OT Motorola Centracom II - Home Shack Setup

Wes · Post by **Wes** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 6:31 pm

I aquired a Centracom II, 2 position console complete with the back room CEB and Dictaphone 20 channel reel to reel recorder. It has 2 full positions with paging encoders and is capable of 8 radio channels at each position. The only thing that got discarded was the counter tops.

It was removed in working order from the 911 comm center where I cut my teeth sometime back. I have already sepnt countless hours mashing these buttons......

Anyway, I first thought about selling it, but it hasn't generated that much interest. then I thought about setting up one position at my VFD as a back-up comm center type thingy, but we dont really have the room for it...., but more recently I have been thinking about setting it up in my home/shack as a monitoring/txing post for all of my stuff.

I was wondering if anyone else here has attempted such a project and if so could share their insight, tips, dos and donts, PICS, etc.

Thanks in advance.

Wes

Rayjk110 · Post by **Rayjk110** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 8:54 pm

I've got a CommandPlus setup, but that's as close as I've gotten to an actual "Console"

Post by **harrisjt2000** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 2:16 pm

ill buy i lol im looking for one i have the manuals for all of it and had one setup for the longest time but i put it in our mob command center

kf4sqb · Post by **kf4sqb** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 5:39 pm

Wes, I've emailed you some pics from a Centracom install in a friends' shack. Enjoy!

apco25 · Post by **apco25** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 2:11 pm

Well, if you have the CEB its a matter of wiring to various radios you plan on using, direct, tone etc and programming of the console.

Is its a II, II plus IIe? Command plus is a different animal.

Some of the console gurus will jump in on this for sure.

Rayjk110 · Post by **Rayjk110** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 2:14 pm

kf4sqb wrote:Wes, I've emailed you some pics from a Centracom install in a friends' shack. Enjoy!

You should post 'em here, that'd be interesting to see.

kf4sqb · Post by **kf4sqb** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 7:45 am

I'd be glad to, but I have no way to host them, and it would take a while to upload them all on imageshack or the like. If you can host them, I'll be glad to send them to you, and you can post them. The guy really did an awsome job with it.

Post by **harrisjt2000** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 8:28 am

email them to harrisjt@gmail.com and ill host them and put them up on here

kf4sqb · Post by **kf4sqb** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 9:01 pm

Done!

w4rez · Post by **w4rez** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 10:43 am

I would like to see these as well.

Bruce1807 · Post by **Bruce1807** » Sun Dec 24, 2006 6:27 am

Was it a trunked or conventional system?
If trunked what flavour?
Is it a II or a II+ ? (Big difference in programming)
Do you have the CEB with it ?
Are the Bims DC or Tone or are they TBIM's from a trunked system.

This is just the start of the questions.

Rayjk110 · Post by **Rayjk110** » Sun Dec 24, 2006 1:25 pm

That's the results of me gutting mine out.

Wes · Post by **Wes** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 8:29 am

Bruce1807,

Mine is a plain Centracom II. Buttons and LED's only. It was conventional only. It does have the CEB and was a mixture of tone and DC.

Josh · Post by **Josh** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 9:53 am

Well here we are 11 days later and still nothing posted.

-Josh

kb0nly · Post by **kb0nly** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 10:00 am

kf4sqb wrote:Done!

I still want to see those pictures too!!!!

Send them to me, they will be hosted and posted, hmm that rhymes, in a matter of an hour or so once i get them.

kb0nly@kb0nly.net

Don't worry about file size, there is gigabytes of room here.

Bruce1807 · Post by **Bruce1807** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 6:41 am

Wes wrote:Bruce1807,

Mine is a plain Centracom II. Buttons and LED's only. It was conventional only. It does have the CEB and was a mixture of tone and DC.

Well if you want to change anything its a pain. You need the RSS as well as an eprom burner/eraser.
That being said if it is configured fairly similar to what you want it is easy enough to hook up.

In reality the best option is to upgrade it to a II+ which is changing the eproms on any OMI and LOMI cards, I assume you didnt have CAD and no TOMI's as its not trunked. (The Lomi only if you want to record)
Anyway it is one chip per board and not very expensive. Then when you have the RSS (same for II and II+) you can configure it to suit.

However unless you know centracom II and II+ it can be a real beast.
Although as its only conventional it is much easier than trunked, especially SZ

KE9GK · Post by **KE9GK** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 8:05 pm

I'm Gonna revive this post as well, I want to see those pics......Ideas for me...possibly

kf4sqb · Post by **kf4sqb** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 9:03 pm

The pics were sent to KB0NLY on 12/27/06, and he claimed he would "have them hosted and posted in a matter of an hour or so once I get them". That's a long hour, Scott!

Someone does need to host these pics. The guy who's shack it's in did a superb job with it.

KI4IHC · Post by **KI4IHC** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 2:11 am

If nobody else gets them up - danny at dannyweb dot com - I'll post them

KI4IHC · Post by **KI4IHC** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 10:07 am

Very slick setup . . .

Before
----------------
After

Click for full-res pictures

Post by **Grog** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 11:34 am

I hate to admit this, but I think I got wood looking at those

440roadrunner · Post by **440roadrunner** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 12:39 pm

That all looks nice and neat, but some of it seems to me a little impractical. I'd move the centracom away from front center, and put the HF rig(s) down there at desk level, maybe move the four or so vhf/uhf rigs up one panel.

Boy, must be a :o if you need to move all that!! Can you get behind it?

kf4sqb · Post by **kf4sqb** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 6:10 am

I don't know if you can get behind it or not, I've never seen it in person, on in these same pics. It does kinda look like it's right up against the wall, though. I've got one of these coming myself, buy it'll probably be quite some time before I do anything with it. I haven't even got the building it's going in built yet!

BTW, thanks for hosting the pics, Daniel (it's about time someone finally came through and did

)!