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Minitor vi issue?

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nick223

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Anyone else having an alerting (reception) issue with the new minitor vi? This is my second pager the first pager never alerted. Now this second pager has alerted but is missing several calls still. I've messed with the squelch setting but it doesn't seem to work.
 

902

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Downsouthsomewhere
Anyone else having an alerting (reception) issue with the new minitor vi? This is my second pager the first pager never alerted. Now this second pager has alerted but is missing several calls still. I've messed with the squelch setting but it doesn't seem to work.
Does your system use simulcast?
What are the tone frequencies used?
Do other people get their alerts without any problem?
Where are you in relation to your base stations?
Where are you in relation to the other people who get alerts without any problems?
Does the base drop below squelch threshold when you are walking around wherever you are not receiving alerts?
What kind of control link does your radio system use to connect dispatch to each transmitter site?
What kind of console system does dispatch use?
Do the A and B tones sound as loud when you listen to them on another receiver?
Are there other stations on the same frequency close by?
What's the call sign of the involved system?

A lot of these questions (but not all of them) can be answered by looking at the system configuration on the license. Those might be some of the variables involved in why something like your Minitor doesn't work consistently.
 

nick223

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Does your system use simulcast? NO
What are the tone frequencies used? A 1122.5 B 1433.4
Do other people get their alerts without any problem? YES ON MINITOR V'S
Where are you in relation to your base stations? SAME TOWN
Where are you in relation to the other people who get alerts without any problems? SAME TOWN/SAME FD
Does the base drop below squelch threshold when you are walking around wherever you are not receiving alerts? NO IDEA ON THE COUNTY DISPATCH CENTER
What kind of control link does your radio system use to connect dispatch to each transmitter site? THEY ARE ON A MULTI TOWER REPEATER SYSTEM NOT SURE ON THE LINK
What kind of console system does dispatch use? NO IDEA
Do the A and B tones sound as loud when you listen to them on another receiver? YES
Are there other stations on the same frequency close by? OTHER FD ARE ON THE SAME FREQ BUT DIFFERENT TONE SET
What's the call sign of the involved system? WQRC950

A lot of these questions (but not all of them) can be answered by looking at the system configuration on the license. Those might be some of the variables involved in why something like your Minitor doesn't work consistently
 

902

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Hi Nick,

No simulcast means you are not in a synchronization null. That's good, but you may still be in a spot where there is some kind of obstruction between you and the transmitter.

The tones are close together. That's good. Sometimes systems use extreme tones. That's common when Plectron tones are carried over, you can have something like 369 Hz and 2700 Hz in the same page. It's hard to equalize and one side either trails off or gets cranked so much that the other side gets distorted (neither makes for reliable activation). That's not what you have. The system should be fairly well equalized within the same tone group.

I saw you have a number of repeaters out there, each with different DPLs. I don't know for sure, but dispatch might be using a control station that switches DPLs to access the individual repeaters. DPLs might interact with the signaling, but it's not likely.

What I was getting at with the dispatch console and control of transmitter thing is analog wireline links have certain frequency attenuation characteristics. There is a thing called "high frequency roll-off" that affects very high tones (over 2000 Hz). We would have to put in "conditioned" phone lines to account for that, and they were much more expensive because they used rented equipment in between the dispatch center's. That's probably not it.

One last thing - when you are affected by not alerting, are you near a computer, wired LAN, or some other kind of unintentional emitter of radio frequency energy? What I'm getting at here is that sometimes we have electronics in our home or in our neighborhood that increases the noise around a signal and decreases a receiver's ability to hear well. I get this in my car on my VHF radio when I park in my driveway because my IT stack is next to the car. I also get noise near computers and a neighbor has a plasma TV that wipes my 440 MHz ham repeater input. Noise might be affecting you (even if the signal from the repeater you receive alerts from is good). If you shut down things one at a time, can you notice better reception?

If that's the case, no matter how many times you switch out Minitors you won't get reliable performance until the noise situation is remedied.

Does your system use simulcast? NO
What are the tone frequencies used? A 1122.5 B 1433.4
Do other people get their alerts without any problem? YES ON MINITOR V'S
Where are you in relation to your base stations? SAME TOWN
Where are you in relation to the other people who get alerts without any problems? SAME TOWN/SAME FD
Does the base drop below squelch threshold when you are walking around wherever you are not receiving alerts? NO IDEA ON THE COUNTY DISPATCH CENTER
What kind of control link does your radio system use to connect dispatch to each transmitter site? THEY ARE ON A MULTI TOWER REPEATER SYSTEM NOT SURE ON THE LINK
What kind of console system does dispatch use? NO IDEA
Do the A and B tones sound as loud when you listen to them on another receiver? YES
Are there other stations on the same frequency close by? OTHER FD ARE ON THE SAME FREQ BUT DIFFERENT TONE SET
What's the call sign of the involved system? WQRC950

A lot of these questions (but not all of them) can be answered by looking at the system configuration on the license. Those might be some of the variables involved in why something like your Minitor doesn't work consistently
 

pete7919

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Joined
Feb 7, 2007
Messages
94
Has anyone heard about a production stop or similar for the M6? This was posted in my county's newsletter:

"There is a known software problem with Motorola Minitor 6 pagers that may prevent them from activating. Motorola is currently developing a software “fix” that will be available as a free flash download."

And this:

"A handful of agencies have purchased Minitor VI pagers and have discovered activation issues with
the units. Motorola assigned a technician to look into the matter. The problem requires a firmware
upgrade which is available through Motorola. Please contact your service providers to resolve the
issue. When the Field Service Bulletin is released, we will share it with the fire and EMS community."

Has anyone heard officially about the problem and/or solution? I"m trying to figure out if this is actually a software problem as they say or if it's a matter of poor hardware performance (meaning they'll try to band aid it).
 

nick223

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Has anyone heard about a production stop or similar for the M6? This was posted in my county's newsletter:

"There is a known software problem with Motorola Minitor 6 pagers that may prevent them from activating. Motorola is currently developing a software “fix” that will be available as a free flash download."

And this:

"A handful of agencies have purchased Minitor VI pagers and have discovered activation issues with
the units. Motorola assigned a technician to look into the matter. The problem requires a firmware
upgrade which is available through Motorola. Please contact your service providers to resolve the
issue. When the Field Service Bulletin is released, we will share it with the fire and EMS community."

Has anyone heard officially about the problem and/or solution? I"m trying to figure out if this is actually a software problem as they say or if it's a matter of poor hardware performance (meaning they'll try to band aid it).



I just sent back pager number 2 and my radio lady told me motorola has stop shipping the 6 due to a receiving issue and the new shipping target date is July
 

Donald2557

Member
Joined
Dec 15, 2004
Messages
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Has anyone heard about a production stop or similar for the M6? This was posted in my county's newsletter:

"There is a known software problem with Motorola Minitor 6 pagers that may prevent them from activating. Motorola is currently developing a software “fix” that will be available as a free flash download."

And this:

"A handful of agencies have purchased Minitor VI pagers and have discovered activation issues with
the units. Motorola assigned a technician to look into the matter. The problem requires a firmware
upgrade which is available through Motorola. Please contact your service providers to resolve the
issue. When the Field Service Bulletin is released, we will share it with the fire and EMS community."

Has anyone heard officially about the problem and/or solution? I"m trying to figure out if this is actually a software problem as they say or if it's a matter of poor hardware performance (meaning they'll try to band aid it).

Motorola published a few M6 field bulletins concerning alerting. One announced poor alerting on VHF frequencies. No reference to UHF whicch would indicate this is not only a firmware problem but a sensitivity problem on VHF. I would not think a firmware upgrade would resolve the sensitivity problem. The firmware problem was said to be related to non standard tone timing. 1 second 3 second was not mentioned as a problem.
 

AnnieG

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Feb 3, 2014
Messages
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Location
Eagle River Michigan
Minitor VI -- is it the pager to buy?

I have searched the threads for current information -- I have seen lots of issues from 5+ years ago but nothing recent -- Its time to replace the M5's - what should I be looking at? I do most of the programming for the fire departments....

Any help is appreciated!
 

xxdanielt3

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Sep 11, 2012
Messages
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Location
PA
I have searched the threads for current information -- I have seen lots of issues from 5+ years ago but nothing recent -- Its time to replace the M5's - what should I be looking at? I do most of the programming for the fire departments....

Any help is appreciated!

I have used a Minitor 6 over the past couple weeks. No issues with activation as stated in this thread that's a couple months old. I have also had the option to demo a Unication G1. Both are very excellent pagers. It all comes down to what you and your department prefers. I have came to realize most people stick with Motorola due to the fact it's what they've used for years.
 

pete7919

Member
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Feb 7, 2007
Messages
94
Wouldn't hurt to try out a US Alert WatchDog. Very similar operation to a minitor 5 with some upgrades. They offer free demos. I'm still having activation complaints with the Minitor 6. Tried Unication but they're expensive and battery life was an issue. Very complicated to use also.
 

nick223

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I know Motorola did recall their first batch of M6 pagers due to poor reception issues. But now I'm hearing a lot of people are liking them more since they "fixed" the issue.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

dave1974

Newbie
Joined
Jan 5, 2015
Messages
1
alerting issue

Hi,

i also have the same problem with my minitor 6. it alerted only 2 times, with the stored voice feature only worked once. the radio company that i bought it from, said it alerts. the fire dispactch says, they are toning on the highband, and it must be the pager... i only had the minitor 6 for 3 weeks. im getting pretty frustrated with this to.
 

firedog32

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Joined
Jan 19, 2014
Messages
2
VHF Pager Alerting Issue.

I have a Minitor 6 Pager that does not alert to the tones it is programmed for. It sounds backwards, but in very poor reception, the pager partially alerts, but not completely. In 100% reception, the pager will not alert. Can anyone diagnose this problem? Is it a programming issue or a mechanical issue? I tried contacting Motorola, but they told me to consult a dealer. I live in a rural area, and don't often get the chance to go to a dealer, so if this is a programming issue, I would like to be sure first. Thanks for taking the time to read!
 

silencedsoul

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Apr 30, 2014
Messages
14
Location
Lewistown, PA
So I programmed my VI and set the tones and all the settings I want but am I missing something, When the tones are alerted, it sounds with no problem, but I get squelch until the broadcast starts. Is there something I'm missing? I'm new to the voice record minitor.

I have the reset on revert N...is this right> Shouldn't it alert without the squelch for 7.5 seconds.
 
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