Minitor II

[FedFyrGuy]

G & G Communications

 

[cmjonesinc]

OP, you'll need a vhf pager and the correct frequency crystal. The crystal will then need to be swapped with whatever is currently in the pager. You'll need a fine tipped soldering iron and a steady hand. Then if you want it to alert you'll need to know the 2 tone frequencies for whatever department you want the alert for. How you go about getting those is on you. Others have posted a couple different ways. Then you'll need to purchase tone reeds and plug them in. There's no soldiering on the reeds, just the crystal.

 

[ten13]

Unless our friend is looking for an MII to display on a shelf as an antique, he's wasting his time and money by research the issue, much less trying to tune up one.

Granted, those of us who are "into" radios would find it interesting to get one to work properly, we also know that technology has advanced, and continues to advance, at such a rapid rate that trying to make an old pager or radio functional on any level is like trying to get one of those old "bag" car phones operational today. And our friend sounds like he lacks some of the basics of pager/radio technology from the get-go to understand the difference.

Even the difference between a Minitor 4 vs. a 5 is rather radical. the Minitor II is past the point.

 

[captaincab]

While I agree it is old technology it is also way more reliable technology. I would put a Minitor 2 up against a 3-6 in reliability and sensitivity any day of the week and win hands down. I personally know of a Minitor 2 still in use that was brought in 1987 same as original except the housing was swapped out to red about 10 years ago for ascetics and I buy new batteries every 2 years. Oh and I got a new style desk charger in 1999.

Unless our friend is looking for an MII to display on a shelf as an antique, he's wasting his time and money by research the issue, much less trying to tune up one.

Granted, those of us who are "into" radios would find it interesting to get one to work properly, we also know that technology has advanced, and continues to advance, at such a rapid rate that trying to make an old pager or radio functional on any level is like trying to get one of those old "bag" car phones operational today. And our friend sounds like he lacks some of the basics of pager/radio technology from the get-go to understand the difference.

Even the difference between a Minitor 4 vs. a 5 is rather radical. the Minitor II is past the point.

 

[GTR8000]

Keep in mind that the Minitor 2 is not narrowband compliant, so the audio levels will be rather low. You would be better off with a newer model, that handles narrowband.

The frequency the OP is looking for, 157.450, is exempt from narrowbanding as it is a dedicated VHF paging channel. It appears that Luzerne County never narrowbanded it (Orange County, NY pages EMS on the same frequency and kept it wideband). So the reduced audio may not even be a factor in this case.

Unless our friend is looking for an MII to display on a shelf as an antique, he's wasting his time and money by research the issue, much less trying to tune up one.

Granted, those of us who are "into" radios would find it interesting to get one to work properly, we also know that technology has advanced, and continues to advance, at such a rapid rate that trying to make an old pager or radio functional on any level is like trying to get one of those old "bag" car phones operational today. And our friend sounds like he lacks some of the basics of pager/radio technology from the get-go to understand the difference.

Even the difference between a Minitor 4 vs. a 5 is rather radical. the Minitor II is past the point.

The Minitor II was the best pager Motorola ever produced for no-nonsense alerting. Brand new aftermarket NiMH batteries are easy to find, as are frequency crystals and Permacode tone filters. I still own a few myself, some of which are nearly 30 years old and have never required service. They function as good as the day they came out of the box, and in most cases have better sensitivity than fully synthesized modern equipment.

If you don't need all the bells and whistles, and want to get a very reliable pager for under $100, the Minitor II is still a viable option.

While I agree it is old technology it is also way more reliable technology. I would put a Minitor 2 up against a 3-6 in reliability and sensitivity any day of the week and win hands down. I personally know of a Minitor 2 still in use that was brought in 1987 same as original except the housing was swapped out to red about 10 years ago for ascetics and I buy new batteries every 2 years. Oh and I got a new style desk charger in 1999.

I concur.

 

[cmjonesinc]

I have all the minitors but a 6, and while my county narrowbanded, mine still alerts and works just fine. It may be old technology but it's still perfectly capable of working. If the county op is trying to monitor never had to narrowband that's a plus. Op may not have the technical knowledge to get a 2 working and there may be easier ways to listen, but a 2 will definitely still work. And op if you're still hanging around and willing to pay shipping send me a pm. I'd be happy to take the 5 minutes to solder you a crystal in.

 

[6Paul21]

PM sent to [U]Feeneydfeeney[/U]

 

[Feeneydfeeney]

To clarify what I meant about was I was going to stick my phone up to my scanner to figure out the tones when my local fd got toned out to figure out the tone skrry for the confusion

 

[buddrousa]

I have several M2 Tone reeds left over from years ago they are Motorola Group 4 only.

 

[SMFD34]

While it was always a solid pager the MII does have the drawback of being limited on the number of tones and they have to fall within a certain range to be able to do the most with them. Many areas are no longer coordinating tones that efficiently.

 

[K2NEC]

I still have a minitor 2 from my department and while I agree that it's a solid pager that does what it's supposed to, it has it's downsides. For example I have had to replace 2 knobs already and the contact for the battery isn't as good as it once was. Sometimes it needs a good smack in order for it to power on. I am going to have to agree with some of the other guys on there, if you are going to get a pager get a Minitor 5. They are user programmable and doesn't need special reeds or tuning. You can still find VHF ones with bases for well under $100.

 

[Feeneydfeeney]

Thank you to everyone who has helped but I can no longer do this project they are going to a p25 system so anyone has ideas i was thinking getting a p25 radio or a pager to add with my scanners

 

[owenbricker]

Moving to a P25 system counties in PA for the most part keep VHF/UHF analog paging. Erie county as the latest one.

 

[K2NEC]

P25 conventional or P25 trunking?

 

[krokus]

Thank you to everyone who has helped but I can no longer do this project they are going to a p25 system so anyone has ideas i was thinking getting a p25 radio or a pager to add with my scanners

P25 paging is less reliable than analog VHF, IMHO.

 

[captaincab]

They will most likely keep a analog frequency for paging just a FYI.