Batboard

Bill_G

It's just crappy metal causing poor contact. When any significant current is pulled, it heats up. And the more it cooks, the worse it gets.

Bill_G

Though the 7500 supports SIP, the consoles may need to be upgraded with those entitlements, and possibly firmware to support it. Your MSS should contact MOT tech support.

Bill_G

Thanks. We're going with an Icom IC7100 using Icom's remote PC application.

Bill_G

A Portland health care provider is rebuilding a hospital with plans to outfit it with new everything including an amateur base station for the EOC group. The requirement is for the base station itself to be in an IDF on the top floor mechanical level for the shortest possible antenna line run, and t...

Bill_G

I was going to say a Maratrac is a gussied up Maxtrac. The SQ pot is on the RF board. I never knew there was a place on the head for adding a pot, but I didn't have that many customers with them, and they never sparked an interest in me to poke around in the manual. Bet you do have to do something a...

Bill_G

In general, the emergency is an input, not an output. ie: a normally closed switch is applied from the pin to ground. Pressing the switch, or breaking the wire causes the input to go high, and forces the radio to transmit an emergency. But, I could be wrong. I haven't played with the APX series emer...

Bill_G

First off I rarely use Maxrad mounts. Always NMOKxxx variations for a number of very specific reasons. That being said I cannot remember having greased the oring at any time. It seems that if I pull up on the ring/nut while screwing down, it centers the toggle in the 3/4" bore and then the ori...

Bill_G

jhooten wrote:Throw the o-ring away and fill the grove with RTV.

I keep the O-ring, but a dab of RTV helps lube the rubber as I'm tightening down so it doesn't fold, and it helps seal microgaps in the surface.

Bill_G

30 installs a day? Yeah. We can knock them out as a crew. Five guys. Everyone gets a task and they do that on every vehicle. The simple tasks like take out the old bracket and put in the new one takes one guy. Power cables takes two guys because it goes slower. I usually do the antennas. And one gu...

Bill_G

Well, it has been years. As these things fall into the legacy support category, it would probably be wise to get a manual. Thanks for the part numbers. They don't show up on MOL. The manuals and part numbers have always existed, but not available to dealers or the general public. Limited to interna...

Bill_G

Is the +16 stiff enough to drive a small relay? If not, make yourself a simple open collector circuit, or use an optoisolator.

Bill_G

We've been using those lately too because the bottom is sealed - perfect for TMB mounts to prevent water damage to the exposed underside of the mount. On a school bus Trbo upgrade campaign, where we press almost everyone into installs to knock out +30 in a day, I don't recall having a problem giving...

Bill_G

Yeah, so I've read. 1750 on the first attempt to bring up a repeater along with PL to keep it open. Interesting control hierarchy. I have not read whether 1750 is used to knock it down afterwards, or if it times out.

Bill_G

The cable bundle never caused me any problems either. I hold on to the NMO end, and toss the bundle - it uncoils almost perfectly almost every time. Sometimes I make a mess, but, you know. I drape it over a mirror or something, and let it relax.

Bill_G

Never had a problem except when I *don't* grease the o-ring. It just takes a tiny bead. Seat it by hand first, and then tighten it up. The thinner sheet metal in new vehicles is making it difficult to get a good tight fit without deforming the roof.

Bill_G

That would be DTMF, and depends.

Bill_G

In my country, real men can whistle 1750, and bring up repeater every time.

Bill_G

I'm not familiar with the 8920, but you are correct. In general, the receive audio from the radio connects to the audio in / sinad in port of the service monitor generating the test signal. The sinad section is comparing the recovered 1000hz tone from the radio under test to the tone it sent through...

Bill_G

RF does squirrelly stuff in a lot of vehicles. Some are seemingly immune, and some aren't. It's been a problem for a long time, and it takes patience and money to fix it. This is why we do our best to put the antenna top center of the (metal) roof whenever possible. These days the most common proble...

Bill_G

Well, there is that.

Bill_G

We didn't get any such notice.

Bill_G

And now I can get in.

https://businessonline.motorolasolutions.com/Login.aspx

Bill_G

Rob - I get the same Oracle error after attempting to login. I'm assuming it's MOL going down for the transition to the new parts distribution system.

Bill_G

Radio Crazy wrote:Dear Motorola Accessories and Aftermarket Division Reseller:

Where did you get this notification from? I tried to tell my supv about this last week, but we couldn't Google anything to support it. Tuesday is going to be rough having to shift gears, and figure out a new plan.

Bill_G

Im sorry when i look at the radio it isnt -108 dbm it is -124 dbm. Would i still try the value of -95 dbms in the radio? Please advise John Are you looking at the roaming RSSI, or do you have the individual channels set for 'channel free', at -124? If so, you should change that to 'color code free'...

Bill_G

Well, so far our experience is that specific noise you are hearing is generated by the Quantar xmitter interacting with a failure in the transmission system, and not by an external co-channel offender. It's a well known, but not well understood problem with VHF Quantars. If the noise is only occurri...

Bill_G

Yep. Check your cables, duplexer, and antenna. Use superflex and hardline, not LMR or RG8. Use a good quality antenna, and have it feet, not inches away from the tower. Sweep the duplexer. If this is an existing repeater that was working well for a long time, and then suddenly developed this problem...

Bill_G

Bill_G

Definitely awesome help. Fits the situation perfectly. You say both of these systems worked fine as independent systems but now there are coverage issues? You have roaming/RSSI issues. My experience would lead me to look at the RSSI baselines of the repeaters and the RSSI settings in the subscriber ...

Bill_G

Coverage is always about two things reality and perception. Unless you have a baseline study proving there was actual great coverage in these areas of interest prior to the upgrade to LCP, it's entirely possible the customer feedback is inaccurate - that coverage there was always marginal. It's also...

Bill_G

How did you link them? Through the customer enterprise network, or did you put in a short point to point microwave between the buildings?

Bill_G

Two hospitals, two repeaters, two different freq pairs, single site LCP, had acceptable coverage, now has several poor coverage areas after linking sites with LCP.

So, what else changed? What stuff got replaced, and what stuff got reused?

Bill_G

I am not directly familiar with CM200, but if it's like many other MOT products, the hi/lo power values are set during alignment using the tuner application.

OTOH, if your cable run is +150ft, depending on the type used, 20W at the bottom is what you want for 5-10 at the top.

Bill_G

I think the value depends on the band. VHF and UHF more valuable because they can be pressed into amateur service. But, even amoung Hams, Spectras are becoming more like chicken teeth.

Bill_G

Okay. Unfortunately, they are gone.

Bill_G

Never had one break. Dozens put into service in the 80's-90's. All taken out and sent to auction in the last decade. No service activity in between. I may even have one laying around the shop. Let me check. Don't hold your breath. The company has been trying to sell this building, and lots of kewl s...

Bill_G

When diagnosing a Centracom problem, the first thing I *don't do* is swap BIM cards. I check the levels coming in. As already mentioned, there is a line squelch setting on the BIM that could be clamping on low audio because the telco circuit has an issue. Anywhere from the BIM block on the wall, thr...

Bill_G

... which is the way it's supposed to work. You are supposed to monitor the channel before using it. Hence the PL off hook monitor function.

Bill_G

Noise floor measurements have been a routine record for me for at least the last twenty years. I write fwd/rev & sense/desense on blank Avery return address labels, and stick them on the station. Especially important during the initial turn up to establish the baseline. It gives a rough idea of ...

Bill_G

Agreed - vswr of 1.4 is a return loss of 15db which is just barely acceptable in a working system, and could be an indicator of an antenna problem. However, in his first post he said he's tried a separate antenna on a length of LMR with no change in the noise figure. So, he may have two problems - e...

Bill_G

There are more/better reviews on the 712EFC than the 72GF.

Bill_G

Kill it.

Bill_G

A quick Google search for flip viewer 3.7.3 came up with a ton of hits. What did you get?

Bill_G

We have the battery powered compression crimpers required for clamping to the grounding halo, but it's heavy and bulky. Not a super friendly tool. I prefer the ratcheting ones for individual lugs.

Bill_G

Just leave it plain old FM with pre-de emphasis enabled. That's as good as it gets. Turn all the companding off in everything. Then any model radio will sound about the same.

Bill_G

Those tones are real ear burners. No fix. Lay them face down in a towel. Takes the sting out.

Bill_G

I am not a fan of the insulated crimps for anything larger than #12. I only use high quality tools and I have still seen them heat up or start to heat up too much for my taste when loaded near capacity. The longer barrel uninsulated is all I use. Cheap Chinese hex crimpers will crimp the dickens ou...

Bill_G

I have a Greenlee K111 ratcheting crimper that works great for #4 and #6 up in the rack in tight spaces. $200 depending on the store. Looks like it might do insulated crimps without mangling them too badly.

Bill_G

I haven't been in a CM200, but generally Motorola used axial lead diodes across the power mains. So, if you don't think you can unsolder it from the board, you might be able to cut its leads.

Bill_G

Well, if you ever need anything for shipping and warehousing, you know where to go now.

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