Problems With Programming Motorola HT1000

fonestar · Nov 19, 2017

I came by an older HT1000 that was going to be recycled by a client. The battery is toast but the handheld looks to be in very good shape cosmetically.

I know that others have posted hundreds of the same questions about programming the HT1000 so I will start by saying:

* Yes I am attempting to program from DOS, not from Windows or a DOS emulator
* Yes I am using a vintage Compaq laptop with a real Serial Port, I believe the CPU is 100 MHz
* Yes I am using authentic Motorola HT1000 programming cable
* Yes I have checked in the computer BIOS to make sure Serial port COM1 is enabled

* I am not sure the manufacture of the RIB box, it is a generic one from eBay I got a few years ago
* It has a brand new 9V battery in it

No matter what I try, the RSS software throws up a "Trouble with COM port..." message when I try and read the radio. I never see the DATA light on the RIB box go red or even flicker. Now I am powering the radio with an external power source set for 7.5V and current-limiting. I can also verify that the HT1000 is transmitting because I have a RF meter beside it. The DOS and RSS is being run from floppy disk A: drive.

Any other ideas of things to look for? I don't want to spend the money on new batteries for this 20+ year old radio if I can't program frequencies into it.

radioman2001 · Nov 20, 2017

Did you verify the serial port operation with some other software or different radio? Have you picked the correct serial port in the setup menus F-9 I believe. You can run a serial port test with the software, it will tell you if the radio can be talked to.

Anything faster than a 25 mhz clock will cause errors with HT-1000. Also any processor that has a math co-processor (DX) will cause problems. The best I had was a 25 mhz SX Compac desk top that would program any of the old radios. Sabers BTW have the same issue.

kayn1n32008 · Nov 20, 2017

Go Modern

Really, The HT-1000 is past it's prime. Yes I know there are still thousands, if not tens of thousands in service. But if given the option, I would rather go out and buy something much more modern. I have a bunch of modern portables, that can be programmed with computers running Windows 7 Pro 64bit processors. many of these radios are out of production like the HT-1000. ALL my radios are far more capable than the HT-1000, and out perform it in almost every way.

Dump it on ebay and get $25-50 and invest in a more modern radio. Even a HT-1250 is a much more capable radio than the HT-1000.

radioman2001 · Nov 20, 2017

Personal preference, I still have a P-200 (T band) I bought brand new paid about $600.00 for and still use. It still works and the batteries are still available. Yes a 1250 would be better but If all you need is one or up to 16 channels finding the programming issue is cheaper than buying another radio

fonestar · Nov 20, 2017

kayn1n32008 said:
Really, The HT-1000 is past it's prime. Yes I know there are still thousands, if not tens of thousands in service. But if given the option, I would rather go out and buy something much more modern. I have a bunch of modern portables, that can be programmed with computers running Windows 7 Pro 64bit processors. many of these radios are out of production like the HT-1000. ALL my radios are far more capable than the HT-1000, and out perform it in almost every way.

Dump it on ebay and get $25-50 and invest in a more modern radio. Even a HT-1250 is a much more capable radio than the HT-1000.

Yes, I know there are much newer and more capable radios out there... my EDC is an Icom T70A that doubles well as a scanner. I just want the Motorola HT1000 working for the vintage wow factor, plus I have a bunch of old (and still working) Motorola Brick Phones, Bag Phones and "lunch can" tranceivers in my collection too. If I can program some MURS, 2M simplex and SAR frequencies into its 16 channels I will be a happy man.

WPXS472 · Nov 20, 2017

I haven't programmed any HT1000's as of yet. But, they do use the same software as the Visar and I have programmed many of them. I have never had any issues with processor speed with Visars. I expect anything new probably won't work, but I have personally used a PC with a 700 MHz clock speed with no problems. Yes, the HT1000 is obsolete, and there are better radios out there for sure. But, on the other hand, they are pretty good radios. I suspect either your RIB, or some sort of issue with your serial port. The RIB is easy enough. Get a known good one and try it. The serial port problem can be a real PITA. Try to test something else that utilizes the serial port to be sure it actually works. DOS seems to treat serial ports differently to Windows and sometimes a port that works in one won't work in the other. I wish I could be more specific about trouble shooting a serial port, but there are a lot of variables to deal with. Not to mention that it has been some time since I did trouble shooting on a serial port. Do let us know how you fixed it. I plan on doing some programming on some HT1000's soon and might just be in the same boat.

mm · Nov 20, 2017

Quote: "The DOS and RSS is being run from floppy disk A: drive."

Why are you running the RSS from the floppy drive A:?

Just install the RSS on the PC and run it from C: drive and get rid of your headaches.

I always run from the C: drive and never had an issue.

Running RSS from a floppy either, in A or B drives has always been an issue.

jim202 · Nov 20, 2017

mm said:
Quote: "The DOS and RSS is being run from floppy disk A: drive."

Why are you running the RSS from the floppy drive A:?

Just install the RSS on the PC and run it from C: drive and get rid of your headaches.

I always run from the C: drive and never had an issue.

Running RSS from a floppy either, in A or B drives has always been an issue.

Just remember that the hard drive can be no larger than 80 GB and must be formatted in FAT32 in order for DOS to function correctly.

If the computer has windows 98 on it, check the hardware manager to see what com port the software can see the serial cable and RIB are connected to.

This may seem very basic, but at this point it is worth checking. Com port 1 is not always available and the computer may have connected it to one of the other ports.

fonestar · Nov 20, 2017

mm said:
Quote: "The DOS and RSS is being run from floppy disk A: drive."

Why are you running the RSS from the floppy drive A:?

Just install the RSS on the PC and run it from C: drive and get rid of your headaches.

I always run from the C: drive and never had an issue.

Running RSS from a floppy either, in A or B drives has always been an issue.

I copied the files over to C:\ still no luck.

cmdrwill · Nov 20, 2017

fonestar said:
I copied the files over to C:\ still no luck.

All the HT1000 files need to be in it's own directory.

Make really sure you have booted to REAL DOS.

KC2GSP · Nov 20, 2017

While we have a captive audience here discussing the ht1000, can anyone confirm if the ht1000 internal speaker is interchangeable with an mt2000 ? I'm having an issue of low audio on my mt2000 and have a perfectly good ht1000 to pilfer some parts from.

cmdrwill · Nov 20, 2017

I believe the speakers are the same, the flex they are soldered to IS different.

Also there are alignment steps that adjust audio output and that may need to be checked.

fonestar · Nov 21, 2017

SOLVED

FYI... I solved the problem. Not sure if the original serial cable was straight through or cross-over, but it was wrong.

I switched to a different 9 Pin serial cable and the RIB started working fine and I could read/write codeplugs to my HT1000.

FYI my friend said he has programmed HT1000s with his computer that is much newer and faster than my 100Mhz Compaq and it works fine.

cmdrwill · Nov 21, 2017

fonestar said:
FYI... I solved the problem. Not sure if the original serial cable was straight through or cross-over, but it was wrong.

I switched to a different 9 Pin serial cable and the RIB started working fine and I could read/write codeplugs to my HT1000.

FYI my friend said he has programmed HT1000s with his computer that is much newer and faster than my 100Mhz Compaq and it works fine.

The later versions of the RSS for the HT1000 fixed the computer speed problem.
AKA Pentium compatible.

Project25_MASTR · Nov 21, 2017

cmdrwill said:
The later versions of the RSS for the HT1000 fixed the computer speed problem.
AKA Pentium compatible.

It'll run fine on the first and second gen Intel Core 2 Duo CPUs. That's as fast as I've tried though. Only RSS I've actually had speed related issues with are the X9000 and R100 RSS both of which can be run on a P3 by simply disabling the cache.

Problems With Programming Motorola HT1000

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