Turn Your Radio Into A Brick for only $40
Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2002 4:13 am
Page 1 of 1
Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2002 5:22 am
I bought a GE programmer from Price Industries not too long ago. Essentially, it's a line-level converter. It can be done using a max232 chip, or a few resistors and diodes. It'll work well for the Maxtrac, raduis mobiles, and the like. It won't work for Spectra or most portables. I can't vouch for this one, but the GE programmer works as well as the OEM one.
Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2002 5:52 am
This is a RIB-less programmer that is talked about here.
It essentially only programs Radius radios- I have one of these that I bought off of eBay, but it is a bit different. I've had it for about 2 years now and have never had a problem with it. It works just fine and is based off of some diodes, a couple resistors and an IC.
-Josh
It essentially only programs Radius radios- I have one of these that I bought off of eBay, but it is a bit different. I've had it for about 2 years now and have never had a problem with it. It works just fine and is based off of some diodes, a couple resistors and an IC.
-Josh
Programmer
Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2002 6:15 am
I recently bought one of these from this very seller. I also have a new Motorola RIB and all the official things in my shop too.
This programmer is a very well made & packagede item, and I have used it for a couple of months on many radios.
It works great and does exactly what it should do and is very handy.
It is not for all radios but for the ones he designed it for, this littly baby functions as well as anyone would wish.
In addition it is great for setting up new computer hardware as it can eliminate baatteries, boxes & cables when testing comm ports etc.
Do not knock this many work unless you have tried it - I have. It is best of show.
Best Regards,
Ra
This programmer is a very well made & packagede item, and I have used it for a couple of months on many radios.
It works great and does exactly what it should do and is very handy.
It is not for all radios but for the ones he designed it for, this littly baby functions as well as anyone would wish.
In addition it is great for setting up new computer hardware as it can eliminate baatteries, boxes & cables when testing comm ports etc.
Do not knock this many work unless you have tried it - I have. It is best of show.
Best Regards,
Ra
Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2002 6:22 am
HI:
Some have Great Sucess, Some don't !
Just a alternative point of view.
The ones that have problems ( especially with M1225's , GM300's
are out 125.00 if they corrupt the Code Plug or they can pay Motorola 240.00
So, its all up to the buyer !
Most professionals know what to look out for, and have been
sucessfull, however, there are some perosns that are new to
programmimg, run out get a Ribless Cable, plug it into thier
Pentium computer, and boom, no more radio. So one should
use care when using a Rib-Less cable of any type.
If you can [ Read ] the Radio 3 or 4 times, chances are pretty
good you can write to it.....However, GM300's M120's M1225's
have a Check Sum Address...All it takes is ( 1 bite ) out of place
and it will corrupt the code plug....
No problems with Maxtracs or Older Radius Mobiles....Those
are almost impossible to corrupt.
Personally, when one has ( 4 ) individule mating connections,
each one can be a source of problems ( When just 2 can
can be used )
I have about a dozen cases where the above radios
were corrupted using the Rib-less style Cables, and that is
out of 100 radios, so in my recorded cases, about 12%
failure rate. So 88 % to the good may be acceptable to most.
But I can always restore them if you have a problem.
Here is a photo of one of the cables I make ( but requires a Rib )
Notice the Heavy Duty Cable Supports at both ends, and the
Flat Ribbon cable is the same as Motorola's Factory One.
MS
Some have Great Sucess, Some don't !
Just a alternative point of view.
The ones that have problems ( especially with M1225's , GM300's
are out 125.00 if they corrupt the Code Plug or they can pay Motorola 240.00
So, its all up to the buyer !
Most professionals know what to look out for, and have been
sucessfull, however, there are some perosns that are new to
programmimg, run out get a Ribless Cable, plug it into thier
Pentium computer, and boom, no more radio. So one should
use care when using a Rib-Less cable of any type.
If you can [ Read ] the Radio 3 or 4 times, chances are pretty
good you can write to it.....However, GM300's M120's M1225's
have a Check Sum Address...All it takes is ( 1 bite ) out of place
and it will corrupt the code plug....
No problems with Maxtracs or Older Radius Mobiles....Those
are almost impossible to corrupt.
Personally, when one has ( 4 ) individule mating connections,
each one can be a source of problems ( When just 2 can
can be used )
I have about a dozen cases where the above radios
were corrupted using the Rib-less style Cables, and that is
out of 100 radios, so in my recorded cases, about 12%
failure rate. So 88 % to the good may be acceptable to most.
But I can always restore them if you have a problem.
Here is a photo of one of the cables I make ( but requires a Rib )
Notice the Heavy Duty Cable Supports at both ends, and the
Flat Ribbon cable is the same as Motorola's Factory One.
MS
Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2002 8:30 pm
I have a small RIB kinda like Monty's pic above, except it has (2) 25-pin serial connectors. Its only 2.2" sq. This is the same thing as the newer "RIB-LESS" cables, except that you can connect any programming cable to it like a regular RIB. It uses a MAX232 (Maxim) and a 74LS04. When the original RIB was designed, there was no Maxim around with a simple one-chip solution for a bi-directions RS-232 to TTL level converter. So /\/\otorola had to design the circuit from scratch using off-the-shelf parts.
I've used and tested three types of RIBS in the past years.
1 Original /\/\otorola RIB
2 Sandy Gantz "RIB card" from the link on batlabs.com
3 MAX232 "RIB-LESS" type (with 9V battery)
All three were right on with the TTL logic levels and had clean outputs/inputs on the RS232 line. No problems there
I've never experience any problems with the MX232 type programmer, other than it doesn't have the BUS- needed for ASTRO's and MTX's and a few others.
The "RIB-LESS" programmers, just have internal MX233 level converters - most SMT type to fit inside the DB-9 or DB-25 RS-232 connector. The one problem I can see with the "RIB-LESS" cable that Monty has shown us above is that the circuitry inside gets its power (to power the MX233 etc) from the RTS-CTS-DTR-DSR (or any combination) lines on the serial port.
If there is not enough activity on the RTS-CTS-DTR-DSR lines, then the MX233 doesn't have enough power to run it correctly, and possably corrupting the code plug. Just being able to read a device doesn't guarentee the ability to program it using a RIB-LESS cable.
This trick of using the RTS-CTS-DTR-DSR lines to get power is used by many radio/software manufactures these days. There should be special code (nothing secret tho..) included in the software to keep the RTS-CTS-DTR-DSR lines active before-during-after the whole programming process.
Please keep in mind that using RTS-CTS-DTR-DSR lines to steal power from the com port will only work on desktop machines and most newer laptops/notebooks. Some older laptops do not have the proper +12V to -12 volt swing to make the power grabbing circuit (a few diodes a zener and cap) work.
If the RIB-LESS cable doesn't have a external power supply, YOU'D BETTER BE REAL CAREFULL(most RSS doesn't "offically" support RIB-LESS cables). On the otherhand, if the RIB-LESS cable has an external voltage supply(9V or wal-wort), then it should work with RSS without code plug corruption.
FYI, the MX232 needs 4 external capacitors for the charge-pump, while the MX233 (used in some RIBLESS cables) is about 4 time the price of a MX232, but has the capacitors included in the chip! Other than the caps, the MX233 and MX232 are identical pinouts and functionality.
MAXIM is the company that makes the MX232&MX233 as well as other companies make a substitute too!
Have fun programming your radios, but be carefull guys....
I've used and tested three types of RIBS in the past years.
1 Original /\/\otorola RIB
2 Sandy Gantz "RIB card" from the link on batlabs.com
3 MAX232 "RIB-LESS" type (with 9V battery)
All three were right on with the TTL logic levels and had clean outputs/inputs on the RS232 line. No problems there
I've never experience any problems with the MX232 type programmer, other than it doesn't have the BUS- needed for ASTRO's and MTX's and a few others.
The "RIB-LESS" programmers, just have internal MX233 level converters - most SMT type to fit inside the DB-9 or DB-25 RS-232 connector. The one problem I can see with the "RIB-LESS" cable that Monty has shown us above is that the circuitry inside gets its power (to power the MX233 etc) from the RTS-CTS-DTR-DSR (or any combination) lines on the serial port.
If there is not enough activity on the RTS-CTS-DTR-DSR lines, then the MX233 doesn't have enough power to run it correctly, and possably corrupting the code plug. Just being able to read a device doesn't guarentee the ability to program it using a RIB-LESS cable.
This trick of using the RTS-CTS-DTR-DSR lines to get power is used by many radio/software manufactures these days. There should be special code (nothing secret tho..) included in the software to keep the RTS-CTS-DTR-DSR lines active before-during-after the whole programming process.
Please keep in mind that using RTS-CTS-DTR-DSR lines to steal power from the com port will only work on desktop machines and most newer laptops/notebooks. Some older laptops do not have the proper +12V to -12 volt swing to make the power grabbing circuit (a few diodes a zener and cap) work.
If the RIB-LESS cable doesn't have a external power supply, YOU'D BETTER BE REAL CAREFULL(most RSS doesn't "offically" support RIB-LESS cables). On the otherhand, if the RIB-LESS cable has an external voltage supply(9V or wal-wort), then it should work with RSS without code plug corruption.
FYI, the MX232 needs 4 external capacitors for the charge-pump, while the MX233 (used in some RIBLESS cables) is about 4 time the price of a MX232, but has the capacitors included in the chip! Other than the caps, the MX233 and MX232 are identical pinouts and functionality.
MAXIM is the company that makes the MX232&MX233 as well as other companies make a substitute too!
Have fun programming your radios, but be carefull guys....
Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2002 8:36 pm
And for those who want to play with the MAX232 or MAX233 chips, Maxim is normally good about distributing 'samples' of the chips. I put in for a sample of two of the 232s and 2 of the 233s, and they somehow doubled my order. They are really neat chips to play with. As hightower said, have fun and be careful.
Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2002 9:53 pm
Kind a cute, and RED too!
As most computers nowadays have 9 pin ports, but I like a flexable cable from the RIB to the computer so the connector wont tend to damage the recptical on the computer, I do not use a full shell on the 9 pin so as to reduce torq on the computer.
I also have added, even on my Moto stock cables, a wire to get A+ from the powersupply and also thru the pin 1 on the mic jack from the radio. Some later radios have 8 volts on pin 1. On the stock cable and RIB pin 12 is for external battery and is diode isolated.
Our radios that we use in the shop and in the vehicles all have 9.6 volts on pin 1 so it is plug and play, er program.
As most computers nowadays have 9 pin ports, but I like a flexable cable from the RIB to the computer so the connector wont tend to damage the recptical on the computer, I do not use a full shell on the 9 pin so as to reduce torq on the computer.
I also have added, even on my Moto stock cables, a wire to get A+ from the powersupply and also thru the pin 1 on the mic jack from the radio. Some later radios have 8 volts on pin 1. On the stock cable and RIB pin 12 is for external battery and is diode isolated.
Our radios that we use in the shop and in the vehicles all have 9.6 volts on pin 1 so it is plug and play, er program.
Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2002 1:44 am
You can go back and fourth about a factory rib and an after market, which one will corrupt a code plug which one wont.
I have had both factory and after market go bad and the bottom line is they can both corrupt a radio.
My experience with Price Industries is that they stand behind thier product unlike a few others I have delt with.
I bought a GE programmer from them about 5 years ago and used it for about 3 years when it failed on me. I emailed them and asked if I could send it back for repairs. They emailed me a reply to send it back for repair.
A weak later , I got a new one " NO CHARGE".
I will continue to do business with them!
I have had both factory and after market go bad and the bottom line is they can both corrupt a radio.
My experience with Price Industries is that they stand behind thier product unlike a few others I have delt with.
I bought a GE programmer from them about 5 years ago and used it for about 3 years when it failed on me. I emailed them and asked if I could send it back for repairs. They emailed me a reply to send it back for repair.
A weak later , I got a new one " NO CHARGE".
I will continue to do business with them!