• To anyone looking to acquire commercial radio programming software:

    Please do not make requests for copies of radio programming software which is sold (or was sold) by the manufacturer for any monetary value. All requests will be deleted and a forum infraction issued. Making a request such as this is attempting to engage in software piracy and this forum cannot be involved or associated with this activity. The same goes for any private transaction via Private Message. Even if you attempt to engage in this activity in PM's we will still enforce the forum rules. Your PM's are not private and the administration has the right to read them if there's a hint to criminal activity.

    If you are having trouble legally obtaining software please state so. We do not want any hurt feelings when your vague post is mistaken for a free request. It is YOUR responsibility to properly word your request.

    To obtain Motorola software see the Sticky in the Motorola forum.

    The various other vendors often permit their dealers to sell the software online (i.e., Kenwood). Please use Google or some other search engine to find a dealer that sells the software. Typically each series or individual radio requires its own software package. Often the Kenwood software is less than $100 so don't be a cheapskate; just purchase it.

    For M/A Com/Harris/GE, etc: there are two software packages that program all current and past radios. One package is for conventional programming and the other for trunked programming. The trunked package is in upwards of $2,500. The conventional package is more reasonable though is still several hundred dollars. The benefit is you do not need multiple versions for each radio (unlike Motorola).

    This is a large and very visible forum. We cannot jeopardize the ability to provide the RadioReference services by allowing this activity to occur. Please respect this.

EF Johnson 5100 PTT issue (no transmit)

Status
Not open for further replies.

GM

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
1,078
Hi Folks:

I recently purchased an EF Johnson 5100 UHF-low radio that was advertised to have the following features:

Model 242-5123-410KC4

UHF 380-470

Firmware Version 4.14.5 (Latest)

Uses PCC 2.10.2

Conventional Mobile Data, Trunking Mobile Data, P25 Digital Conventional, P25 Digital SMARTNET/SmartZone, Encryption (DES, DES-XL, P25 AES and P25 DES OFB), OTAR Conventional, OTAR P25 Trunking, STAR Trunking, SMARTNET Trunking, SmartZone Trunking, P25 Trunking, Multinet Trunking, Full Keypad Support, Ultra Rare FPP/Keypad Programming, MDC 1200, and 512 talkgroups/channels.

3600 Baud Trunking

9600 Baud Trunking

The problem that I am having is after I program a conventional channel, the PTT button does not allow me to transmit (no matter which channel I program a frequency in, analog or P25 mode) at all. The radio appears in about new condition, so I suspect abuse is not a factor. I do not have any programming cables or software to check further, so is it simply a programming issue somewhere, or did I buy a radio that is as good as a paperweight? Any insight is much appreciated. :)
 
Last edited:

Tommahawk

Member
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
357
Location
Catawissa, PA (Village of Numidia)
I'm not trying to revisit the obvious, but did you setup the radio to transmit on those frequencies??? Sounds like that is the problem to me... This occurs sometime when programming the radio. It is easily forgotten. You might have just placed a Receive frequency in the radio and not a transmit frequency....
 

GM

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
1,078
Yeah, that was the first item I looked at on the keypad screen. I am using the FPP feature available with the radio. No matter which channel I program a frequency into, I do not get any life out of the PTT button. No red LED icon to indicate that it is transmitting. I do get the green LED for the receive portion, but no luck transmitting. I have no access to programming software, so I'm not sure if this radio model has a feature set up for "receive only" per channel like the Motorola's do.
 

jim202

Member
Joined
Mar 7, 2002
Messages
2,729
Location
New Orleans region
Yeah, that was the first item I looked at on the keypad screen. I am using the FPP feature available with the radio. No matter which channel I program a frequency into, I do not get any life out of the PTT button. No red LED icon to indicate that it is transmitting. I do get the green LED for the receive portion, but no luck transmitting. I have no access to programming software, so I'm not sure if this radio model has a feature set up for "receive only" per channel like the Motorola's do.

The 5100 can be set to not TX on a channel. The only way you will really know is to find someone close by with the programming cable and software to read the radio.
 

bezking

Member
Joined
Aug 5, 2006
Messages
2,656
Location
On the Road
The 5100 can be set to not TX on a channel. The only way you will really know is to find someone close by with the programming cable and software to read the radio.
If that is the case, the radio will respond with a solid beep when the PTT is pressed...
 

GM

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
1,078
I was able to try out a Motorola Speaker Mic designed for an HT/xts model (not the Commander series type) and was able to get the radio to transmit with no problem. I'm thinking that their is a problem internally with the radio not recognizing the PTT button on the radio itself. Thanks to all who responded and assisted me with this issue.
 

KC9UNK

Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2012
Messages
78
Location
Rock Co,Wisconsin
5100 mic issue

Its nothing with how you have the channel set up.Ive had this same problem i have been working on for over 2 months, some 5100's have to be altered to tx and tx through the mic. It doesnt automatically work like most handhelds do. I have yet to figure out how to make my mic work too.
 

KC9UNK

Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2012
Messages
78
Location
Rock Co,Wisconsin
Its something to do with the External audio to PA settings. I even tried tricking the radio into thinking it was a 5300 cause that seemed to be the only way to access the check box in the PA settings. Im wondering if its something to do with the radio itself needed to be flashed for mic use if that makes any sense. I know ive asked on 3 different forums and its crickets on responses back to figure it out. I plan on selling the radio because i cant use the mic.
 

chief21

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Mar 2, 2004
Messages
1,798
Location
Summer - Western NC; Winter - Tampa Bay FL
Like most commercial radios, the EFJ 5100 series (portables) and 5300 series (mobiles) have an incredible number of programmable parameters that ultimately affect how the radio operates. Until you can obtain a copy of the correct programming software and an appropriate cable, and are able to review the actual settings, you won't be able to make any determination as to why it isn't working as you expect it to..

Most of the older 5100/5300 radios are no longer supported by EFJ and the programming software can usually be found at no cost. The programming cable for the 5100 happens to be the same as for the Motorola jedi series and can be purchased inexpensively at many places on-line.

A word of caution, however. Some versions of PCC won't run on anything but XP and others seem to operate only with a REAL serial port. Additionally, I wouldn't consider this software to be particularly user-friendly or 'plug and play'. Prior experience is suggested.

John - AC4JK
 

902

Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2003
Messages
2,620
Location
Downsouthsomewhere
The radio appears in about new condition, so I suspect abuse is not a factor.
You won't know until you read it and go through the programmable parameters. I hate to bring this up, but you may have purchased something that was involved in accelerated life testing and acquired/refurbished after disposal. Invest in the proper software and tools to read and program the radio to make sure all the parameters are set properly, and if that's ruled out, well, sometimes a good deal is too good to be true, particularly on auction sites.

Best of luck.
 
Last edited:

gtaman

Member
Joined
Oct 23, 2010
Messages
1,039
Location
GALAXY 19 91.0° W
Like most commercial radios, the EFJ 5100 series (portables) and 5300 series (mobiles) have an incredible number of programmable parameters that ultimately affect how the radio operates. Until you can obtain a copy of the correct programming software and an appropriate cable, and are able to review the actual settings, you won't be able to make any determination as to why it isn't working as you expect it to..

Most of the older 5100/5300 radios are no longer supported by EFJ and the programming software can usually be found at no cost. The programming cable for the 5100 happens to be the same as for the Motorola jedi series and can be purchased inexpensively at many places on-line.

A word of caution, however. Some versions of PCC won't run on anything but XP and others seem to operate only with a REAL serial port. Additionally, I wouldn't consider this software to be particularly user-friendly or 'plug and play'. Prior experience is suggested.

John - AC4JK

The cable is not the same as the JEDI series. The EFJ take a different pinout.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top