Maxar 80 hook up question

[02intlbluebird]

I recieved a Motorola Maxar 80 years ago that wasn't connected to anything. The tail of the wires were cut off and taped up. I need help with re wiring it. I would like to get it hooked up to see if it works. It has a red, green, two black, and another black wire that looks back into the white plastic housing that hooks into the back of the radio.

In the fourth picture, it says:
FCC TX Data CC3324
FCC RX Data RC0206
SER 475FLS3148
MOD D33TSA3300CK

Can anyone tell me what that means above? I am guessing channels.

 

[cmdrwill]

MOD D33TSA3300CK is a VHF 10-25 watt radio with tone PL.

There should be a large RED and BLACK wires that are 12 volts in, fuse at 15 amps MAX. Top two in connector housing.

The two other wires are the Hang-UP box switch.

The jumper connects the internal speaker.

 

[b7spectra]

Crystal controlled if I recall. A real workhorse like the old HT220!

 

[02intlbluebird]

Thanks for the help. I'm hoping that I can just wire up the red and black. I don't want the hassle of having a proffessional radio guy to do it.

I will have to reply when I get it going again hopefully.

 

[ramal121]

Yes, red and large black wires will power up radio and off you go.

Next row down, the green and skinny black are the hang up box. Short these two wires together and the
receiver is in PL. Open the two and receive is in monitor. Of course the monitor button on the front of radio
defeats this.

The jumper loop connects the internal speaker. If an external speaker is desired, the loop is removed
and the speaker wires stuffed in their place.

You can beat those things all day with the ugly stick and they will still play...

 

[02intlbluebird]

So my intentions is to go to a store and pick up 12 volt wiring and creconnect the housing and run it by a car battery. Would that make it run? Also, what is a tone PL?

 

[talkpair]

Also, what is a tone PL?

PL=Private Line
This is the subaudible continuous tone (CTCSS) sent while transmitting........Receiving units filter out those tones not matching the desired tone, unless the monitor button is pressed, or the microphone is removed from the hangup box.

It's the equivalent to the "Privacy Codes" in that T5400 Talkabout radio you have sitting on the desk.

 

[02intlbluebird]

Anyone know if the radio makes a beep when turned on? I quickly tried it today and got no response. Also, does the second black and green wires need to be wrapped around the top red and black wires to transmit? I am unsure if it worked at all today.

 

[talkpair]

Anyone know if the radio makes a beep when turned on?

No....there is no beep on power up

does the second black and green wires need to be wrapped around the top red and black wires to transmit?

No.
These 2 wires go to the microphone hangup box.
If you don't have a microphone hangup box, tape and store these 2 wires.
A microphone hangup box has a switch that performs the same function as the monitor button on the face of your radio. It disables the PL feature and forces the operator to monitor the frequency before transmitting.
You do NOT need a microphone hangup box for this radio to work.

The red and black wires, which are on the top of the connector are all you need to connect to the battery/power supply.

cmdrwill pretty much laid out what you need in his reply.

I would suggest you power it up, turn up the volume 1/4 turn, turn the squelch FULLY counter-clockwise.......press the monitor button in, and listen for noise.
If you get no noise, there's not much anyone can do for you online.

The front panel is also backlit.......These bulbs are frequently burned out, and probably not a good indicator of anything if they aren't lit up.

 

[02intlbluebird]

Thanks for all your help. Man, this is getting frustrating. I really had my hopes up to see it turn on and run. I think I am doing something wrong with the wiring. I had the red and black wires hooked up to the battery right, but not the others. When I undid the electrical tape, the green and other black wires that end were wrapped around all the others including a stub of a random thick black wire that was thrown in. I think that's what I need to do to get it going.


I tried all the buttons. I turned the squelch and monitor on and nothing worked.

 

[b7spectra]

Go by a Motorola shop, they may have a connector for it, and since it's a good 30 years old, they may feel sorry for you and see if it actually works!

 

[02intlbluebird]

Great new you guys!

I attempted a trial run with this again and it worked. I am so happy. I got two vids for you fans so I'm not making up stuff. I just need your help with what I need to run this radio from an outlet in my garage. Any suggestions? Thanks

YouTube - Motorola Maxar 80 #1

YouTube - Motorola Maxar 80 #2

 

[davidgcet]

this is a very old crystal controlled VHF radio. in order to use it on any freq other than what it has in it now you will spend well north of 200.00!

if you just want to use it to listen to someone, just pick up a 12V power supply from rad shack or elsewhere. if you ain't transmitting a 3-5A is MORE than enough to run it. if you do need to TX, then you will need something capable of at least 10A as these pull about 6-7A during TX.

i would not spend any money on the radio itself other than a power supply and antenna that could be used later. that unit will be illegal to operate in a little over 2 years. and once adjacent narrow band channels are assigned it may be useles for RX as well.

 

[02intlbluebird]

that unit will be illegal to operate in a little over 2 years. and once adjacent narrow band channels are assigned it may be useles for RX as well.

What's going on that I don't know about? Is this the all thadios need to be digital in 2015? Well, the frequencies right now are town used, one for the bus company and the other municipal/ public works. Now, Maine uses a lot of our frequencies and the bus is also a FD channel and our PW is Kitter, ME PD.

 

[W2NJS]

No, all commercial two-way radios must operate in what is called narrowband mode by then, and your Maxar will only operate on wideband. Best use for it now and in the future would be as a receiving monitor. Fortunately the receive crystals are pretty cheap. What you need to order them is the frequency that you want to receive and the fact that the radio has a 10.7 mHz IF. Don't worry about what that means but just tell the crystal company you order from that those are the tech specs of your unit. It's a great old radio and will serve you for many years if you want it to.

 

[02intlbluebird]

I appreciate the help. My next step is to find a decent power supply but Radioshack isn't doing to well with those. My intensions is to kepp this radio in the garage for RX only. If it wasn't dang expensive to get new chrystals to change the frequencies, I would sell it to a friend and we could have our own channel.

What's the difference in wideband vs. narrowband?
Are RX chrystals cheaper than trying to get TX?

 

[davidgcet]

it takes 2 crystals to tx and rx, one for each. if you want to change rx freq only you just need 1. this will probably run you about 60.00 from most sources last i priced it*, and that is if you change it yourself. if the new freq is REAL close to your existing one it won't require a retune just to pick up a local channel. of course a proper tuning would give best RX, but so long as you are just listening and the freq is within say a meg of the previous one it should be ok.

*i have not ordered a crystal in 5-6 years so there may be cheaper sources now. we quit refreqing Xtal units 10 years ago. someone brings one to us, they buy a new unit or take it elsewhere. it just ain't worth the expense to your avg farmer/small business when a new radio is only 350-400.00.

EDIT to add that the power supply can be up to about 14v and it will be fine so long as it can handle at least 1 amp. the radio is only going to draw about 3/4A in rx an that is if it is wide open, mostly less than 1/2A. to do it cheaply you could use an old car/lawn mower battery and just put it on a charger every few days.

 

[W2NJS]

If you can find a local RS or similar store that keeps a box of scanner crystals for sale, dating from back when all scanners needed crystals, you can probably find crystals for your local PD, FD, etc. that would work if the agency has not switched to digital. In such a case a crystal will run $5 to $10.

Narrowband vs. wideband refers to the amount of spectrum (radio space) your radio uses when it transmits. In such setups the receiver is set up to receive the narrower channel. Result is that more spectrum is made available to users so more people can get fitted in the space fhar formerly had, say, 50 people but now can handle 100. That's a rough example but you get the idea.

 

[b7spectra]

Great new you guys!

I attempted a trial run with this again and it worked. I am so happy. I got two vids for you fans so I'm not making up stuff. I just need your help with what I need to run this radio from an outlet in my garage. Any suggestions? Thanks

YouTube - Motorola Maxar 80 #1

YouTube - Motorola Maxar 80 #2

Like the MIT engineering to hook up the power!

Now, get it wired into your vehicle and enjoy! Don't worry about the Narrowbanding, by the time it happens (if it happens) you will have gotten a new radio anyway!