MTS2000 900mhz

[WX5812]

I’ve found a mts2000 model H01WCH4PW1CN
For a good price. I’ve read some will work on the 33cm ham band and some won’t. Is there a trick or adjustment that needs to be made to do so? I couldn’t seem to find a concrete answer. Any help is appreciated. I have a couple vhf mts2000 model 1’s. So I have cable and RSS
Thanks

 

[Skypilot007]

I've owned a few of these in the past. Never had trouble with them, just programmed them and they were good to go. I have read about some not working very well out of band. I would imagine a re-alignment of the radio would be needed to fix this.

 

[MTS2000des]

more than just a simple alignment. The VCO's are laser etched stripline types. The ones that work, work. The ones that don't, don't. Unless one wants to desolder the shield and doodle with adding/cutting the stripline inductors themselves, I had better luck with GTX and other stuff like Kenwood. I have a few MTS/MTX portables that lock on 902 but FAIL 001 on the 927 side.

 

[kb5udf]

I bought a lot of model II mts2000 radios. 10/10 are usable for a ham 900mhz repeater,
but only 1/10 could do simplex around 927.

Its been a while but I think most of them needed a little adjustment to loosen up squelch a bit in ham bands.

 

[WX5812]

Thanks guys for the reply, the radio should be here Monday... I have a couple vhf mts2000’s that I use RSS to program them. I’ve read somewhere that I can brick the radio by using RSS if it has been programmed by CPS. Any truth to that?

 

[kb5udf]

While I defer to the communications pros here, I don't think so. My understanding is that if you try to go from CPS->RSS you will get a "code plug too new for this application" or some similarly worded error for MTS radios. The RSS won't let you program the radio since the CPS would be a newer software version. That is, if the radio was programmed with something newer than RSS like any version of CPS the RSS will refuse to let you program the radio.

On the other hand, I have not done it, but I have read, that for the MCS2000 series, you can brick a radio by programming it with an earlier version of software. I read the software will not give an error, it will simply not brick the radio.

So in short, my understanding is that with MTS2000 ht's if the software accepts the codeplug for programming you are good, maybe not with MCS2000; have to be careful there.

 

[WX5812]

While I defer to the communications pros here, I don't think so. My understanding is that if you try to go from CPS->RSS you will get a "code plug too new for this application" or some similarly worded error for MTS radios. The RSS won't let you program the radio since the CPS would be a newer software version. That is, if the radio was programmed with something newer than RSS like any version of CPS the RSS will refuse to let you program the radio.

On the other hand, I have not done it, but I have read, that for the MCS2000 series, you can brick a radio by programming it with an earlier version of software. I read the software will not give an error, it will simply not brick the radio.

So in short, my understanding is that with MTS2000 ht's if the software accepts the codeplug for programming you are good, maybe not with MCS2000; have to be careful there.

Thanks! I have a mcs2000 as well but I have the cps to program it and it works fine. I also saw somewhere that that same cps is used to program the mts2000 so I will have both options. I will try the rss first.

 

[apco25]

You'll be better off looking for XTS2500 and XTL1500/2500/5000 portables and mobiles on 900 as they require no hardware mods at all for 902 ham coverage. Just hex edit the CPS band limits. Given the very OLD age of the MTS2000 it's not really worth the time for the hardware mods to be done. MCS2000's generally work ok, but a few will need strip line VCO work if they are temp sensative. MTS2000's usually, but not all do talk around and software mod to cover 902 ham. MTX9000 ALL require hardware mods.

 

[kb5udf]

Regarding MCS2000, I randomly bought 2 on ebay from different sellers about 3 years ago. Both worked fine on ham 900 repeater splits and simplex without any mods to the radios.

The random MTX9000 i bought on ebay also works repeater split and simplex. I did not mod it, but perhaps someone else did; I don't know.

 

[N4KVE]

If you’re just looking for 902/927 analog ham use, the XPR6580’s work very well. Picked some up at Orlando ham fest for $50 each. No problem with simplex on 927. And any MCS 2000 works great w/o retuning. The MTS was a roll of the dice.

 

[WX5812]

The mts2000 arrived today. I was able to read it with the MTSX RSS. However it will not let me program a 33cm repeater which is on 927.0125 MHz it’s gives me an out of range error. I tried to hold down shift and do it like the MaxTracs but no luck. I’ve read where you can hex edit but on the CPS. I’m using RSS. Any tips?

 

[mmckenna]

I’ve read where you can hex edit but on the CPS. I’m using RSS. Any tips?

Batlabs is a great source for this kind of stuff. Have you looked there?

The MTSX Series

batlabs.com

You can also try their discussion boards. They have a a section in their forum about how to convert radios to 900MHz;

Converting Motorola Equipment to 900MHz Amateur - Batboard

 

[WX5812]

Thank you!!! I was able to do it successfully! Thanks again