Batboard

O.K. need some help - badly. Radio N00b here.

Maxtrac 300 6ch VHF Low Band.
Model: D51MJA97A3AK
Logic Board: HLN5172A

I have been working on a remote install kit for this radio for a couple of weeks now and suddenly the radio has developed a problem (I swear I didn't lat any of the magic smoke out).

As I have been building my remote kit, I have been testing it and everything was fine yesterday when I mounted the head in the dash. Today when I mounted the body and hooked up the cables, the display now alternates between the selected channel number and 2 horizontal lines (Middle & Bottom if it makes a difference).

I have completely removed my remote wiring and reconnected the body & the head and the problem persist.

If any of you Guru's out there can tell me

1) Did I somehow smoke the unit ?
2) If not - how do I fix it ?

Any & all help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

With scan on and the mic off hook it will do exactly that.

Flashing channel number and two horizontal lines means you're in scan program mode. You get to that by holding down the scan button.

Either you've got a failed button in the control head (unlikely if it was working properly) or you've done something wrong with your remote kit. The fact that you're building a remote kit, not using one of the factory or aftermarket pre-built units, is a bit worrisome. You need to trace out all of your connections before you start applying juice - once the magic smoke has been emitted, reinstalling it is really tricky.

Scan program mode alternates between flashing the current mode number and - if that mode is selected to be in the list - the upper left bar in the left digit of the display[which you turn on or off by pressing the "Select" button].

Duh, yes, you're right. Spent most of the afternoon working on the truck in the wondeful Texas 100-degree red-air-pollution weather.

Thanks for the replies thus far. I was in a pretty foul mood last night when I posted so I wasn't thinking clearly and thus probably didn't post enough info.

The control head only has the monitor button no scan or (select I think is the 3rd) and AFIK it was not programmed to scan.

I have double (and triple and quadruple) checked the remote connection. All 23 wires ohm out correctly with no shorts, crossover, or open leads. I took great great care in making sure my connectors were "polarized" as the factory units so I can't plug them up in reverse.

As a last ditch last night I yanked the head back out of the dash & connected it directly (a-la factory connection) back to the body without any of my remote stuff and it still behaves the same way.

Last night I pulled the fuse from the power lead and I haven't tried it since - wonder if a "simple reboot" could have fixed it ?

Any more ideas are greatly appreciated. The main reason I didn't use a factory remote kit is I'm on a tight budget and didn't have the extra $$ for one. I also really don't have the extra $$ to take this in to a Tech. for something simple either.

I am looking at the troubleshooting chart for the similar Radius M206.

Am I correct that you can change the channel number with the up/down button but it flashes? If the channel number does not change, does the radio "chirp" when the mode button is pushed?

When you ground the mic hang up button, does the monitor button turn the monitor light on and off?

The bad news is that the chart takes you to either replace front panel display board or replace logic board depending on the results of some further tests based on answers to the above questions. At this point, based on what I believe you described so far, it looks like the display board may be bad.

k2hz - chanel will change & radio chirps like "normal" then display continues to flash.

As I am still in the process of mounting - I didn't try grounding the mic. Will try this tonight. May also pull the display board and make sure that I didn't pull a wire loose somewhere when adding my backplate & remote connectors.

Thanks for the help thus far.

The fact that the channel changes and it chirps tends to rule out most logic board problems. The mic does need to be in the hang up (grounded) state for all the panel functions to work. The one remaining logic board issue would be if the board does not sense mic on/off hook state.

See what happens when you power it up with the mic grounded. The display you are getting would be normal for a 16 scan radio in the user scan mode and the mic off hook. It may be a damaged display board or shorted wiring in the front panel makes the radio logic think it is in scan mode. Inspect the front panel and connector for bent pins, shorted wires etc..

1. Remove the plastic blocks that block out the buttons that arent present. If you unscrew the display board off the back of the head, they should fall or pop right out.

2. Use something soft (like a Q-tip) to press the button that you'll find behind that plastic block.

3. Display should stop flashing.

4. Order the two buttons (SCAN/SEL) and there you go, scan! (if your firmware supports it, which apparently it does).

k2hz wrote:It may be a damaged display board or shorted wiring in the front panel makes the radio logic think it is in scan mode. Inspect the front panel and connector for bent pins, shorted wires etc..

We have a winner!

Apparently when I - ahem - crammed all the wiring back into the head, it bent one of the wires soldered to the board over and made contact with another. I carefully *shortened* the protruding ends & reassembled the unit & everything worked great. I even re-installed it in the truck. Now all I have to do is clip the little fuse so it will work from 12v switched power and I'm done.

Thank you all for your help & advise. It is VERY MUCH appreciated !!

MaxTracs are almost bullet-proof. About the only problem they ever have is not powering up, and that's usually due to ignition control and the fuse being blown or cut.

Glad you got it working. Amazing what a careful examination will uncover.

Bob M.

I am sure that the BatBoard members would like to see that remote setup. As many have asked about a project like this, a write up and maybe diagrams would be ++++++++

I would be willing to bet someone would would host the info for all to see.

At first I had thaught the the 100 deg. + red had fried your brain, I know it does fry mine!!!