Motorola Syntor X9000 Programming Cable

[MatthiasTHM]

Hello! I am trying to figure out how to program a friend’s Syntor X9000. All I have is the regular cable that goes from the unit to the control head and the unit itself and the control head.

I saw a Syntor X9000 cable on eBay that had a DB-9 female port with it and I was wondering if that was a type of programming cable (file attached).

I am also struggling to find the RSS software for the Syntor X9000 as well.

What can I do to get this programmed?

 

[knockoffham]

Here are some tips once you find RSS and a programming cable. Despite what everyone says, you will likely not kill your radio with a computer that is too fast. My side gig is currently programming ancient Motorola stuff that everyone else refuses to touch. I have successfully programmed many old Motorola radios, mostly with a 25 year old Pentium III desktop but many with new faster stuff as well, with DOS, Windows 2000 for CPS packages that refuse to run in Windows 11, and Windows 7-11. CPU speed does not actually matter for most RSS packages. I regularly program in DOS based RSS on relatively fast modern machines, in real DOS or DOSbox. I have programmed Motorola’s earliest PC-programmable radios (that use RSS) and have never once had to use anything older than that Pentium III. Just a few days ago I programmed a few HT-600s on my PC I built 6 months ago with DOSbox and a PCIE serial card, running at full 6 GHz CPU speed and default settings.

Here are the things that you absolutely need:
- for Windows-based CPS, compatibility mode may not work. Sometimes you just need a 32 bit machine.
- MMDVM, Windows’ built-in DOS virtual machine does not work for DOS RSS. Issues in serial port support. But DOSbox does work!
- use a real serial port and a RIB. A knockoff RIB should work just fine. I have used both a fake and real RIB and neither give me issues. USB serial adapters cause all kinds of problems.
- if your RIB’s data light is blinking, but programming fails, the issue is in your RIB to radio cable- it is likely wired wrong
- if the RIB data light is not blinking when reading the radio fails, your software or hardware is configured wrong
- sometimes changing nothing and trying again just works
- too fast of a CPU speed will not kill your radio. If you can read from it safely, you can write to it safely. What will corrupt it is unplugging the programming cable midway through writing, so try not to do too janky of a solution with your programming cable
- when it just won’t work no matter what, trying a new PC or making a new programming cable from scratch will help
- check your grounding and fiddle with RIB voltage when communication is intermittent

If you’re located anywhere near me (mid-Michigan) I may be able to help out, but I do have 3 jobs and am a part time student currently so I don’t have the most free time.

 

[MatthiasTHM]

Here are some tips once you find RSS and a programming cable. Despite what everyone says, you will likely not kill your radio with a computer that is too fast. My side gig is currently programming ancient Motorola stuff that everyone else refuses to touch. I have successfully programmed many old Motorola radios, mostly with a 25 year old Pentium III desktop but many with new faster stuff as well, with DOS, Windows 2000 for CPS packages that refuse to run in Windows 11, and Windows 7-11. CPU speed does not actually matter for most RSS packages. I regularly program in DOS based RSS on relatively fast modern machines, in real DOS or DOSbox. I have programmed Motorola’s earliest PC-programmable radios (that use RSS) and have never once had to use anything older than that Pentium III. Just a few days ago I programmed a few HT-600s on my PC I built 6 months ago with DOSbox and a PCIE serial card, running at full 6 GHz CPU speed and default settings.

Here are the things that you absolutely need:
- for Windows-based CPS, compatibility mode may not work. Sometimes you just need a 32 bit machine.
- MMDVM, Windows’ built-in DOS virtual machine does not work for DOS RSS. Issues in serial port support. But DOSbox does work!
- use a real serial port and a RIB. A knockoff RIB should work just fine. I have used both a fake and real RIB and neither give me issues. USB serial adapters cause all kinds of problems.
- if your RIB’s data light is blinking, but programming fails, the issue is in your RIB to radio cable- it is likely wired wrong
- if the RIB data light is not blinking when reading the radio fails, your software or hardware is configured wrong
- sometimes changing nothing and trying again just works
- too fast of a CPU speed will not kill your radio. If you can read from it safely, you can write to it safely. What will corrupt it is unplugging the programming cable midway through writing, so try not to do too janky of a solution with your programming cable
- when it just won’t work no matter what, trying a new PC or making a new programming cable from scratch will help
- check your grounding and fiddle with RIB voltage when communication is intermittent

If you’re located anywhere near me (mid-Michigan) I may be able to help out, but I do have 3 jobs and am a part time student currently so I don’t have the most free time.

Thanks! I was able to get the Syntor X9000 software (both the radio and channel program). I also have a bootable USB drive with MS-DOS and a CPU slowdown application, which has been successful with my Motorola P110 and Spectra. However, I am still struggling to find the proper cable that goes between the control head cable and the actual radio. My backup plan was to splice into the spare control cable's wires that are for programming. Any suggestions in terms of the cables?

 

[knockoffham]

Thanks! I was able to get the Syntor X9000 software (both the radio and channel program). I also have a bootable USB drive with MS-DOS and a CPU slowdown application, which has been successful with my Motorola P110 and Spectra. However, I am still struggling to find the proper cable that goes between the control head cable and the actual radio. My backup plan was to splice into the spare control cable's wires that are for programming. Any suggestions in terms of the cables?

I really do not know. I’d suggest search eBay but you probably already have. I’ve had to make cables before, as long as you don’t get it it super wrong no harm can come to the radio. Just communication errors. Good luck.

 

[n3obl]

Its not gonna work with a slow down app. I tried to program x9000 one time many moons ago and had to break out an old old desktop like 386 vintage to make it work.

Even with getting the app to run with the MOSLO or whatever app your using, it cant slow down the timing sequences.

 

[nokones]

If I recall, the programming cable had a sandwich type DB25 connector that was attached to the radio and the controlhead control cable was connected to opposite side of the connector. What I don't recall is if a RIB was involved or not. That was many decades ago.

 

[Project25_MASTR]

Pocket 386...a new 386 built with NOS parts. Will run up to Windows 95 and comes with a serial breakout cable.

Only other thing I will note, the X9000 does not support the W9 head...it supports the A9 head and while the two heads are externally identical, they are actually different internally and only the later hardware revision A9's could be firmware upgraded to become W9's.

 

[george-1]

Okay, what you are describing is the A9 control head. It was the first version of any display control head of its type.
SPECTRA was where the other control head versions were introduced. A3 is handheld control, A4 is the rotary control head with display, the A5 is the limited keypad version with only pushbuttons, the A7 is the same as the A5 but with a full keypad. The A9 is the extension of everything that came before but in the same form factor as the original A9. We can get into the specifics of the part numbers of each head and what they are for and all of the details etc.

How do you program? You need the RSS. There are two pieces to this because the X9000 never integrated the control head and the radio in one package. RDPROG is for the drawer (Radio Programming) and CHPROG (Control Head Programming) is for the control head. The drawer and the head have individual EEPROMS of either 2K or 8K. 2K was good for 32 mode and 8K could go up to 128 channels.

I routinely use an IBM X20 series thinkpad. It's a P3 running at 900 MHz and my other laptop is a X23 that runs at 1 GHz. All I do is disable the cache and it runs EVERY piece of X9000 RSS, including the OLD stuff, with no issues.

How do you build a programming cable? Yes, it's a bit of a chore, but what you need is the T connector that goes between the drawer and the cable that comes from the head. How do you get this? The easiest way is from a siren cable that you can chop up and using the pin push tool, remove ALL of the pins, clean off the wires and make a cable according to the BatLabs cable diagram. There is no point is me going further other than to say look at that diagram, get yourself a RIB box and have at it! I think it's six leads. You need Bus +, Bus -, Busy, Ground, Switched B+ and Mic high.

I bought my first two X9000 mobiles NEW in 1988 and have supported them ever since. I have all of the battle wounds and the manuals to go with the X9000. I can say Been There Done That all the way through and I still have my X9000 set including the VHF and the UHF dual drawer paired with low band.

I personally think the X9000 is the best radio Motorola ever built.

Any questions, just ask. I'll likely answer

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

Pocket 386...a new 386 built with NOS parts. Will run up to Windows 95 and comes with a serial breakout cable.

Only other thing I will note, the X9000 does not support the W9 head...it supports the A9 head and while the two heads are externally identical, they are actually different internally and only the later hardware revision A9's could be firmware upgraded to become W9's.

Has anyone actually tried this Pocket 386 with Motorola RSS? I am looking to support Systems Saber, SPECTRA and X9000 specifically. The rest don't matter to me.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

snip

I personally think the X9000 is the best radio Motorola ever built.

Yes The best mobile radio. The Systems Saber is best portable radio. Spectra is second best mobile radio (damn capacitors). It was a downward spiral for Motorola in subsequent years.

 

[nokones]

For a crystal-controlled radio, I thought the Micor Mobile with a Systems 90 Controlhead was a very rugged radio and cool looking with the colored buttons that identified the operational channel names.

My company car had a 6-channel radio with 8 CTCSS tone selection setup with a controlhead box with a card for the 8 CTCSS selections on the top row and on the bottom card with eight buttons (1 for Off, 6-Channels, and 1-Monitor). The Microphone had a rocker PT-T Switch which selected the repeat/talkaround feature. You push down for Repeat and push up for simplex/direct.

 

[Project25_MASTR]

Has anyone actually tried this Pocket 386 with Motorola RSS? I am looking to support Systems Saber, SPECTRA and X9000 specifically. The rest don't matter to me.

Me/Myself/I for Spectra, HT1000, GP300, GM300, RADMBL, and Maxtrac. Oh, also Quantar RSS...but why when the last version runs on 64 bit Windows. Getting files on/off can be a struggle though.