MTX9000 Project...

Mark · Post by **Mark** » Thu Sep 27, 2001 8:46 am

With the introduction of the first 900 repeater in our state here, I find myself with a new project... Making an MTX9000 B3 happy with it's intended new life as a Ham tranciever.

The split of the repeater is such that the output is on 921.xxx and the VCO will not lock in that range, transmit is fine however.

Another gentleman is using custom modified EDACS MPAs for the task, and while I might look at this option, I'd rather stick with Motorola.

So my question is... has anybody had expirience custom modifying the VCO in these suckers for this range? Was it sucessful?

While I am not extremely expirienced in this area, I have access to people who are, and good test equipment as well. That and I have a lot of time on my hands sometimes

Thanks,
Mark

radiorandy · Post by **radiorandy** » Wed Oct 03, 2001 1:12 pm

Hi....I've managed to get a MTX9000 working on 927.0 to 928.0 mhz.
It receives ok and transmits fine, however the vco won't lock up much below 927.
The rx sensitivity is about 6db higher than the spec and needs about a microvolt of signal to be usable.
There is no way that it's going work very well at 921 even if you can get the vco to lock! Rx is the big problem with conversion of this radio.
Anyway just my 2 cents worth!

Randy

motorolacomm · Post by **motorolacomm** » Thu Oct 18, 2001 6:31 pm

if you can transmit in that range it will receive, what's happening is murata filters are too narrow change them to a wider range filter

jim

walt10 · Post by **walt10** » Fri Oct 26, 2001 10:23 pm

I have a MTX9000 on the way. From what I see it should work fine. The repeater split in AZ is 902-927. How many channels can I expect with a B3?
Walt

Well the radio came in.. I found that the two rss that I have are to old. I need V06.xx to program the radio. Bummer!!
I did find out that the radio is 16 ch.
Walt

After lots of searching I found it. Then after the mods to it I can now program the MTX9000. The rec sens seems a little low. I will check it tomorrow with the cushman.
Walt

[ This Message was edited by: walt10 on 2001-11-03 12:55 ]

[ This Message was edited by: walt10 on 2001-11-04 22:14 ]

n7ryy · Post by **n7ryy** » Sat Nov 10, 2001 8:11 pm

Just getting some interest in 900 MHz ham going on in Oregon and SW Washington. Just wondering where some other activity is happening? I have a Spectra I will try to convert soon and will probably try a MTX9000 or MTX900 and probably a Maxtrac 900 for a base station. Some others in this area have moved some trunked 900 Maxtracs over to conventional 900 MHz ham band. Another has a 900MHz PURC paging station and some Graninger and RCA 900 Mhz equipment. All suggestions are welcome.
Thanks
Jeremy
N7RYY

walt10 · Post by **walt10** » Sat Dec 22, 2001 4:29 pm

I picked up Two more MTX 9000 HTs. The firs another B3 programmed just fine. But the B7 wakes up in SELF TEST and stays there. Not sure what is going on with it?? Has anyone else seen this?
Walt

mike m · Post by **mike m** » Mon Dec 31, 2001 6:27 pm

Mark,

I know this reply is a bit later than the original post but if you really need to tx down on 921 or so then you may want to reconsider looking at the 900 mhz MPAs or MTLs as your friend has. With the hamflash software loaded in the radios they are front keypad programmable with 64 total channels of 4 banks with 16 channels each, dual priority scan, alphanumerics on a per channel basis also entered via the keypad front keypad programming of power, pl squelch and numerous other functions.

You do need to cut the vco top off and change 2 caps in the vco but I've done several of them and they all worked the same receving down to 915 and txing across the entire 902-928 band without having to change any of the front end filters, just the 2 caps in the vco as I mentioned earlier.

Mike
WB8VLC/7

walt10 · Post by **walt10** » Tue Jan 15, 2002 10:44 am

Mike:
Do you have any pictures of the mod? I have one MTX9000 that will work in the repeater mode but will not do a T/A. (TX at 927.5)..
Walt

walt10 · Post by **walt10** » Mon Mar 04, 2002 4:29 pm

I just got a B5 9000. This one programmed fine except for MDC. Has anyone figured how to make the MDC work?

Walt, WB4LDS
Tucson's 900 Repeaters
902.3125 / 927.3125
DPL 606
902.1875 / 927.1875
PL 151.4

Post by **xmo** » Fri Mar 08, 2002 8:09 am

"I just got a B5 9000. This one programmed fine except for MDC. Has anyone figured how to make the MDC work?

Walt, WB4LDS "

--------------------------------------------

I had the same problem - I wanted to put MDC in my MTX9000. I even called Motorola & offered to pay for it - they said it can't be done. I ended up buying a MTS2000 off ebay (about $300 for a full keypad unit)

Now I see in the general discussion forum there are some people upgrading MTX8000 radios using LAB RSS or DEPOT TOOL to clone an MTS codeplug into the MTX, thereby gaining extra features like MDC.

You could probably do that if you could get the right RSS and a codeplug from an MTS2000.

Post by **alex** » Fri Mar 08, 2002 8:43 am

You can do it... Here's a link to the thread where it was last discussed. You will probably not end up with a radio capable of doing MDC decode tho.

http://batboard.batlabs.com/viewtopic.p ... 33&forum=1

-Alex

[ This Message was edited by: alex on 2002-03-08 11:43 ]

walt10 · Post by **walt10** » Mon Mar 11, 2002 11:35 pm

Encode only would be just fine. My wife does not like to listen to the chatter on the repeater. So I use MDC to call her.

thanks Walt

Hartley · Post by **Hartley** » Thu Mar 21, 2002 9:32 am

Hi Walt,

CSC (800-521-2203, http://www.ControlSignal.com) makes a very small MDC-1200 encoder (ID-12) - I don't know what it costs, but the real trick would be turning in on only when you wanted it! Maybe you could mount it in a small case and hold it to the mic?

Hartley

john1345 · Post by **john1345** » Sun Dec 08, 2002 10:21 am

Walt this sounds like the problem we have with my radio, also I noticed the Mutek filter fix. For what ever its worth.----John

walt10 wrote:Mike:
Do you have any pictures of the mod? I have one MTX9000 that will work in the repeater mode but will not do a T/A. (TX at 927.5)..
Walt

k4wtf · Post by **k4wtf** » Thu Nov 27, 2003 8:04 pm

Well, I bought myself an MTX9000 for Christmas. It's model number is H01WCH4DB7AN.

Our local repeater doesn't use the "strange" HAM split but rather the wide split that is more motorola friendly.

What can I look forward to? I have a 900Mhz spectra that works fine in the ham bands with the local repeater already. I just wanted an HT as well. (Geek appeal!)

Anyway, what programming cable and RSS do I need for this radio? Since we're not using a "strange" split, do I still need to modify the bandsplit in RSS?

What kind of cool things will an MTX9000 do? I haven't ever touched one before and have only played with Sabers, Systems Sabers and Spectras thus far.

Thanks in advance folks!

John

n_zero_ndp · Post by **n_zero_ndp** » Thu Nov 27, 2003 8:49 pm

k4wtf wrote:what programming cable and RSS do I need for this radio? Since we're not using a "strange" split, do I still need to modify the bandsplit in RSS?

JEDI cable will program it...

RVN4097 [dos only] - R06.06.00 is the latest rev on it (09/2002)
as far as I know the bandsplit has to be hacked because 931.0 is the default low end for rx (& talkaround)

still don't know what all the bells & whistles will do on mine yet...... quite an upgrade from the GTX walkie

k4wtf · Post by **k4wtf** » Thu Dec 04, 2003 4:57 pm

OK. The radio came in and I was quite disappointed! Sheesh. It was described as "in great condition"... Well, it looks like it fell off a contractors belt about 40 times and he got pissed at it and stomped on it a few times each.

It does work and I managed to read the codeplug (and save it of course!) and also program in a few conventional modes to test the TX out. It does TX.

Now, I need to figure out how to modify my RSS so I can try to put some 900Mhz HAM freqs into the radio. I bought a refurb kit (brand new) on eBay tonight so, eventually, the radio will look like new... I just need to get the RSS to play nice.

I'm running RSS R06.05.00 if someone can help me out with the software hack to get it to accept ham band freqs.

Oh, and I was amazed! It might be smaller height/width wise than my Sabers but, it weighs just as much as a syssaber III with the NTN4595 battery! Wow!

OK. Hopefully someone can help me with the RSS modification.

Also, how hard is it to change the filter(s) to improve RX performance? Based on what I've read, I think it is something I'll probably have to do. Where do you get the wider filters also?

Thanks in advance folks!

John (k4wtf)

MTS2000des · Post by **MTS2000des** » Thu Dec 04, 2003 9:01 pm

There are no filters to change, and the VCO is an SLIC inside a can that takes a hot air rework station to remove. MTS/MTX's either work the ham band or they don't, most of the older ones (pre-1994) with older version RF boards are stubborn and won't lock very well if at all on RX below 928MHz. I have two MTS2000's, one made in 95 the other in 98, both have the same RF board, and both work fairly well on the 900 ham band. They didn't come from Brokenradios.com (ebay) either. thank god.

Will's mod (indicated above) is not for the faint of heart and NEVER use it on an MTS2000 with firmware version 5.42 or higher (the toolproofing issue) though this is only with MTS2000's, not MTX radios (they don't have Flashport controllers, they used masked ROM). This trick does work on some Jedi's. a friend of mine has an MTS2000 made in Oct of 94 that flat out would not lock on 927.XX and now it hears at around .4uV sensitivity and TX's with full power.

The GTX is a top choice for ham use, I personally don't care for the cheap design, and own other Jedi radios, so I stick with Jedis. But if you want an easy to use and setup for HAM use portable for 900MHz, it doesn't get any better than a GTX.

Max-trac · Post by **Max-trac** » Fri Dec 05, 2003 5:01 pm

You have to hack the RSS to allow Ham freqs.
http://www.batlabs.com/mtsx.html

As far as the VCO goes;
I had 5 radios, some only locked when hot, SO...
I put them all in the REFRIGERATOR and then tested them on our repeater pairs (HT tx at 902.xxx, rx 927.xxx), and on talkaround,
(tx rx 926-928).
Only 2 out of the 5 were acceptable, (all our repeaters are in the 927 range). And they didn't go much below 926. (I sold the other 3 to commercial users)

batman21 · Post by **batman21** » Sat Dec 06, 2003 6:03 pm

My MTS2000 Works OK on repeater splits (902/927) but wont TX on Talkaround! Anyone know a fix for that?

Post by **xmo** » Sat Dec 06, 2003 6:20 pm

"My MTS2000 Works OK on repeater splits (902/927) but wont TX on Talkaround! Anyone know a fix for that?"

Did you try this?

http://batboard.batlabs.com/viewtopic.php?t=24199

batman21 · Post by **batman21** » Sun Dec 07, 2003 4:33 pm

Cant use labtools -- Toolproofing !

Motradio · Post by **Motradio** » Thu Apr 29, 2004 8:43 am

Got an MTX9000 H01WCC4DB3AN NX off of Epay (Boy I love the term "Excellent Condition").

It has similar problems as previously mentioned, by the looks of it probably an old model (Not sure how to tell the dates).

Tx on the LA Repeater freqs seems OK, no TX on talkaround or simplex as expected. Rx seems pretty dead, but I can get into one of the repeater in So. Cal (W6DEK), but as yet have not had anyone to chat with to see how it sounds.

Any easy mods to make it better, as I'm currently lacking the SMD Rework station

d119 · Post by **d119** » Mon May 10, 2004 10:16 pm

Give a shout for KF6GK on the W6DEK repeater. I just sold him my GTX 900 mobile. His name is Rich.

Motradio · Post by **Motradio** » Tue May 11, 2004 8:57 am

Chris -

Funny that you mention it, I talked breifly to KF6GK a couple of nights ago about it, and I think he is just was waiting on an antenna. I have to scavange one as well so will be a week or so before I can get the GTX on the air. Found some surplus duplexers for about $150, not sure if I want to make a repeater but seems like 900mhz is around. I think I have a 900spectra somewhere, but can't remember.

Got the MTX9000 up, but its not great can't break the repeater from my house. Works good when they are doing the 435 feed but that is about all I have done with it.

Nice DVO rant the other night

Sandy

Jim2121 · Post by **Jim2121** » Tue May 11, 2004 9:53 am

I'll stay with GTX mobile's and HT's I found no probs. in hexing the rss...As for the MTX9000 I've had probs. where in about six of them 2-3 locked up!

Motradio · Post by **Motradio** » Tue May 11, 2004 10:30 am

I guess I got one of the luck working MTX9000's. I guess working in the sence that it does TX and RX, but how well ... not very. No talkaround or simplex freqs for that matter. Good enough to keep me from having to get a GTX HT since I really don't need to start another collection of different gear. Would be nice if their was a fix for the MTX9K's since I really like the Jedi series and have tons of crap for them. I would guess not that difficult if you could get to the area of interest, but that alas seems locked away.

I new I needed a reason to get a hot air rework station

Sandy

Jim2121 · Post by **Jim2121** » Tue May 11, 2004 11:33 am

I can understand what you mean! Sandy... There are several of us btw. here & the Phoenix area, that all worked on MTX9000's & on an avarage hexed 4 out of 6 radios to work the ham bands.... but since some of us put up repeaters on 900Mhz. We dumped all our non-ham MTX 9000's & went with the GTX both mobile & HT's, we needed the DTMF mic's to control the repeaters and patch... just my 2 cents.. I have not ran into a GTX that I could not hex in the 902-927 with no probs... good luck with your radios & repeaters! 73's Jim

d119 · Post by **d119** » Wed May 12, 2004 5:45 pm

Motradio wrote:Chris -

Funny that you mention it, I talked breifly to KF6GK a couple of nights ago about it, and I think he is just was waiting on an antenna. I have to scavange one as well so will be a week or so before I can get the GTX on the air. Found some surplus duplexers for about $150, not sure if I want to make a repeater but seems like 900mhz is around. I think I have a 900spectra somewhere, but can't remember.

Got the MTX9000 up, but its not great can't break the repeater from my house. Works good when they are doing the 435 feed but that is about all I have done with it.

Nice DVO rant the other night

Sandy

Yeah no kidding. I think he's been drinking a bit too much. What's the callsign on your end Sandy? Didn't know you were a fellow 435'er.

73!

Motradio · Post by **Motradio** » Wed May 12, 2004 7:32 pm

My call is WN6CTY I don't pop on all that often unless I have something to say or hear something interesting to jump in on. Almost really depends on the level of dick heads that are on jamming or how much Jeff Jurenka is crying about his poor shut down repeater. For a guy that seems to hate most of the 435'ers he is sure on the repeater a lot.

I have been mostly stuck on HT's and that is also a problem. I just brought out of storage a base Comet antenna and am going to toss it up on the roof so I can get a bit better signal, have got the Maratrac all programmed up and ready to go.

By the way I think I over heard that you have Syntor/SyntorX (Not sure which ones) But I have Windoze software that can program them up if you need a copy let me know. I also make up the RIB pcb's so if you have a use for a non moto rib just ask.

Well time to GTFOOH (Still at work late tonight)

Sandy

MTX9000 Project...

MTX-9000

Just got an MTX9000... What can I look forward to?

Re: Just got an MTX9000... What can I look forward to?

GTX over MTX9000

: