Headset/Radio Compatability

[bloard]

I operate a race track and we use handheld radios for communication among staff and officials. Unfortunately about 20 of our radios were Motorola SP50's that can't be narrow banded.

The vast majority of users of the radios don't need a whole lot of functionality. They stay on one UHF channel. Our track management have slightly better equipment and more options.

I was looking at a cheap alternative for replacing the 20 handhelds and came across some of the Chinese units such as the BaoFeng. I was all but sold on the purchase until I realized that the units use 2-pin Kenwood jacks. I have 20 fairly nice headsets with 2-pin Motorola jacks. I also just bought some 1-pin (I assume Motorola pin?) headsets from an online auction at a good price.

I assumed that an internet search would reveal a cheap Motorola to Kenwood 2 pin adapter. After hours of searching it hasn't. One option is the replace the whole headset cord at a cost of about $50 each. But my thriftiness has me convinced to continue looking for a cheaper solution.

My questions are:
1. Is there some kind of adapter to go from a Motorola 2-pin or 1-pin to a Kenwood 2-pin?
2. Is there one of these Chinese made cheaper 'disposable' radios that will fit my Motorola 2-pin headsets?
3. What is an older narrow band Motorola with 2 pin that I can program myself that I might find on ebay or Craigslist? (local radio shops want $15 per radio to reprogram)

Or any other solution the community here might have for my issue. Thank you.

[cabletech]

Soo,,,what type race track. I also work at road course's and just this weekend I had some folks come to me with this same problem.

First off, these chianse radios are NOT SERVICEABLE. You maybe able to program frequency's but that is it.

You will not find any ready made adaptors to convert from M to Ken or to Icom or any combination.

If you can find all kinds of better radios on ^**bay or contact me direct as I am a service shop and have used equipment. I do 6 month warrenty on used. You will not find that any where else.

cabletech03@hotmail.com

[KB8QDM]

Circle track safety team leader here.

Look into the Motorola CP 150 and/or 200. They should be narrowband compliant, are relatively inexpensive, and should be easy to program, assuming you have the right software and cable.

And, your two pin Motorola cords will work with them. Failing that, check to see if the cords are removable from the headset. If you decide to go with Kenwoods, then you just need to replace the cord.

Personally, I use either an HT-1000 or an HT-750. Both use an audio adapter on the radio, the HT-1000 is a one pin cord, while the HT-750 uses the standard Moto two pin cord.

Edit: Personally, I'd stay away from the Chinese handhelds out there. If your staff was using SP-50s, then these will be way more radio than they need. There is also the durability factor to consider; my Motos have taken many a bounce off the track and survived. With these, not so much.

[bloard]

Thanks for the replies. I'm an oval dirt track promoter. We have a handful of HT750's and they work quite well. Two follow-up questions:

1.Is there an easy way for a non-dealer to get software to program the 750's or even the SP50's (to listen only), and
2. It seems like in some earlier licensing research there were a couple of public frequencies where narrow banding doesn't apply. Did I read that correctly? If so, I could hand out my SP50's to those that use them infrequently ("we need more hamburger buns in the kitchen") and monitor that frequency separately.

One of the things that was drawing me to the Chinese "disposables" was that I wasn't having to break rules to program them myself. What brands have public software for programing available outside of an authorized dealer? I also operate a traveling race series where frequencies need to change in order to speak to the local track - and that's something I would prefer to do myself.