Wow!! In 1981 when I went to work for the local CATV company I had a radio that looked exactly like that. Cant remember the model # , it was vhf. It was a motorola converta-com. The hand held slid into a docking unit installed in a van which had an external antenna on the truck roof, and charged/powered the unit. Brings back good memories,,thanks for sharing
It was a likely an MX series. They were a very popular product line for Motorola and the convert- a-coms were equally popular. They required a proprietary programmer (R1801 ) IIRC but bridged the gap between the crystal and PC programming for them. Thanks for watching !
I have a couple Motorola radios that have bad battery packs. Thanks for sharing this, now I may be able to get those radios working again. Juddie - WD8WV
@@survivalcomms I will have to get back to you on that. I thought I had two but only have one and I didn't look to see what model it was. I really don't know if it is any good or not. It belonged to a friend of mine who is now a silent key and I was given his ham radio gear to sale. I sold everything I could and was told to keep the rest for my troubles. Juddie WD8WV
Food for thought for those re-packing Jedi-series (MTS2000) batpacks: I used a couple 18650 Li-Ion cells in series removed from a Dell Latitude batpack to populate a JEDI series batt pack for a Moto MTS2000 ... some Dremel work is need on the piece of plastic that lies flat against the back of the JEDI radio ... the Li-Ion cells will last for 2 years in day-in, day-out service as their capacity eventually decreases. For charging I used a bench supply set for ~ 8.2 VDC and made sure the cells were balanced by charging each individually if needed. Very rarely did I have to re-balance the charge between the two.
I do the same thing ! Serviceable battery packs from a laptop are a treasure trove of 18650 cells. I have a cache of NOS Moto Jedi batteries I came across that still work great so I haven't had to mod any jedi packs yet. I will keep that in mind however. Thanks for watching !
They were great radios - they had so many configurations . When the Saber series came out many soldiered on until the bitter end. Thanks for watching !
That was some convenient modification! Though i think there is room for 4 batts, I know the weight savings are to be appreciated in this radio. But Bret please, check the internal resistance of these cells and time their charging. I bought -in purpose- two of these Ultrafires and I measured 580 and 740mAh in my analyzing charger... Unless you use them only for demonstration, these batts are not to be trusted. A 2amps draw is too much for their real capabilities.
Thank you ! The junky batteries were only for testing. They do get the radio to put out full power but I agree they are not quality cells. Good eye and thank you ! Thanks for watching !
I used a couple 18650 Li-Ion cells removed from a Dell Latitude batpack to populate a JEDI series batt pack for an MTS2000 ... some Dremel work is need on the piece of plastic that lies flat against the back of the JEDI radio ... the Li-Ion cells will last for 2 years in day-in, day-out service as their capacity eventually decreases. For charging I used a bench supply set for ~ 8.2 VDC and made sure the cells were balanced by charging each individually if needed. Very rarely did I have to re-balance the charge between the two.
Thank you ! Its going to be shame running out of the solder in that spool. It is some of the good stuff. You are right one of those velcro ties with the small buckle would be amazing. Thanks for watching !
Nice Brad. I've been re-building batteries for years, as needed, and (of course) find quality M batteries much harder to open than the "after-markets". Now I'm faced with having to do the funky Astro Saber-R batteries. Was the Saber-R u mentioned an Astro or a non-rugged Saber ? In either event, how did you open the housing ? I may just cut my Astro Saber-R battery in half and use the top half to fabricate a Astro Saber-R to- Saber adapter, as some people have done so I can use a standard Saber battery (including the lith-ion). Then, onto doing the same with (my favorite) M-RK radios. Thanks !
it was an Astro Saber R. The way I did it was with an exacto knife following the groove of the floor plate and pack body over a few days . Ultimately it will pierce and it's simple to remove the floor plate. Cut away the cells from the flex carefully. It's a long boring process that is worth it in the end. Do it right and you will be able to charge and re cell the pack when you choose. Thanks for watching !
Its possible to do the thinner packs such as you mention but you will need to open the back of the pack and expose the cells just due to the form factor of the pack. I did it if for a kenwood ThF6A. Good flexibility but not the most durable solution. Thanks for watching !
@@survivalcomms I'd like the pack side facing the radio open with two battery slots. I think the cells will stay in as long as the pack doesn't come unclipped from the radio. My only concern is two 3.7v cells being able to run the 7.5v radio. I'd hate an early low battery beep.
LOL ! We are all born bald baby ! I said it at the end before I signed off. I had an epic picture of Telly Savalas to use for a thumbnail but decided not to use it for copyright reasons. Thanks for watching !
Add a coaxial DC jack and you can glue it shut and charge with an 8.4V lithium ion wall wart charger from HK ebay seller radioshop888 . I am rebuilding my Saber batteries in same way. On two of mine i replaced the safety diode from the charge pin with a magnetic reed switch and use a modified pocket charger fitted with a rare earth magnet to charge the battery pack. You can buy a charger board ant retrofit the OEM charger.
I thought about doing that with a BMS. I did one the other day for an Astro Saber R in my collection. I'm working on an HT220 one but it's a back burner project. Thanks for the recommendation and thanks for watching !
Thanks for the video, I might be able to pick up one of these radios and I’m pretty sure it will have no battery. I’m not electronically handy at all, if you were interested in making and selling me one of those packs, please contact me. Thanks and 73
You are welcome. I did one for an Astro Saber R in my collection also. Those packs are really unobtainium and I was happy to get a donor with the radio. If I decide to do another I will let you know.
Nice, I just got one from eBay in mint condition. However, the elements/crystals for the MX360 were removed. Any suggestions besides eBay. In where I can get a hold of some for VhF?
You are going to need to identify the bandsplit , cannibalize other radios in that bandsplit and align to return the radio to service unfortunately. It is possible to rebuild the elements but it is fairly involved . If it is a synthesized model (marked 300S below antenna you may be able to get someone to program a PROM and then you will need to align the radio . Repeater builder has quite a bit of info but again it is going to be a labor intensive endeavour . I wish I had better news for you but I'm not going to lead you down a path of disappointment . If in your search you find someone with NOS PTT switch covers I can use a half dozen. Thanks for watching !
Wow!! In 1981 when I went to work for the local CATV company I had a radio that looked exactly like that. Cant remember the model # , it was vhf. It was a motorola converta-com. The hand held slid into a docking unit installed in a van which had an external antenna on the truck roof, and charged/powered the unit. Brings back good memories,,thanks for sharing
It was a likely an MX series. They were a very popular product line for Motorola and the convert- a-coms were equally popular. They required a proprietary programmer (R1801 ) IIRC but bridged the gap between the crystal and PC programming for them. Thanks for watching !
I have a couple Motorola radios that have bad battery packs. Thanks for sharing this, now I may be able to get those radios working again. Juddie - WD8WV
Very cool ! Which models are they ? I have a fairly large collection and would be interested in helping if I can. Thanks for watching !
@@survivalcomms I will have to get back to you on that. I thought I had two but only have one and I didn't look to see what model it was. I really don't know if it is any good or not. It belonged to a friend of mine who is now a silent key and I was given his ham radio gear to sale. I sold everything I could and was told to keep the rest for my troubles. Juddie WD8WV
Food for thought for those re-packing Jedi-series (MTS2000) batpacks: I used a couple 18650 Li-Ion cells in series removed from a Dell Latitude batpack to populate a JEDI series batt pack for a Moto MTS2000 ... some Dremel work is need on the piece of plastic that lies flat against the back of the JEDI radio ... the Li-Ion cells will last for 2 years in day-in, day-out service as their capacity eventually decreases. For charging I used a bench supply set for ~ 8.2 VDC and made sure the cells were balanced by charging each individually if needed. Very rarely did I have to re-balance the charge between the two.
I do the same thing ! Serviceable battery packs from a laptop are a treasure trove of 18650 cells. I have a cache of NOS Moto Jedi batteries I came across that still work great so I haven't had to mod any jedi packs yet. I will keep that in mind however. Thanks for watching !
You make these things look pretty easy. Awesome mod! So many of those radios are discarded for this reason.
Thank you ! It definitely takes longer to film and edit than perform the task. Gotta save the radios ! Thanks for watching !
that Brick is almost as big as the PRC-126 that I used in the 101st!
Its a big one like a 70's Cadillac. When it falls on a baofeng it squashes it flat. Thanks for watching !
Lighter,better gauge wiring and better options to charge batteries. I would say,You improved a good classic radio.
Thank you ! The 21st century upgrade. Will be using this radio to make more videos. 38 years old and still right on frequency. Thanks for watching !
I forgot how good the MX radio sounds in TX and RX.
They are fantastic radios. I have some of the lunchbox PX300s also. I would love to find a source of PTT buttons for the MX . Thanks for watching !
I rebuilt a PX300S last year, it was a VHF secret service WHCA model. I gutted the VHF and now it is UHF GMRS 48 channels DES. Works great!
Carried one of those for years. 11 channels I think. 8 Main through repeaters and a couple for intercom use
They were great radios - they had so many configurations . When the Saber series came out many soldiered on until the bitter end. Thanks for watching !
That was some convenient modification! Though i think there is room for 4 batts, I know the weight savings are to be appreciated in this radio.
But Bret please, check the internal resistance of these cells and time their charging. I bought -in purpose- two of these Ultrafires and I measured 580 and 740mAh in my analyzing charger... Unless you use them only for demonstration, these batts are not to be trusted. A 2amps draw is too much for their real capabilities.
Thank you ! The junky batteries were only for testing. They do get the radio to put out full power but I agree they are not quality cells. Good eye and thank you ! Thanks for watching !
I used a couple 18650 Li-Ion cells removed from a Dell Latitude batpack to populate a JEDI series batt pack for an MTS2000 ... some Dremel work is need on the piece of plastic that lies flat against the back of the JEDI radio ... the Li-Ion cells will last for 2 years in day-in, day-out service as their capacity eventually decreases. For charging I used a bench supply set for ~ 8.2 VDC and made sure the cells were balanced by charging each individually if needed. Very rarely did I have to re-balance the charge between the two.
GREAT MOD!! Love the look of an almost empty solder spool too.. Thanks for sharing.. velcro bundling tape would work in lieu of the cable tie..
Thank you ! Its going to be shame running out of the solder in that spool. It is some of the good stuff. You are right one of those velcro ties with the small buckle would be amazing. Thanks for watching !
Good sounding radio.
The MX series were really good performers. Thanks for watching !
Very cool bro! As you already know I love when u do these videos as I don't know much about this stuff and you are a good teacher buddy
Thank you very much ! I like to impart what I can when I can. Thanks for watching !
Many thanks for battery mod. Great Channel! Have you had any luck on locating NOS PTT switch covers?
Thank you ! No dice on the PTT switch. Would be nice to have a few. Thanks for watching !
Nice Brad. I've been re-building batteries for years, as needed, and (of course) find quality M batteries much harder to open than the "after-markets". Now I'm faced with having to do the funky Astro Saber-R batteries. Was the Saber-R u mentioned an Astro or a non-rugged Saber ? In either event, how did you open the housing ?
I may just cut my Astro Saber-R battery in half and use the top half to fabricate a Astro Saber-R to- Saber adapter, as some people have done so I can use a standard Saber battery (including the lith-ion). Then, onto doing the same with (my favorite) M-RK radios.
Thanks !
it was an Astro Saber R. The way I did it was with an exacto knife following the groove of the floor plate and pack body over a few days . Ultimately it will pierce and it's simple to remove the floor plate. Cut away the cells from the flex carefully. It's a long boring process that is worth it in the end. Do it right and you will be able to charge and re cell the pack when you choose. Thanks for watching !
Thank you very much !
@@jbritt2395 YW !
I like this idea, I have a bunch of ht750 and cp200. It would be great to be able to pop the batteries out and put them in my 18650 charger.
Its possible to do the thinner packs such as you mention but you will need to open the back of the pack and expose the cells just due to the form factor of the pack. I did it if for a kenwood ThF6A. Good flexibility but not the most durable solution. Thanks for watching !
@@survivalcomms I'd like the pack side facing the radio open with two battery slots. I think the cells will stay in as long as the pack doesn't come unclipped from the radio. My only concern is two 3.7v cells being able to run the 7.5v radio. I'd hate an early low battery beep.
Really? Nobody has said it yet? I’m gonna have to? WHO LOVES YA BABY!!! 🤣
LOL ! We are all born bald baby ! I said it at the end before I signed off. I had an epic picture of Telly Savalas to use for a thumbnail but decided not to use it for copyright reasons. Thanks for watching !
Be a good back up ! TY
You are welcome ! Thank you and thanks for watching !
Add a coaxial DC jack and you can glue it shut and charge with an 8.4V lithium ion wall wart charger from HK ebay seller radioshop888 .
I am rebuilding my Saber batteries in same way. On two of mine i replaced the safety diode from the charge pin with a magnetic reed switch and use a modified pocket charger fitted with a rare earth magnet to charge the battery pack. You can buy a charger board ant retrofit the OEM charger.
I thought about doing that with a BMS. I did one the other day for an Astro Saber R in my collection. I'm working on an HT220 one but it's a back burner project. Thanks for the recommendation and thanks for watching !
Hi Brad I just came across this I have a couple MX’S if you’re rebuilding anymore of these I have a few to send you I just need 2 thanks
Looks easy enough ...for you lol
Just takes a little practice. Thank you and thanks for watching !
Thanks for the video, I might be able to pick up one of these radios and I’m pretty sure it will have no battery. I’m not electronically handy at all, if you were interested in making and selling me one of those packs, please contact me. Thanks and 73
You are welcome. I did one for an Astro Saber R in my collection also. Those packs are really unobtainium and I was happy to get a donor with the radio. If I decide to do another I will let you know.
@@survivalcomms yes please do and thanks for the reply
سلام
Thanks for watching !
Nice, I just got one from eBay in mint condition. However, the elements/crystals for the MX360 were removed. Any suggestions besides eBay. In where I can get a hold of some for VhF?
You are going to need to identify the bandsplit , cannibalize other radios in that bandsplit and align to return the radio to service unfortunately. It is possible to rebuild the elements but it is fairly involved . If it is a synthesized model (marked 300S below antenna you may be able to get someone to program a PROM and then you will need to align the radio . Repeater builder has quite a bit of info but again it is going to be a labor intensive endeavour . I wish I had better news for you but I'm not going to lead you down a path of disappointment . If in your search you find someone with NOS PTT switch covers I can use a half dozen. Thanks for watching !