HT1000 programming woes

[kayn1n32008]

Me personally, I'm not a throw-a-way kind of guy, thats for CCR stuff. I know there is a point when have to cut your losses. I think you can't learn anything when if it doesn't turn on and you just immediately throw it away. Something can always be learned from trouble shooting defective/inoperable equipment, at least look and identify and see if there is a solution to fix it.

I kindly disagree.

If I can't program it using a modern computer, it's past its useful life.

I'd love a pair of Visar's, but DOS just makes it not worth the time to invest. They deserve their place in a museum. Same with HT1000, MT1000, HT600, P200, GP300 and all the rest of those old radios.

 

[ElroyJetson]

If I still HAD the radios, and the programming setup for it, I could be quite happy using any Genesis series radio as my 2M or 70CM HT. P200/HT600 or MT1000, they were great, simple radios and solid performers. A 99 channel MT1000 was one of my favorite radios for a LONG time. With a DTMF keypad it'd do everything I needed of a single band radio.

There were a lot of good radios in those days. Of course I have a lot to say (all positive) about the Saber series as well. I still have some of those and they still work quite well.

To clarify my earlier comments on battery availability, I'm just saying that it's time to retire radios when the original manufacturer of the radio has discontinued selling batteries for that type. That is definitely the time at which they've been obsolete long enough and support has surely ended.

 

[kayn1n32008]

If I still HAD the radios, and the programming setup for it, I could be quite happy using any Genesis series radio as my 2M or 70CM HT. P200/HT600 or MT1000, they were great, simple radios and solid performers. A 99 channel MT1000 was one of my favorite radios for a LONG time. With a DTMF keypad it'd do everything I needed of a single band radio.

There were a lot of good radios in those days. Of course I have a lot to say (all positive) about the Saber series as well. I still have some of those and they still work quite well.

To clarify my earlier comments on battery availability, I'm just saying that it's time to retire radios when the original manufacturer of the radio has discontinued selling batteries for that type. That is definitely the time at which they've been obsolete long enough and support has surely ended.

I loved the HT600 I used back as a fresh ham in the mid 90's. I've got a soft spot for the Genesis series. They were absolute tanks. Plus I really liked the speakermics for those radios. I'd love to also have a pair(VHF and UHF) of 16 channel MT1000. I'd rather have a MT1000 than a HT1000 actually.

 

[mbnv992]

Most of my collection is all older radio WAY out of EOL.

I still enjoy and use every single one of them ( mainly for GMRS now )



In total I think I have about 7 Astro Saber/R’s, 3 standard Saber R’s ( all my R’s have working 8+ hour long batteries ), 6 HT/P200’s, 2 MT1000’s ( one that had an MDC front plate but in the low UHF Split that I’m looking for a 438-470mhz model to switch housings with ) , 7 MTS2000’s, many Radius radios, some Visars ( all with working thin batteries ) 5 xts3000’s and 2 xts5000’s.
Tons of speaker mics, batteries, chargers, etc etc. I could open my own vintage Motorola radio store haha

 

[chrismol1]

I replaced my Visars with EX600, EX560. They program on windows. they were the replacement to the visar. Same size

 

[knockoffham]

Most of my collection is all older radio WAY out of EOL.

I still enjoy and use every single one of them ( mainly for GMRS now )

View attachment 160788

In total I think I have about 7 Astro Saber/R’s, 3 standard Saber R’s ( all my R’s have working 8+ hour long batteries ), 6 HT/P200’s, 2 MT1000’s ( one that had an MDC front plate but in the low UHF Split that I’m looking for a 438-470mhz model to switch housings with ) , 7 MTS2000’s, many Radius radios, some Visars ( all with working thin batteries ) 5 xts3000’s and 2 xts5000’s.
Tons of speaker mics, batteries, chargers, etc etc. I could open my own vintage Motorola radio store haha

That is sweet. I aspire to have this setup some day (I am a sicko). I wonder what kind of crazy battery life HTs could get with modern battery technology and a HT1000 or even Saber form factor.

 

[mbnv992]

I still have an OEM super short Li-Ion battery produced in 2005 that gets me 13+ hours a day on my UHF Systems Saber 3. That same battery on one of my Astro Saber 3’s only lasts me about 8 hours before it starts chirping.



My mts2000’s typically last 2-3 days on most aftermarket 2200MAH+ batteries.

 

[knockoffham]

I still have an OEM super short Li-Ion battery produced in 2005 that gets me 13+ hours a day on my UHF Systems Saber 3. That same battery on one of my Astro Saber 3’s only lasts me about 8 hours before it starts chirping.

View attachment 160850

My mts2000’s typically last 2-3 days on most aftermarket 2200MAH+ batteries.

Cool! I guess people prefer easy form factor over battery life or Moto would still be making massive handhelds.

 

[nokones]

I am very proud in displaying my vintage radios when I go to my radio club meeting and sit next to the guy with his CCR junk and I place my MT2000 or Astro Saber right up on the table. Of course sometimes I do bring one of my XTS5000 radios.

I would like to dabble with an APX but since the audio accessories and battery chargers are not compatible with my JEDI and Astro Digital 25 Series radios, I probably pass for now on the APX stuff.

 

[ElroyJetson]

The APX line is now well over 10 years old. It's "mature". And it may well be the last high tier portable radio product line that Motorola will ever put out that fully follows the conventional form factors and functions that we traditionally associate with the portable radio as we have known it for decades. I think the APX Next and Ion platforms are more representative of the radio of the future.

 

[knockoffham]

The APX line is now well over 10 years old. It's "mature". And it may well be the last high tier portable radio product line that Motorola will ever put out that fully follows the conventional form factors and functions that we traditionally associate with the portable radio as we have known it for decades. I think the APX Next and Ion platforms are more representative of the radio of the future.

Why do manufacturers love touchscreens on everything? I personally find that design philosophy to be yucky.

 

[KC3AWP]

The APX line is now well over 10 years old. It's "mature". And it may well be the last high tier portable radio product line that Motorola will ever put out that fully follows the conventional form factors and functions that we traditionally associate with the portable radio as we have known it for decades. I think the APX Next and Ion platforms are more representative of the radio of the future.

I was just moving a box of HT1250s out to storage for auction, just haphazardly tossed in a cardboard box, and thought to myself how long until ill be carrying a box of our APXs out for auction...

 

[Project25_MASTR]

Why do manufacturers love touchscreens on everything? I personally find that design philosophy to be yucky.

EFJ does has been pretty adamant about keeping touch screens off of their radios. JVCKENWOOD on the other hand...well lets see how the next generation NX radio plays out.

I'm currently demoing a pair of APX NEXTs. My rep asked me how I liked them yesterday. Well...I have no use for any of the Smart features. I have departments that would love SmartConnect to help solve in-building coverage issues but at the same time if they have SmartConnect they no longer will have a need for multiband radios because SC will cover them when they need to roam over from VHF to the 7/800 portion of the system running mutual aid calls. Of course, it's the same P25 system so multiband doesn't require any additional reoccurring cost where SC has an annual reoccurring cost.

 

[ElroyJetson]

Look at cell phones as an example. Form follows function and consumer preference has made the flip phone or any earlier cell phone form factor a niche market product if it still exists at all. Public safety customers ARE consumers with a few additional requirements. People who are deciding what their fire department's radio requirements are WILL be influenced by their latest iphone or android that's sitting in their own pocket.

Back in 2007 when I saw the first iPhone, I predicted the APX NEXT in principle. Large app-driven touch screen coupled with physical knobs and buttons to meet the physical functionality demanded by public safety customers.

Even radios that don't feature large touch screens and menu driven applications still have better and larger displays than previous generations. I don't expect that trend to reverse. Not ever.

Cost will of course be a limiting factor. That is what will keep some radios simple without large high resolution color displays.

 

[knockoffham]

On-topic update: I recently got an HT1000 to program, and it programmed up with no issue after I made a programming cable with my RIB. This is on a Pentium II computer running the version of DOS on the Windows 98 setup disc. Just to see, I also tried on a Pentium IV PC and it worked just fine. So I suspect my issue with the Visar was related to the programming cable or the radio itself, not software as I suspected.