motorola type/ smartnet and smartzone questions...

[F16F35F14F18]

No, ours looked different. It was a 3600 baud trunked system, but the controller looked much different than that one.

huh, interesting.

No, ours looked different. It was a 3600 baud trunked system, but the controller looked much different than that one.

you think you could describe what it looked like, and i could sketch it out, and see if it looks right, then ill see if i can find it out

No, ours looked different. It was a 3600 baud trunked system, but the controller looked much different than that one.

could it have been psc 9600 (might be to new, but its the only site controller im aware of )

could it have been psc 9600 (might be to new, but its the only site controller im aware of )

googling site controllers, theirs also the gcp-8000

googling site controllers, theirs also the gcp-8000

or perhaps an x502

 

[KevinC]

His system wouldn't have been any of those.

 

[F16F35F14F18]

or perhaps an x502

i bet this was it! a 6809

 

[mmckenna]

huh, interesting.

This isn't a trunking controller, but our SmartNet controller was in a chassis that looked similar to this one:

https://www.tzsupplies.com/_content/items/images/75/3987575/001.jpg

There was a key switch that had to be turned before making any changes to the system, like taking one of the repeaters out of service.

And the "TIMI modems" that connected the trunking controller to our dispatch center CEB were these:

https://www.dceexpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/MOT_V3600_3.jpg

A primary and a spare. Plus an additional one for dial up admin.

 

[F16F35F14F18]

His system wouldn't have been any of those.

psc 9600 is used on p25 and iden i think, so probably not (also 9600 model probably also refers to baud rate perhaps). and i just googled site controllers and was asking hoping to jog his memory.

 

[mmckenna]

i bet this was it! a 6809

Yes, exactly. 6809 controller. That had slipped my memory. That's what our controller looked like.

 

[F16F35F14F18]

Yes, exactly. 6809 controller. That had slipped my memory. That's what our controller looked like.

thanks! seems pretty obscure nowadays (googling type 2 controller, gives you pictures of the cards and mtc-3600s mostly)

 

[mmckenna]

thanks! seems pretty obscure nowadays (googling type 2 controller, gives you pictures of the cards and mtc-3600s mostly)

Yeah, single site systems.
I watched the video and that brought back some memories. Wondering if he's replaced the leaky capacitors.

 

[mmckenna]

I still have my 2135 key, as most radio guys do...

 

[a417]

I still have my 2135 key, as most radio guys do...

just one?

 

[wa8pyr]

No, ours looked different. It was a 3600 baud trunked system, but the controller looked much different than that one.

Sounds like the 6809 controller. When I started at my old job we had one of these on an 18-channel, two-site simulcast system. About a year later we got grant money to replace the flaky and unreliable 6809 controller with an MTC3600 controller and backup (such as pictured in Post #2) and two site controllers, one at the prime site and one at the subsite. The 3600s lasted until we migrated to P25 about 8 years later.

Like @mmckenna I don't remember what most of those acronyms meant; I was also glad when we traded all that stuff in toward the new P25 system, and Motorola e-wasted all of it.

 

[mmckenna]

just one?

Ha, just one on my keyring. I've probably got 15 of them in my drawer.

 

[mmckenna]

Sounds like the 6809 controller. When I started at my old job we had one of these on an 18-channel, two-site simulcast system. About a year later we got grant money to replace the flaky and unreliable 6809 controller with an MTC3600 controller and backup (such as pictured in Post #2) and two site controllers, one at the prime site and one at the subsite. The 3600s lasted until we migrated to P25 about 8 years later.

Yeah, it was the 6809, I'd completely forgotten that part.

Like @mmckenna I don't remember what most of those acronyms meant; I was also glad when we traded all that stuff in toward the new P25 system, and Motorola e-wasted all of it.

Motorola really wanted us to replace ours with a P25 system when we were doing the rebanding. After the horrible few years we'd had with the Motorola service contract, and which shop was in favor that year, I didn't even want to think about buying another Motorola product for a while.

 

[KevinC]

Are you guys saying the 2135 fit the 6809? Pretty sure it didn't...but I could be wrong.

 

[Lucifer_Morningstar]

Hmmmm...still a lot more equipment than I was expecting.
I kind of figured that by this point in time, the controller would be a single box device with an ethernet cable leading to each repeater, with links to other sites via whatever transport mechanism is chosen. (Fiber, microwave, whatever.)

But where's the profit in that? Every box they can put in the racks adds thousands to the profit margin!

Are you guys saying the 2135 fit the 6809? Pretty sure it didn't...but I could be wrong.

2553

 

[xmo]

2553 = upright cabinet key.

Trivia question, the access key on the 6809 controller cards also was the same key used for the..?

 

[KevinC]

2553 = upright cabinet key.

Trivia question, the access key on the 6809 controller cards also was the same key used for the..?

The old Securenet box?

 

[mmckenna]

Are you guys saying the 2135 fit the 6809? Pretty sure it didn't...but I could be wrong.

I don't recall, but I know it fit the cabinet the controller was in. I left the keys in the controller slots since it was in a locked cabinet in a secured room in a secured building.

 

[xmo]

Securenet box? Maybe - but there was this:

 

[xmo]

Another trivia question.

There were two 6809 controllers at a Smartzone 3 simulcast prime site, a main and a standby.

If you were working at the site and something went "Bzzzzt", what was that? It made you jump 6" - especially if it was your fault!