RE: [Repeater-Builder] Micor newbie needs advice
Re: Micor receiver stirp > At any rate, I'd like to be able to run this beast on my > bench. Where can I > come up with a harness and control, and what (if any) > additional hardware > would I need to be able to get this thing hooked up? The easiest thing would be to find a SpectraTAC receiver chassis somewhere and drop your receiver into it. Lacking that, you only need to provide 12V and 9.6V to a few pins on the board to light up the receiver strip. See the schematic for the receiver or the Micor system board to get the pinout - it's straightforward. From memory (so don't hold this as gospel, check the docs), you have to provide 12V to one pin, 9.6V to two pins, ground, ground the F1 channel select line, that's about it. You won't have squelch or volume control, but you can monitor the discriminator audio output using an outboard audio amp (a cheap amplified PC speaker makes a handy audio amplifier for the bench). An LM7810 10V regulator with a series diode on the output will give you 9.6V if you don't have a variable output bench supply (I believe Motorola's spec is between 9.3 and 9.9V if I remember right). > Second, IF the harness plug IS the problem, what's the best course of > action? Scrap the chassis and get another. Or, if you were successful in finding a SpectraTAC chassis, use that instead --- Jeff WN3A
Re: [Repeater-Builder] Micor newbie needs advice
No My mistake I am sorry On Sat, Feb 21, 2009 at 3:00 PM, Mike Besemer (WM4B) wrote: > Sorry guys... I replied to the wrong email. This should have been in > reply > to Gregory's email. > > Better keep me away from any powered circuits today! > > 73, > > > Mike > WM4B > > From: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com > [mailto:Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com] > On Behalf Of Mike Besemer (WM4B) > Sent: Saturday, February 21, 2009 2:59 PM > To: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com > Subject: RE: [Repeater-Builder] Micor newbie needs advice > > > Rick, > > Yeah… I failed to mention that they're mobiles. > > The original builder stripped all the unneeded parts out of each unit (no > TX > parts in the RX, and vice versa) so there's no hope in swapping them. > > I 'might' be able to swap the 440 RX into the 2-meter slot (haven't even > looked into the 440 cabinet yet) and create a temporary 'Frankenrepeater) > just to see if it's the plug or not. The problem is, I'm working on a > system designed by two hams (one of which is deceased now) and the other > just hasn't got time to help me. I've got limited drawings at this point, > and I DON'T want to make anything worse. I REALLY need to go out and mark > a > bunch of cables… the labels are starting to fall of and if I disconnect > something by accident (which I've done several times) I'll have a heck of a > mess! > > I ought to have better sense then to get into situations like this! > > Mike > WM4B > > > From: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com > [mailto:Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com] > On Behalf Of Rick Szajkowski > Sent: Saturday, February 21, 2009 2:24 PM > To: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com > Subject: Re: [Repeater-Builder] Micor newbie needs advice > > I had the same sorta set un till I got a harris Radio Phone 60 watts cont. > duty right out of the box and thay tune to the ham bang nicely > > When I ran the Micros I had both worked for RX and TX so if my RX died I > could flip the radios and be back on the air > > thats an idea if it was set up that way .. I will look in my spare part to > see if I have my bench set up still kicking around > > Rick > On Sat, Feb 21, 2009 at 12:28 PM, Mike Besemer (WM4B) > > > > wrote: > Greetings all, > > I normally maintain a couple of 'out-of-the-box' (Kendecom) repeaters, but > recently I've been asked to help out with another system that is homebrewed > from Micors. It consists of 4 Micors (TX on 2 meters, RX on 2 meters, TX on > 440 and RX on 440) linked with a CAT-500 and a set of homebrew controls. > > Lately, the 2 meter RX has become intermittent. For a while, I'd been able > to either wiggle the plug on the front of the receiver or give the receiver > a good whack and it'd come back to life, but lately it's become more and > more obstinate. A couple of weeks ago, I brought the RX back to my shop and > pulled all the boards, cleaned the pins and did my best to look for obvious > problems. I really didn't see anything wrong, but when I reinstalled the > RX, it work fine and I thought (after it ran for a couple of weeks) I must > have fixed it. (I have no way of running it on the bench... so it was just > a plug-and-pray fix.) > > Unfortunately, it crapped out again a couple of days ago, and this time > reseating the plug and banging had no effect. One thing I did notice that > I'd not seen before (it's hard to access the rear of the repeater) is that > the plug (on the harness) is missing a piece of plastic surrounding the > three pins nearest the hinged side of the handle. I haven't had time to > pull up the drawings yet to see what those pins are, but I suspect that may > be at the heart of my problem. > > At any rate, I'd like to be able to run this beast on my bench. Where can I > come up with a harness and control, and what (if any) additional hardware > would I need to be able to get this thing hooked up? > > Second, IF the harness plug IS the problem, what's the best course of > action? Changing the plug looks like a real bugger. I haven't traced it up > to the homebrew controls yet, so I'm not sure how difficult it'd be to swap > out the entire harness (if I had one), but either way doesn't look like > much > fun. > > 73, > > Mike > WM4B > > > >
RE: [Repeater-Builder] Micor newbie needs advice
Sorry guys... I replied to the wrong email. This should have been in reply to Gregory's email. Better keep me away from any powered circuits today! 73, Mike WM4B From: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com [mailto:repeater-buil...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Mike Besemer (WM4B) Sent: Saturday, February 21, 2009 2:59 PM To: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com Subject: RE: [Repeater-Builder] Micor newbie needs advice Rick, Yeah I failed to mention that theyre mobiles. The original builder stripped all the unneeded parts out of each unit (no TX parts in the RX, and vice versa) so theres no hope in swapping them. I might be able to swap the 440 RX into the 2-meter slot (havent even looked into the 440 cabinet yet) and create a temporary Frankenrepeater) just to see if its the plug or not. The problem is, Im working on a system designed by two hams (one of which is deceased now) and the other just hasnt got time to help me. Ive got limited drawings at this point, and I DONT want to make anything worse. I REALLY need to go out and mark a bunch of cables the labels are starting to fall of and if I disconnect something by accident (which Ive done several times) Ill have a heck of a mess! I ought to have better sense then to get into situations like this! Mike WM4B From: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com [mailto:repeater-buil...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Rick Szajkowski Sent: Saturday, February 21, 2009 2:24 PM To: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [Repeater-Builder] Micor newbie needs advice I had the same sorta set un till I got a harris Radio Phone 60 watts cont. duty right out of the box and thay tune to the ham bang nicely When I ran the Micros I had both worked for RX and TX so if my RX died I could flip the radios and be back on the air thats an idea if it was set up that way .. I will look in my spare part to see if I have my bench set up still kicking around Rick On Sat, Feb 21, 2009 at 12:28 PM, Mike Besemer (WM4B) wrote: Greetings all, I normally maintain a couple of 'out-of-the-box' (Kendecom) repeaters, but recently I've been asked to help out with another system that is homebrewed from Micors. It consists of 4 Micors (TX on 2 meters, RX on 2 meters, TX on 440 and RX on 440) linked with a CAT-500 and a set of homebrew controls. Lately, the 2 meter RX has become intermittent. For a while, I'd been able to either wiggle the plug on the front of the receiver or give the receiver a good whack and it'd come back to life, but lately it's become more and more obstinate. A couple of weeks ago, I brought the RX back to my shop and pulled all the boards, cleaned the pins and did my best to look for obvious problems. I really didn't see anything wrong, but when I reinstalled the RX, it work fine and I thought (after it ran for a couple of weeks) I must have fixed it. (I have no way of running it on the bench... so it was just a plug-and-pray fix.) Unfortunately, it crapped out again a couple of days ago, and this time reseating the plug and banging had no effect. One thing I did notice that I'd not seen before (it's hard to access the rear of the repeater) is that the plug (on the harness) is missing a piece of plastic surrounding the three pins nearest the hinged side of the handle. I haven't had time to pull up the drawings yet to see what those pins are, but I suspect that may be at the heart of my problem. At any rate, I'd like to be able to run this beast on my bench. Where can I come up with a harness and control, and what (if any) additional hardware would I need to be able to get this thing hooked up? Second, IF the harness plug IS the problem, what's the best course of action? Changing the plug looks like a real bugger. I haven't traced it up to the homebrew controls yet, so I'm not sure how difficult it'd be to swap out the entire harness (if I had one), but either way doesn't look like much fun. 73, Mike WM4B
RE: [Repeater-Builder] Micor newbie needs advice
Rick, Yeah. I failed to mention that they're mobiles. The original builder stripped all the unneeded parts out of each unit (no TX parts in the RX, and vice versa) so there's no hope in swapping them. I 'might' be able to swap the 440 RX into the 2-meter slot (haven't even looked into the 440 cabinet yet) and create a temporary 'Frankenrepeater) just to see if it's the plug or not. The problem is, I'm working on a system designed by two hams (one of which is deceased now) and the other just hasn't got time to help me. I've got limited drawings at this point, and I DON'T want to make anything worse. I REALLY need to go out and mark a bunch of cables. the labels are starting to fall of and if I disconnect something by accident (which I've done several times) I'll have a heck of a mess! I ought to have better sense then to get into situations like this! Mike WM4B From: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com [mailto:repeater-buil...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Rick Szajkowski Sent: Saturday, February 21, 2009 2:24 PM To: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [Repeater-Builder] Micor newbie needs advice I had the same sorta set un till I got a harris Radio Phone 60 watts cont. duty right out of the box and thay tune to the ham bang nicely When I ran the Micros I had both worked for RX and TX so if my RX died I could flip the radios and be back on the air thats an idea if it was set up that way .. I will look in my spare part to see if I have my bench set up still kicking around Rick On Sat, Feb 21, 2009 at 12:28 PM, Mike Besemer (WM4B) wrote: Greetings all, I normally maintain a couple of 'out-of-the-box' (Kendecom) repeaters, but recently I've been asked to help out with another system that is homebrewed from Micors. It consists of 4 Micors (TX on 2 meters, RX on 2 meters, TX on 440 and RX on 440) linked with a CAT-500 and a set of homebrew controls. Lately, the 2 meter RX has become intermittent. For a while, I'd been able to either wiggle the plug on the front of the receiver or give the receiver a good whack and it'd come back to life, but lately it's become more and more obstinate. A couple of weeks ago, I brought the RX back to my shop and pulled all the boards, cleaned the pins and did my best to look for obvious problems. I really didn't see anything wrong, but when I reinstalled the RX, it work fine and I thought (after it ran for a couple of weeks) I must have fixed it. (I have no way of running it on the bench... so it was just a plug-and-pray fix.) Unfortunately, it crapped out again a couple of days ago, and this time reseating the plug and banging had no effect. One thing I did notice that I'd not seen before (it's hard to access the rear of the repeater) is that the plug (on the harness) is missing a piece of plastic surrounding the three pins nearest the hinged side of the handle. I haven't had time to pull up the drawings yet to see what those pins are, but I suspect that may be at the heart of my problem. At any rate, I'd like to be able to run this beast on my bench. Where can I come up with a harness and control, and what (if any) additional hardware would I need to be able to get this thing hooked up? Second, IF the harness plug IS the problem, what's the best course of action? Changing the plug looks like a real bugger. I haven't traced it up to the homebrew controls yet, so I'm not sure how difficult it'd be to swap out the entire harness (if I had one), but either way doesn't look like much fun. 73, Mike WM4B <><>
Re: [Repeater-Builder] Micor newbie needs advice
Question for the group The repeater is on the out side of town .. coverage in town is ok but could be a lot better TX is GREAT Idea .. can I put a RX (vhf ) site in town and piggy back that to a UHF radio and then feed that into a RLC controller to be linked to the main repeater port or will that cause problems ? I just want to bring up the 'handi' coverage in the down town core I have access to a roof top that will do what I want to .. any Ideas ? Thanks Rick
Re: [Repeater-Builder] Micor newbie needs advice
I had the same sorta set un till I got a harris Radio Phone 60 watts cont. duty right out of the box and thay tune to the ham bang nicely When I ran the Micros I had both worked for RX and TX so if my RX died I could flip the radios and be back on the air thats an idea if it was set up that way .. I will look in my spare part to see if I have my bench set up still kicking around Rick On Sat, Feb 21, 2009 at 12:28 PM, Mike Besemer (WM4B) wrote: > Greetings all, > > I normally maintain a couple of 'out-of-the-box' (Kendecom) repeaters, but > recently I've been asked to help out with another system that is homebrewed > from Micors. It consists of 4 Micors (TX on 2 meters, RX on 2 meters, TX on > 440 and RX on 440) linked with a CAT-500 and a set of homebrew controls. > > Lately, the 2 meter RX has become intermittent. For a while, I'd been able > to either wiggle the plug on the front of the receiver or give the receiver > a good whack and it'd come back to life, but lately it's become more and > more obstinate. A couple of weeks ago, I brought the RX back to my shop and > pulled all the boards, cleaned the pins and did my best to look for obvious > problems. I really didn't see anything wrong, but when I reinstalled the > RX, it work fine and I thought (after it ran for a couple of weeks) I must > have fixed it. (I have no way of running it on the bench... so it was just > a plug-and-pray fix.) > > Unfortunately, it crapped out again a couple of days ago, and this time > reseating the plug and banging had no effect. One thing I did notice that > I'd not seen before (it's hard to access the rear of the repeater) is that > the plug (on the harness) is missing a piece of plastic surrounding the > three pins nearest the hinged side of the handle. I haven't had time to > pull up the drawings yet to see what those pins are, but I suspect that may > be at the heart of my problem. > > At any rate, I'd like to be able to run this beast on my bench. Where can I > come up with a harness and control, and what (if any) additional hardware > would I need to be able to get this thing hooked up? > > Second, IF the harness plug IS the problem, what's the best course of > action? Changing the plug looks like a real bugger. I haven't traced it up > to the homebrew controls yet, so I'm not sure how difficult it'd be to swap > out the entire harness (if I had one), but either way doesn't look like > much > fun. > > 73, > > Mike > WM4B > > >
RE: [Repeater-Builder] Micor newbie needs advice
Yeah. I cleaned 'em all when I had it at the shop a few weeks ago. Didn't really see anything that looked problematic. Wish I could run it on the bench. BEFORE I decide to mess with the busted plug! Mike WM4B From: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com [mailto:repeater-buil...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Chuck Kelsey Sent: Saturday, February 21, 2009 1:29 PM To: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [Repeater-Builder] Micor newbie needs advice Maybe you'd feel better re-connectorizing (in-line) the new set of wires. Another thing to watch for with a Micor mobile. There are shield plates on the underside of some boards. These just press in place with some pins. These pins corrode and cause grief. Pull the shields off and clean things. Chuck WB2EDV - Original Message - From: Mike Besemer (WM4B) <mailto:mwbese...@cox.net> To: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com Sent: Saturday, February 21, 2009 1:05 PM Subject: RE: [Repeater-Builder] Micor newbie needs advice Yeah. I thought of that. It deeply offends my OCD, but that might be the logical solution! Mike WM4B From: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com [mailto:repeater-buil...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Chuck Kelsey Sent: Saturday, February 21, 2009 12:40 PM To: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [Repeater-Builder] Micor newbie needs advice You might be better off drilling a hole and running the handful of necessary wires through and soldering them inside the radio. Chuck WB2EDV - Original Message - From: "Mike Besemer (WM4B)" mailto:mwbesemer%40cox.net> > To: mailto:Repeater-Builder%40yahoogroups.com> > Sent: Saturday, February 21, 2009 12:28 PM Subject: [Repeater-Builder] Micor newbie needs advice > > Second, IF the harness plug IS the problem, what's the best course of > action? Changing the plug looks like a real bugger. I haven't traced it > up > to the homebrew controls yet, so I'm not sure how difficult it'd be to > swap > out the entire harness (if I had one), but either way doesn't look like > much > fun. > > 73, > > Mike > WM4B <><>
Re: [Repeater-Builder] Micor newbie needs advice
Maybe you'd feel better re-connectorizing (in-line) the new set of wires. Another thing to watch for with a Micor mobile. There are shield plates on the underside of some boards. These just press in place with some pins. These pins corrode and cause grief. Pull the shields off and clean things. Chuck WB2EDV - Original Message - From: Mike Besemer (WM4B) To: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com Sent: Saturday, February 21, 2009 1:05 PM Subject: RE: [Repeater-Builder] Micor newbie needs advice Yeah. I thought of that. It deeply offends my OCD, but that might be the logical solution! Mike WM4B From: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com [mailto:repeater-buil...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Chuck Kelsey Sent: Saturday, February 21, 2009 12:40 PM To: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [Repeater-Builder] Micor newbie needs advice You might be better off drilling a hole and running the handful of necessary wires through and soldering them inside the radio. Chuck WB2EDV - Original Message - From: "Mike Besemer (WM4B)" To: Sent: Saturday, February 21, 2009 12:28 PM Subject: [Repeater-Builder] Micor newbie needs advice > > Second, IF the harness plug IS the problem, what's the best course of > action? Changing the plug looks like a real bugger. I haven't traced it > up > to the homebrew controls yet, so I'm not sure how difficult it'd be to > swap > out the entire harness (if I had one), but either way doesn't look like > much > fun. > > 73, > > Mike > WM4B
RE: [Repeater-Builder] Micor newbie needs advice
Yeah. I thought of that. It deeply offends my OCD, but that might be the logical solution! Mike WM4B From: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com [mailto:repeater-buil...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Chuck Kelsey Sent: Saturday, February 21, 2009 12:40 PM To: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [Repeater-Builder] Micor newbie needs advice You might be better off drilling a hole and running the handful of necessary wires through and soldering them inside the radio. Chuck WB2EDV - Original Message - From: "Mike Besemer (WM4B)" mailto:mwbesemer%40cox.net> > To: mailto:Repeater-Builder%40yahoogroups.com> > Sent: Saturday, February 21, 2009 12:28 PM Subject: [Repeater-Builder] Micor newbie needs advice > > Second, IF the harness plug IS the problem, what's the best course of > action? Changing the plug looks like a real bugger. I haven't traced it > up > to the homebrew controls yet, so I'm not sure how difficult it'd be to > swap > out the entire harness (if I had one), but either way doesn't look like > much > fun. > > 73, > > Mike > WM4B <><>
Re: [Repeater-Builder] Micor newbie needs advice
You might be better off drilling a hole and running the handful of necessary wires through and soldering them inside the radio. Chuck WB2EDV - Original Message - From: "Mike Besemer (WM4B)" To: Sent: Saturday, February 21, 2009 12:28 PM Subject: [Repeater-Builder] Micor newbie needs advice > > Second, IF the harness plug IS the problem, what's the best course of > action? Changing the plug looks like a real bugger. I haven't traced it > up > to the homebrew controls yet, so I'm not sure how difficult it'd be to > swap > out the entire harness (if I had one), but either way doesn't look like > much > fun. > > 73, > > Mike > WM4B
