Picked up some HT600’s

[kem554991]

I have two P200's in UHF programmed for GMRS. Very durable and for plain conventional use they work just as well if not better than my MTS2000. As others have said, they require DOS to program and it is my understanding that the Genesis radios suffer from quite a bit of sensitivity issues with the CPU clock speed of the programming computer, meaning you may even need an old 386 or 486 CPU to successfully program them. Mine were programmed by the seller and I believe I was able to read from them to my Pentium II laptop I normally program with, but I don't think I ever succeeded in writing changes back to the radio due to the CPU clock speed being much faster that what the Genesis RSS was programmed to use.

 

[petnrdx]

Wow.
What a rookie mistake.
I forgot to even look at the old Batlabs site.
I am sure I read that a decade or more ago and forgot all about it.

 

[spdfile1]

Forgot to ask, SPDFILE1, what all did you do to change the 8 ch to 16? I know about moving the ch selector "stop", but only have done that on HT600's to go from 2 to 6 ch. What may you have done with RSS to go up to 16? Off the top of my head, I know that P200LB RSS allows the change of model number on a radio. I have never had a need to try that. But I have some 8 ch radios that I might want to make into 16. Something to mess with while things are slow.

I remember I was just able to change the model # in RSS from an 8 channel to a 16 channel. And then of course clip the stopper on the channel knob.

 

[N4KVE]

Years ago I had some HT-600’s, P200’s, & a 99 ch MT-1000. There was a special program to enable a 2 ch radio to be 6 ch. If you didn’t use the program when you removed the ch stop, the radio would do ch 1 2 1 2 1 2. The program made it do 1 2 3 4 5 6. My UHF MT-1000 was used 50 weeks of the year in the ham band. But for 2 weeks of the year, I needed it at 468 MHz because the fair was in town, & I worked there. The receiver was not sensitive at both frequencies, so when the fair came to town I tuned the receiver for 468 MHz, & it was deaf at 448 MHz. When the fair left, I’d retune it for the ham band. This all ended when I got my System Saber, as it was great in its entire 438-470 split. And next came a MTS2000 which was great from 403-470. I still have a few 600’s, but the batteries died, & I won’t waste the $ for new ones.

 

[K9RPL]

I think I'm getting on the HT600 bandwagon. I just picked up a VHF mid-split HT600 of ebay for $26 with battery and charger. Got a few antennas to test with. Battery charged up fine and the radio works! Clean audio and PL works. Very clean too, just some scribing under the speaker. Got some replacement knobs coming and a fresh battery. Got a RIB on order and I already have the RSS and a DOS laptop of the correct vintage that already has DOS 6.2.2 on it so I think I'm good to go.

I like this radio. Got a good heft and built like a tank.

 

[spdfile1]

I think I'm getting on the HT600 bandwagon. I just picked up a VHF mid-split HT600 of ebay for $26 with battery and charger. Got a few antennas to test with. Battery charged up fine and the radio works! Clean audio and PL works. Very clean too, just some scribing under the speaker. Got some replacement knobs coming and a fresh battery. Got a RIB on order and I already have the RSS and a DOS laptop of the correct vintage that already has DOS 6.2.2 on it so I think I'm good to go.

I like this radio. Got a good heft and built like a tank.

You won’t be sorry. Many people have no use for them but I have a good appreciation for them and the other Genesis line. There great radios and fit the saying “They don’t make things like they used to”.

 

[K9RPL]

In guess that's why I just bought 2 more VHF models. They're really cheap at $12 each for another 6 channel and 2 channel that I'll modify to 6. Both look very clean. I have a stock of knobs on the way and already have 4 more antennas. Just need a coupe of batteries. I have plenty of UHF XPR6550's and a 7550 so I'll stick with the VHF HT600's.

This is fun

 

[KC0CCB]

i had been seeing the MT-1000 and the P200 awhile back thats already tuned up for 6 and 10 meters but they were going for over 150 bucks on EBay.. and im not sure why or what for..?

 

[chrismol1]

Its a challenge. Some people are close to repeaters or want to try what 5-6 watts simplex will do. I've got an 10 meter MT1000 I turn on at night every so often. If it works its a challenge, its something likely isnt going to work but when it does, thats the magic of shortwave. I've got a bunch of crap sitting around just because its different and I like to play with odd things

 

[K9RPL]

Ok, I have a question to pose to the HT600 experts. I received two VHF midsplit units in the mail and one is acting a little strange. When I first turned it on it behaved normally. Just the short beep. Squelch test worked when I pressed the monitor buttons. When I did a quick TX test to see what frequency it's on it started emitting a steady tone. I had to turn it off. Waited a bit and tried again. This time I was able to get it to TX and it was on 143.000 MHz it started the steady tone again.

What I think is the VCO is loosing lock. Someone tried to program 2M in there and went too far out of the radio's bandsplit and the VCO won't stay in lock. Does that sound right? If so can I still ready the codeplug and push a new one in?

 

[mmckenna]

Mid split and 143.000 sounds like VCO unlock, but it's been a while since I've messed with those.

 

[K9RPL]

I'm pretty sure that's what it is. Mid Split on an HT600 has the low end at 146 MHz. I read you can go about 2MHz down but I'm not surprised it going into unlock. I'm hoping I can recover it with a fresh code plug.

 

[petnrdx]

I agree that 143 is a bit low for the mid split.
In my experience many will go that low, but many just won't.
Re-program should fix it if that is the problem.

 

[jhooten]

I put the local 145.35 repeater in a mid split. It would receive okay but go into VCO unlock on transmit at 144.75 YMMV.

 

[K9RPL]

I put the local 145.35 repeater in a mid split. It would receive okay but go into VCO unlock on transmit at 144.75 YMMV.

Hm, My local ARES repeater's input is 144.87. Several around here are on that high 144 zone so it'll be a crap shoot. Hey, if it works great, if not I have other repeaters around I can program in. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[K9RPL]

I agree that 143 is a bit low for the mid split.
In my experience many will go that low, but many just won't.
Re-program should fix it if that is the problem.

Thanks! Now if the *()&*& programming cable would get here....

 

[petnrdx]

I have LOTS of those.
If yours doesn't work on that input, let me know and I can set one up for you cheap.
Programmed, and aligned for what freqs you want.
If your "plastic" is really nice, I can even just put a different radio inside and you keep your case.
I really like these old radios and like to see them used.

 

[K9RPL]

I have LOTS of those.
If yours doesn't work on that input, let me know and I can set one up for you cheap.
Programmed, and aligned for what freqs you want.
If your "plastic" is really nice, I can even just put a different radio inside and you keep your case.
I really like these old radios and like to see them used.

Hold on to that thought. I'll know more once my programming cable shows up.

 

[petnrdx]

Chances are pretty high that it will work fine.

 

[K9RPL]

Yeah but the thought of a good alignment on all three (if they work) has me thinking...