Way to use Macom radio to scan only?

[neonhomer]

I was thinking about obtaining an actual Macom radio (like a PAZTDX, I think). Is there a way one of these radios can be made to scan only? I don't want to transmit, just receive. (I even thought about opening it up and removing the PTT button.)

I doubt it would work, but it's just a thought, and a question.

 

[ElroyJetson]

YES, you can use one for a scanner that won't transmit. UNLESS it's an M-PD. There's no option in the software to make an M-PD a truly "silent" (won't transmit) scanner. So pulling
out the transmit button and placing a block under it is a VERY good idea...but don't put a
speaker-mic on the radio or you get your transmitter back!


An M-PA will do it and has a true RX-only option in the software, as do all newer edacs radios M-PAs a're newer than M-PDs, but M-PAs are still at the end of their service life,
and are failing left and right due to old age. An LPE or other newer radio is a better choice.

Elroy

 

[jfroot]

Yes.. Get an LPE if you can. You can reprogram the PTT button to be inactive. And you can also make each TG receive only and tell it to not register on the network. This will make it virtually a scanner.

 

[w0fg]

Yes.. Get an LPE if you can. You can reprogram the PTT button to be inactive. And you can also make each TG receive only and tell it to not register on the network. This will make it virtually a scanner.

That's what I've done with my M-RK. Works great!

 

[ElroyJetson]

I've done that with Jaguars. Properly programmed, the radio simply won't transmit, PERIOD, unless a system administrator KNOWS your logical ID and sends appropriate commands. And even then, it may be possible to program the radio to ignore such commands. I'm just
not sure about that.

Picking a logical ID...go for the highest, or the lowest possible ID number. And make sure
that even the CALLS check box is unchecked. Use the "tabular view" option to rapidly check all your groups for ones you missed.

For the last word in transmit-proof safety, remove the power amplifier module and the driver for it as well.

Elroy

 

[neonhomer]

Old thread, huh....

The only ones I find in my price range are the M-PA PAZTDX units.

Basically, I want something to be able to monitor my local PD, and be able to switch it from dept to dept as needed.... I have a Pro-95, but it seems like it misses a lot.

The units I see on eBay... some have the keypad, some dont... (the auctions I see both list a PAZTDX unit, one with a keypad, one without.......)

Maybe I should just stick with a trunking scanner......

 

[mancow]

You just can't beat the sensitivity of an MR-K when scanning and edacs system. Mine tracks when the rest of the radios are silent. The MP-As aren't bad either but they are kind of clunky and of course, heavy!

 

[mike_webb59]

There is a Yahoo Group dedicated to MPD and MPA's. The radios are going for a good price these days, and they are rugged. Batteries and Programming hardware will make up for the low cost; a RIB and cable setup is about $150 and a non-RIB setup is just under $100. Batteries are in the $40.00 range. There are some folks that will program a radio for a fee.

Good luck, Mike

 

[ElroyJetson]

I trust your word that the sensitivity of M-RKs is quite good, but haven't had a chance to
try one out for myself.

However, when I went to do sensitivity tests on some Jaguar 700Ps and 7100IPs as well,
I was...well....stunned by the results.

My test signal generator is a Rohde & Schwarz SMY-02, which works down to -140 dBM.
It's a 15,000 dollar piece of equipment. (Retail when it was new, not very many years ago.)

The radios were able to pick up the LEAKAGE from the signal generator with the RF output
turned OFF.

So I had to go to a custom solution to keep the radio from picking up the stray radiation,
and keep it in the test cable all the way to the radio.

The radios would reliably break squelch between -127 dBM and -135 dBM.

That's EXTREMELY sensitive.

However....comparable MOTOROLA radios, while not being so quick to break squelch,
achieved full quieting more quickly. At a signal level where an Astro Saber has just
hit 20 dB quieting or full quieting, the M/A-com radio was receiving the signal but with
a little more noise mixed in.

Elroy

 

[otter9309]

That is probably why the Jag's are terrible with de-sense. I know if you have two or more radios in close proximity they will miss calls or even go into CC scan. Maybe they are too sensitive? Does this make sense????

S.

 

[ElroyJetson]

I haven't observed that phenomenon as of yet. But I'll be on the lookout for it.

Elroy

 

[morganAL]

Have you had any issues with batteries? We have some radios that seem to just eat batteries.

 

[WCRadioGuy]

Have you had any issues with batteries? We have some radios that seem to just eat batteries.

I have complaints about batteries on P7100's. There is an sc4 file to fix a 700P battery voltage indication problem. So far there is nothing about P7100's.

 

[ElroyJetson]

So far, any good battery easily lasts all day on any of my 7100IPs and 700Ps as well.
If I have one with a battery issue, I have not yet noticed it.

As my application is scanning only and not transmitting, I can get two day's worth
of listening out of one charge, if I listen for 8 hours a day.

Now that I've installed an enhanced vehicular adapter (with hand-held controller!),
I may never need the rack charger again, not for my own personal radio, anyway.

Elroy

 

[otter9309]

Yes, the radio eats batteries. A typical officer will get 4-6 hours of use from a radio. If the officer does not TX it will last all day. The problem is the TX cuts out as the battery voltage drops. Motorola will continue to TX as the battery voltage drops, but the TX power will decrese. At least you can still TX. I have spoke to M/A Com about this and they just don't get it. They say their radio design is better because you always have full TX power. I think Pro-Scan is the evil feature that is draining the battery so fast. I have tested radios with new conditioned batteries and get the same amount of TX time out of the radio, so I know it is not a battery issue. And as stated earlier the radio will RX all day long after the TX cut off is reached because of battery voltage drop.

Go figure.

 

[ElroyJetson]

I HAVE seen THAT...but I attributed it to cheap batteries.

Dear M/A-Com: A weak but functional transmitter is a better feature for officer safety
than a transmitter that won't operate at all.

That's just one of the reasons why you're always running so far behind Motorola.


Elroy

 

[otter9309]

My best hope is to upgrade to P25 and get off of Pro-Voice. Then we will not be stuck with one vendor. A little competition could solve a lot of problems.

 

[WCRadioGuy]

As my application is scanning only and not transmitting, I can get two day's worth
of listening out of one charge, if I listen for 8 hours a day.

Elroy

That's the key there. Your only scanning and not transmitting. The problem I've seen is an actively used radio (scanning and transmitting) has low battery life.

 

[morganAL]

We're not using ProScan (yet) and we still have some battery issues. I can take a battery off of the analyzer/conditioner, put it on the radio, tx 1 time and the radio reports a low battery. Pull the battery, put it on another radio and no problems.

 

[otter9309]

What flash version do you have and what radio is it?