From: military-radio-guy Full-Name: Dennis R Starks To: military radio collectors#1 Fcc: Sent Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 09:06:57 Subject: MILITARY COLLECTOR GROUP POST, Mar.15/99 Message-ID: <19990315.090604.6359.1.military-radio-guy@juno.com> X-Status: Sent X-Mailer: Juno 1.49 MILITARY COLLECTOR GROUP POST, Mar.15/99 Index: MX-'S' RAMBLINGS; by Ralph Hogan MEMBERS WRITE; Collins 714F-1? PRR-9 to LS-549, HISTORIC MILITARY RADIO EQUIPMENT DISPLAYS; NEW MEMBER; Peter Perg HUMOR; *********************************************** MX-'S' RAMBLINGS; by Ralph Hogan Dennis, How has your series been taken so far. Are we off track from green stuff too much? I hope most find the series interesting. They did find their way into a large number of government ABC's agencies and military installations... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Some misc Moto MX ramblings... Some folkes love them and some folkes hate them.... An interesting note on the 'S' nomenclature. Motorola always has a code word for a new radio while in development before release. The synthesized MX was called a 'scorpio' radio. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Channel Capacity, ALL 'S' series radios are inherently capable of operation on up to 48 channels] I brought a pair of 4 channel MX-340S in a long time back to the local shop. I told the service Tech I was going to make them into 48 channel versions. He immediately informed me that wasn't possible. I proceded to order a new 4 pos zone switch, new channel switch label and the proper escutcheon (top plate). After some careful work around the very fragile flexible 'flex' PCB that runs from the top to the bottom of the radio, I ended up with the desired 48 channel radio. Probably most of these parts are NLA at this point. At the time, they raped me for $32 bucks just for the 4 position zone switch! Much cheaper these days to just find the radio already so equipped. [I cannot begin to explain how Motorola's encryption system works, but suffice to say, it's no simple scrambler!] It uses a complicated voice compression technique based on CVSD. That stands for Countinuously Variable Slope Detection. The data rate is about 11-12 kilobits per second. For comparision your standard analog phone goes digital at your local central office and gets converted to 64 Kilobits per second or in some cases down to 32 Kbps. So you can see the compression is about six to one or so. Some voice degredation is expected. The resultant 11-12 thousand bits per second is then scrambled using the DES standard and the inserted 'key' from the keyloader. The range from a scrambled radio, at least using the older versions (I dont know about the newer DES-XL and DVP-XL..) is about 1/2 of a non-scrambled radio. One last note, you wont be able to have reliable communications through a normal voice repeater using DES or DVP. The repeater must be so equipped. The simplifed explanation, it descrambles the audio, retimes it (resynchronizes) and retransmits scrambled back out. The transmitter is also modified to reduce phase delay and distortion. [While there has been at least one claim to the ability to de-code transmissions using this system. I find this very hard to believe.] Dennis, Do believe it. From someone I know who was part of the moto development of DES at that time. He was challenged to break it and did so. Didn't take a Cray computer or anything like that either. Although your changing code technique would make it difficult. In the 80's Miami's Dade county would reprogram the MX radios every day that they went out the door for the swat teams. [It has been rumored that some versions have an internal backup battery to maintain these encryption codes. I have never seen one, nor have we yet figured out where such a battery might be connected.] Again, from a reliable source, the US government (such as the Secret Service) were the intended first customers of the new DES MX radios. They did not want anyone to intercept their communications. Motorola wanting to recoup the government development cost and expand it's market soon found great interest from Civilian police swat departments for the same privacy capability. The government didn't exactly like others to have private conversations using the DES technology. The exact details here will never be known, but it was shortly after this that Motorola introduced the 'DVP' or digital voice protection radios for the civilian market. I wont go into all the details, but DVP (based on DES) is NOT as secure as the DES equipped government radios. The older government DES radios do have a small watch battery pack that plugs into the motherboard using a two pin header. The encryption modules are the larger style which actually have several PCB's inside the module. The newer DVP modules are much smaller. As for the battery its crammed in there and dangles from its wiring...It keeps the radio's key intact for long periods of time with no main nicad battery pack. The DVP radios do not have a battery and hence the key is volatile. The idea is if the radio were lost or stolen, after the nicad battery went dead (or the codes were changed) the radio would be useless for intercept purposes. I suppose the feds were more trusted to keep ahold of their radios than the local policemen. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A slight terminology correction: PROM - Programmable Read only Memory. Non-volatile fuse technology, burn the fuse out only once and it stays that way forever. Can not be erased. The 'A' and 'B' code plugs are PROM based using older bipolar technology proms. EEPROM - Electrically Erasible Programmable Read only Memory. Non-volatile. A repetitive high voltage pulse is used to erase the previous contents. Good for up to thousands or tens of thousands of reprogram cycles. The MX 'C' and 'D' code plugs are 'EEPROM'. EPROM - Refers to erasible program read only memory. It takes high levels of ultraviolet radiation (light) to erase the part through it's small glass window. Not used in MX's. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I have been told there was a point at which motorola could not get any of the older 'A' and 'B' proms from their suppliers and did not have the 'C'/'D' eeproms in place yet. An interim adapter board was nestled inside the radio with a head that bolted into where the normal code plug went. This auxilliary memory was one of the more standard larger sized devices. I've never seen one, but hope to crack open a hamfest special and find this treasure one day. I've had visions of even making such an adapter. If anyone finds one, please let me know. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Besides the MX handie talkie, PX-300-S (PT-200/500) style luggable and MX suit case repeater, Motorola in Canada also made an MX mobile radio. The exact number escapes me at the moment. Its the MX motherboard with a 12 channel element expansion board, high power PA board and front panel digital led channel display. I've only seen a couple of examples of this radio and have one of them in my collection. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- I have been told from one knowledgable 1801 user, the A/B proms may not always be empty on unused zone banks. It depends on how you exited out of the programmer. If you didnt exit a certain way, the programmer would write over the unused sections, destroying the capability of reusing those zones. I had one A/B prom come back from Plantation, FL Moto damaged and unusable even in the original zone. They were attempting to reprogram the unused zones for me. This may perhaps be the reason? I got charged the programming fee anyway... Thanks Motherola.... Ralph Hogan WB4TUR rhogan@traveller.com ed) The series on MX programmables was originally started for two reasons. The first was that I consider them to be a Para-Military radio, and in that respect they would have been included in that on-going series of articles eventually. Second, I simply jumped the time line in that Para-Military series because of the possibility of our not being able to obtain the new eeproms for these things much longer, and because we now have the ability to take advantage of these radios where we didn't before. I had hoped that with the hamfest season upon us, members could keep their eye's out for the hardware and collect up the needed bits for later use. Indeed, if any of you would, either now, or even maybe the future, like to carry something other than some peez-o-crap of Oriental origin, something that will be a real eye catcher worthy of attention. Then these are the thing! If you have an idea even in your head, that such a radio might be neat, buy the eeproms now while you still can, whether or not you yet have a radio(these will follow in short order). PROM, EPROM, EEPROMM, etc. I just got tired of counting all those damn "Eee's", and "Mmm's". Siffice to say that, one ain't got a E, and the better one does. Thanks for the rundown on the operation and history of DES encryption. Nice to know stuff! *********************************************** MEMBERS WRITE; Collins 714F-1? Collins 714F-1 need info on this, can it be used with 618T-2 or -3, what's it worth? John Mackesy ed) Hell if I know. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PRR-9 to LS-549, Dennis, Both Ralph and I need an LS-549 for our PRC-75. So, if we were to take a non operating PRR-9 and were to rewire the speaker, and probably put in a lower resistance pot, and were to get a proper cable with the right plug, we could essentially roll our own it would seem. What I need to know is how they stress relieve the cable, and about how long it is? Thank you. Alan ed) That's exactly right, and I noted this to the group when the PRR-9 project was started. The LS-549 is nothing more than a PRR-9 without it's guts. It wasn't however restricted to use with the PRC-75. It was originally introduced for use with the PRC-25 and some manuals will detail it's use. It's unique megaphone speaker design can be used to great effect with any radio having a normally limited amount of audio output, and may not usually be able to drive a full sized speaker(to any volume). External connection from the radio to the speaker was made via the pins normally used to make battery connection on the PRR-9, and the original connector was a dummy of this battery(I've never seen any other than in pictures). That's also how stress relief of the cord was accomplished. You can take apart an old tube socket to make the connections(great would be to just gut an old battery and use the whole thing). I didn't make a dummy battery for mine, but you can make one from whatever might fit. The cord was a small coiled one of unknown length, I used one from a defunct H-250 on mine(the shitty light duty type). There were some headphones that used the same cord, or even the cord from an original PRR-9/PRC-64 earphone will be very close to the original(but you'd then need to wire the U-229). Fair has the PRR-9 earphones pretty cheep, new in the box. I'm pretty sure that the original volume control of the PRR-9 is retained, and operational, as is the earphone jack. The only thing that will give your fake away(to somebody like me) is the tell tail shit left over from removing the antenna hardware, and the fact that the LS-549 has an additional hanger/clip located on the it's speaker side that was small, but stuck out far enough that it could be forced over the rack handle of a PRC-25/77. This clip is similar to what might be found on a large tape measure. Dennis *********************************************** HISTORIC MILITARY RADIO EQUIPMENT DISPLAYS; Available for Your Special Event. I can provide the following displays of military radio equipment at no charge for your special event. These events might include Hamfest, Military Equipment Shows, Reenactments, or any other you might feel appropriate. See conditions at the end of this message. You may choose from among the following displays: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- #1, Genealogy of HF Field Portable Radio Sets; This display begins with the very first HF field radio set that was capable of voice communications, circa 1942. It continues on to include all those that were adopted between 1942 till 1985, the later being of back-pack Single Sideband type. Each set displayed includes all the ancillary items of equipment that were required for it's operation in the field. Such as antennas, hand-crank generators, etc. Approximately three eight foot tables are required. If Naval/Marine Corps equipment are also desired, add one table. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- #2, Genealogy of a "Walkie Talkie", radios dating from 1935 to 1998. This display begins with the very first radio to ever be called a "Walkie Talkie", circa 1935. It goes on to include every hand held radio ever used by our military in combat including the very latest current issue types. Each is displayed with all the ancillary equipment required for it's operation in the field. These radios will represent the most familiar to spectators as many have been seen in the movies from the 40's on. Approximately two tables are required. If Naval/Marine Corps equipment are also desired, add one table. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- #3, Genealogy of Downed Airman, and Emergency Radios Dating from 1942 to 1995. Examples of every radio of this type adopted between 1942 and 1995 will be included. The display begins with the very first emergency radio ever adopted as a standard issue item, circa 1942. The legendary "Gibson Girl" who's beginnings were as a German radio captured in the North Sea by the British. It served with distinction for over 50 years almost unchanged. The second radio of note is the CRC-7, or "Walter Radio" which was the very first 2 meter(VHF) hand held radio ever produced. Approximately one table is required. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- #4, Genealogy of a "Back Pack" radio. Radios dating from 1935 to 1985. This display begins with the first radio ever produced that was capable of operation while being carried, circa 1935. Followed by the first FM radio to which we have to thank for every "walkie talkie" in existence today. The Technology represented progresses from large 1930's tubes, to miniature tubes, to subminiature "Pencil Tubes", and ending in our current solid state designs. Every Back-Pack radio ever adopted by our military as a standard issue item is included. It should be noted that this display only includes VHF type radios. While there were HF, and UHF types in this category, these are included in separate displays. Approximately one eight foot table required. If Naval/Marine Corps equipment is also desired, add one table. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- #5, Genealogy of a "Spy Radio", radios dating from 1941 to 1975. This display includes some of the rarest radios in the world today, some are of only a couple known to have survived. They include some of the legendary suite-case radios used by the OSS and Military Intelligence during WW-II, receivers that were air-dropped to resistance units behind enemy lines. Radios used by both the CIA and Army Special Forces from 1947 till 1975. Receivers used for recording "Bugs", and adversary radio transmissions. Special note, due to the extreme rarity, and value of this equipment, special security arrangements must be made! Approximately two tables required. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- #6, Captured Enemy Radio Equipment. Again some of the rarest radios surviving today. Examples are include from each major conflict our military has been involved in sense WW-II. Italian equipment from WW-II, Russian and Communist Chinese equipment from Vietnam, Russian British and German radios captured by our troops during Desert Storm. Approximately one eight foot table required. If desired this display can be expanded to include foreign Allied radio equipment dating from WW-II to 1990. One addition table is required. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- #7, Radios By the War; A. Radios Of WW-II, an assemblage of all the Army field radios to see service in WW-II, both HF, and VHF, between 1941 and 1945. Note, this same selection can be narrowed down to include only those types used during the Korean War. Approximately four tables required. If Naval/Marine Corps equipment is also desired, add two tables. B. Radios Of The Vietnam War, an assemblage of all the standard field radios used in the Vietnam War, some dating from the early 50's. This display includes VHF, HF, and UHF, types used by both Infantry, and Special Forces units between 1962 and 1975. Approximately four eight foot tables required. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Period small arms and edged weapons can be included with these displays on special request. Conditions: #1, Display tables and any admission fees must be provided free of charge by the event sponsor. #2, Typical travel distances of 250 miles are acceptable. Distances over this may be subject to expense reimbursement. #3, Arrangements must be made well in advance do to possible calendar conflicts. It is desirable to have my presents, and that of this equipment display printed or otherwise included in any promotional material you distribute. #4, Additional Flea Market Type tables in close proximity to said display may be needed. This for the purpose of selling radio related equipment(non-military!) in attempts to recoup some personal expenses. I agree to pay for these additional tables if required. #5, The period weapons(including firearms) can be included with these displays on request. Again, special security need be available. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- MIDWEST MILITARY COMMUNICATIONS MUSEUM Located right on 65 highway, Cross Timbers Missouri. Open to the public by appointment. Contact: Dennis Starks (collector/historian) Box 95 Cross Timbers Mo. 65634 Email: military-radio-guy@juno.com *********************************************** NEW MEMBER; Peter Perg Good morning Dennis. I have read the mandate of the Military Collectors Group and they sound just fine. So, I herewith state that I accept these, I am in this collection thing purely for my own enjoyment. Where necessary and possible, I will try to help other members in locating and/or repairing items, and/or sharing knowledge. Background: Born 11/25/36 in The Netherlands, educated BSc Electronics, later did post graduate studies at UofCincinnati. Emigrated to USA in 1967, worked for Avco Electronics in aerospace development. Later joined RCA in video recorder development. Then, joined Kraft Systems to design their transmitters and receivers for radio control of models. In 1981, I returned to the aerospace industry, started my own company in 1988 which I sold in 1992 to SBS and retired from in 1996. Started collecting olive drab boxes about three months ago and have a [very] rapidly growing collection. Specialty interest: everything portable, backpack, handheld, up to and including Vietnam era. Other interests include flying (model airplane and full size). I am an instrument rated pilot. I was introduced to this group by Alan and Ralph with whom I had been corresponding via e-mail. They expressed just the right amount of tremendous enthousiasm and help I was looking for and I hope that I will, in the future, be in a position to also contribute. So, please accept this membership application. Thanks and regards, Peter Berg, married to Marcia KQ6AA e-mail berg@rc-direct.com or: potifar@aol.com *********************************************** HUMOR; Tech Support Request Last year I upgraded Girlfriend 1.0 to Wife 1.0 and noticed that the new program began unexpected child processing that took up a lot of space and valuable resources. No mention of this phenomenon was included in the product brochure. In addition, Wife 1.0 installs itself into all other programs and launches during system initialization where it monitors all other system activity. Applications such as Pokernight 10.3 and Beerbash 2.5 no longer run, crashing the system whenever selected. I can not seem to purge Wife 1.0 from my system. I am thinking about going back to Girlfriend 1.0 but un-install does not work on this program. Can you help me? - Jonathan Powell Dear Jonathan Powell- This is a very common problem men complain about but is mostly due to a primary misconception. Many people upgrade from Girlfriend 1.0 to Wife 1.0 with the idea that Wife 1.0 is merely a "UTILITIES & ENTERTAINMENT" program. Wife 1.0 is an OPERATING SYSTEM and designed by its creator to run everything. WARNING DO NOT TRY TO: un-install, delete, or purge the program from the system once installed. Trying to un-install Wife 1.0 can be disasterious. Doing so may destroy your hard and/or floppy drive. Trying to un-install or remove Wife 1.0 will destroy valuable system resources. You can not go back to Girlfriend 1.0 because Wife 1.0 is not designed to do this. Some have tried to install Girlfriend 2.0 or Wife 2.0 but end up with more problems than the original system. Look in your manual under Warnings- Alimony/Child Support. Others have tried to run Girlfriend 1.0 in the background, while Wife 1.0 is running. Eventually Wife 1.0 detects Girlfriend 1.0 and a system conflict occurs, this can lead to a non- recoverable system crash. Some users have tried to download simular products such as Fling and 1NiteStand. Often their systems have become infected with a virus. I recommend you keep Wife 1.0 and just deal with the situation. Having Wife 1.0 installed myself, I might also suggest you read the entire section regarding General Protection Faults (GPFs). You must assume all responsibility for faults and problems that might occur. The best course of action will be to push apologize button then reset button as soon as lock-up occurs. System will run smooth as long as you take the blame for all GPFs. Wife 1.0 is a great program but is very high maintenance. Suggestions for improved operation of Wife 1.0 -Monthly use utilities such as TLC and FTD -Frequently use Communicator 5.0 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You know what I did before I married? Anything I wanted to. --Henny Youngman The best way to get most husbands to do something is to suggest that perhaps they're too old to do it. -- Ann Bancroft Any husband who says, "My wife and I are completely equal partners," is talking about either a law firm or a hand of bridge. -- Bill Cosby Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut afterwards. --Benjamin Franklin My wife dresses to kill. She cooks the same way. -- Henny Youngman My wife and I were happy for twenty years. Then we met. -- Rodney Dangerfield A good wife always forgives her husband when she's wrong. -- Milton Berle I was married by a judge. I should have asked for a jury. -- George Burns What's the difference between a boyfriend and a husband? About 30 pounds. -- Cindy Garner When women are depressed, they either eat or go shopping. Men invade another country. It's a whole different way of thinking. -- Elaine Boosler I bought my wife a new car. She called and said, "There was water in the carburetor." I said, "Where's the car?" She said, "In the lake." -- Henny Youngman Never go to bed mad. Stay up and fight. -- Phyllis Diller My mother buried three husbands, and two of them were just napping. -- Rita Rudner The secret of a happy marriage remains a secret. -- Henny Youngman People are always asking couples whose marriages have endured at least a quarter of a century for their secret for success. Actually, it is no secret at all. I am a forgiving woman. Long ago, I forgave my husband for not being Paul Newman. -- Erma Bombeck At the cocktail party, one woman said to another, "Aren't you wearing your wedding ring on the wrong finger?" The other replied, "Yes, I am. I married the wrong man." After a quarrel, a wife said to her husband, "You know, I was a fool when I married you." The husband replied, "Yes, dear, but I was in love and didn't notice." A man inserted an 'ad' in the classifieds "Wife wanted." Next day he received a hundred letters. They all said the same thing "You can have mine." When a man steals your wife, there is no better revenge than to let him keep her. Marriage is the triumph of imagination over intelligence. Second marriage is the triumph of hope over experience. I married Miss Right. I just didn't know her first name was Always. Losing a husband can be hard. In my case, it was almost impossible. I haven't spoken to my wife in 18 months - I don't like to interrupt her. Just think, if it weren't for marriage, men would go through life thinking they had no faults at all. How do most men define marriage? A very expensive way to get your laundry done free. A man said his credit card was stolen but he decided not to report it because the thief was spending less than his wife did. The most effective way to remember your wife's birthday is to forget it once. First guy (proudly) "My wife's an angel!" Second guy "You're lucky, mine's still alive." Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are beautiful. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A man and his grandson are fishing by a peaceful lake beneath some weeping willow trees. The man takes out a cigarette and lights it. His grandson says, "Grandpa, can I try some of your cigarette?" "Can you touch your asshole with your penis?" he says. "No," says the little boy. "Then you're not big enough." A few more minutes pass, and the man takes a beer our of his cooler and opens it. The little boy says, "Grandpa, can I have some of your beer?" "Can you touch your asshole with your penis?", he says. "No," says the little boy. "Then you're not old enough." Time passes and they continue to fish. The little boy gets hungry and he reaches into his lunch box, takes out a bag of cookies and eats one. The grandfather looks at him and says, "Hey they look good. Can I have one of your cookies?" "Can you touch your asshole with your penis?" says the little boy. "I most certainly can!" says the grandfather. "Then go fuck yourself," says the boy, "These are my cookies!" *********************************************** (The preceding was a product of the"Military Collector Group Post", an international email magazine dedicated to the preservation of history and the equipment that made it. Unlimited circulation of this material is authorized so long as the proper credits to the original authors, and publisher or this group are included. For more information conserning this group contact Dennis Starks at, military-radio-guy@juno.com) ***********************************************