• 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.

GE MPD Questions

Status
Not open for further replies.

Josh380

Member
Joined
Mar 29, 2015
Messages
326
Location
Orange County, CA
So I received a grab box of radios for a cool $20. Inside this grab box was one of these. So far I've found out it's a GE MPD series radio. Apparently it has a scan feature which I'm guessing is a little more desirable.

What surprises me here is that batteries seem to still be readily available for this radio (and quite expensive), and unfortunately I've only found a 6 bay charger for these batteries.

Can anyone shed a little more light on this?Unknown GE2.jpgUnknown GE4.jpg
 

MTS2000des

5B2_BEE00 Czar
Joined
Jul 12, 2008
Messages
5,154
Location
Cobb County, GA Stadium Crime Zone
Yours is a "scan" model (they made these in three versions Select (no keypad), Scan (limited keypad) and System (full keypad). Think of it as GE's answer to Motorola's model I/II/III versions of Saber/MTS2000 era radios. Yours has Voice Guard, GE's version of DES/DES-XL digital encryption, CVSD modulation. Old school digital encryption.

These radios date to the mid/late 1980s and IIRC, were built by Japan Radio Company for GE. VHF, UHF and 800MHz versions were made. They program with DOS based software. The one downside is the tracking data and codeplug are stored in volatile RAM backed up by a lithium coin cell battery. When it goes (very likely on a 30-35 year old radio if it was never replaced), the tracking data is lost as is the programming (codeplug). The factory usually recorded the factory tracking data on an insert sandwiched between the logic board and the RF chassis, but sometimes it gets lost during service/tuning.

Wideband only, and pretty dated by today's standards. Replaced by the MP-A series, which used the same batteries and audio accessories. Someone more familiar with GE can chime in with more details. I owned a couple back in the mid 1990s when I cut my teeth as a radio tech at a shop that serviced GE/Ericsson subscribers, and they were long in the tooth then.
 

Josh380

Member
Joined
Mar 29, 2015
Messages
326
Location
Orange County, CA
Ok that's a good start. So it might not be worth spending any money on finding out whether or not it works. Batteries are available but I'm not spending $50 or more to find out. And I still have yet to find a charger for the battery that it came with.

Thank you!
 

MTS2000des

5B2_BEE00 Czar
Joined
Jul 12, 2008
Messages
5,154
Location
Cobb County, GA Stadium Crime Zone
The M-PA is a much more desirable radio, and there were "hamflash" models floating around that were FPP (legal for part 97 use only), and the route I would go if you wanted one of these "GE Bricks". I wouldn't put any money into an M-PD. Nice conversation piece and part of GE history, some have mentioned the M-PD was GE's answer to the Saber, but IIRC the M-PD actually came to market first based on the LBI dates. Saber came in 1987, the LBI's I have show 1985 for the M-PD.
 

12dbsinad

Member
Joined
Mar 15, 2010
Messages
1,943
Batteries are expensive because the on/off switching is done in them. Even back in the day. Anyone who used a MPD in the day would experience the total PIA ramp volume and/or channel change controls.
 

Josh380

Member
Joined
Mar 29, 2015
Messages
326
Location
Orange County, CA
Batteries are expensive because the on/off switching is done in them. Even back in the day. Anyone who used a MPD in the day would experience the total PIA ramp volume and/or channel change controls.
I thought that was weird. Who at GE made that brilliant idea?
 

BushDoctor

Member
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
152
Location
Strasburg, Va
I thought that was weird. Who at GE made that brilliant idea?
Probably the same guy that designed the TPL (toilet paper line) and the voice commander I had the displeasure of working on these back in 963 and 1964 went to motorola after that and working on GE's beforehand made me a top notch Motorola Tech. The prog line was the last decent GE radio made before my switch
 

wa8pyr

Technischer Guru
Staff member
Lead Database Admin
Joined
Sep 22, 2002
Messages
6,974
Location
Ohio
These were great radios in their day. Some of the best audio I ever heard.

Concur. I have a System model MPD which I used for several years for railroad monitoring and VHF ham radio. The bit about the memory battery is absolutely correct, but if I recall correctly it was a cylindrical battery with wire leads, not a coin cell. Still works although I don't use it much anymore. A friend has one (we bought them in the same lot complete with speaker mikes, chargers and batteries) and still uses it. He went to Batteries Plus and had them rebuild a battery pack, cost him about $20.

I replaced the memory batteries and retuned/reprogrammed them. Fun project although a bit finicky changing the battery.
 

mm

Member
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
659
Location
oregon
Good radios but like others mention nobody wants them anymore so I converted all of my high band M-PD'S to 220 ham and a 800 m-pd to 900 ham as opposed to tossing them out.

They make nice 220 handout radios to hams who's Boefeng 220 junk break and 900 MHZ BEATER HT'S with more power than an MTX9250 ON 900.

I keep all my HAMFLASH M-PA'S, in VHF, 220, UHF 900, for my use as desk queens but for beater up tough radios the M-PD'S are great, the 800's on 900 ham work great with a new 900 power module, 900 helicals and some minor vco mods which are similar that performed on M-PA'S.
 

Drew2075

Member
Joined
Mar 3, 2020
Messages
13
Location
USofA
Hello all, long time listener, first time caller!!!
And proud to be a part of RRef.
Well I’m a proud owner of my MPD Systems radio and the audio might just sound better than my XTS5K. Now my only question is do I really need CNV.exe to program my Canadian MPD systems radio? Which needs a really slow 486 pc to run? Really would love to get this MPD on MURS soon. Also I’m goo goo ga ga over a hamflash MPA :) Thank you
Let’s all have a great day and was our hands frequently!
 

Attachments

  • image.jpg
    image.jpg
    44.9 KB · Views: 11

wa8pyr

Technischer Guru
Staff member
Lead Database Admin
Joined
Sep 22, 2002
Messages
6,974
Location
Ohio
Hello all, long time listener, first time caller!!!
And proud to be a part of RRef.
Well I’m a proud owner of my MPD Systems radio and the audio might just sound better than my XTS5K. Now my only question is do I really need CNV.exe to program my Canadian MPD systems radio? Which needs a really slow 486 pc to run? Really would love to get this MPD on MURS soon. Also I’m goo goo ga ga over a hamflash MPA :) Thank you
Let’s all have a great day and was our hands frequently!

Grab a copy of Rufus: Rufus

It allows you to create a bootable USB thumb drive running DOS and works like a charm. As formatted the USB stick is very basic and doesn't include a lot of the capabilities of DOS, so I copied the DOS folder from my 486 programming laptop over to the thumb drive (using Laplink!!!) and all was well. I then copied all of the software from my 486 laptop (again using Laplink), including the software for the MPD and other older radios.

You need to use a computer with a genuine comm port (no USB-Serial adapters) and make sure the computer goes to USB first when looking for a bootable drive, but assuming that's the case you only need to plug the USB drive in and turn the computer on; DOS will boot and away you go.

I've programmed a bunch of radios this way using a Toughbook CF-30, including some Moneyrola radios which were supposedly sensitive to computer clock speed, and it worked flawlessly every time. I recently got a Toughbook CF-53 but haven't tried it with Rufus yet.

You can also look for DOSBox. Runs genuine DOS in a window on the computer (Mac, Linux or Windows), and allows you to set all kinds of parameters (including what kind of computer to emulate such as a 486). Also works like a charm. I'm tempted to try it with the copy of Defender Stargate I found recently. :D
 

Drew2075

Member
Joined
Mar 3, 2020
Messages
13
Location
USofA
Grab a copy of Rufus: Rufus

It allows you to create a bootable USB thumb drive running DOS and works like a charm. As formatted the USB stick is very basic and doesn't include a lot of the capabilities of DOS, so I copied the DOS folder from my 486 programming laptop over to the thumb drive (using Laplink!!!) and all was well. I then copied all of the software from my 486 laptop (again using Laplink), including the software for the MPD and other older radios.

You need to use a computer with a genuine comm port (no USB-Serial adapters) and make sure the computer goes to USB first when looking for a bootable drive, but assuming that's the case you only need to plug the USB drive in and turn the computer on; DOS will boot and away you go.

I've programmed a bunch of radios this way using a Toughbook CF-30, including some Moneyrola radios which were supposedly sensitive to computer clock speed, and it worked flawlessly every time. I recently got a Toughbook CF-53 but haven't tried it with Rufus yet.

You can also look for DOSBox. Runs genuine DOS in a window on the computer (Mac, Linux or Windows), and allows you to set all kinds of parameters (including what kind of computer to emulate such as a 486). Also works like a charm. I'm tempted to try it with the copy of Defender Stargate I found recently. :D
wa8pyr thank you for the great knowledge.
I’ve been waiting for a deal on a ToughBook; Soon I hope! What’s the difference between a CF30 and 53?
btw, Rufus looks like a great option but I’m going to assume DOSBox will not run MPD ware?
 

wa8pyr

Technischer Guru
Staff member
Lead Database Admin
Joined
Sep 22, 2002
Messages
6,974
Location
Ohio
wa8pyr thank you for the great knowledge.
I’ve been waiting for a deal on a ToughBook; Soon I hope! What’s the difference between a CF30 and 53?
btw, Rufus looks like a great option but I’m going to assume DOSBox will not run MPD ware?

I see no reason why DOSBox wouldn't work with the MPD software; I never tried it but did use it a few times to program some Maxtrac/Radius mobiles and a VHF Saber with no problems.

Toughbook CF53 has a wide screen display, faster processor and can handle more memory. CF30 never caused any issues for me, I just needed a bit more real estate on the display for the more modern software. I got mine on eBay for $200 plus shipping; as far as I know there are still a bunch on there.

Since these things are used heavily by law enforcement it's common for the selling agency to remove the hard drive, so if you go looking for a CF53, make sure it includes the hard drive caddy and the power pack; some do not (the sellers sell them separately to increase their profit margin). Mine included both but no hard drive, so I installed a 500gb solid state drive; once I got Windows 7 installed (I refuse to use Windows 10) it boots very quickly, which is unusual for Windows.
 

Drew2075

Member
Joined
Mar 3, 2020
Messages
13
Location
USofA
Okay, I have my work cut out for me. Thank you again. It’d be nice to find a descent toughbook w/HD/caddy. I’ll poke around. Just relocated so patience is needed atm. Definitely not an inexpensive hobby lol!
I still used for a long time (stopped this year) a win7 laptop and always on the road and never failed me, started smoothly, almost never a hiccup. Wish micro didn’t abandon it. XP & 7 were workhorses.
 

Drew2075

Member
Joined
Mar 3, 2020
Messages
13
Location
USofA
Well Good Morning all, not to veer off my current subject, but I just purchased the charger mentioned earlier in this post (GE Ericsson VHF UHF Universal Rapid Portable radio desk charger 344A3072P2 A29) in fact seems like the same picture on the listing I purchased from. Well long story short: according to PDF lbi-38707a, charger 344A3072P2 (CH1SA1) should fit MPA/MPD.
Around the same time of purchasing this same charger from beginning thread, I also purchased an MPA which came with a standard charger 19b801506p11.
So 344A3072P2 A29 doesn’t fit my MPD/ MPA batteries but 19B801506P11, which I believe was designed around the said radios.
But I cannot find any info if GE changed the battery housing some time in the past.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top