multiple voted RX ...

mastr

Multicast is easy enough, I do it at work on a regional basis with Astro, and am part of a system on the 440 ham band with conventional FM and 12 TX freqs across 2 states. As long as you have the output of your voter routed to all transmitters, it will work fine. If you have good TX coverage, you ca...

mastr

Scott- I have been dealing with Telco people for the past 30 years. The first thing you have to realize is that even when the Telco is wrong, they are right. In other words, most of them have no mechanism in place to say, "we were wrong, that caused you to waste lots of time, so here is a sack full ...

Batboard

Search found 174 matches

Re: Duplexer Question

Re: OT: GE Delta Key? Which number, got one, etc?

Re: Reducing Transmitting Power

Re: How hot have you had a radio?

XTS3000 duty belt leather-who makes a good one?

Re: ASTRO Spectra Vote Scan

Re: What antenna is more efficient for hi bands HF.