Motorola CP200 questions

[Rred]

I was recently given a CP200 which seems to be in good shape overall
It is a UHF 4 watt model, 4 channel.

But the battery appears stone cold dead and there's no charger. Can anyone tell me, of the three power contacts, which is pos and neg, so I can try to manually give it a charge and see if the radio works?

And whether it pays to ebay the radio, or if there's a better home for it? I don't really need another 4-channel UHF and more "stuff" for it, but I'm willing to be someone just left it turned on when they put it away, terminally insulted the battery, and decided it was just time for a newer sexier radio.

Red

 

[rbrtklamp2]

Does it use the same charger as the CP185? I may have a charger from my old 185 that's long gone. If I have it your welcome to it. PM me later I'll let you know what I can find. It was actually about to hit the garbage bin when I clean out my closet this week.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

 

[K2NEC]

Does it use the same charger as the CP185? I may have a charger from my old 185 that's long gone. If I have it your welcome to it. PM me later I'll let you know what I can find. It was actually about to hit the garbage bin when I clean out my closet this week.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

NO The CP185 charger has 4 contacts while the cp200 only has 3. If you are trying to "jump" the battery the right contact when looking at the back of the battery closest to the PTT is the common and the middle contact is negative according to my multimeter. IMO just buy a charger you can find them cheaper than $30.

 

[Rred]

"closest to the PTT is the common and the middle contact is negative according to my multimeter."
By "common" do you mean positive? I need positive and negative to see if it will take a charge.


"IMO just buy a charger "
Yes thanks, I know there are cheap chargers, but if the battery is dead, I'll let the next owner figure out exactly what battery (cheap or heavy duty or lithium) and what charger (Moto rapid charge or no-name electrical hazard) they want to buy.
No need to throw money at a pet rock until it proves it isn't one.

When I was a kid every town had a "Fix-It Shop". We don't throw it out, or throw money at it, until we know why.

 

[K2NEC]

"closest to the PTT is the common and the middle contact is negative according to my multimeter."
By "common" do you mean positive? I need positive and negative to see if it will take a charge.


"IMO just buy a charger "
Yes thanks, I know there are cheap chargers, but if the battery is dead, I'll let the next owner figure out exactly what battery (cheap or heavy duty or lithium) and what charger (Moto rapid charge or no-name electrical hazard) they want to buy.
No need to throw money at a pet rock until it proves it isn't one.

When I was a kid every town had a "Fix-It Shop". We don't throw it out, or throw money at it, until we know why.

By process of elimination if middle is negative then common means positive. The left contact is used to communicate with the charger to tell it when it is finished charging.
You can buy a battery for less than $20 and if you decide that you no longer want it you can charge an additional $30 since it comes with 2 batteries. Chargers, on the other hand, are about $40 or less. If you spend the money on another battery or charger it will help you because you can charge more money and it will help the consumer because they don't have to buy a charger/battery if they know if they are getting one that works. If you do plan to sell it consider the condition and the age of the radio so price accordingly. No one is going to spend $200 on an old CP200 when they can spend another $100 on a nice xpr3500.

 

[Rred]

What someone will pay for a used radio, or whether I'll keep it or give it away, isn't a question here. "Waiter, what time is it?" "I'm sorry sir, this isn't my station." Same thing.

I've been working with sparky things for a long time, and the only time "common" has ever been used, has been for "common ground". Never "common positive". So when you say "common"...the obvious question is "Common what? Common ground?" The fact that a connection is common, doesn't matter. All I need to hear is "Hot is closest to the PTT, middle in negative". Farthest from the PTT then becomes, by default, charging logic, *or* a different charging (voltage?) to accommodate the different battery chemistries.

If a battery costs $20 and a charger costs $30...Folks who are just looking for a cheap radio can by a BaoFeng UV82C for $55 and get the whole works new if they shop hard enough. Yeah, it's a CCR not a milspec Moto...but again, that's not the question here. That's for another time and place.

That's for the pinout.

 

[K2NEC]

What someone will pay for a used radio, or whether I'll keep it or give it away, isn't a question here. "Waiter, what time is it?" "I'm sorry sir, this isn't my station." Same thing.

I've been working with sparky things for a long time, and the only time "common" has ever been used, has been for "common ground". Never "common positive". So when you say "common"...the obvious question is "Common what? Common ground?" The fact that a connection is common, doesn't matter. All I need to hear is "Hot is closest to the PTT, middle in negative". Farthest from the PTT then becomes, by default, charging logic, *or* a different charging (voltage?) to accommodate the different battery chemistries.

If a battery costs $20 and a charger costs $30...Folks who are just looking for a cheap radio can by a BaoFeng UV82C for $55 and get the whole works new if they shop hard enough. Yeah, it's a CCR not a milspec Moto...but again, that's not the question here. That's for another time and place.

That's for the pinout.

Yea I might have gotten on a little tangent but anyways best of luck!