Batboard

DavidJ

XMO has it right, sorry. There's a manual at http://www.repeater-builder.com/motorola/manuals/h23-p33-bac-bam-handi-talkie-im-6881005a40-e.pdf The HT200 (H23DEN) based ones are PT200 P23DEN and PT300 P33DEN are the ones in the gray plastic cases, manual at http://www.repeater-builder.com/motorola ...

DavidJ

The H23 is a PT200, which is basically an HT200 in a packset case. The P33 is a PT300, which is an HT200 with a power amplifier in the same packset case. They drift a bit too much for modern usage but work well if you're still using 5 kHz deviation. They are crystal controlled and require some ...

DavidJ

Right, but the OP and I were talking about Saber batteries with predate any kind of digital data interchange.

At least one aftermarket charger from the MT/MX era and even before would ramp the charge current and look at the voltage to determine what was up with the battery. I think the same is true ...

DavidJ

Have you gotten any further with this inquiry? I have the same questions. I got some of the Chinese lithium Saber batteries ($48 with charger) and they seem to be okay but have not split one open yet. I think Mot implemented IMPRES to address this issue, putting some smarts in the battery and ...

DavidJ

Thanks tvsjr, that's good advice, and definitely the "professional" way of doing it, unfortunately there's no affording that right now, what I think i'll start out with is building two coax stubs, one for my repeater -> duplexer rx port to notch his frequency, and possibly one on his coax to notch ...

DavidJ

200 watts transmitter power out, about 1 dB of loss in the coax, and a 5/8 wave j-pole antenna that claims 3 dB power gain at the horizon yields about 320 watts ERP. If their license says 50 watts they have a problem. This is in addition to the problem of excessive VSWR that is causing hot and cold ...

DavidJ

70 dB is probably not enough, you are probably just running into front end overload of these receivers, all your symptoms point to that. Modern receivers often have a fairly low third order intercept point and create a lot of hash internally when presented with more than a few milliwatts of energy ...

DavidJ

THanks VERY much for all the comments
to clarify:
the repeater is on a local hilltop. the dispatch radio is in the middle of the small town.
the cab radios are a very disparate mixture of old PMR stuff. there's a few GM300s but there are Tait500s, icom V200s, maxons etc etc. As time goes by I'd ...

DavidJ

I personally didn't like to audio from a compandered analog Spectra. We have programmed all of our radios with all audio processing turned off. We have noticed no difference in range or clarity, just volume, as compared to our old Mitreks. A note on Motorola products is we have seen that in early ...

DavidJ

escomm wrote:Buy the Nextel cable it actually works as intended...

Which Nextel cable? Which of the Nextel chargers and other stuff work with this? Apparently none of the batteries, is that right?

DavidJ

I figured it out, it's a fairly simple fix, which should be on the programming cable pinout section of the site. You only want the data, CTS, RTS, power and ground leads connected (these are shown in the service manual) and not the mic, option or speaker connections. A couple of people told me that ...

DavidJ

Does anyone have info on the XTS4000 programming cable? At least one Motorola dealer is selling the DTR radio programming cable (01-05950U15) as an XTS4K cable (which should be NKN1027) and it isn't the same. Plugging it in, the radio goes into transmit. After the TOT runs out, you can read the ...

DavidJ

I think that our real word experince shows that there is a variation with reveiver design as Bill_G points out but there is some degree of degredation even with the best.

Comments I have hear from users are that absolute range where a signal breaks the squelch have not changed but fringe area ...

DavidJ

Be careful, don't be too quick to answer this question. Many have reported that switching to narrowband results in a degradation of range, for a given set of radios; you can't argue with solid experience. It doesn't have to be that way, if you believe Shannon and Nyquist and information theory. The ...

DavidJ

it's cacheoff.com and should be on your DOS disk. there are several threads here on this topic

DavidJ

If the FCC is so disorganized then maybe I can apply for an OET for a modified to narrow band Spectra. I have 200 of them, it sure would beat the price of having to replace them all.

It has been done before (for a Wulfsberg RT-9600, not a Spectra), see FCC ID N3H-ERS96000NB. Holzberg, Infinity ...

DavidJ

What narrowband has to do with splinter channels is simple, FCC 90.203(j)(1) says
(1) Applications for certification received on or after January 1,
2005, for mobile and portable transmitters designed to transmit voice
on public safety frequencies in the 150-174 MHz band will be granted
only if ...

DavidJ

Okay, the question still stands. Especially for mobiles, there's no way except the label to tell whether an Astro Spectra, for instance, will do 2.5 kHz steps or not. The Motorola http://www.motorola.com/web/Business/_Documents/Specifications/Static%20Flies/ASTRO%2025%20Radio%20and%20Infrastructure ...

DavidJ

Astro Sabers, if they have 1MEG VOCONS they should be able to do splinter channels, provided firmware supports it.
Astro Spectras have to have "12.5KHZ" on the tag IIRC.

Analog Sabers, Systems Sabers, etc are all wideband, no splinter channels- no way to upgrade.

Thanks for the info. I think ...

DavidJ

I am trying to assist some local agencies who would like to use some of the new splinter channels. All VHF conventional analog narrow. Coordination and licensing are well understood, but we don't have a good handle on which of their new/old radios can handle 2.5 kHz channel steps. We are talking ...

DavidJ

I will look. I know I have manuals on one of the SP MX's that has scanning, and also for encrypted ones. You wouldn't want a cubic boatload of these radios, would you?

73 de WA6NMF

DavidJ

Nope, don't live in a cave, but thanks for asking. I greatly appreciate the responses provided, however several have included generalized comments that have led to my lack of clarity regaring conversion to narrow band and digital transmissions, and hence my original question. For instance, one ...

DavidJ

We are looking at a bunch of possibilities for lowband on the west coast. In one of the recent FCC auctions we were awarded 80 frequencies, roughly half in 35 MHz and half in 43 MHz. These are Part 22 licenses (ex-paging, before that they were mobile telephone) that are exclusive in a given economic ...

DavidJ

Looking for ideas on low cost mobiles to cover 35-44 MHz. I understand Radius/Maxtrac 36-42 radios might work, and have read the Batlab pages on how to do this. Looking for actual experiences with pulling at least the tx across 8 MHz (35.xx to 43.xx) rather than the factory 6 that they're spec'd for.

DavidJ

Looking to get the best digital performance (trying to reduce distortion) out of some low band Mitreks. It's pretty good as-is but looking for better. Does anyone have the schematic for the KXN1087A transmit channel element? Thanks!

DavidJ

Solar panels are now getting quite cheap in the 50+ watt range. Most
of the big ones are around $5 a peak watt, try http://www.partsonsale.com

I second the advice about crystal controlled radios. MT500s or MX300s are great for this service.

Be careful in your frequency choices, if you get too ...

DavidJ

The procedure is quite simple *if* you have an ongoing commercial business and are content to be an "itinerant" user. That means you can't have a base station or operate at any fixed location. For mobile-to-mobile it's fine, and if you're outside a major urban area you should be able to find one ...

DavidJ

I guess monitors now are in two categories, the older kind started with the Cushman CE-3 that I started with as a city radio tech years ago, that's basically a calibrated receiver and signal generator. The new kind has a spectrum analyzer, tracking generator and a lot more smarts. I got tired of ...

DavidJ

It wasn't really on the topic of the RSS sales restriction where this topic was brought up last so I thought I would open a new topic. Elroy says that Part 90 certification is denied if a radio is user-programmable without an external attachment, and most people seem to think this too. Now I've been ...

DavidJ

The coordinator most often used for public safety frequencies is APCO, the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officers. See http://www.apco-intl.org. Once they have coordinated a frequency, they can either submit the paperwork to FCC for you, or they will tell you how to fill in the forms ...

DavidJ

Got a VHF Saber that had the wrong PA module installed: an NLE8473A (458-500 MHz) rather than the correct NLE8123A. Just for grins I checked it out and was surprised to see identical performance to my other VHF Sabers with the correct module -- about 5.5 watts out, 3rd harmonic down -58 to -60 dB ...

DavidJ

You're getting a lot of good advice here, your problem will be to sort out which of it to use! I'll add my 2 cents, having built several of these sorts of vehicles (and planning another).

There is also some good information available from the USDOJ http://www.agileprogram.org, both on the site and ...

DavidJ

Great to see the discussion board back up, hope the SINAD stays high.

I'm trying to get up to speed supporting a bunch of MX-S and MCX-100 radios for a local emergency response group. I finally got an R1801 programmer with the firmware and adapter for the C & D rev EEPROMs. But, these are still $52 ...

DavidJ

It will work, but not too well; being 10% off in frequency will reduce efficiency quite a bit. But, given that you are going up in frequency, it is reasonably easy to retune the elements to work at the new frequency using an SWR bridge. If you have no such equipment you'll probably be close enough ...

Search found 34 matches

Re: Lunch Box - Pre-PT300

Re: Lunch Box - Pre-PT300

Re: Battery Id in Saber Packs

Re: Battery Id in Saber Packs

Re: Co-locating with broadcast transmitter

Re: Co-locating with broadcast transmitter

Re: Co-locating with broadcast transmitter

Re: CTCSS tone encoding with repeater

Re: Narrow Band versus Wide Band Tx range diferences ????

Re: XTS4000 programming cable?

Re: XTS4000 programming cable?

XTS4000 programming cable?

Re: Narrow Band versus Wide Band Tx range diferences ????

Re: Narrow Band versus Wide Band Tx range diferences ????

Re: syntor x9000 programing

Re: CP185: how did this slip by the FCC OET?

Re: CP185: how did this slip by the FCC OET?

BUMP Re: VHF 2.5 kHz radio/RSS matrix?

Re: VHF 2.5 kHz radio/RSS matrix?

VHF 2.5 kHz radio/RSS matrix?

Re: MX-300 and MX-300S scan and encryption manuals

Re: OT: Evolution of radio in America

Radius/Maxtrac lowband experiences?

Mitrek channel element schematic wanted

Solar repeaters

Licensing for business

HP monitors

Part 90 restriction on user programmability?

Re: public safety frequency coordination