Quick field fix

Just noticed the Kenwood was jumping around on frequency by about 5Kc - mainly when I keyed up. A little research and the solution appeared to be re-tightening the VFO shield.

Job done, problem solved....so far. It's like a vintage car, always something to fix.

*** Update - problem is back again and present on transmit and receive ***

*** Latest update - bit of research on Google and found the lights in the meter and the VFO display generate a bit of heat that it doesn't like. Ripped out lights and seems steady so far....fingers crossed! ***
*** Latest update - was very good for a while but now it's back again. ***

Motorola 2M rig for the car.

....so after all that "fun" I had playing with the Motorola Saber IIs I seemed to be on the path to more Motorola ownership. The Kenwood TM241A I have been running in the car became problematic about 3 weeks ago with a dodgy screen (apparently a common fault).













This seemed like a good opportunity to pick up another mobile rig. A bit of perusing on EvilBay and I picked up a Motorola GM339, remote head for a good price. The radio arrived and as expected it had been used commercially in the mines (still programmed with their frequencies) but was in excellent condition.

Same story as before, you need to make sure you get the correct cables and software to program the radio correctly. This time the CPS (programming software) was not restricted to DOS or slow PCs. GUI was back baby. I first tried a serial ribless cable and to do this I used a USB to serial adaptor. This did not work and was a waste of time. Next I moved onto a USB Ribless cable (no need for a serial adaptor), this one would talk to the radio but I got errors about wrong versions. This is where I had to start looking for another version of the software - a little harder bit not impossible to find on the internet. Right cable, right software and we were in business.

Again, I read from the radio and saved the codeplug (radio config) before starting to change the settings. There are a lot more settings to change in this one compared to the Sabers.My main aim was to get it working so after clearing all of the previous channels I loaded in all of my local repeaters. I setup scan as well, the type of squelch, and any tones that were needed. I also customised the power settings so Low was 5 watts and High was 10 watts. A lot of the paging and id management I did not know what to do with so disabled as much as I could. When saving the new codeplug before writing it to the radio the CPS will advise of errors you have and not write till you fix them - this helped to ensure I had most of it right.


The install is pretty simple with the radio body in the glove box and the remote head mounted on top of another mount that is used for my VX-7R.

I even got my callsign to display on startup.

Scan doesn't work properly and I seem to have programmed the backlight timeout incorrectly.....will get to it eventually......have to be eventually as I also bought a Motorola XTS3000. It's a beater but has UHFCB already programmed in and I'll be rehousing it in the hi-viz housing the emergency services use. Will post when complete.

It's a Motorola thing.....

Some of the forums I'm on seem to have some rabid Motorola fans on them and I decided to give the "bat" a bit of a try.

Picked up 2 VHF Motorola Saber II handhelds from the states, in pretty good condition but very pricey on shipping - Saber info here: Repeater Builder. Waiting for the radios I had a scout around for a charger and also picked up another 2 chargers for $30 each. The shopping continued with 2 new VHF antenna, a Motorola RIB and cables to interface the radios with the computer for programming.

One of the attractions on the Sabers I picked up was the optional DES encryption modules (called Securenet) they came with.....research ensued and that's when the Motorola quirks started to come out: CryptoMuseum , Batlabs

1. You need a Key Loader to put the encryption key into the radios
2. Radios without power for about 40seconds lose the encryption key
3. KVLs are hard to get outside the States and they're not keen to ship them outside of the USA
4. By all reports encryption cripples the radios range and as it is not permitted on a ham licence you may choose not to bother with it.
5. Forget what the seller says the radio is - you need the model code off the actual radio and then decode it to ensure you are getting what is being advertised - go here to decode your model code: Repeater Builder
6. Because of the way the programming software is coded you need an old (slow) computer - as in a 286, 386, and you're pushing it with a 486.

The last point is where I came unstuck. I thought I'd try a newer one and see how it went but that didn't work no matter what I tried. I also thought finding an old PC would be the easy part but it appears that old computers are now called vintage and command a fair whack from collectors. The hunt started and after a bit of messing around I landed a Dauphin 486 pen computer (ipad forerunner for PC) dating from circa 1993. This was a mistake and I should have gotten a normal PC rather than something so unique.






















So after a lot of messing around with the Dauphin, the cables and connections, and software the radios were programmed with VHF Marine frequencies, charge fine in their chargers and work quite well.

Some feedback:

• They are solid in the hand, not girly-man radios - I like them
• They feel industrial - I like this too

• Squelch settings are universal on all channels and the level has to be programmed (no squelch knob)
• Channels are limited to 12 per Zone - bit of a pain for a bandplan with more than 12 channels (VHF Marine, UHF CB).

• Does scan but I haven't bothered with it.
• Programming is a pain, slow, and at times can be cryptic.
• Software is DOS based - no GUI here.
• I haven't tested battery life yet but feel optimistic of a good result.
• Chargers are industrial as well and can keep the battery topped up.

Some tips for the uninitiated:

1. You need the old computer
2. Using tricks such as throttle and slowdos to slow down your computer will not work
3. You need the RIB and cables
4. You need the correct version of the software - if your radio is programmed with a different version of the same software you may have problems reading  and writing to the radio.
5. Always read from your radio the first time and save the config (codeplug in Motorola parlance) in case you need to restore this to the radios.
6. My sabers ended up locked with an error code when I tried to write to them with a version of the software that proved incompatible. The fix is to begin programming them again and turn the radios off half way through the programming, changes the error code and the radio will now accept a fresh codeplug in full - this is where you reload the original one you read before you started playing.
7. For the issue above this is where I also changed the version of the programming software I was using and the writes no longer caused the radios to error.
8. Be careful when writing to your radio and choose to use the RF settings in the radio not the ones from the CPS - otherwise it messes with your radios alignment.
9. Get onto the Batlabs forum and search for Saber - lots of information and help there: Batlabs forum

Overall it was "fun" (but expensive) to get the gear in and play around with them myself.....so much fun I bought some more....see the next post.

EU QSO on the Kenwood TS-120V

Stephan had the Kenwood TS-120V rig fixed in super quick time and after I found out he had to rebuild the VFO I was even more impressed with both his work and turnaround. Good Work Stephan!

After a quick chat with Pete - VK4BT and Barry - VK3NBW (Geelong) they both gave some positive feedback on the audio. Tuning around 10 metres there was a JA pileup but no chance of getting through that one and as the evening changed to night I tried again and came across Dobrisan Bogdan - YO4RIU calling CQ DX from Romania. He was working a few VK stations and after a couple of tries the contact was made just as his signal was beginning to fade in and out.

I'm pretty happy with the Kenwood as the receive is better than my Dragon 485 and the 10 watts made the grade in getting out some 13,111 kilometres to Romania.

Now to get an antenna setup for some of the other bands and see how that goes.