[CTSARA] Using Commercial Radios on Amateur Bands

[Chris- KB1QXR]

 hi there
I've never actually posted to this list before, but in this topic I believe
I may be of some assistance...

I have a friend who programs and installs Motorola radios for public safety
purposes, and is a Motorola dealer.  
To program a Motorola, you need a RIB device (as far as I can tell this just
stands for Radio Interface Box, it converts RS-232 serial signals to the
type used by the radio's data port) as well as the data cable for the radio
in question (different radios use different data ports and thus different
cables).  You then need the programming software, of which there are a few
different versions for different radios.  
I believe you can only buy any of these if you are an authorized motorola
dealer, and they are all somewhat expensive.  There are knock-offs available
for those that dislike paying $100 for a data cable.

Once you have this all you can program the radios, and the software is quite
flexible.  You can make them basically behave however you want (esp. the CDM
series), within the capability of the hardware.

Motorola radios are generally of excellent quality and from what I've read
they make great amateur radios for use with repeaters.  


I spoke with my friend and he said he'd be happy to program Mot's for ham
radio use.  He'd charge $50-125, depending on the radio and if he has the
cables/software/etc required for that radio or not.  If there's a few radios
to be done he'd be willing to work out a better deal if they all need
similar programming...

feel free to contact me off-list if you're interested and I'll put you and
him together...


--chris, kb1qxr



-----Original Message-----
From: Franklyn A. Ballentine, jr [mailto:art.ballentine at gmail.com] 
Sent: Monday, January 12, 2009 9:06 PM
To: ctsara at mailman.qth.net
Subject: [CTSARA] Using Commercial Radios on Amateur Bands

I was wondering if anyone has had any experience using commercial radios for
amateur use?  I'm looking to get GE and Motorolla radios.
If anyone has good leads on programming these, that would be great.  I
reading the BatLabs forum now.

Thanks,
Frank B. Jr. - KB1QZH
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