HT600 programing

attack350e · Post by **attack350e** » Wed Nov 07, 2001 8:47 pm

hi- i am starting a collection of HT600's and am trying to decide if i should take them to shop to get programed or if i should try to buy everything needed and do it myself. my question is, does anybody know what it costs for the software (new from motorola) and the RIB and cable (either new from motorola or off ebay, ect.). the other question i have is how difficult is it to use the software? if anybody has any advice it would be greatly apreciated.

-zach

CHEFA2001 · Post by **CHEFA2001** » Wed Nov 07, 2001 11:00 pm

Personally, I would say to purchase the software from Motorola, you can find the # at the main page of batlabs at http://www.batlabs.com and its someting like 1-800-422-4210 and you will have to sign a lisc. agreement and then buy the rss.

Cable can be made from the pages on this site or as an alternative you can buy one from ebay. There are one or two factory original cables for sale recently. I would stay away from aftermarket cables until you know and or rather are familliar with whom to buy aftermarket cables from as some are trash.
The rib can be purchased from motorola for about $180-200 I believe (anyone correct me if I am wrong) and its not very hard to program those radios. You can send me a private message if you want and I can explain it to you once/if you get the hardware and software.

Having them done at "a shop" would cost you at least $20 per radio and more likely to be over $40 per radio unless you have a friend who works for a shop somewhere and even then, you would not be able to make changes "on the fly" if required.

Monty · Post by **Monty** » Thu Nov 08, 2001 5:29 pm

Hi:

Programminmg the HT600 Series radios are
just about the easist radio to program Motorola ever made.

Very stright foward, and easy to navigate.

With respects to the Rib Box, and associated
Hardware, always keep in mind 1/2 of what you
buy is " who " you buy from.

If you deisre all the Factory Hardware, I do
collect and resell Motorola Rib Boxes from
Two-Way Shops that close / or go Bankrupt and
I can sometimes pass a liitle ( not a lot ) of savings to you.

If you desire, email me direct, and I can
give you all the deatils of what to watch
out for.

MS

Adamwest · Post by **Adamwest** » Thu Nov 08, 2001 8:09 pm

HI

The rib box motorola is $200, Cable to program ht-600 is $100 & up and software for the ht-600 is $300. Also you have to remember there are two types of software the HT-600 and HT-600a. Hopefully motorola had combined the two programs and that will not be a problem for you.

Just say $600 to get you started!!

Goodluck
Adam

CHEFA2001 · Post by **CHEFA2001** » Sat Nov 10, 2001 12:15 am

Adam, WHat is HT600A????

I dont believe that I have EVER heard a reference to it...

Elroy Jetson · Post by **Elroy Jetson** » Sat Nov 10, 2001 4:56 pm

600 bucks to program an HT600? Not hardly.
You can get set up for MUCH less with aftermarket or used stuff.

Workable programming cable: 45 bucks off ebay. RIB to PC cable: make it yourself, 5 bucks. Used but decent RIB: 100 to 150 bucks, if Motorola. 75 for aftermarket variety. Software: Only about 70 bucks from Motorola.

Not that bad, really.

Interesting tidbit: If you have a SmartRib, Radio Shack sells a PC to RIB cable that works perfectly. 9 pin to 9 pin serial, that's all.

Elroy

radioEd · Post by **radioEd** » Sat Nov 10, 2001 5:06 pm

I thought a "m" rib to pc cable was 15 to 9 pin? or are your reffering to a sm rib? Ed

attack350e · Post by **attack350e** » Mon Nov 12, 2001 3:18 pm

hi
Elroy Jetson, i was just wondering where you got $70 as a price for the RSS.

-zach

Gman · Post by **Gman** » Mon Nov 12, 2001 3:26 pm

Just putting my 2 cents in. When I called mot some months back about my ht600 software they said $70 dollars also. Keep up the good work everybody..

Elroy Jetson · Post by **Elroy Jetson** » Mon Nov 12, 2001 6:33 pm

The last time I called Motorola and asked about the price of HT600 software, they told me 70 bucks. Why shouldn't it be cheap? The radio's not even supported anymore.

Maybe they changed the price AGAIN. What'd they tell you when you asked?

Elroy

attack350e · Post by **attack350e** » Mon Nov 12, 2001 10:44 pm

when i called mot and asked for the price on the RSS for the HT600 the guy told me $285. to be sure that he wasn't completely out of it i called back and asked another guy and got the same response.

attack350e · Post by **attack350e** » Mon Nov 12, 2001 10:51 pm

another question i have about programing is does the same RSS work for the P200 and the HT600 or is it different.

-zach

EngineerZ · Post by **EngineerZ** » Tue Nov 13, 2001 7:14 am

While Motorola does not make it widely known, they do have RSS pricing on their web site. If you go to http://accesssecure.mot.com/Accesspoint ... htm?E+test you can download the entire price and availability list as of 03/01/01. At that time HT600 RSS was $70, but it could have gone up in price since that list was published. Hopefully they will update the PDF soon.

There is some interesting reading in that price list... Like Saber RSS going for $265 but MX1000 RSS going for $70. Aren't they essentially the same radio?

--z

attack350e · Post by **attack350e** » Tue Nov 13, 2001 1:45 pm

hey
so i figured out what the deal is with HT600 RSS. if you call up and ask they will give you a part number RVN4098 which sells for $285, but there is also HT600 RSS that is part # RVN4005 which sells for $70. if you are interested in ordering it, call motorola, 1-800-422-4210 and ask specifically for part # RVN4005.

-zach

Will · Post by **Will** » Tue Nov 13, 2001 1:47 pm

To answer Zach's question, YES the P200 RSS will program HT600 radios and the HT600 RSS will also do the VHF & UHF P200's.
Only problem is when you save the "code plug" to the archive file it will NOT alow you to enter the correct serial number prefix (three first numbers) when programming the "other" models.
The Low Band P200 has a different RSS.

attack350e · Post by **attack350e** » Tue Nov 13, 2001 9:16 pm

so if HT600 RSS won't let me put in the correct code plug or sn to program a P200, how do i do it. also just wondering about if someone could explain to me in a little bit of detail how to convert the hardware of a 2 ch HT600 to a 6 ch. one last question is do the HT600's use crystals, i thought they didn't. look at http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dl ... 1297033989 and you will understand why i am asking about crystals.

thanks again

-zach

mancow · Post by **mancow** » Wed Nov 14, 2001 2:28 am

If you look at the labels on the front they look as if they are government surplus. I would assume they meant the master crystal oscillator was removed. I believe the gov. does this to de commission equipment without destroying it. That would explain why he says they don't power up.

Elroy Jetson · Post by **Elroy Jetson** » Wed Nov 14, 2001 6:12 am

Typical governmental idiocy, removing the oscillator when it's less trouble to simply deprogram the radios. And the funny thing is, they are probably STILL programmed and will work when the oscillators are replaced. I'm surprised they didn't just crush the radios under a forklift and throw the leftovers in the trash.

Elroy

phrawg · Post by **phrawg** » Wed Nov 14, 2001 7:49 am

look again folks ! The description says xtals but on the RADIOS... it says
" XSTRS " pulled transistors ?
not xtals what have they potentially butchered in the process ? BEWARE , Phrawg

Alan · Post by **Alan** » Wed Nov 14, 2001 7:58 am

This is a common phrase left over from the "crystal" age.
This generally refers to the fact that they have been "de-programmed", typically a receive test frequency is programmed into channel one with no transmit frequency.
The units are normally fully functional.

attack350e · Post by **attack350e** » Wed Nov 14, 2001 8:07 am

is it possible to get master crystal oscillators anywhere to put back in these, or is it too much of a headache, should i let these go.

-zach

phrawg · Post by **phrawg** » Wed Nov 14, 2001 9:26 am

I understand what the phrase crystals pulled means but you are all missing something.

OPEN YOUR EYES AND LOOK CLOSELY AT THE PIX
ON E-BAY. If I am not totally blind it
says, "XSTRS PULLED" not XTALS PULLED

XSTR is the common term for transistor
XTAL is the common term for crystal

either the person who put that label there doesnt know the difference in which case
it scares me that he even opened a radio up
let alone pulled something out of it !!!
It seems a common thing nowdays that many people see a letter or 2 of a word and assume what they think they read. Go back and look at the e-bay pix once more and tell me what you all see and beware where caution
is needed. Phrawg

phrawg · Post by **phrawg** » Wed Nov 14, 2001 10:02 am

ok ..ok... I printed a pix from e-bay and looked under a magnifying glass. What I see
is on the top view (the only one that can be read well) Some tech that thought he was going to impress us with his electronic term
abbreviation abilities, spelled the abreviation for crystal with a "s" in it
as xStals. Arrgggggghh !....... then the a has no cross bar and is almost touching the L so as to make it look like
"xstr" which is the correct abbr. for
transistor. that is till you look with a
very close eye or a magnifying glass. Now I wonder again about the tech who did WHATEVER
to these and what he really did.

raymond345 · Post by **raymond345** » Fri Nov 16, 2001 2:36 am

I found that the was a different
when using p200 and ht600 RSS. Only in the service mod.The service manual will show u the different value when setting up the
radio in service. to do freq. etc no difference. Raymond ve3hae@rac.ca

attack350e · Post by **attack350e** » Tue Nov 20, 2001 12:53 pm

just wondering if anybody knows where to get model # decoding info for the HT600

Will · Post by **Will** » Tue Nov 20, 2001 3:26 pm

In answer to your question about the serial number in the HT600 RSS. The RSS does NOT program or read the serial number to/from the radio. The serial number is used only for the archive file's name on the hard drive, which some of us call the "code plug". The model number will be for the HT600 when using the HT600 RSS, but it only is used in the RSS to determine the frequency range and other related settings.

You can interchange the "code plug" from HT600's into P200's and visaversa.