From: military-radio-guy Full-Name: Dennis R Starks To: military radio collectors#1 Fcc: Sent Date: Fri, 5 Mar 1999 06:23:36 Subject: MILITARY COLLECTOR GROUP POST,Mar.5/99 Message-ID: <19990305.062229.14471.2.military-radio-guy@juno.com> X-Status: Sent X-Mailer: Juno 1.49 MILITARY COLLECTOR GROUP POST,Mar.5/99 Index: MOTOROLA'S MX PROGRAMMABLES; Part II, by Dennis Starks MEMBERS WRITE; MX-PC Programming, Museum Decline, HUMOR; *********************************************** If any of you have had any misgivings about dealings with a member of this group that goes by "cameraman", please let me know. *********************************************** MOTOROLA'S MX PROGRAMMABLES; Part II, by Dennis Starks Cost Rundown: To illustrate the extreme cost of these radios, and with that the obvious reasoning behind their limited field of users, consider the following: Compiled from a 1988 price guide, a standard crystal control MX would have a base price of $1880. An 'S' series had the basic price of $2833. The customer would then be asked for his preference of VHF, or UHF, a cost of $400 would be then added for a VHF model, or $567 was added for the UHF version. If DES voice encryption was desired, another $637 was added. If the 'R' package, another $233. So the STARTING price of a VHF MX-300 R with voice encryption(as most had) was OVER $4103: Basic Radio $2833 VHF + $400 DES + $637 R package + $233 total = $4103 The above dose not include such items/options as tone squelch(which most have), channel capacity, speaker/mics, holsters, output power(most military/government radios are 6 watt) or even a charger. These needed ancillary items would very easily have run up another $1000 or more! Neither was it's programmer at over $1000, or the DES loader at near $800 included. Compare this $5000+ price tag with the cost of its contemporary full blown military radios, none of which served a fraction of the time in service that the MX did:(these prices reflect that of a complete set, and not just that of the R/T itself) PRC-68, $1884.00 PRC-126, $2,283.00 PRC-127, $910.00 PRC-128, $3,093.00 The Difference Between an 'R' and an 'S': I think that it can be very easily seen from the above that only the most deserving, and well funded of government agencies, with very specific, and irgent needs could aspire to using these radios. Some explanation of the difference between the 'S' and 'R' might be in order at this time. Internally these two variants are identical in every way. Externally however, they are completely different. As noted before, the 'S' type is cosmetically the same as the standard crystal control model. The 'R' type however is completely different and there will be no mistake as to what it is when you see one. The 'R' itself stands for "ruggedized", though a short lived feature as the case deteriorated badly in time. All these radios are black in color, and all are marked in white bold letters MX300-R on the upper right hand front panel. There is no 'S' near the antenna connector as with other types to indicate that it is a programmable radio. It wasn't needed as all 'R' versions are programmable. The case is larger than normal, water tight, intrinsically safe, and completely fabricated from high impact plastic topped off with a rubber coating. This rubber coating has either started to, or has pealed off in nearly all surviving examples, so finding one in good shape will not be that easy. Aside from the antenna, audio accessories, and drop in chargers, none of the 'R' version's ancillary equipment are compatible. They don't even use the same battery. Where the standard, and 'S' radios use a twist on type battery located at the bottom of the radio(a system used on many HT today). The R's battery is larger at the top to mate with the larger case size, yet narrowed at the bottom to match the same foot print as a standard battery. This allowed the use of a common drop-in charger. Additionally, this battery does not twist on, it attaches to the radio with two side mounted hasps similar in fashion to the way battery boxes attach on most military portable radios.(These hasps are very often broken off surviving radios so you should look close before buying one, buy it anyway, just pay less money.) As noted before, accessories for these radios were many, and impressive. One of the most attractive of which was the "Converticom" that instantly transformed the basic HT into a full featured mobile. The MX300-R was no exception. But the standard Converticom was designed to be under-dash mounted in a vehicle, used an SO-239 antenna connection, standard Motorola series 90 type push on connections for the standard hand mic(with square plastic connector) speaker, power, etc. Construction was of blond colored plastic with very dubious quality/ruggedness(they required constant servicing). The R's Converticom on the other hand, was black in color, was made of a very heavy cast aluminum, was designed for bulkhead mounting(as it was on various style missile launch platforms, mobile & fixed). It had the 'N' style antenna connector, and used Cannon type industrial/military mic, speaker and power connectors. The DES option(more on it later), or the ability to installed it, was not included in very many standard MX radios, nor was it included in all of the 'S' types. But all 'R' series radios have this capability whether or not the DES module is actually installed. Those radios that did not come with DES have a jumper board installed in the place the DES module should be. All that need be done to install the DES option is to remove the jumper board and replace it with the DES module. This feature has never been observed in any of the other MX styles, even the fanciest ones. These others either came from the factory with DES in them, or they didn't. An Example of This Radio's Past Rarity, and Uniqueness: I write the following to illustrate just how rare these radio once were in the hands of the general public. In approximately 1987, (the apex of the S series' hay day) I had the chance to purchase for my county Emergency Management Agency(I was the assistant director at the time) a large quantity of the most impressive radios I had ever seen in my life. They were brand new, all complete with leather cases, high capacity batteries, 48 channel capacity, scan, multi tone squelch, and as I was to find out some time later, DES voice encryption. All for only $10 a set from our State Agency For Surplus Property. But these were not operational, and were on VHF high-split when we needed to use them on mid-split frequencies(I was to find out only resently, this was no big deal). I knew that they were programmable, but nothing else. I learned they had their promms removed which was normal. But aside from that We didn't know shit! Believe me, I wish I knew then what you all are about to learn via this series! We temporarily acquired a couple units to play with(we had the option to return them for full credit). I took one with me to every hamfest in the mid-west and displayed it with a large sign that read,"do you know what this is?". Numerous people at each event picked it up a said,"well this is just a Motorola 12 channel MX"(some said four channel), I'd say, "look closer!". On more than one occasion, the conversation got rather heated, as the apposing party adamantly explained how they had been a Motorola dealer, and serviced them all their adult lives, and they knew everything about them. But they were in every case, wrong! In the mean time, my partner in ignorance(the Emergency Management Director) had set upon his own method of identification. He took a sample radio to every commercial radio dealer in the state of Missouri(Motorola included) and asked them what it was. His success can be summed up by what happened when he took it to Kansas City and presented it to the largest Motorola dealer in the state. One of their technicians took the radio apart, looked inside, and said simply "this is just a standard, three channel, crystal control, VHF radio", he had apparently just counted the crystals in the synthesizer. My partner ordered the radio to be re-assembled, and started out the door without another word. The technician then approached, impolite words were passed(mostly emitting from my partner), and the dealer insisted on keeping the radio so's he could send it back to Motorola to be properly identified. This was of course refused. With all other avenues now exhausted, and our grace period for having the radios closing. I took desperate measures and embarked on the costly endeavor of calling Motorola themselves on the telephone(long before the days of 10 cent/min phone calls). One conversation with one Motorola office/department would net no answers but usually yielded a couple more phone numbers along with different Motorola offices that I could try. A week of this, and countless conversations with numerous Motorola people had produced nothing more than a very large phone bill, and a long list of phone numbers. Finally I had some luck. I called the Motorola Central Programming Depot in Illinois, for the second time, to ask some further questions. But this time I screwed up and called during the noon hours when everyone was at lunch. Everyone except a lowly peon who was not normally allowed to answer the telephone. But this guy was sharp, he knew what no one else was able to tell me. He was a programmer, and all he did was program radios. He knew immediately what our radios were, who they had belonged to(the DEA), and that "sure we can program them, no big deal". And the cost was well within what our tiny county could afford, about $150 including new eproms. But there was a snag, he was unsure if our radios could be moved from the high-split range they were on(165mc) to the mid-split range we needed(154mc) without extensive(and very costly) module changes. His estimate scared the hell out of me, so I gave the radios back to the State with a tear in my eye. But now I know different, and you too will shortly learn, these radios will work over a very impressively wide range with little or no detriment to their operational parameters. It is also possible that no modifications, or module changes will be required regardless of which split radio is being moved to which split. This will all be covered in future parts of this series as we approach the technical characteristics of these radios. Some Interesting Stories: Without trying to pin down specific users in our military(it's just been too hard) suffice to say that they have been used on every military installation in every branch of service, AirForce, Army, Navy, etc., and in every corner of the globe. The capacities in which they were used is limited only buy your imagination. In 1983, the first Ham radio operator in space was aboard the space shuttle Columbia. He made thousands of contacts within the six hours of operational time he was allowed(divided into about two hours a day). The radio he used was specially built by Motorola just for this historic trip. It was set up to transmit between 145.5 and 145.7mc in 20kc steps with different up and down link frequencies. This radio was an MX-300-S. If your interest has not yet been stirred, here are a couple exotic tails that might get you going. In the early 1990's a friend then working for a defense contractor based out of Washington St., ran a shop location at an Air force base in the upper mid-west. Among his many duties was the de-milling of hundreds of radios, sometimes daily(he also serviced them and he is the most knowledgable person I've ever known on these radios). If you have a de-milled commercial radio of any brand that came from a federal government source, the chances are very good that it was he who did the dastardly deed. Under normal circumstances this de-mil process only entailed removing any frequency determining devices and throwing them into a box to be later disposed of. These being channel elements, proms, eeproms, DES modules etc. On this day however the proceedure was changed! A special transport helicopter landed then disembarked it's only two passengers. Both in suites and ties, and one carrying a single black aluminum briefcase. They were escorted to his shop where they then unloaded the contense of their case, an undetermined number of Motorola MX-300 S HT's, the super deluxe ones with dozens of channels, scan, and even a touch tone pad(the latter two being the most seldom found options on these radios). They then stood watch over his every movement as he routinely disassembled the radios and removed the proms and DES modules. As he started to throw these parts into the same old junk box as usual, he was stopped, handed a hammer, and directed towards a nearby anvil. The mysterious men then instructed him to smash these items. Not content with just watching the process, they even picked up the remains and inspected them. These men had been flown in special all the way from Washington DC to the mid-west for the express purpose of escorting these few radios to their doom. The same process would be repeater again, and again in following years. Can we even guess who these men were, who had been using these radios, or for what? Spooky! Another story is related by a member of this group who prefers to remain anonymous for obvious reasons. He being a rather large, long time dealer of Motorola Products, received a large order for MX batteries in approximately 1992. This order was placed by an unnamed company located in England. All seemed perfectly normal until just before this order was to be filled. He received a phone call from a person who informed him that he was not to ship this order under threat of grave consequences (which included Federal prison time). This person represented himself to be with the Motorola office of Sector Services. It was later revealed that the company in England was actually a front for the Iranian government. Our poor dealer was further intimidated by the amount of information, both personal, and business, that this caller had on him. Even though a search was initiated, to this day no office within the Motorola infrastructure has been found to be identified as "Sector Services". Who was this mysterious caller? Who knowns, but we can be sure he didn't work for Motorola! Again, Spooky! Our Current Dilemma: While $10 in 1987 wasn't even a small fraction of what those radios were worth. This is just a little less than what you can find them for now. In great abundance! In 1990, Motorola announced that the MX series had been discontinued and that they would no longer provide for their support. Even though Federal law mandates that a product be supported for as long as 10 years after it's production. (More Motorola bull shit!) As a result, most organizations that were using MX's began to liquidate their none essential equipment and upgrade to Sabres(Motorola's plan all along!). Now after 9 years this liquidation process is all but completed. The surplus market it now about flooded and we can find even the most exotic and costly of variants available dirt cheep at even the smallest of hamfest. The urgency of writing this series of articles stems from that 1990 announcement of Motorola to refuse any further support. At that same time(or possibly even before), production ceased of all the modules that were needed to service these radios. Users in need of parts were then restricted to whatever was left over in Motorola stocks. But Motorola had screwed up, they had produced an extremely large quantity of the new re-programmable proms(eproms) needed for programming these radios. With this overstock condition, Motorola responded with a very uncharacteristicly low price so that they could be liquidated(approx $45). But time may now be limited and the availability of these epromms(which are the missing link in almost all the available radios) may now be in question. While all the other modules in these radios are in very great abundance via surplus junkers etc, and we need not depend on Motorola as a source. The promms, and eproms are not. And we need act shortly before it's too late. If you have any stories to tell on these most interesting, unique, and mysterious radios, please share them with us. Our next installment in this series will delve more on the technical aspects of these radio, and detail their most desirable features. Hopefully, Jim Hopper will have finished some of his current experimentation, we will then learn of some of the remarkable abilities these radios have that before now were completely unknown. Jim has been able to answer more questions in the last week from simple piddling with the radios, than I've been able to get answered in over ten years. Most aggravating is the fact that Jim knew less about them two weeks ago than I did. One think is for sure, their not the scary, super-complicated, impossible to service radio we once thought they were. And radios we previously thought were limited to window dressing or static displays will yet have a practical purpose. Readers interested in more information on military use of the MX series radios should consult the following: MCGP Backmail #46: OFF THE SHELF PRICK's; MCGP Backmail #62: MEMBERS WRITE #1;(MX-300R & Special Forces?) Dennis Starks; Collector/Historian Midwest Military Communications Museum email: military-radio-guy@juno.com *********************************************** MEMBERS WRITE; MX-PC Programming, Dennis, I'll probably have my 2 cents to say about the MX's.. Interested in what you guys are going to say about programming them? I need the old 'useless' 1801 suitcase pod to hold the 'A' / 'B' proms down so I can come up with a PC controlled programmer to interface to it. Already figured out the inside coding for the freq's. Ralph Hogan ed) if you have figured out how to program an MX using a PC, then you have not only done what no man has done before, but had more balls to even try than any other has had! The item you need will require bank assistance to obtain, hows your credit? If you could get by with a promm mount salvaged from an old radio, I think I have one in my jun-er-ah, inventory and your welcome to it. Besides knowing the internal coding which will program one you'll also need to be able to read one. Ya got that figured out too? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Museum Decline, Dennis, I received the message below today. It is a sad commentary on the state of affairs in the Signal Corps Museum. I was hoping to get a picture of the North Vietnamese VTS 1 radio they had on display. I doubt that it will ever be found at this point. I do not knw if this is worth a mention in the group post. Bill Howard ---------- > Bill: I went in the museum, toured the display three times, and didn't find the North Vietnamese radio. Persian Gulf War captured items seem to have squeezed it out of the displays. I got on the phone with the curator, Rose Witz, later, and explained what was being sought. She said it is likely that it is in storage inside crates in a temporary storage area (in a locked building) on Fort Monmouth. The museum's stored items used to be in Camp Evans, about 10 miles south of here (and rather near my house.) Camp Evans has been closed recently because of the Base Realignment and Closing Commission decisions, and Army activities in the Fort Monmouth area are being squashed together at Fort Monmouth itself. This process is continuing - it isn't over yet. Other agencies of the Department of Defense are also being considered for movements to Fort Monmouth. Therefore, the temporary storage arrangement is likely to go on for years to come and there is no way of saying when the stored items will become accessible. She told me that she has been on the job 14 years, and her predecessor shipped many items out to other museums. She said that the inventory is by accession number, and the numbers are assigned almost at random, revealing how the museum got an item, more than its nationality or age. They are using an old computer (how appropriate!) and don't have the data-base-style features of more contemporary software to find out quickly where a North Vietnamese radio is located. Bill C. ed) the steady decline of our most cherished museums including Ft Gorden, Ft Monmoth, and Aberdeen has been going on for near ten years now. I wonder how much longer they'll be able to hold out! *********************************************** HUMOR; THE RULES OF CHOCOLATE • A nice box of chocolates can provide your total daily intake of calories in one place. Isn't that handy? • Chocolate covered raisins, cherries, orange slices and strawberries all count as fruit, so eat as many as you want. • Chocolate has many preservatives. Preservatives make you look younger. • Diet tip: Eat a chocolate bar before each meal. It'll take the edge off your appetite and you'll eat less. • If calories are an issue, store your chocolate on top of the fridge. Calories are afraid of heights and they will jump out of the chocolate to protect themselves. • If I eat equal amounts of dark chocolate and white chocolate, is that a balanced diet? Don't they actually counteract each other? • If not for chocolate, there would be no need for control top pantyhose. An entire garment industry would be devastated. • If you can't eat all your chocolate, it will keep in the freezer. But if you can't eat all your chocolate, what's wrong with you? • If you've got melted chocolate all over your hands, you're eating it too slowly. • Money talks. Chocolate sings. • Put "eat chocolate" at the top of your list of things to do today. That way, at least you'll get one thing done. • Q. Why is there no such organization as Chocoholics Anonymous? A. Because no one wants to quit. • The problem: How to get two pounds of chocolate home from the store in the hot car. The solution: Eat it in the parking lot. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- An old man and woman were married for years even though they hated each other. When they had a confrontation, screams and yelling could be heard deep into the night. A constant statement was heard by the neighbors who feared the man the most. "When I die I will dig my way up and out of the grave to come back and haunt you for the rest of your life!" They believed he practiced black magic and was responsible for missing cats and dogs, and strange sounds at all hours. He was feared and enjoyed the respect it garnished. He died abruptly under strange circumstances and the funeral had a closed casket. After the burial, the wife went straight to the local bar and began to party as if there was no tomorrow. The gaiety of her actions were becoming extreme while her neighbors approached in a group to ask these questions: Are you not afraid? Concerned? Worried? that this man who practiced black magic and stated when he died he would dig his way up and out of the grave to come back and haunt you for the rest of your life? The wife put down her drink and said… "Let the old fool dig. I had him buried upside down." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was getting a little crowded in Heaven, so God decided to change the admittance policy. The new law was that, in order to get into Heaven, you had to have a really bummer day on the day that you died. The policy would go into effect at noon the next day. So, the next day at 12:01, the first person came to the gates of Heaven. The Angel at the gate, remembering the new policy, promptly asked the man, "Before I let you in, I need you to tell me how your day was going when you died." "No problem," the man said. "I came home to my 25th floor apartment on my lunch hour and caught my wife having an affair. But her lover was nowhere in sight. I immediately began searching for him. My wife was half naked and yelling at me as I searched the entire apartment. Just as I was about to give up, I happened to glance out onto the balcony and noticed that there was a man hanging off the edge by his fingertips! The nerve of that guy! Well , I ran out onto the balcony and stomped on his fingers until he fell to the ground. But wouldn't you know it, he landed in some trees and bushes that broke his fall and he didn't die. This ticks me off even more. In a rage, I went back inside to get the first thing I could find to throw at him. Oddly enough, the first thing I thought of was the refrigerator. I unplugged it, pushed it out onto the balcony, and tipped it over the side. It plummeted 25 stories and crushed him! The excitement of the moment was so great that I had a heart attack and died almost instantly." The angel sat back and thought a moment. Technically, the guy DID have a bad day. It was a crime of passion. So, the Angel announced, "OK sir. Welcome to the Kingdom of Heaven," and let him in. A few seconds later the next guy came in, Vernon Jordan. "Mr. Jordan, before I can let you in, I need to hear about what your day was like when you died." Jordan said, "No problem. But you're not going to believe this. I was on the balcony of my 26th floor apartment doing my daily exercises. I had been under a lot of pressure so I was really pushing hard to relieve my stress. I guess I got a little carried away, slipped, and accidentally fell over the side! Luckily, I was able to catch myself by the fingertips on the balcony below mine. But all of a sudden this crazy man comes running out of his apartment, starts cussing, and stomps on my fingers. Well, of course I fell. I hit some trees and bushes at the bottom which broke my fall so I didn't die right away. As I'm laying there, face up on the ground, unable to move and in excruciating pain, I see this guy push his refrigerator of all things off the balcony. It falls the 25 floors and lands on top of me killing me instantly." The Angel is quietly laughing to himself as Jordan finishes his story. I could get used to this new policy, he thinks to himself. "Very well," the Angel announces. "Welcome to the Kingdom of Heaven," and lets Vernon enter. A few seconds later, President Clinton comes up to the gate. The Angel is almost too shocked to speak. Thoughts of assassination and war pour through the Angel's head. Finally he says, "Mr. President, please tell me what it was like the day you died." Clinton says, "OK, picture this. I'm naked, hiding in a refrigerator..." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here is our status report, as requested: Y-to-K Date Change Project Status "Our staff has completed the 18 months of work on time and on budget. We have gone through every line of code in every program in every system. We have analyzed all databases, all data files, including backups and historic archives, and modified all data to reflect the change. We are proud to report that we have completed the "Y-to-K" date change mission, and have now implemented all changes to all programs and all data to reflect your new standards: Januark, Februark, March, April, Mak, June, Julk, August, September, October, November, December As well as: Sundak, Mondak, Tuesdak, Wednesdak, Thursdak, Fridak, Saturdak We trust that this is satisfactory, because to be honest, none of this Y to K problem has made any sense to us. But we understand it is a global problem, and our team is glad to help in any way possible. And what does the year 2000 have to do with it? Speaking of which, what do you think we ought to do next year when the two digit year rolls over from 99 to 00? We'll await your direction." *********************************************** (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) ***********************************************