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Intro
to the MaxTrac, MaxTrac 50, MaxTrac 100, MaxTrac
300,
Radius M100, M214, M216, and GM-300 mobiles
From an email from Neil Johnson -
WB0EMU:
I saw a mention on the yahoo AR902 group that
you have added the 900 firmware part number to
the Repeater-Builder MaxTrac series pages.
I
have some additional notes about MaxTrac
firmware and board part numbers I thought I
would pass along.... I think the MaxTrac
series of radios is of general interest to
'repeater builders' since they have many
applications as repeater receivers, exciters,
transmitters, control receivers, and links.
One item
in these notes that I will draw attention to is
the fact that the Radius M214 and M216 models are
very similar to a MaxTrac except for a different
plastic front and different firmware. The
reason I note this is that the Radius firmware
supports channel steering from the accessory port
control lines and none of the Maxtracs can do that
trick. Channel Steering makes it possible
to easily use one of these units as a frequency
agile (or PL agile) transceiver or link,
controlled by output lines from your repeater
controller. You can program up to four
lines to give you up to 16 channels (one line
gives you 2 channels, 2 lines gives you 4, 3 gives
you 8, and 4 gives you 16. You have 5 input lines
available, so you can do 16 channels plus one
additional function - transmit PL inhibit, for
example)
Using instructions you have on the
Repeater-Builder site, a 16 pin logic board, the
range RF board you want, and the right firmware, a
person can 'create' a radio customized to just
about any application.
Note from
WA1MIK:
All Low Band, High Band,
UHF and 800 models use the same control head
components (microphone jack/volume control
board, display board, loudspeaker,
escutcheon, plastic parts, cables). The 900
MHz radio uses a different microphone
jack/volume control board which also
contains the HearClear module and circuitry.
There are significant signal differences on
the 900 MHz logic board and MIC/VOL board
that prohibit intermixing of these
assemblies.
Notes
follow:
Here is a list of the
MaxTrac firmware that I've found in the
radios that I've worked on. Some
cautions apply to this list: For example, it
is generally regarded that the version 5.34
of the HLN5569A conventional firmware is the
latest that was used in non-900 MHz mobiles.
I verified that it was used in one of
the newest MaxTracs I ever saw - one with a
June 2000 date code, however, I have seen a
chip labeled HLN5569B V.5.36 49 / 95.
This "B" version chip was found in one of
the two transceivers in a UHF Desktrac
repeater housing. What could the
difference be ? I have no idea!
The firmware version
number will be on a label on a socketed
EPROM chip that is under a metal shield on
the logic board.
You
might want to print and cut this page and stuff it
in your pocket before the next hamfest...
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - #- - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
MaxTrac
Series Firmware
Numbers in parentheses
are table notes at the bottom |
Part # |
Application |
Version |
Checksum
(4) |
Date
(1) |
Chip
(2) |
HLN9277A |
Low
band, high band, UHF and 800
Conventional 5 pin |
4.00 |
A800 |
1987 |
27C64 |
HLN5569A |
Low
band, high band, UHF and 800
Conventional 16 pin
This version supports high tier,
signaling, and 32 modes and is the most
common version found in the non-900 MHz
MaxTracs. |
5.34 |
3500 |
1987 |
27C256 |
HLN9435A |
800MHz
Trunked 16 mode and conventional |
54.03 |
3FD0 |
51/92 |
27C512 |
HLN9260C |
MaxTrac
840 (800 MHz) 5 pin |
52.07 |
(unknown) |
1987 |
27C256 |
HLN9383F |
Startsite
Smartnet Type 2 16 pin |
V71.25 |
BEB3 |
22 /
95 |
27C512 |
FRN4007B |
900MHz
Trunked |
V80.08 |
44F3 |
51 /
94 |
27C512 |
FVN4019A |
900MHz
Conventional |
V30.03 |
BD00 |
21 /
98 |
27C256 |
FLN6531A |
800
MHz Desktrac repeaters (two MaxTrac
chassis in a box).
Tx & Rx radios use same firmware
(see
note 3).
Allows entry of 800 band repeater
receiver frequencies. |
V31.00 |
90D0 |
14 /
95 |
27C256 |
5102901S02 |
Intrac
UHF MaxTrac |
VIL 1.014 |
(unknown) |
1990 |
27C256 |
HLN9499B |
Radius
M214 / M216 16 pin (LRA)
This board must be programmed with
RADMBL (Radius RSS) and supports 16
modes and channel steering from the 16
pin I/O connector. |
21.01 |
CC00 |
1987
1991 |
27C256 |
VLN5443A |
99
channel low band MaxTrac (specially made
for Ontario Hydro, the electric utility
in Ontario, Canada). This firmware
requires additional EEPROM to be added
to the logic board. The radio also
requires a special RSS to program it. |
S5.35 |
B100 |
1991 |
27C256 |
NOTES:
- The date can be in
XX / YY format where XX
is the week and YY is the year.
For example, 51 / 94 is
the 51st week of 1994.
- If you find a firmware chip
labled with the part number of
27014 it is a house number for a
standard 27C256.
- The low band, high band and UHF
Desktrac repeater uses the
standard mobile firmware in their
transceivers - only the 800MHz
units need the FLN6531 firmware -
which makes sense since the VHF
and UHF standard mobile frequency
ranges cover the respective
repeater input and output
sub-bands whereas the 800 mobiles
normally cannot receive the 800
repeater input frequencies.
- An (unknown) entry means that we
don't have that checksum in our
notes. If you have it in yours
please send it in.
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If you find an EPROM with
a label reading "Scholer-Johnson",
"Scholer-Johnson Inc.", "SJI", "CVT-2-400"
that is an aftermarket LTR trunking EPROM
designed for the MaxTracs (usually 800 MHz,
but occasionally seen on 900 MHz, UHF or even
high band). If you find one and want to
convert it back to a regular radio you will
have to replace the chip with the stock
conventional firmware, and then you will have
to blank and reinitialize the logic board with
MaxTrac Lab. Occasionally you find the stock
firmware in an antistatic bag stuck inside the
radio but that is extremely rare. If you want
to use the radio on an LTR system then you
need the Scholer-authored RSS to talk to it
(and you will need that anyway to read and
save the tuning data before you blank the
board). See the article on "Converting a Two,
Six or Eight Channel MaxTrac or Radius M100 to
16 or 32 Channels" for information on blanking
and reinitializing a board.
Logic
Boards:
(You may have to pop the metal shield off
the CPU compartment to find the board number)
Board
Number |
Accessory
Connector
Pins |
Used in... |
Comments |
HLN9313A,B |
16 |
All
except 900 MHz |
One
of the two 16 pin boards, and the only
one used on non-900 MHz radios. |
HLN5172A,B |
5 |
All
except 900 MHz |
Normally
found in trunking (or ex-trunking)
radios. The 16-pin firmware has been
sucessfully used in this board to max
out the channel capacity and you should
be able to program pins 2 and 3 on the
five pin connector (normally associated
with emergency input and alarm output)
for other functions just as if they were
pins 9 and 4 on a 16 pin board. |
HLN5173A,B |
5 |
All
except 900 MHz |
Normally
found in conventional radios. Can have
newer firmware installed but has no
external EEPROM chip and therefore has
limited channels. |
HLN5123A,B |
5 |
All
except 900 MHz |
Normally
found in conventional radios. This is a
masked CPU board (i.e. no EPROM socket)
and as such cannot be upgraded with
newer firmware and does not have an
external EEPROM threfore has limited
channels. |
FRN5529A,B |
16 |
900
MHz only |
Trunked
or conventional, to change requires
changing the firmware chip (use only 900
MHz firmware on 900 MHz logic boards). |
RF
Boards:
Board
Number |
Frequency Range(s) |
Comments |
HLB4099A,B |
29.7-36.0
MHz |
Can
be pushed down to amateur radio 10
meters. |
HLB4100A |
36.0-42.0
MHz |
Pretty
useless for amateur radio except as
parts, or as an IF frequency. |
HLB4101A |
42.0-50.0
MHz |
Can
be moved to 6 meter amateur radio, there
is an article on this topic at this web
site. |
HLD4321B |
136-162
MHz |
Preferred
board for 2m amateur radio, CAP, MARS
and NOAA weather, but rare. |
HLD4322B |
146-174
MHz |
Third
best for 2m. |
HLD4322C |
144-174
MHz |
Second
best for 2m amateur radio, also rare. |
HLE4425A,
B |
403-430
MHz |
Perfect
for 420-430 MHz links and control
channels. |
???????? |
430-450
MHz |
There
is a consistent rumor that a 430-450 MHz
board was made for the
UK / European market. If
anyone can confirm or deny the rumor,
we'd like to know. |
HLE9310A,
B |
449-470
MHz |
Can
be stretched downward to cover 440-450,
but a 438-470 MHz GM300 is better. |
HLF4095B |
RX
851-870 MHz
TX 806-825 MHz |
(800
MHz non-talkaround) marked DUPLX on the
board. Useful only in an 800 MHz
commercial mobile (i.e. as the user
radio in a repeat-only environment). |
HLF9122A |
RX
851-870 MHz
TX 806-825 MHz and
TX 851-870 MHz |
(800
MHz talkaround) marked SIMPLEX on the
board. This board has a dual range VCO
and the talkaround oscillator can be
locked on and used as the low side
injection on a 900 MHz repeater
receiver. |
FLF5298A |
RX
935-941 MHz
TX 896-902 MHz and
TX 935-941 MHz |
There
is only one 900 MHz board. It has a dual
range VCO that can be retuned to allow
receive in the 926-928 MHz range and
transmit in both the 902-903 range and
the 926-928 MHz range. |
FLF5543A |
RX
806-825 MHz
TX 851-870 MHz |
Moto
made an 800 MHz DeskTrac repeater
(L35SUM or L45SUM series). One chassis
was the transmitter, and used the
HLF9122 board. The other chassis was the
receiver, and used the FLF5543A board.
This had 815 MHz filters in it in order
to receive the 806-825 MHz band. No
official manual, available or not, seems
to cover it. Unique firmware (FLN6531A)
was present in both of the radios to
accept the repeater frequency ranges;
more details can be found in the
firmware table above. |
Photos of the 800 MHz HLF4095B "DUPLX" and
HLF9122A "SIMPLEX" boards are at the Repeater
Builder website, in the article titled Converting
Other 800 MHz MaxTracs to the 900 MHz Ham Band.
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